The daily morning journal and courier., 1900-04-30
Toilet Sets with SlOp Jars.

signs of any distinct style of architec-
 ture being employed by the ancient
 Americans, the dwellings had one sig
 nificance Probably never have houses been constructed of such beautiful and
 precious moterial as these. The houses
 appear to have been rectangular in
 shape and very low, with one log crossed
 over the other, as are log cabin camps
 of to-day, These villages have perhaps
 lain in ruins since many years before | Columbus discovered America, and are of historical interest.
 | Another feature of the silicified forest | is the well known natural bridge, one of | the most celebrated objects in the west, l consisting of a great petrifled trunk | spanning a canyon forty or fifty feet | wide and forming a footbridge upon which men may easily cross. Surround ing this remarkable petrified bridge grow cottonwood tree and a few bushes, constituting the entire vegeta-
 tion in that region The natural bridge possesses the added interest of being in
 it's proper place. which is unusual both , in this and other forests. A hard coat ing is still found closely enwrapped around the trunh of the tree, no doubt a
 portion of the original sand and mud
 which brought about it's petrificaton. The Arizona petrified forest probably
 dates back to the triassic terrane, or the early part of the mesozoic formation
 millions of years before the age of man,
 and it is probably second in antiquity
 to the coal fields of America which are of paleozoic time. The three great geo. logical ages are classified as paleozGic, mesozoic and cenozoic, dating back for
 ty or fifty million years, eight and four million ears, respectively. During the mesozoic time the American continent is supposed to have been covered over by a vast ocean, but undoubtedly near some former land, from which the trees of the petrified forest were washed down and lodged on the bottom of the mesozoic ocean. It was then that the silicffication began, but it must be re- membered that these trees did not be- come silicified by natures slow process in few years, as are razor homes pet rified ito order' in Scotland. The huge logs of wood gradually became logs of stone while lying at the bottom of the ocean. They must have been complete ly covered with wet, sticky, soapy mud and sand, properly called silicia, which subsequently, sifted into the tree, taking the place of the wood, which was grad ually decaying. As fast as grain or the smallest particle of a grain of wood decayed, precisely the same quantity of silicia was forced into the opened cell, and In this systematic way, after years and years of time with all natural con- ditions faVorabll, silicia took the place Of the wood and the former log of wood became log of stone of the very hard est formation possible.
 By the time this inversion was conn pleted, the American continent, then the ocean bed, had been raised six or seven thousand feet. The ocean had partial ly dried up, leaving the region of the petritied forest in the center of a desert. This area was since supposed to be an oasis, where tropical plants grew luXu- riantly; stream of water ran rapidly through it. as is indicated by the basins, gulchea and ravines.
 This field, with it's numerous interest ing features, has already gained great popularity, and the many visitors who