Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1890-06-28
Looking Backward.

With unwonted lore the Cumberland
Necrs gives its readers geological ac
count of the origin and evolution of
the Braddock milestone, near this
place.
The Ners believes Cumberland has
some claim to the stone, inasmuch as
the Oriskany tribe of sandrock is
mined where, by mistake of nature
made during the carbo-plastic period.
the coal of that other name was not
skewered.
This particular stone was lcttercd
in Cumberland and conveyed to its
present destination, where it was
dumped out-for what purpose is lost
in the twilight of a tradition which
the Netrs cannot, at least does not dis
close.
Several years ago a local "NIichael
Angelo hacked it in two," not knowing
its historic value as Il relic of what the
Keyser Tribune would denominate "the
barbarism Of the past"
We think the Ne,cs is in error CON
corning the birthplace of the famous
stone, for it is far too much like the
variety which surrounds it to be a
vulgar importation.
Nor was it ''lettered" in Cumber-
land, for there is nothing surviving
which indicates positively that the
people of Cumberland could read in
the day when that artful and patriotic
work must have been executed.
The last incident, unfortunately, is
the only known fact in connection
with its history. In 1872 or 1873 it
was cut in two by a stone mason look
ing for foundation rock. The JOUR
NAL bore some humble part in binding
together the remains, otherwise it
might now be the corner piece of "some
base and ignoble'' structure instead of
the more unfortunate subject of de-
based geological guesswork.
The Ne~s ends its unusually funny
editorial with the para graph below:
In any event we are glad to see the old
landmark covered with a pagoda, though
the price paid for it, $275.S4, would appear
to show that the Frostburg lumber men,
carpenters, painters and thinkers apparently
knew good thing upon sight, even if the
village Michael Angelo didn't.
For the amount of material and
work visible, the cost appears fright
fully large, but there is consolation in
the fact that it is only about one
fourth of what it would have been had
the Consolidation coal company some
time ago permitted Cumberland to
move the stone to Cumberland at the
county's expense. The Psychologists
of the city, who antedate the Oriskany
analogists about a year, wanted the
stone badly for an antique ornament to
the "Old Fort itself. This, notwth-
standing the fact that it was originally
fashioned by art, if not by nature, to
mark the spot where a current survey
had fixed 81 miles as the distance
from the fort.
The antiqualians, however, are not
so sanguine or susceptible as the stu
dents of strata. Intimate to them
that Moses tables of stone are not far
off, and they will want them moved to
Cumberland at once-procided the peo-
pie that own them can be made to give
them up and bear the major part of
the expense of freight.
. On the other hand, let the latter tap
the calculus edition of the moral law
and they will discover instanter that
Moses found it in Cumberland in the
Oriskany group of concretes, did the
lettering there, took them over to Mt.
Sinai and imposed them on the Israel
ites-all simply to play a big joke on
posterity.