Fergus County argus. [volume] (Lewistown, Mont.) 1886-1946, 1906-01-19
Mystery Of DEVILS corkscrews.

the socalled devils corkscrews"
really are. They are found by tens
of thousands in Nebraska, most par
ticularly in Sioux county, and some
OF them are as much as 40 feet in
height, without counting the gigantic
roots presently to be described
Quartz is the substance of which thew
are made, but how they came to be
embedded, numbers of them togeth-
err, in the sandstone cliffs of that
region is more than anybody can tell.
unless, perhaps, one theory-to be
mentioned later-is to be accepted as
correct.
You are travelling, let us say, on
horseback through that part of the
country, and, as often happens, you
see, standing out from the face of a
sandstone cliff gigantic spiral. If,
as biologists have proved, the sand
stone rock be Clipped away cork
screw shaped thing of quartz is .ex-
posed to view, fashioned so mathemat-
ically as to be easily mistaken at
first glance for a work of art. The
white spiral may be free, as a sculp-
tor would say, or, in other cases,
may be twined about a sort of axis.
as vine would run around a vertical
pole.
Somebody while ago gave these
sp1rals the name of devils cork.
scrws" for want of a better and as
expressive of the mystery of their
origin. Scientists discussed them in
vain, and many theories were formed
in regard to them. There were all-
thOrities who declared they were fos.
sii burrows, excavated in Tertiary
times by gophers of huge and extinct
species. And, to confirm this no
ton, the bones of some burrowing
animal were actually found embed.
ded in the substance of one of the
screws" This seemed to settle the
matter for awhile, until the controver
sy was started again by the discovery
of the osseous remains, under like
conditions, of small deer. Nobody
could assert that deer was ever a
burrowing animal, and so that notion
had to be abandoned.
Other theorists declared that the
fossil twisters," as some folks call
ed them, represented the prehistoric
borings of gigantic worms that lived
in the very long ago. Yet others sug-
gested that they were petrified vines
though it was difficult to explain
how or why the "poles' on which the
alleged vines seemed in many cases
to have been trained had been so ad-
mirably preserved, or, for that mat.
ter, originally erected. Humorists
to help out the discussion of the prob.
lem, declared that the "corkscrews'
were evidently relics of convention
of Tertiary prohibitionists.
In the midst of so many contradic
tory theories the problem seemed
likely to defy solution indefinitely
The one that held out longest and
gained most adherents was that OF
the extinct gophers. It accounted for
the root" a shapeless appendage
often nearly as big as the "twister'
itself and attached to the lower end
of the latter which, obviously, as II
seem, had been the nest of the rodent
animal. the "corkscrew," representing
the spiral hole by which it made its
way to the surface of the ground
What could possibly be more easy tc
comprehend?
The deer mentioned, it was urged
was an accident, having no actua
relation to the problem. AS for the
mathematical twist of the cork
. screws" there was no good reason
wherefore that should be cited as q
serious objection. The screws were
obviously not works of art; they mus
therefore be works of nature; and, il
so, why not suppose that they were
made by the animal? Was it posi-
BILE to claim that they were made b!
a vegetable? OF course not. Never
theless, the dispute Waxed hot-no
less so, indeed, than the famous con
troversy already embalmed in liter
AZURE over the "Calaveras Man,
which was rendered uninteresting, S.
far as one of the participants wa
, concerned, by the classical "chunl
of old red sandstone that chit hin
! in the abdomen"
1t remained for Professor E. H
. Barbour of the University of Nebras
ka to settle not definitely, nor fin
: ally, perhaps-the great question o
the screws. He declares-and his dc
cision is accepted Professionally I'm
| til somebody offers a better-that tn
, corkscrews are of vegetable origin
They are, he asserts, the fossil re
mains of ancient water weeds of 81
gantic size, which grew millions O
} years ago on the bottom of vas
sheet of water that covered all Nc
3 braska These must have been tn
: biggest aquatic plants that ever eA
: listed, and. when the huge lake tina
t overlooked the region in question
+ dried up, the remains of many of tn
plants were left behind buried in tn
| accumulated detritus at the bottom
e In the course of time-ages afte
2 the bottom of the ancient lake ha
I been covered into solid rock-river
ploughed the land. cutting this wa
/ and that. and exposing to the vie'
Y of the modern traveller on the face
$ of the cliffs the fossil casts of tn
: prehistoric water weeds just as the
g stood when they grew hundreds c
= thousands and probably millions {
0 years ago. Their tissues were repla'
e ed. as they decayed. by silica froI
Y the water, particle by particle, an
5 thus, as if by magical means. thei
likenesses have been preserved fc
e the wonder and admiration of tn
: present survivors on the earth.
s Such is the theory now pretty we
l. accepted by scientists in regard
n the origin of the fossil corkscrews
e Possibly it is not correct. but, il otl
Il erwise, there is room for the exercis
a of anybody's imagination in the CO..
e sideration of this veritable romano
Iof the ancient history Of the worl,
n All the news twice every week.