The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1885-07-23

try had been tunneled by the fire. You
see; it had crept along under ground for
nigh q thousand feet, eating away the
wood, and finally when it got under
the fodder, the weight of the
stuff broke the crust in and down it
went into a regular pit of fire. I tell
you it was an u%nsartin place to live on and
l was thankful enough that it didn't get
under the house. We'd never have
known what hurt US; we'd Just melted
down quick. Yes, there's heaps of
places in the swamp district that's
eaten out jest the same way. The fire
will run along for miles, sometimes,
and then crop out where it's least ex-
pected. l knew of one case where a
party of shinglers left their hut one
morning and when they came back it
gone and a fourth of an acre with
it. If it had happened twelve hours
later they'd have gone in. In the Della
ware swamp you will find heaps of such
places and green hands when they 90
down there always think there has been
a volcany. and SO there has, after a
fashion"
THE subject of underground
forests" said my geological companion,
on our way back, sis an Interesting
one, and in the west there are some
strange sights to be seen. I remember
especially one locality about the head
waters of the Lithodendron River; there
are thousands of trees lying about, as if
some hurricane had swept over the spot
every ase the tree has turned to stone
and the trunks now weigh IONS where
they formerly could be tossed about by
the wind. A miner that / met told me
that in m locality that he had visited
the trees were standing, and they came
to camp there. At first they did not
notice it, as it was late in the fall, when
all the leaves were off the trees, but he
sent a darkey out to chop some wood.
and as the fellow struck o tree the axe
glanced off and streams of fiery sparks
flew off in such numbers that he was
frightened half to death. and came
rushing into camp shouting that the
place was haunted. He finally went out
again, but was terrified by finding that
even the twigs that he picked up on the
ground were as heavy as lead; they had
all turned into stone. He described the
place as a weird one, the great trunks
standing around here and there like
monuments. some Of them being fifty or
sixty feet high. The two most famous
localities are at Fort Wingate, New
Mexico, and the Lithodendron, about
twenty miles from the Navajo Springs,
Arizona. From these localities q fine
collection has been taken for the
National Museum at Washington.
"a detail was sent out under the
charge of Lieutenant j. 7. C. Hegewald,
of the Fifteenth Infantry, and they
secured some magnificent specimens.
The N~avajoes that were tending their
sheep in the vicinity believed the fallen
trunks to represent the bones of former
giants that their ancestors had killed,
and could not understand why the
Great Father at Washington should
want them. In this place they actually
covered the ground in some spots, the
trunks often being of great size. Ali
through the valley of the Lithodendron
they are found, thousands of tons lying
scattered along the slopes. The ma
jority were in pieces of twenty or ten
feet long, so broken by changes of heat
and cold. Other trunks were intact;
one measured by the Lieutenant was
two hundred feet in length and nearly
five feet in diameter, the cores often
containing wonderful specimens OF
quartz. The specimens were hauled to
Sana Fe. N. NJ, and there shipped East
by rail; but in a year or 60 not a speci.
men will be found, as a company has
organized to secur them, as, when cut
and polished, they make fine table tops.
1t is said that a house in Washington
is to have pillars at the door made O!
two of these giants of a former age,
that, when polished. showing the rich
coloring, will make something entirely
new in the way of decoration.
Last summer" continued the geol.
og'st, II took a run up the valley Of
the east fork of the Yellowstone. There
is a country for you, and, fortunately,
in the National Park and to be saved
from destruction. In going up the
valley you have the beautiful Yellow.
stone Mountains to the north and to the
south the famous Amethyst Mountain
that for its fossil or stone forests is ex
tremely remarkable. Directly opposite
the valley of the Soda Butte Creek rise.
the mountain, with an exposed strata a
least two thousand feet high. The
summit is about nine thousand feet up.
As you follow up the trail you will a
once be struck with the curious surface
of the mountain, and there in one section
you al count distinctly at least twenty
five forest levels formed in this way
The first forest, perhaps a million years
ago, grew and died down; soil accumu
lated and then another forest grew or
that, until finally the twenty-five have
grown. In the meantime strata to tn,
depth of two thousand feet has been de
posited-that is, the distance from tn,
present trees growing on top to the frs
one below is two thousand feet. You
can count up to suit yourself
how many years it took to accomplish
this. For the first four hundred
feet the display is not very striking. a
the trunks are partially covered, but q
your eye rises you are presented with
geological illustration that is a marvel
At 500 feet from the bottom the level
are as distinctly marked as if they hat
been made by hand. every trunk ant
the roots standing out in bold relief
the bas-reliefs of nature. MANY ar
thrown out and PROSTATE, from fifty t
n 4OCo Ia OhEth v w u
feet in diameter. In cases where tn,
roots are seen penetrating the SOLE
rock the sight is an impressive one
showing how many years it must hav
taken to accomplish such results. Som
of the trees imbedded are over twelv'
feet in diameter and. as only the top
show, they must have rivaled the grea
~sequoias of California. One remark
able feature is that the b~ark-texture O
the wood, grain, ETC., are all as distinc
and we'll preserved as if they had beel
taken from living trees.
The trees. however. are not conifers
the solid rock about them shows this
Once covered with a soft green mattin,
of grass, it received the falling leave
and seeds. and now they are found jus
as perfect as in life, only turned t.
stone. From these the botanist is en-
abled to determine what they were an,
how long ago they lived upon the earth