The Portland daily press., 1896-03-07
DIAMONDS IN THEADlRoMDACKs.
A Miners Discovery of What are De-
clared to be Fine Gems
(From the New York Recorder. }

(From the New York Reoorder.)
In the eastern Adirondack region. some
miles back, of Port Henry, near the road
leading to St. Hubert's Inn, stands
Bald Peak, SO named by thu natives of
that section, but known in King Philips
time as WaDta- tonga tn, or DEVILS Rich
Mountain. In the vicinity of this now
celebrated mountain peak lie the great
iron ore beds. The mines are worked in
the old fashioned way of open mining,
and are now so deep down in tho bowels
Of the earth that the management is I'M
aple to compete with the more modern
methods OF producing sections. Con-
sequently the mines are idle a great part
Of the time, and are onlT worked when
their special ore is required as an ANAL
gam in producing armor plates for the
navy.
These mines were presided over by q
civil engineer and chemist named George
Rowdon, a Welshman, who spent many
years in coal mining in his own country
before starting fer the diamond fields of
South Africa. On his arrival at the great
Kimberly mines he found SO many of his
own profession unem ployed that he
turned his face toward tho United States
On the steamer he formed the acquaint-
| anoe of one Of tho largest stockholders la
| the Port Henry Iron company, who, le-
| ing struck with the knowledge and in
| teliigence OF Rowdon, seemed his ser
VICES as superintendent for his mines.
| alter looGing over the mining property
and the topography of the county, Eow-
| don concluded that there might DO other
wealth besides iron ore. He suggested
this to Professor Robert Saville of Allan
| ia, who owns summer in residence in
| the direction of Westport.
! Last summer the demand for ore was
| SO slight that the stockholders concluded
| to close down Indefinitely, and gave
| Superintendent Rowdon the opportunity
| that he had often wanted to explore the
| surrounding country, especially Bald
Peak. In company with Professor Sa-
yille he went down in the mine to zee if
everything had been left in proper order
While Superintendent Rowdon and his
assistants wers Inspecting the mine,
| Prof, Saville was closely examining the
| formation, picking out particles of the
earth with one Of the iron hooks used by
the miners to draw the laden ore trucks
| engaged no dislodged body Of earth that
| in falling, spread over the floor Of tho
mine. Looking over it. Professor Savills
picked up some semi-transparent ouhes
of foreign substance. He examined
| she substance carefully as did Superin-
| tendent Rnwdon, the latter eagerly ex-
| claiming, "Just as I expected The for
nation of this part of the country is ex
actly like that about Kimberly, South
Africa. and cubes precisely like those you
have here are found in tho diamond
mines there
| The two men spent the balance of the
day hunting for more cubes without suo-
cess, and concluded not to mention their
| find to any person until they had inyesti-
gated further One of the cubes they
sent to Malone, N. Y, to be examined
| by Mr.. Webster, an expert in mineralogy,
who reported it as an immature carbon
| of doubtful value. and always found In
the neighborhood OF diamond fields
| The one sent him, he said, had most like
| y come from South Africa, as 1t YVES of
| the same character as those he had seen
In the mining districts there.
Early next day, taking some Of the idle
miners, Rowdon and Saville started for
| Bald Peak. After several days. fruitless
labor, Professor Saville left for the Thou
sand Islands, Rowdon keeping I'D the
work some days longer, when he, too,
gave il up for a time.
| Then he decided to visit his friend,
MI. Torrance, shrewd Vermonter. who
lived in Hog Hollow, between Bald
Peak, Fisher Fill and Echo Canvon
| Torranos's leisure hours were nearly al
ways spent hunting for an ore bed on his
property. In conversation with Stunt.
| Rowdon he mentioned that he had foui,d
some odd looking stones in Echo Canyon.
At his request Farmer Torrance nro
duced the stones, and on examining
them Rowdon offered to buy the lot from
the farmer, who gladly accepted s5 and
cigar in exchange. Then they went to
the precipioe surrounding Echo CANYON,
where Torrance had cHt stairway In his
hunt for ore. Following this stairway
for hundred feet or more they came to
the landing. Here still remained his
pickas. shovel and orowbar. Taking up
the p1cka1 he began to work, Superin
tendent Rowdon looking on. After
displaoing lot of earth they examined
it, and, RS they did not find any more
specimens, shoveled it over the landing
and down the face of the preoipice to the
rivulet at the bottom of the oanyon. and
| continued their way down. On reaching
the bottom they found, as result Of
| Farmer Torrance''s previous efforts. that
tina rivulet was damned by the earth
| thrown down. Superintendent Rowdon,
feeling thirsty, stopped to take drink,
when, to his surprise, he saw several
| brilliant7 stones suoh as he had bought
| from the farmer, and which be now had
no doubt swere diamonds Hastily co.