St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1888-06-02
A DAKOTA MYSTERY,
The Strange Story Of Daniel
Bloom and the Magnetic
Rocks Of Dakota.
An Electrical Ozonie Pathway
in the Heart Of the Ter
ritory.
A Blooming, Blushing Maiden
Appears on the Rustic
Scene,
Resulting in a Wedding in the
Famous Big Medicine
Valley.

"Yes," said young Daniel Bloom, as
he sat cooling his heels in the Hotel
Ryan, II once lived in Dakota. / mar
rled my wife there. Our courtship was
! a TITLE more romantic and sensational
than any plot which the Rider Haggards
and Robert Louis Stevensons have vet
evolved from the maZes of transcendent-
alism."
Becoming at once interested asked
| If an outline sketch of the case would
infringe upon any confidential rela-
| tons.
Not in the least" answered Mr..
Bloom, good naturally. Its altogether
scientific affair. l am a devotee of
science. Tom Edison 1 regard as the
| greatest man of the nineteenth century.
rom bOyhOOd up the study of electric
| phenomena as displayed in lightning,
the aurora borealis, cyclones and other
atmospheric disturbances has been a
passion. 1t often amuses me to hear a
cyclone described as strong
WIND. Now a strong wind, even
an irresistible hurricane, carrying all
objects before it, is one thing. A cyclone
is distinctively another. When YOU
can show me the twisted tire of
| buggy-wheel, an iron force pump bent
| double, and a tough buffalo robe torn
into shredS and tatters as | have seen
them-When you can show me these as
the result OF mere wind force, / will
renounce all claims to an electrical
principle IN cyclone. But this is a
sad depression.
'Well, you will hardly credit what 1
am about to tell you. Nevertheless, in
| the valley of the Big Medicine. not a
hundred miles from the Missouri river.
there is an electrical oZonic pathway
| from the heavens to the earth which
fairly rivals the Biblical legend of
Jacobs iadder.''
Here Mr.. Bloom removed his heels
from window sill, placed them souarely
down on the tiles, and began tWirling
his thumbs.
lit was" he continued sin the spring
OF 1SS4--no, in 1885, just three years ago
that homesteaded quarter section
OF land in the valley of the Big Medicine
ing my claim. 1t was my intention to
start, III small way, a stock ranch, do
| little diversified farming, and, per
| hapS, settle for life. / commenced with
only twenty head of cattle, and kept
bachelors hall. My nearest neighbor.
Paxton, lived mile south. The northern
portion OF my ranch bordered onMedicine
creek, and was bluffy. The top of these
bluffs was covered with all kinds of
round and irregular boulders, granite,
flnts, graphiteS, comedians. etc. | am
an indifferent geologist, and once inn
agined l had discovered petrifactiou.
The stone bore a strong resemblance to
decayed log. | carried some of the
hlnty tibreS to the president of the
Pierre university. He at once informed
me l was mistaken. They were not
| petrifactions at all.
'At the base of one of my bluffs, on
broad plateau running back from the
Medicine, my cattle used to feed.
Although L had often watched them
| from the brow of the bluff, it struck
me as singular that each individual
| head of them appeared to instinctiveIy
avoid the vicinity of small cluster of
| round boulders heaped together on the
| plateau. From my position on the
| bluffs this cluster of dark gray stones
forcibly reminded me of huge nest
of the
TABLED RoC'S EGGS,
bird whibh, you know, played a star
part in the famous Arabian Nights en-
tertainment. Curiosity begot a spirit of
investigation. Going to the head of a
small canyon, or draw, | descended by
Well-Worn cowpath to my small herd,
and, selecting a two-year-Old, drove him
on toward the curious rock pile. But
what was my establishment to observe
| that, when within fifty feet of these
stones, the animal suddenly threw up
his head, snorted, and, with tail erect
and every evidence of supreme terror
scampered back in the direction of the
herd. 1 also went back and tried to
| drive them all up to the rock-pile Each
| one broke away when within about the
same distance and stampeded up the
canyon.
'And now occurred the strangest in
cident connected with my discovery.
While watching the retiring cattle, my
attention was attracted to an OPAQUE,
moving body in the air, which was
neither kite. bird nor balloon. Nor
was it falling directly toward the earth
according to the known laws of gravita-
ton, but sailing in particularly hori-
izontal line, curving suddenly when
about 800 feet away from the nest of
rocks, and descending upon them in the
arc of circle. l saw that it was another
rock. 1t impinged upon one of the
larger stOneS-did not strike it exactly
ON top, but ON the side-and there it
hung as though cemented to the surface.
''This is an aerOliteH' l exclaimed,
darling forward to secure my prize.
But imagine my sensations when |
found myself in an entirely new atmos-
phere. The air was as cool as a refrig-
ClotOl Col III uiJ. tillS, IllGU
experienced strange, prickling senSa-
ton throughout my entire body, exactly
like shock from a battery. Passing my
hand through my hair, discovered that
each one was standing out from my head
like quilts, while my mustache was
like bunch of hogs bristles. l ran
back to my former position and the
phenomena instantly disappeared. l
was in an atmosphere warmer by thirty
degrees-the usual weather of June in
that locality. The peculiar conduct of
my cattle was now partially accounted
for. They had been there before me.
But the appearance
OF THE AEROLITE,
| the powerful magnetic attraction of the
other stones, this was beyond my imme-
date comprehension, and again adj
| vanced toward them. Again | found
| myself in the strong electric current
| But l walked bravely up to the rOcs
| nest. With the new addition there
were but eleven stones in all, each
about twelve inches in diameter, cling
ing tenaciously together, and arranged
| something like cannon balls in a navy
yard. All except the new conner. That
| actually hung against the side of the
| topmost rock. Raising my foot l kicked
| it stoutly. 1t fell away distance of
three or four feet, and then, to my utter
amaZement, rolled towards the base of
the small pyramid, and again fastened
itself like leech against a base rock"
"Magnetism!"
4 H,,n 81