Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-08-26
DIAMONDS IN PIKE COUNTY
ARKANSAS WILD OVER THE DIS
covERY OF GEMS.
Everybody Hopes He May Have a
Kimberley in His Backyard.
Prospecting Operations.

| LITTLE ROCK, Ark, August 2e-Arkan-
sas Is In fiutter Of excitement The rest
Of the country has read with interest of the
discovery of diamonds, but this is nothing
| to the commotion that the report has
| caused In the state itself. Every owner Of
rocky farm In the hills sees himself the
prospective owner Of diamond mine that
| will rival the Kimberley mines.
Up to the present time, however, only one
find of what are believed to be diamonds
| in paying quantities has been made. This
nnd Is near Murfreesboro. 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 one or two stones at place and in each
| case they have been glacial 49,
| The geological survey has issued this re-
port relative to the Pike county diamonds ::
| They occur In an igenous rock, similar
| to that in the South African mines, which
| forms a small stock near Murfreesboro.
The first two stones were found August l..
| 1906, and since then many have been picked
up, the total number found at last report
being 100. Many are white and of good
| water; others are yellow and some are
| brown. The two largest stones weigh six
and a half carats, one being exceedingly
| fine white and the other brown. They are
found on the surface as well as within the
greenish, friable, decomposed periodtite, a
rock somewhat like the famous playground
of Kimberley"
DR.. John C. Branner several years ago
| expressed the opinion that the presence Of
| diamonds was indicated in Pike county,
but nobody took sufficient interest in his
| statements to make further investigation.
Development Company Formed.
A company has been formed that will
carry out the work of developing the mine
| Among the directors are Charles 8. Stiff
a leading leweler of Little Rock, also presi-
| dent and vice president of several financial
institutions; Sam W. Reyburn, president of
| the Union Trust Company, and Albert d.
Cohn, head of the M. NJ. Cohn Company
one of the largest dry goods houses Of this
section.
John Wesley Huddleston owned a farm
| in the hills of Pike county. He was an
enthusiast about minerals and always car
| ried around specimens Of ore bearing rock
He lives much outdoors and bought farm
more for its mineral possibilities than for
It's fertility.
But one day he picked up a crystal which
! glinted brightly in the sunshine and seemed
| to hold the light more than any other he
had noticed. He took it home to add to
his collection. Rubbing it against another
crystal, he noticed that it cut 1t. He then
decided to take the stone to Murfreesboro
and get some other persons opinion on 1t.
Mr.. Huddleston rode muleback toward
| Murfreesboro Possessed now with the idea
| tTdt tuo crystals ON lduu were Vdluh-
Bile, he kept his eyes on the ground as he
rode along. Passing through one of his
fields his eyes caught CLINT Of reflected
sunshine from a pebble in the dirt. Dis
mounting, he picked 1t up and proceeded on
his. way.
Eventually he showed 1t to Judge ]. c.
crystal like a glasscutter, advised him to
| send 1t to Little Rock. The specimens were
sent there and thence to New York, where
experts declared they were diamonds.
meantime eighteen other diamonds had
been found, making twenty-one. After a
careful investigation. covering several
weeks, DR.. Washington gave it as his opin-
ion that the company formed by Little
Rock men had Included all of the diamond
| bearing area in their purchase.
Hunting the Chimney"
Since that time systematic effort has been
made to locate the crater pipe, chimney
or tube, as it is variously called. Diamonds
are formed by the capitalization of car
| bon and are brought from below the sur
face of the earth by volcanic action. By
| this upheaval tube or chimney Is forced
through the rock and the diamonds are
found in the blue clay which Is then de-
posted.
In the original upheaval several dia-
| monds were forced to, or nearly to- the
surface Of the pipe, and it was these sur
face stones that were first found by Mr..
Huddleston and others. They we're freed
from the mother earth by the erosion of
the blue clay by exposure to the elements
| for hundreds or thousands of years.
A core drill was put in. and by it's use
the crater and its dimensions were ascer-
| tanned. Diamonds to the number of 40
| have already been found, even with the in
| adequate machinery. Most of these have
been on on near the surface, and three or
| four have been found by pan washing,
| though only the crudest method of work
| ing has yet been pursued.
| When work was systematically begun
| Col Theodore Hartman of Little Rock was
| selected as manager, and he went down
| to devise an economical method Of devel-
| oping. He has made the best find. He
picked up stone which weighed four and
| a half carats, a fawless blue white gem.
| John Peay of Little Rock had similar
| luck. While overseeing his men he picked
| up at his feet a superb canary diamond
| weighing one and a half carats, 1awless
| and so perfect In shape that little cutting
| will be required to make 1t a marketable