The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-02-06
ANTS AS GEM MINERS.
CURIOUS RED-BACKED TERMITEs
THAT DELvE FOR PRECIO.S
GEMS.

They Mine I'm the Petriied Region,
working In weII-OrEnnIzed Colo
nies-EmpIoyed by shrewd specu-
IatOrs.
From the San Francisco Examiner.
TITS as mOnotonous as herding sheep,
and that's saying a good deal However,
1 sold out at a profit Of 100 per cent, and
I'm going to devote the future to some
other occupation"
That is how ]. w. Blundon, formerly
of Winslow, A. T., summed up his ex-
perience as the owner of a lot Of red
ant colonies and the utilization Of the
little fellows as jewel miners in the pet
rified region of Arizona.
Mr.. Blundon is carpenter and builder
by occupation. Like many others, he was
attracted TO Arizona in the days of the
Tombstone excitement The decline of
mining and milling left him dependent
upon resources other than his usual call
ing. But let him tell the story of the
ants:
THE termite miners are vicious little
red fellows, ranging from one-half to five
eighths Of an inch in length. with a body
of corresponding thickness. | purchased
a half interest in sixty colonies shortly
after reached Winslow. A colony means
an uncertain number of ants. They
swarm and live in factions and are sub
| ject to the most stringent rules. When
| you buy a colony you may get a thou
| sand or a billion ants; II all depends
on the disposition of the termite ruler.
| AT the time / purchased the ants |
was living in what is known as the pet
| rified regional stretch OF country that
is anomalous in every particular. It's
lazy land too, ana and yoe IN un 1taaneI
picking up the days work of the red
| backed miners. -a,-f q
The ants are natural-born miners as
well as fighters They will attack man
! in a holy minute, and, If he does not re-
| treat they will swarm over him from
! head to foot and literary pihch him 70
| death The colony owners are aware OF
- I'm n the Winsiow country or the petri-
fed region, the land is of peculiar forma-
/ ton, still II Isl regular. The ground is
| filled with natural Jewels. such as gar
monds. rubles and a lot q other stones
that look mighty fine when they are pol
in those parts, and there Is no use Of
talking about ground-sluicing or rigging
a hydraulic on the land.
"Now, about the ants / went in with
fellow and we bought sixty colonies from
a man that lived about twenty miles out
of Winslow. We had TO make a trip with
cart and wear high gum boots. Then you
must have good broad wooden shovels.
All of sudden you go to your colony
scoop up the ants with the wooden shovel,
dump them in the carts, and then you
start for the jewel mines. The ants won't
go away. OF course you may fose one
or two from the cart, bat they are death
on swarming, and Ilnexer, knew one of
them to touch a horse. In fact, they are
not curious when they are being taken
out 10 work.
when we reached the place where the
ants are to work we take our shogels and
dump them out without ceremony The
ants begin to- burrow at once. You will
understand that we keep the colonies sep
arate. First they strike the fine hot sand
of the desert. This the ants deposit in
ring which is remarkable for its symme-
try. Then comes the coarse gravel, and
1t is deposited in a circle outside the sand
Meanwhile the ants are gong downward
in search of food and water.
when the gravel and course sand lay
ers are apparently complete, we begin to
look out for jewels. Suddenly a cardinal
hued termite miner will come up with
something in his claws. He will pass be-
yond the sand and gravel layers and
start new strata on the outer edge.
This fellow will be followed by his thou
goes down they will have made a new
home, besides doing duty for their own
ers. .r...s.its
voted to precious stones. The hills never
exceed fifteen inches in hight, but the
depth of the burrowing is something that
no man can measure
1.-The ants have to be fed when they are
transported. / suppose they could make
their own living, if they sold their daily
product. We had to feed them on young
grass or anything that was not cured.
The ants have weakness for bread, and
a crumb dropped on heap means that
the, colony will be on top as soon as travel
will permit.
you can't imagine a more monotonous
existence" concluded Mr.. Blundon. you
E~.nWF 4n1~ 10 - Tia =
region, dump them out, and there you are.
You never hear a sound. Day after day
you go about the hills and pick up the
brilliants quartz, crystals or diamonds),
the garnets and the rubies, as well as the
other mineral creations of the strange
land of Arizona. et.fg
when it's all over you will have cleared
up about $40 day, provided you can sell
Louis. at
1T doesn't cost much to feed the ter
mite miners, but you must consider the
monotony of the thing. We had sixty
colonies, and their duty extended over
ing in hand.
"The ants work all right. They will
bring up everything below the surface
and place It in regular circles around their
burrows. The sand comes first, then the
gravel, and then the gems. You go
AROUND in the evening, pick them up ana
Sell them TO St. Louis dealer and get
months.
me business viii pay man about so
a day, clear. The colonies cost me $500
and / kept them until l was dead tired of
trailing around a lot or seorch hing heaps
hunting for stones that might grace a
ring or lady's necklace. One day 1 got
he would give me SO each for r'1 my sixty Estg
colonies of miners I took his offer and
am willing to work in the world that
gives response"
This happened many days ago. stu the
Vicious little red-backed miners are claw
ing and transporting the rough gems to
the surface Of the strange land that
Arizona jewellers are inclined TO call the
petrifed region. It's the same thing all
over the territory, and many an assay
has been made from the rings around
the red ants home. The industry Of the
ant Is proverbiaL In Arizona he doesn't
have to contend with frost although man
puts him in theoretical harness.
Ibid you fdll2p said man rushing
tn tha rescue of a wonaan utlo c1t.rr3