The Sully County watchman. (Clifton, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1894, 1892-01-16
Gems Found in An Arizona Meteorite
Form An Absorbing Subject
for Speculation.


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 meteorite with dia-
nonds in it. Such thing had never
been seen or heard of before; in fact, it
was the only specimen OF the kind thus
| far discover ed in the world The dio.
monus We're little ones. but what they sig
nltied was big. The meteOrlte In question
was one of many found recently in Ari-
Z)na. near the Canon DiabIO. 1t was sup
posed 10y the discoverers that they had hit
! upon an iron mine of enormous value, hut
! 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 Il mile wide, and surrounded
with wall OF rock so sieep that the bot
/ tom j. strcwn with the skeletons Of ami
mails which have got in and and been un-
able 10 climb ont again, Nevertheless it
is not of volcanic origin. as il proved with
! certainty by the fact that there is no lava,
obsidian-volcanic glass-or other volcan-
ic product in the neighborhood. What
was il, tLen. that made the crater? Geolo.
gists say that 1t was formed 10y the impact
OF a single gigantic meteor, which at
some time In the past struck the earth and
buried itself ont OF sight, leaving hole,
which has since become partly filed up,
surrounded by wall of rock that was
furced ont OF place. Imagine what Il big
one /: must have been to leave a cavity
three tourths of mile IN width where il
hit this planet Tie huge mass of iron of
which it was composed is there yet. of
course. Perhaps 1t Is not sunk too deep
h render mlnlng for its material unproht-
able. Fragments of X 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. Ii proves
that there are diamonds lin 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
supply o: these gems, are all found at the
bottoms of just such craters as the one
described In ArlZ)na. Ii Is believed that
these cratprs, SO called, were formed by
the impact ot great meteOrS because there
Is no other conceivable way IN which they
could have been made. and for other rea-
sons geological. If so, then it must he in
ferred that probably all the diamonds of |
the world We're brought to this terrestrial |
sphere by the meteOrltes. In other words |
these precious jewels are not native 20 the |
earth but have been fetched hither with !
the dust of other stars. That accounts for |
ha b.,tn laap..l
able, in which they are scattered every |
where through drifts of all sorts, having
apparently no birthplace or definite 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 ben vegetable life, at all events,
in the place whence the meteoritc came.
II there was vegetable life there, it is "A
fir presumption that there was animal
h'e also. vi thl, may p,. untrue, but il .
tlprds the INST guess glimpse that has .
ever LeJn Detained into TIE greatest prob ,
lem hat mankind has ever attempted TO .
handle namely, the question whether life |
exists IN other worlds than ours. From
th" philosophical point of view, the fact .
cannot he taken for granted In a universe
IN which the sun L. merely an inferlo- star .
of the fourth magnitude Nevertheless. ,
some absolute evidence % the point would !
he extremely satisfactory.
MeteorI!e, ordinarily are nearly ali iron.
with SINAI! percentage ot nickel None
of them have ever cen kI own to contain Il
particle of any prrcIoaS metal. Neverthe-
e,>, maav II tn"m arr worth many times
their weIgut, in gold, because Of some
pecnitarlty If structure or othrrwis.
Every collector ~ minerals makes il a
matter Of pride Ia have IA specimen OF .
every kno~n Kind of mrtenrtc IN his cab
met II new sort turns up and me has .
not = piece, he is unhappy. II happen.
sometime, thai one ri,-hiug not more
tnan pound, Ct a makeup that has not
hten >ern before. will sell in bits for a
thousand dollar, If is possessor knows
how 10 dispose If il. Pe1ulc are not less
Interested IN other worlds because tie,
know nothing aboGt the next one
The most interesting man among the !
scientists who have been visiting Wa.h |
inglon j. Prof HHury 4. ,Iard, tn. great .
N'Ait ~ NAI' .Att tti5ftA''I "a II tt'~t''l
y. He has spent his life in travelling all /
over the world. for the purpose OF gather
ing material for muaeum2 The advent
ures Ii" has met with while IL pursuit. Of .
curiosltIes in one far corner OF the earth .
on anoth r would fill many delie h ful |
books. In cunycrsa ION the other day. he |
referred to an expedition he once made in
search # an extraordinary Australian
Dird, which has IA communal nest, whole |
hock uniting their efforts in its construc-
ton, and sharlngits conveniences for the
purpose Of Ia. ing their eggs.
1t was III the neighhorhood of Fort |
Darwin, on Torres Straits" said the pro-
fes>or. Il had some native black fellows
with me, and a lot of biscuits 10 pay them
with. Biscuits 90 with them for wages as
well as money, because they care for
nothing in life but eating. If you give
them coins they carry them in their ears,
and they are mors apt than not to wear no |
clothes at all, save II band around their |
left arm, to hold tobacco pipe that is
stuck in it when not in use. One must |
take care and not let them have any