The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1899-06-25
Chicago Inter OCEAN,

Chicago Inter OCEAN,
Diamond mines of Wisconsin and
other states of the lake region may soon
rival those of South Africa According
to biologists, the region of the great
lakes between Canada and the United
| States is sown with diamonds. Seven
teen gems, varying in weight from one
| to over twenty-one carats, have been
found and identified recently in this
district by competent authorities.
A movement. headed by Professor
w. II. Hobbs of the University of Wis
consin, and participated in by many
| professors of geology in various col
| leges and universities of the northwest,
| has been started to make scientific
survey of the gravel ridges in Wiscon-
| sin and in several other states. known
as terminal moraines, to locate the orr
| gin of the diamonds which nave been
| found in them at various times, says
the Milwaukee Sentinel. The investi-
! cation will be made under the direc-
ton of the Wisconsin geological sur
vey, and, in order to carry out its plans,
the following named mineralogists have
| consented to cooperate with professor
Hobbs and will, like him, make eXami-
nations without charge of gem stones
cinity of the moraines: Professor Her
man Leroy Fairchild, University Of
Rochester, n. Y; Professor l. c. Rus
sell, University of Michigan, Ann Ar
Dor. Mich; Professor Joseph p. ID
! dings, University of Chicago; Professor
o. C. Harrington, curator for mineral
ogy of the Field Columbian museum,
Chicago.
Professor Hobbs believes that the
diamonds come from some place in
Canada, and considers it possible that
the survey may help to locate that
place. They were, he believes. brought
down by the glaciers. and by tracing
them back their birthplace may be
found. The map printed herewith lnd1-
Gates the location of the gravel ridges
in which diamonds may be found. and
the dots show the places where valu-
able stones have been found.
Diamonds Found Near Milwaukee.
Professor Hobbs states that fifteen of
the seventeen diamonds have been
found in Wisconsin. OF the total or
eight localities at which these dia-
monds have been found, six lie with
in an area of 200 miles square, with
lis center near the city of Milwaukee
Thus far it seems that the diamonds
have been found as the result of accl-
dent, and in several cases a consider
able, or even very long time has
elapsed before the finder has been made
aware of the fact that what he has
found is diamond.
The first of the stones to come to the
public notice was a fifteen-carat dia-
mond unearthed while digging we'll
at the town of Eagle, in Waukesha
county, Wis. Although found in 1876,
it was not untiilSS3, when it was taken
to Milwaukee, that it was found 10 De
a diamond. 1t had, of course, been
preserved as a curious stone, and when
it was at last taken to Milwaukee it
was sold to a jeweler in that city for
the paItry sum of 81. The jeweler, COL
onel s. B. Boynton, submitted the stone
to examination, and was surprised 10
learn that it was a diamond. Quite an
excitement followed, and an attempt
was made to boom" the town of Eagle
for diamond mining. The woman who
had sold the diamond f,r 81, now Offered
the jeweler the munificent sum of S1.19
and on his refusal to consider the prop
osition, brought suit to recover the
value of the stone. The extensive ltl-
cation thus begun was concluded by
decision from the supreme court OF the
state of Wisconsin in favor of the de-
PENDANT, on the ground that he had
been ignorant of the value of the stone
at the time of purchasing it.
As a result of the enterprise" eX-
hibited by the persons engineering the
boom at Eagle, it was destined 10 De
some time before the discovery of the
Eagle diamond would be regarded by
sci;~.tific men as genuine, for TWO
smaller stones alleged to have been
subsequently found at the locality were
adjudged to have the marks of an
African origin upon them. lnasmuch
as these were examined by q. +. hunz
of Tiffany & Co, the best gem expert In
America, and as he very naturally DIS
credited the discovery of any diamonds
at Eagle other than those planted
there, the scientific world took no tur-
Their notice of the matter.
1T was the discovery of a diamond
between three and four carats' weigh
at Oregon, Wis, in the fall OF 1898, that
first drew my attention to the subject,
saws Professor Hobbs. THE stone was
found by a farmers lad in clay bank
at Oregon and a month later 1t was
brought to me in collection OF pebbles
for examination. The circumstances
were such as to leave no doubt that
the stone had been found exactly as
reported, and in this light the Eagle !
assumed a new interest. The |
jeweler who had purchased the Eagle |
diamond had removed to Chicago, |
where he was visited. and the stone |
examined. 1t was found to resemble !
the Oregon stone, and whatever may |
be true of the stones alleged to have |
been subsequently found at Eagle, |
there is now no reason to doubt that !
this one came to light in the manner |
reported. Both ii and the Oregon dia- !
mond were soon after purchased by /
Tiffany & Co., and are now included |
in their collection of gems
Colonel Boynton information
was obtained which led to the discov-
cry of a third diamond, and this the
largest of all, twenty-one carats, owned
by the widow of a farmer of Kewas-
KUN. This stone had been found in the
spring of 1886 while blowing a field in
the neighboring town of louisville.
The fact that diamonds from Eagle,
Oregon and Kohlsville had all been
found in the deposits of glacial ma
terial indicated clearly that they had
not been formed near the places where
they were found, but had been trans
ported long distances by the great ice
sheet which, in former geological age,
spread over the northern part of the
continent. AS is now well known this
ce mantle made two great advances
INTO the territory of the great lakes,
and at the time of it's later invasion
built up about its margin the great
wall of drift. which is variously called
he terminal marginal or kettle
noraine.' This moraine, which was
he dumping ground for most of the
'ock material transported by the ice,
has now been traced by biologists OF
he United States geological survey and
others throughout its extent.
1T is a fact of the greatest signif-
.ance and interest that the three towns
If Oregon, Eagle and Kohlsville are To-
.ated upon this moraine, and this can