The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1908-08-30

1saacstein closed his throat with a
premonitory cough and punched up his
shoulders. A slight wobble was steadied
by his stumpy hands on the rail of the
witness box. He was really the great
est living authority on the subject and
he knew it,
1T is common delusion among dia-
mond miners that diamonds fall from
the skies in meteoric showers" ne said.
There is some sort of foundation for
this mistaken view, as the stones are
round IN volcanic pipes or columns of
dlanantiferous material, and the crude
idea is that gigantic meteors fell and
plowed these deep holes. distributing
diamonds in all directions as they
passed. But the so-called pipes are
really the vents of extinct volcanoes.
Ignorant people do not realize that the
chemical composition of the earth does
not differ greatly from that of the
bodies which surround it IN space, so
that the same process of manufacture
under high temperature and at great
Pressure which creates a diamond in a
meteor has equal powers here. In a
word, what has happened in the outer
universe has also happened at Kimber-
ley. Iron acts as the solvent during the
period of creation, so to speak. Then,
in the lapse of ages, il oXidiZes by the
l
remain
The magistrate nodded.
There are particles of a mineral that
looks like iron among these stones?"
he said.
The question gave Isaacstein time to
draw fresh supply of breath. Sure of
his audience now, he proceeded more
slowly.
THAT is a certain proof of a meteoric
Ill
fact is supplied by a district court in
Arizona. Here, on plain five miles in
diameter. are scattered thousands Of
masses of metallic iron, varying in
weight from half a ton to a fraction of
one ounce. An enormous meteoric
shower fell there at some period, ara
near the center is a crater-like hTse
which suggests the impact of some very
large body which buried itself in the
earth. All mineralogists know the place
as the Canyon DiabolO. or Devils Gulch
and specimens of its ore are in every
collection. Ordinary tools were spoiled,
and even emery wheels worn by some
hard ingredient in the iron, and anal
ysis has revealed the presence therein
of three distinct forms of diamOnd-the
ordinary stone, like these now before
you, both transparent and black graph
lite. and amorphous carbon; that is car
Don without cryStalllZdtlOn.
Il gather that the diamantiferous ma
terial was present in the form Of tiny
particles and not in stones at all ap-
preaching these in size?" said Mr.
Abingdon.
Exactly. | have never seen or heard
of specimens like those. In 1856 me-
teOr fell in Russia and contained one
per cent of diamond in a slightly meta
morphosed state. In 1916 the Ava me-
teorite fell in Hungary, and it held
crystalline graphite in the bSight as
well as the dark form. But, again, the
distribution was well diffused. and of
slight commercial value. Sir William
Crookes, or any eminent chemist, viii
bear me out in the assumption that the
diamonds now before your eyes are abb
sOlutely matchless by product of any re-
corded meteoric source"
Isaacstein, having delivered his little
lecture, looked and felt important. The
magistrate bent forward with a pleas
ant smile.
Il am very much obliged to you for
the highly interesting information you
have given" he said. zone more ques-
tion-the inevitable corollary of your
evidence is that the boy now in the dock
has either found meteor or a meteoric
deposit. Can you say if it is a matter
of recent occurrence"
Judging by the appearance of the
accompanying scraps of iron ore,
should say that they have been quite
recently in a state of fiux from heat