Imperial Valley press., 1912-09-24
LONDONERS AFTER GEM
LARGE AS A SKYSCRAPER

LONDON, Sept. PA British syndi-
cate has put up the money to dig $500
feet deep down in the foot of an Ari
zona butte in the hope of securing
solid diamond as big as New
York skyscraper and reputed to be
worth untold millions. The London
newspapers print columns about this
remarkable quest for a long buried
treasure, even the staid and conserva-
tive journals, like the venerable Stand
ard, going into rhapsodies over ira
ditions of the Mokai tribe and the
question whether the worlds biggest
sparkler" will prove to be a genuine
diamond or just common ex-terrestrial
solidness. AZ
Ages ago, so runs the story which
induced the London bankers to finance
the expedition, a huge solid diamond
shot out of space and hit the ground
a hard bump in the heart of the Ari-
Zona desert, about ten miles from the
Canyon Diablo of the Santa Fe rail-
way.
Several British correspondents are
with the expedition and one of them
sends the following account to the
distance, Meteor mountain is very lit
tie different from the countless other
buttes that rear their heads from the
shifting sands Of the dreary desert
waste. but on climbing its sides, thick
ly strewn with meteoric- fragments,
the explorer quickly realizes that he
is standing on the threshold of one
of the worlds greatest scientific mys-
teries. The top is followed out into
a huge bowl shaped depression, about
GOO feet deep and perhaps a mile
across, much like a volconic crater.
but there are no signs anywhere of
even ancient volcanic activity.
"The scientific members Of the syn
dicate, some of whom are famous ge-
illogical experts, are of one mind in
the belief that this crater marks the
place where giant meteorite, as large
as the circumference of the bowl would
indicate, struck the earth many thou
sands of years ago and buried itself
deep in the bowels of the earth. The
spot where the meteor fell attracted
no attention until a wandering ranch
man, who lost his way, stopped to rest
at the foot of Meteor mountain and
idly picked up meteoric fragments. He
is an educated man and quickly dis
covered that imbedded in the iron
matrix were a number of hard dia-
monds. All around him he found the
ground strewn with similar fragments
The ranchman, whose name is
Charles HI. Langley, took a couple Of
the fragments hack to camp with him
and later sent them to. an eminen,
English scientist. Upon receipt of the
latters report the sides of the noun
tain and the desert for some distance
around were thoroughly prospected
and enough gem carrying specimens
were found to indicate that the main
body of the meteor must have been
heavily laden with valuable carbon
The theory of the scientific members
of the syndicate that the main body
of the meteor may prove to be one
huge diamond is based both upon the
findings of gems in the scattered frag-
ments and the opinion of Sir William
Crookes that the bottomless bores,
known as diamond pipes in which
these gems are found, are the result
of falling meteors. Taking into con-
sideration the size of the meteor and
the tremendous force with which it
fell, the syndicate engineers estimate
that it ought to be found at a depth
of about $500 feet. If the story is
correct, the recovery of the mammoth
diamond should be a matter of only
a few m onths now, with barely a thou
sand feet more to dig. The syndicate,
says the Standard, has already sunk
a shaft to a depth of 1900 feet in the
bottom of the crater"