The Monte Vista journal., 1899-10-07
6EEKSDIAMOND FIELD
FROM WISCONSIN, TO LABRADOR
Processes 1sAAs, - Wiseeasaa. YlsAs Evi-
Asaes - EasoaraGs Hin n search.

A Wisconsin man IL looking for
nsw Kimberley on the American con-
tinent. He knows that 1t ID there. but
u not sure that he will ind II. There
are millions In It and 1t u q little
strange that the quest has attracted 30
little attention and that there have
been NO spies on his trail seeking to be
IN at the dlscoverey Of the promised
diamond mines. From time to time
sha county and the neighb0ring parts
Of wisconsin. sapphires have been
found there in much greater numbers
than the diamonds.
At times the faculty OF the State Uni.
verSity and gem experts from else
where have Investigated these diamond
fields, with the result that they were
pronounced not to be diamond Aelds
at all. - the region has absolutely
none Of the geological chAracteristics
OF diamond bearing country. 30 the
dreams Of diamond mines vanished.
The stray diamonds were strays, that
was all and how they happened none
thought to conjecture until DR.. W. II.
Hobbs, professor Of mineralogy In the
State Univesity, began to Investigate
the matter.
There were diamonds there. they did
MT belong to that region. How did
they get there. Perhaps dropped there
by the aborigines, though that was
hardly . plausible theory. When gold
10 found In the bed Of rivers, the min
ers know that 1t has been washed
down from somewhere. They follow
the traces Of the gold and look for the
mother lode, and thus many rich mines
have been discovered. But one could
hardly expect to find q trail Of dia.
monds leading to the mother pans
However, the gold hunters method
furnjshed q suggestion Where did
the diamonds come from? Where did
the b0ulders and glacial debris Of the
Kettle range Of hills In southern Wis
cousin come from7 They didn't belong
to the underlying local geological for.
nations any more than the diamonds.
Then what more natural conclusion
than that the great Ice cap that
brought down the boulders, pushed up
the Kettle range as terminal NOR
aine and dug the myriads Of lakes, al
10 brought down the diamonds. 80 a.
these bOulders had a home somewhere
in the far and frozen north. no had the
diamonds. BOulders and diamonds
came together from British America,
from the shores Of Hudson's bay, from
Labrador. from the Mackenzie. Lab
rador is the original home Of the din
monds, In DIR. Hobbs opinion. and he
Is on his way thither. He will follow
the path Of the glacier. and It is taking
him In that direction at present. 1t Ia
easy to follow the direction taken by
the Ice cap. But whether the Ice cap
DID not erase all the external manifes-
tations. the volcanic crumpllngs Of the
diamond pans, when II was picking up
diamonds and boulders, remains to be
seen.
1t Is possible that diamond field
may he found nearer than Labrador.
Indeed. a geoiogist of wausar. Mr.. r.
w. Clark. has risen to say that the dia.
mond field In In northern Wisconsin or
Michigan. He says: Don't Labrador
me. The man who talks Labrador
talks through his hat. Well informed
men estimate that the upper peninsula
Of Michigan contains more carbon than
the state Of Pennsylvania, and no part
OF the world had more heat and pres.
sure applied to its rock than upper
Hichi9an. We see hcre all the condl.
tious required for = great natural dIa,
moud factory, while the stray dia-
monds picked out Of the glacial drift
IN southern wisconsin prove that the
great natural diamond factory Of up-
per Michigan has been successfully oT,-
Grated at some former time"