Daily press. [volume] (Newport News, Va.) 1896-current, 1906-01-07
Eos IL CORKSCREWS
putCH FREAKS OF NATURE THAT
ABOUND IN NEBRASKA.
Gfgs Spirals of Mineral FASH
iorcd So MnthcmnticnIIy an to He
EG Mistaken ut First Glance
10 . orks of Art.

iol,ed So MnthcmnticnIIy an to He
En Mistaken ut First Glance
For q orks of Art.
No. V knows with certainty what
the allied devils corlscrews" real
~ a. They are found by tens OF thou
EanOs Nebraska. most particularly
la 500; county, ana some OF them are
as n.l as forty feet IN height. without
rou, +, the gigantic roofs" presently
20 IL described Quartz is the sub
stanre of which they are made. but
how fley came 10 be imbcddcd. mum
Dcrs q them together. III the sandstone
cliff; I that region IS more Than any
bod IN tell unless perhaps. one the
DRY. bC mentioned later, Is to he ac-
cepte as correct
VI are travelling let us say. on
nor: ck through that part of the
cou =, and as often happens, You
see, ndiug out from the face of
ennr ne cliff. gigantic spiral. If, as
gco Is have proved, the sandstone
rocl Clipped away Il corkscrcw
shai thing OF quartz il exposed to
ric' ashioncd so mnthcmatically as
10 'asi!y mistaken nj first glance
for work. of art The white spiral
ana, free, as II sculptor would say,
OF. H. thcr cases. may be twincd about
S. OF axis. as Il vine would run
AFRO, 'crtical pole.
Sou body awhile ago gave to these
spir the name devils corkscrcws'
for mt OF a better and us expressive
Of & mystery of their origin. Scicn-
lists ScuSSei them in vain. and many
thee ; were formed IN regard to them.
The were authorities who declared
the; 'ere fossil burrows cXcnvntcd in
tertiary times by gophcrs OF huge
and extinct species. Ana. TO confirm
this lotion, the bones OF some burroW-
ing animal were actually found imbed-
dei in the substance of one of the
SCREWS" This seemed Ia settle the
matte for awhile until the controversy
wns r'arted again by The discovery OF
the scous remains, under like c0udi-
tIoh, OF Il small deer Nobody couid
asScr that Il deer was ever II burrow-
in" imal. and so that notion had to
be landoned.
0ther theorists declared that the ''fos-
sill Is Sters," rs some folks called them.
repir Gnted the prehistoric borings OF
gigs ic worms that lived In the very
lont Igo. Yet others suggested that
tho! were petrified vines. though It was
din ~ to explain how or why the
''polc' on which the alleged vines
seemed III many cases to have been
tra!It' had been so admirably pre-
serve Or for that matter. originally
erected.
In ile midst Of so many contradictory
Theories the problem seemed likely to
DEF o.ution indefinitely. The one that
Eeid OFT longest and gained most adj
here was that Of the extinct gophers.
II accounted for the ''root'-a shape
less 81 pcndagc often nearly as big as
the tristcr' itself and attNched to the
lowe rnd of the latter-which obvious
ly - it seemed. had been the nest of
the cnt animal, the "corkscrcw" rep
rescn NJ the spiral hole by which 1t
ma,ie ils way to the surface OF the
grouni. What could possibly be more
cas- ic comprehend?
Pro 'ssor T.. IT, Barbour. however.
hns drclared-and his decision is ac-
cerlci professionally until somebody
ofi'ers Il better-that the corkscrews nre
OF ve ctahc origin. They nre. he as
Bert the fossil remains OF ancient
%atnr weeds OF gigantic size, which
gre millions OF years ago OH the bot
tom II 4 vast sheet OF water that GOV
erred II OF Nebraska. These must have
been the biggest aquatic plants that
ever existed. and when the huge lake
that ovcrtiowcd the region I'm question
dr'ci up the remains of many OF the
plans were left behind buried IN tho
accumulated detritus at the bottom.
IL he course of timc-ages after the
botioin of the ancient lake had been
con arted Into solid rock rivers Jlow-
ed ih'ir way through the land, cutting
this ny and that and exposing to the
VieN or the modern traveller on the
racC7 If the cliffs the fossil casts OF the
pre- ORIG water weeds just as they
stora when they grew hundreds of
bou nds and probably millions OF
yea so. Their tissues were replace
as l. dccayed by silica from the wa
ter. 'tclc 10y particle. and thus. US IL
oF %lca! means, their ilkcncSScs
EaF cen preserved for the wonder
anu 'nirati0n Gt the present surviy.
ors the earth
"uc IL The theory now pretty well
acc by scientists in regard to the
OH, the fossil corkscrews" Pos
sib Is not correct. but If otherwise
the room for the exercise OF any
bcd. imagination in the consideration
OF y vcritablc romance OF the an
cichi .istory Of the world.-Ncw York
Uesail
Personal Heuuty