The Huttig news., 1907-08-17
Field Visited Recently by Dr. George Fred erick Kunz Mineralogist of Inter-
 national Fame
STONES PRONOUNCED TO BE REAL GEMS
Company Will be Formed to Develop and
 Work the Mines

(From The Ark Gazette, Sunday Aug. 4, 19o7.) Diamonds have been found in Pike county, Arkansas, and that most valu- able of earth's minerals must be added eo the products of the state.
 They have been declared genuine diamonds by the highest authority in America-Dr. George F. Kunz, vice president and one of the trustees of Tiffany & Co.,, of New York, for many years a member and now an honorary member of the United States Geologl- cal Survey, and recently decorated with the Legion of Honor by France !n recognition of his valuable services in the fields of geology and mineral ogy. Dr. Kunz contributes the encylo- pedia articles on gems, has written several books on the subject and is recognized as the greatest diamond expert in the United States, besides being of international fame. He saw the first three diamonds found, they having been submitted to him in New York, and afterward visited the Pike county diamond Helu.
 The mere fact that diamonds have been found, would not of itself be ot importance because they have been found in 29 other places in the United States at various times.
 But the vast importance which attaches to this find as compared with all others in America lies in the fact that all the other finds have been of one or two stones at a place, and in each case they have been glacial. In other words, they have been individual diamonds deposited by retreating gla- ciers and brought down from some where near the North Pole.
 14o Diamonds Found.
 The Arkansas diamonds have been @so..--s = t9e ,.sarnhass of LA s.e.- 2
 ID a volcanic formation, ana with the geological strata similar to that of the famous Kimberly mines in South Africa.
 Not the least singular feature of the find is the fact that Branners reports as state geologist, on file in the secre- tary of states office, called attention years ago to this similarity, and expressed the opinion that the pres ence of diamonds was indicated in that portion of Pike county, and yet this valuable tip was absolutely ignored. The most plausible explana tion is that official reports are usual ly dry statistical reading and that no one interested ever read it. Anyway, the fact remains that while prospectors have searched that region for every thing from gold to asphaltum none looked for diamonds, and as in all oth- CT diamond field discoveries the first one was found by accident.
 The First Arkansas Diamond.
 John Wesley Huddleston owned farm in the barren hills of Pike county near the town of Murfreesboro. He was an enthusiast about minerals and always carried around specimens of ore bearing rock. He is not in robust health, lives much outdoors and bought the farm more for it's mineral possibil- ities than for it's fertility MT. Huddle- ston had an idea that gold might be found and at no time suspected the existence of diamonds on his rocky estate. But in his explorations he picked up many of the crystals and other interesting-l looking stones on his place.
 The diamond in the rough bears lit tie resemblance to the symmetrically cut and highly polished gem which goes to enhance the beauty of fair woman at a fashionable function and it is not to be wondered at that the children of the South African Boers used diamonds for marbles or that the Pike county farmer should regard them as the pretty but commercially worthless crystals which are found throughout the state.
 But one day MT. Huddleston picked up crystal which glinted brightly in the sunshine and seemed to hold and reflect the light more than any he had noticed. He took it home to add to his collection. Rubbing it against another crystal he noticed that it cut it. He then decided to take the stone to Murfreesboro, 2 1-2 miles distant, and get some one elses opinion on it. This first stone is No. on the accompanying illustration.
 Marketing First Stone He Finds
 Second.
 MT. Huddleston rode muleback toward Murfreesboro. Possessed now with the idea that the bright crystals on his land were valuable he kept his eyes on the ground as he rode slowly along. Passing through one of his fields his keen eye caught luminous glint of effected sunshine from peb. ble lying in the dirt Dismounting he 3asked it up and proceeded on his