Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1907-09-25
ARKANSAS GEN GRAVE.
Rocky Farm Proprietors Go
Wild Over Recent Diamond
Discovery
THINK THEY OWN KIMBERLEY
Largo Portion of Diamond Bearing Dis
trict Restricted-How the Stones
Were Found Near Murfreesboro, In
Pike County.

Were Found Near Murfreesboro, In
Pike County.
Arkansas is in u lutter of excite
ment. The rest of the country has read
with interest of the discovery OF dia-
monds, but this Is nothing to the COM
motion that the report has caused in
the state itself. Every owner of Il
rocky farm in the hills sees himself
the prospective owner of a diamond
mine that will rival the Kimberley
mines, says n Little Rock (Ark.) dis
patch to the New York Herald.
Up to the present time, however,
only one find Of what is believed to be
diamonds in paying quantities has
been made. This find Is near Murfrees-
boro, in Pike county.
The mere fact that diamonds had
been found would not of itself be OF
Importance, because they have been
found in twenty-nine other places in
the United States at various times, but
all other finds have been of n or two
stones at q place, and in each case
they have been glacial.
The geological survey has issued
this report relative to the Pike county
diamonds:
"They occur in an igneous rock, SINH
lar to that in the South African mines,
which forms a small stock near Muir
freesboro. The first two stones were
found Aug. l, 1905, and since then
many have been picked up, the total
number found ut last report being 13O.
Many are white and Of good water.
others are yellow, and some are OF
brown bort. The two largest stones
weigh six and one-half carats, n be-
ing exceedingly fine white and the
other brown. They are found on the
surface as well as within the g%reenish,
friable, decomposed p%eriodotite, a rock
somewhat like the famous blue ground
of Kimberley"
DR.. John G. Branner several years
ago expressed the opinion that the
presence of diamonds was indicated ] n
Pike county. but nobody took sufficient
Interest In his statement to make fur
Their investigation. A company has
been formed that will carry out the
work Of developing the mine.
John Wesley Huddleston owned a
farm In the hills Of Pike county. He
was an enthusiast about minerals and
always carried around specimens OF
ore bearing rock. He lives much out
doors and bought a farm more for Its
mineral possibilities than for fertility.
But one day he picked up a crystal
which glinted brightly in the sun
shine and seemed to hold the light
more than any other he had noticed.
He took 1t home to add to his collec-
ton. Rubbing 1t against another crys-
tai, he noticed that it cut 1t. He then
decided to take the stone to Murfrees-
boro and get some other PERSONS opin-
ion on it. Mr.. Huddleston rode mule
back toward M~urfreesboro. Possessed
now with the idea that the crystals
on his land Were valuable, he kept his
eyes on the ground as he rode along.
Passing through one Of his fields, his
eyes caught a CLINT of reflected sun
shine from a pebble in the dirt. Dis
mounting, he picked it up and proceed
ed on his way.
Eventually he showed it to Judge J..
C. Pinnix, who. finding that it cut a
watch crystal like a glass cutter, adj
vised him to send 1t to Little Rock.
The specimens were sent there and
thence to New York, where experts de-
clared they were diamonds.
DR.. Henry s. Washington of New
York visited the Huddleston place, but
in the meantime eighteen other dia-
monds had been found, making TWEEN
ty-one. After a careful investigation
covering several weeks DR.. Washing
ton gave it as his opinion that the
company formed by Little Rock men
had included all Of the diamond bear
ing area in their purchase.
Since that time systematic effort has
been made to locate the crater pipe.
chimney or tube, as 1t is variously
called. Diamonds are formed by the
capitalization of carbon and are
brought from below the surface of the
earth by volcanic action. By this up
heaval a tube or chimney is forced
through the rock and the diamonds are
found in the blue clay which is then
deposited.
In the. original upheayal several dia-
monds were forced to or nearly to
the surface of the pipe, and it was
these surface stones that were first
found by Mr.. Huddleston and others.
They were freed from the mother
earth by the erosion of the blue clay
by exposure to the elements for hun
dreds or thousands Of years.
A core drill was put in and by its
use the crater and it's dimensions were
ascertained. Diamonds to the number
of 140 have already been found, eve
with the inadequate machinery. Most
of these have been on OF the sur
face, and three or four have been
found by pan washing, though only
the crudest method of working has yet
been pursued.
When work was systematically be-
gun Colonel Theodore Hartman Of Lit
lie Rock was selected as manager, and
be went down to devise all economical
method of developing. He has made
the best find. He picked up a stone
which weighed four and Il half carats.
a f1awIess blue white gem
John Peay OF Little Rock had SINH
lar luck. While overseeing his men
he picked up at his feet Il superb ca