Fort Worth weekly gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1890-09-11

and branches. But the poor people are
too much uneduoated to realize that
these curious stones are in reality petri-
fed branches, and that the waters of the
lake have the strange power OF petrlfy-
ing any substance that may be put into
it in twenty-one days, according TO the
material.
Learned of it in a curious manner.
| happened to be travelling In Come
mara, and met there an English gentle
man who informed me that he was going
to Tough Neagh ''to visit his men and
inspect his petrifying beds. l did not
understand this peculiar announcement,
and asked for an explanation, which he
gave me most willingly. he told me
that he was one of the owners of cele-
brated cutlery house-not far from the
Mansion house in London. Years before
they had learned from an employe that
petrifed trees had been found IN Tough
Neigh, and from old Irish books they
discoYered that the waters had the ex-
traordinary property of petrltying wood
within O month.
Business like, they at once sent man
over. He selected several pieces of hard
wood and, having tied weights to them,
plunged them in the lake and marked
their locality by small buoys and strips
attached TO the test pieces.
In two weeks he returned and took up
two pieces, which he found to be par
TALLY petrIled. Two weeks afterWard
the remainder we're brought TO terra
firma, and each rod of hardwood was
hard as flint, petriied through. Then
the firm tried experiments with the wood
in different stages of petrifaction and
discovered that unusually excellent
razor homes could be manufactured from
it and of different densities or hardness,
according to the length of submerslon.
These homes are now famous product
of this cutlery firm. They have pat
ented them, and obtain high prices for
them, but the razor sharpening world
little knows that the stone is wood, pet
ri6ed in few weeks in the largest of
the Irish lakes.
[ accompanied the gentleman to the
lake, and myself witnessed the process of
turning wood to stone, and l must con-
fess that it gave me cause for reflection.
Here was valuable natural factory at
the very doors of the people, the natives,
who were in q semi-starving condition
all around. And yet It's products were
utilized only by an English firm.
Possibly the petrified wood in some of
its stages of stone growing could be put
to many uses, and l have no doubt but
that when the fact is more generally
known some enterprising Irishman will
utilize the factory nature has given them
for the material benefit of the country.
When l returned 10 Dublin made in
quiries about the curious phenomena l
witnessed at Tough Neagh and was re-
warded by the courteous librarian of
Trinity college, who placed in my hands
several volumes of translatons of ancient
Irish works, and marked for me the parts
referring to the lake. Among them
found several references made to the
''hard, woody stone, - which was taken
from the bottom of Tough Neagh for
spear and arrow heads by the early Irish.
So that, although the Irishmen of to-day
are ninetY-nine in 100 unaware of the
useful popularity of their "big Tough, -
those of ten and fifteen centuries ago
knew it well and utilized it.
in the museum of Trinity college can
be seen day several spear and arrow
heads, made centuries ago from wood
petrifed in Tough Neagh. But, eppar-
emily, even then, the natives were I'M
aware that the chemical properties of the
water were so powerful or acted so
quickly. Messrs. NJ. G. w. of London,
found it out in time to secure profitable
monopoly. Why do not some enterpris-
ing Irishmeu initiate the example of the
Englishmau? In America such q mine
would be worked by Americans for
Americans. In Ireland it is worked by
Englishmen for themselves. Mais oest
toujours lie nerve.
ROBERT F. WALSH.
Dublin, April, 1890.