Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1903-04-25
AMERICAN DIAMONDS.
Valuable Pebbles May be Found in Ger
tain Gravel Beds in This
Country.

The presence of fresh water pearls in
American streams is a comparatively
well-known fact. The discovery of dia-
mohds in the United States has not been
so widely advertised, largely, no doubt
because so few jewels of the latter kind
have been found here. Sout'l Africa is
now the largest producer III the world,
AMI Brazil ranks next III present yield.
India. Borneo and the Ural mountains
of Russia have i'll the past supplied
great many diamonds. in nearly every
country which supplies these stones they
are found at considerable distance from
the vein of mineral in which they were
once deposited. South Africa affords
marked exception TO the rule In that
part of the world they are embedded in
pans or pipes" which are sheAEs OF
lava, that have invaded black shay
rock. The suspicion is now entertained
that the intense heat OF volcanic action
may have converted some of the carbon
i'll the shale into jewels.
One of the regions in the United States
from which small diamonds have been
obtained is the Piedmont Plateau. at the
southeastern base of the Appalachian
chain. between Southern Virginia and
Georgia. Nearly or quite a Dozen one
reaching % carats in size. have been
picked up there, under circumstances
that suggest the probability Of having
been transport od-rolled down hill. per-
hapS-many miles from the place Of their
birth. Geological conditions like those
existing at Kimberley have been observed
III kentucky, but up to date no diamonds
have vet heen discovered in that state.
4 possible explanation of the failure is
tie lower proportion Of carbon in the
shale
y somewhat difficult problem is raised
ny hndlHS seven diamonds, ranging in
SIZE from to 2l carats. and n number
of smaller ones, in the Great Lake re-
gion, under circumstances that Indicate
that they were brought there by the
great ice sheet Of Che glacia! period.
Most of the stones were discovered in
Wisconsin but Michigan and Ohio have
each reported one or two also. In every
instance the jewels were hidden in tie
gravel Of 4 kettle moraine," a kind Of
deposit which biologists recognize as
having been left by Il glacier. Since the
Ice sheet which carried these stones i4to
the United States DOUBTLESS Travelled
hundreds Of miles, possibly thousands IT
is hard to locate the center from hich
they proceeded, although this must have
been mp IN British territory somewhere.
However. Canadian geo!ogists have iste-
~ expressed the opinion that the highest
laud from which the ICE sheet flowed cX-
listed west of Hudson bay. but that thc
source Of the ice which invaded The lake
region was Labrador, east OF Hudson
bay.
The fact Of greatest practical imDor-
tance is that other glacial morai9ps in
the United States may possibly contain
jewels like those already discovered ia
the Lake region. There are such dcpos-
its III Southwestern New Yorl, and on
Long Island for instance. Il woal1 pay
10 keep a sharp lookout where @ravel'y
ridges are being cut for roads or other
purposes in order to insure the finding
Of jewels if any exist thore Diamonds
in the rough are not exactly round.
though they may have blunt corners.
They te"d - assume q crystalline shape.
and have slightly cuIriug. NOS fan. alaes
Some Of tie Wisconsin diamonds had
over dozen facets. The form does not
closely resemble the cut stone. nor does
the pebble glisten. Their remarkable
hardness enables them 10 scratch all
other substances. Perhaps they may not
he over sixteenth or an eighth If IN
inch in diameter. But anything family
suggestive Of cubical bif ~ material
found in glacial gravel ouett 10 receive
critical studr.-New Y ,rk Tribune