Clarke courier. [volume] (Berryville, Va.) 1869-1997, 1906-01-17
FOSSIL CORKSCREWS
QUEER FREAKS or NATURE THAT
ABOUND IN NEBRASKA.
Gigantic spirsis of Mineral rssb-
toned So Automatically AS to he
Easily Mistaken mt First GIane,
jFor Works of Art.

Easily Mistaken mt First GIanc.
For Works of Art.
Nobody knows with certainty what
the so called devils corkscrews' real
iy are. They are found by tens OF thou
sands In Nebraska. most particularly
In Sioux county. and some OF them are
rs much as forty feecin height. without
counting the gigantic roots" presently
20 be described. Quartz Is the sub
stance OF which they are made. but
how they came to be imbedded, num-
bers OF them together. in the sandstone
cliffs OF that region Is more than any
body can tell, unless. perhaps, one the
DRY, to be mentioned later, is to be &C
cepted 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. II. as
biologists have proved. the sandstone
rock be Clipped away n corkscrew
shaped thing Of quartz is exposed to
view. fashioned so mathematically as
TO be easily mistaken at first glance
for n work Of art The white spiral
may be free, as a sculptor would say,
or. I'm other cases, may be twined about
sort OF axis. as vine would run
around n vertical pole
Somebody awhile ago gave to these
spirals the name devils corkscrews''
for want OF a better and as expressive
OF the mystery OF their origin. Scien-
lists discussed them in vain. and many
theories were formed in regard 10 them.
There were authorities who declared
they were fossil burrows excavated in
tertiary times by gophers Of a huge
and extinct species. And, TO confirm
this notion. the bones of some burrow-
ing animal We're actually found imbed-
ded In the substance OF one OF the
screws" This seemed TO settle the
matter for awhile. until the controversy
\ was started again 10y the discovery OF
the Osseous remains. under like condi-
tons. OF n small deer. Nobody could
assert that a deer was ever a burrow-
ing animal. and 80 that notion had 10
be abandoned.
Other theorists declared that the ''fos-
sil twisters," as some folks called them.
represented the prehistoric bOrings Of
gigantic worms that lived I'm the very
long ago. Yet others suggested that
they were petrified vines. though Il was
difficult TO explain how or why the
poles on which the alleged vines
seemed IN many cases 70 have been
trained had been so admirably pre-
served. or. for that matter. originally
erected.
In the midst OF so many contradictory
theories the problem seemed likely to
defy solution indefinitely. The one that
held out longest and gained most ad-
herents was that Of the extinct gophers
II accounted for the "rOot'-a shape
less appendage often nearly as big as
the "twister' itself and attached to the
lower end OF the latter-which obvious
ly. as II seemed. had been the nest OF
the rodent animal. the "corkscrew'' rep.
resenting the spiral hole by which II
made Its way TO the surface OF the
ground. What could possibly be more
easy 10 comprehend?
Professor +. H Barbour. however
has declared-and his decision is ac-
cepted Professionally until somebody
offers n better-that the corkscrews are
OF vegetable origin. They are, he as
serts. the fossil remains OF ancient
water weeds OF gigantic size. which
grew millions OF years ago on the bot
tom Of vast sheet OF water that GOV.
cred all Of Nebraska. These must have
been the biggest aquatic plants that
ever existed, and when the huge lake
that overiowed the region in question
/ dried up the remains of many OF the
/ plants were left behind buried In the
accumulated detritus at the bottom.
In the course of time-ages after the
bottom OF the ancient lake had beer
converted into solid rock-rivers pillow
! ed their way through the land. cutting
this way and that and exposing 10 the
/ view Of the modern traveller on the
faces Of the cliffs the fossil casts OF the
prehistoric water weeds just as they
stood when they grew hundreds OF
thousands and probably millions OF
/ years ago. Their tissues were replaced
as they decayed by silica from the wa
ter, particle by particle. and thus, as II
! by magical means. their likenesseS
have been preserved for the wonder
and admiration of the present surviv
Ors on the earth.
Such is the theory now pretty wei
accepted by scientists in regard TO tn,
origin Of the fossil corkscrews." Pos
/ sibly II is not correct, but IL otherwis,
( there is room for the exercise Of any
body's imagination in the consideration
! Of this veritable romance of the an
cient history of the world.-New Yorl
| Herald.