Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1892-01-14
Gems Found i'm An Arizona Meteorite
Form An Absorbing Subject
for Speculation.
There Must Have Been Vegetable
Lite Where This Particular Me-
teOrite Came From.
An Interesting Story by Prof. Henry
4. Ward of An Extraordinary
Birds Nest.

Of all the curiosities which the wise
men Of the Association for the Advance.
ment of Science took to WASHINGTON for
exhibition to their fellows, the most extra
ordinary was a meteorite with dia-
nonds IN it. Such a thing had never
been seen or heard of before; in fact. il
was the only specimen Of the kind thus
far discovered in the world. The dia
monds were little ones. but what thew sig.
nifed was big. The meteorite In question
| was one of many found recently in Ari-
iona, near the Canon Diablo. 1t was SUP.
| posed by the discoveries that they had hit
upon an iron mine of enormous value, but
| Investigation proved that the great chunks
of metal picked up had been shot out Of
the realms of space. The place whence
they were obtained is known as the
"Crater," because it looks like one, being
a circular hollow, 100 feet in depth, three.
quarters of mile wide, and surrounded
with wall of rock so s.eep that the bot
tom is strewn with the skeletons OF ami
mails which have got in and and been I'M
| able to climb out again, Nevertheless. it
is not of volcanic origin. as is proved with
certainty by the fact that there is no lava.
obsidian-volcanic glass-or other volcan-
ic product in the neighborhood. What
was it, then. that made the crater? GeoJo.
glsts say that it was formed by the IMPACT
Of a single gigantic meteor. which at
some time In the past struck the earth and
buried itself out of sight, leaving hole,
which has since become partly filed M,
surrounded by a wall Of rock that was
forced out of place. Imagine what big
one it must have been to leave cavity
three fourths of mile 10 width where It
hit this planet The huge mass of iron of
which it was composed is there vet. of
course. Perhaps it is not sunk too d cen
to render mining for its material unuroft-
able. Fragments of it formed the masses
that were picked up by the prospectors
above referred to.
That one which contained the dia-
| mOnds, however, has opened an absorb
ing subject for speculation. It proves
that there are diamonds in other worlds
than ours; but also it points to many other
Important conclusions. The diamonds of
the famous Kimberly mines, which at
present produce almost the entire world s
supply o. these gems, are all found at the
bottoms of just such craters as the one
described in Arizona. 1t is believed that
these craters, so called, were formed by
the impact Of great meteors, because there
Is no other conceivable way In which they
could have been made, and for other rea-
sons geological. lfso, then it must be in-
ferred that probably all the diamonds of
the world were brought to this terrestrial
sphere by the meteorltes. In other words
these precious jewels are not native 70 the
earth, but have been fetched hither with
the dust of other stars. That accounts for
the manner, hitherto deemed unaccount
able, in which they are scattered every
where through drifts of all sorts, having
apparently no birthplace or defnite re
lation to other minerals.
Some scientists go SO far as to assert
that diamonds, like coal, which is so near
ly of the same chemical constitution,
could not possibly come into existence
without previous vegetable growths to
generate their material. For this reason
they infer that the finding of the gems in
the meteorIte demonstrates that there
must have been vegetable life, at all events,
in the place whence the meteorite came.
If there was vegetable life there, it is
fair presumption that there was animal
life also. All this may be untrue, but it
tfords the FIST guess glimpse that has
ever been obtained into the greatest prob
lem that mankind has ever attempted to
handle-namely, the question whether life
exists in other worlds than ours. From
the philosophical point of view, the fact
cannot be taken for granted in universe
in which the sun is merely an inferior star
of the fourth magnitude. Nevertheless.
some absolute evidence Oh the point would
be extremely satisfactory.
Meteorites ordinarily are nearly all iron,
with a small percentage Of nickel. None
Of them have ever cen known to contain
particle of any precious metal. Neverthe-
less, many of them are worth many times
their weights in gold, because of some
peculiarly of structure or otherwise.
Every collector OF minerals makes it a
matter of pride to have q specimen of
every known kind of meteorite IN his cab
met. If a new sort turns up and ne has
not piece, he is unhappy. 1t happens
sometimes that one weighing not more
than pound, of makeup that has not
been seen before. will sell in bits for a
thousand dollars, if its pcssessor knows
how to dispose Of it. People are not less
interested in other worlds because they
know nothing about the next one.
The most interesting man among the
scientists who have been visiting Wash
ington is Prof Henry A. Ward, the great
natural science collector of R rochester, N
Y. He has spent his life in travelling all
over the world, for the purpose Of gather
ing material for museums. The advent
ures he has met with while in pursuit of
curiosities in one far conner of the earth
or another would Eli many delightful
books. In conversation the other day, he
referred to an expedition be once made in
search of an extraordinary Australian
bird, which has communal nest. whole
flock uniting their efforts in its constTuc-
ton, and shariugits conveniencPs for the
purpose of lay ing their eggs.
1t was in the neighborhood of Fort
Darwin, on Torres Straits" said the pro-
fesser. Il had some native black fellows
VII me, and lot Of biscuits to pay them
with. Biscuits 60 with them for wages as
well as money, bncause they care for
nothing in life but eating. Ii you give
them coins they carry them in their ears,
and they are more apt than not to wear no
clothes at all, save band around their
left am, to hold tobacco pipe that Is
stuck In it when not in use. One must
take care and not let them have any
'bixit. as they call them, until, Their work
is done. Otherwise, having gobb.ed them,
they are likely to lie down at any mons MT
and go to sleep, though it may be in the |
middle of tire road and the occasion one OF
serious exigency.
.Thes, particular black fellows had |
promis9d.to guide me to nest of the.
| had never seen enc, and was very |!
anxious to do so. On my journey my |
companions seemed incessantly to be look
ing for something to eat. When oppor-