Arizona republican., 1901-04-06
THE MICA INSANITY
How It Breaks Out at Irregular
 Intervals.

They were speaking of mica. "I re-
 member" said Mr. F. J. Bonsall, who
 was in a reminiscent mood. about sew
 enteen years ago when l was up in Col
 orado. there was another mica craze,
 with an unconscious accent on the
 word another" Justice Burnett's face
 flushed and he shook his flaming and
 luxuriant locks in anger, Captain Hi
 Mcdonald gnashed his teeth in resent
 ment. Yes" continued Mir. Bonsall
 they come about every SD often and
 are liable to break out anywhere in, a
 mining country. Nobody knows what
 starts them. It seems to be in the air.
 About the time the human system gets
 ready for mica some prospector comes
 along and when one of the victims of
 the mica insanity begins talking about
 his hallucination, that reminds the prospector that about eighteen or twen-
 ty years ago he found a mica mine when he was looking for gold and didn't want to fool. his time away with it. He has invariably sunk a shaft or scaled off the surface and taken out a slab ten or fifteen feet long and two or three feet wide. There is always enough mica in that mine to supply the uni verse. The prospector can always go straight to the deposit The victims charter him and start out. They nearly starve themselves 10 death. aud when they get back. worn out. they're cured. The mica craze is good deal like the small poX; it Is seldom that the same man has it twice"
 Iuctica pupuatt ,,,,t....t..-. glance at the speaker. who never ob- served it. and pretended to busy him. self with some papers. His air was that of man who had no time to listen to idle conversation. Captain Hi McDon- aid ceased gnashing his teeth long enough to make some allusion to the deity.
 Il was up in the Gunnson country" went on Mir. Bonsall. Every ybody was happy and doing well. Then, without any cause that I could see. a kind of restlessness sprung up and folks got to talking about mica, it's uses and the market for it, So far as We knew there wasn't any mica in the state of Colo rado. Nobody had any notion of hunt ing for any, and if it hadn't been for ' S"i''t ii'ii itNdS I suppose the craze would have passed away in a day or two But this Texas feller come. along and becomes interested in the mica topic. He knows where there's mica enough to last the world for ten ! thousand years. It's down in Texas l, Nobody is working the mine. and no- | body owns it. IL belongs to every ! body. All of the windows and most of | the doors in that neighborhood are !, made out of it.
 Business was suspended in Gunnison | from that instant and in a day or two | considerable part of the population !. was following the man from Texas | back to the mica mountain. The mica turned out to be gypsum. We did find door made out of the stuff and | SUD- pose it was also used in the place of glass. We buried the Texan on the spot where he fell. l don't think mica las been mentioned in Gunnison from nat day to this. There may not be an- 'ther craze in Phoenix for the next fen ears, and Mir. Bonsall samtered ont Ns soon as he was gone Captain Me Donald said: "I don't allow no man to hsult me and live. I'd killed him on ne spot, but l couldn't do it when the lty campaigns just coming on. Bon aiIs going to die on the night of May