Arizona republican., 1902-05-01

Ncl-htIStE state that the NriEon2 forest belongs far back in the Mosoloic time. probably tn thr Tria@ric forna ton. while the smaller forests found elsewhere are of the tertiary age. The difference in their antiquity is there fore probably millions of years. The forest proper covers some two square miles, but petIified trees are to be seen in an area of fifty square miles. II is a remarkable sight. Charles Dudley Warner says that il is a spot where the most blase globe trUtter stands in nut wonder. "
 With the exception Of single cot touwood trunk. the trees are of an e2l- tinct coniferous species. They lie prone upon the ground. The sections or ends If the logs show brilliant red and vel ioWs and dull blues. The bark is not brilliant. but dull. and wonderfully well preserved. Some trees show even the knots to perfection. Some of the pet rified logs are four feet in diameter and from ten to twelve feet long. They have no branches, but the hundreds of small pieces. varying from a couple of inches to one foot in diameter are probably the remains of branches.
 Here and there are heaps of chips from the petrificd trees, and thci; beauty of coloring is hewildorin& There are literally thousands Of bush els of chips that are red moss agate and may be beautifully polished. ThrI" are many times more chips of amc- thYsts. grln topaz and Vari-hucd agutes, showing the grain of the trees as they grew millions of years ago. One may obtain cross sections of lo%% showing in complctest detail the annual ring marks and separation of the bark from the trees. The stone is of the hardest and takes and keeps an incOm- parable polish.
 Thousands of pounds of pieces from these trees. turned to agate. have been sent all over America and Europe to be polished and sold for ornaments. Indeed, so rapid has grown the work Of daspoiling the forest, that in many places scores of trees have been en- t;rely removed.
 The Zuni Indians told the United States surveyors about the spot where their Iolished agates came from and Colonel John w. Stedman was prop ably the first white man who ever looile1 upon the petrified forests. That vas ilt 1851, and two years later he told of his discovery in New York news
 
 another United States civil engineer, made collection of specimens and extensive mention is made of it in :ha government reports. The tourist and vandal did not get at it until near 1SS0 when tke Santa Fe railroad was built.
 The stone vas polished and man;I- facturad Tt Sioux Falls, $. D., until q recent government order stopped the removal Of the stone from the forest. The cost Of cutting and polishing cEe pet1ifac;jon approaches that of treat ing diamonds. as it is calculated to be seven-tei.- hs the hardness of a dia- Inond.
 The aboriginal Indians o1 Arizona and New Mexico found the petrifci forest a mine of wealth to them, ages before the white man saw America. Jewelry charms, idols. arrow points. pestles and various weapons made of the beautiful chips from the stone trees. may still be found. centuries old, among the tribes as far north as Wy oming, and as far south as Zacatccas. Mexico. The NaVaios and Zunis of New Mexico used to make annual trips across the deserts of sand to the trees Of agate and the articles made from the polished, attra ctive stone were eag- erly traded for by other tribes of the southwest
 The action of heat and cold has brok- en most of the fossils into sections from two to twenty feet long, and some of them must have been immense trees. Measuring the exposed parts of several they must have been from 150 to 200 feet in length. and from two to four and one-half feet in diameter.
 Agate bridge" is the most notable feature in this land of wonders. The portion of the forest where the finest specimens are found is in Apache county, from seventeen to twenty miles from HolbrCoK. The bridge" is a tree trunk transformed into the finest agate which spans a chasnl sixty feet wide. This precious gem is 110 feet long and 1 five feet and three inches in diameter at the base, taperiHg to three feet at the ape:l, and it contains enough ma teTial to give labor to all of the lapi- daries in the world for the next gener- ation. This log is one of thousands. many of them broken into huge frag- ments. It is impossible to conceive of the marvellous beauty of this region. for the ground is covered with aue- thysts, red and yellow jasper. topaz,
 
 ! of agate of every variety-gens as big as flour barrels ana steam boilers.
 Sections Of some of the trees in the 1 petrifed forest several feet in diameter and large enough for the tops of tables, have been cut and polished. Not even the imperial works at Elactorinbourg, in Russia. with their wealth of kalk- ansto jasper, massive malachite and other superb ornaments in stone, can rival the beauty of the 2gatized forest Of Arizona.
 From Holbrook station over 3C0 tons of agate and jasper from the petriffed forests were shipped to stone polishers during the year 1896, and the amount has increased during some years since. A hotel in Denver had a counter made of polished slabs from two of the finest stone trees in the forest. Some com mercial vandals have, with dynamite. blown to pieces magnificent specimens of trees to get a pocketful of chips and crystals from the heart of the tree
 A scientific theory concerning the petrifaction is to the effect that after the forest of pines and cedars was established the basin or valley became