Bisbee daily review., 1912-09-08
MINERS SEEK HUGE METEOR;
 SAY DIAMOND
Believed to Be Half Mile in Thickness: Says Fell in Arizona Ages and
 Ages Ago

several years ago a syndicate Of
 mining men commenced sinking
 shaft in Arizona to reach the largest
 diamond in the world. believed to be
 no less than half mile thick. This
 This shaft IS now fifteen hundred feet
 in depth. Three or four hundred feet
 more, it is expected, will reveal the
 great prize.
 The scene of this most wonderful mining operation is Meteor mount ain, this state The mountain is such
 in name only, asi is little more than
 butte, rising two hundred or three hundred feet above the desert, about ten miles from Canyon Diabolo sta ton, on the Santa Fe railroad. l Viewed from a distance Meteor
 mountain looks little different from the countless other buttes that rear
 their heads above the southwestern desert. But as soon as one begins to climb it's sides. strewn with meteoric i fragments, he realizes that he is on the threshold of one of the worlds
 greatest scientific mysteries. From the top of the mountain
 one gaZes into a bowl-like depression | and mile across. It is iii appear.
 ance like volcanic crater. Scientists agree that this crater marks the place where giant me teorite, as large as the circumference i of the bowl would indicate, struck the earth in ages past, perhaps a million of years ago and buried itself deep l into the bowels of the eaTth-jGst
 how deep it is the purpose of the
 mining syndicate to ascertain. When this giant mass struck the earth there was no butte there: the butte was created when the meteor
 ite struck. it's tremendous weight dis
 placing strata of rock, sending huge clouds of dust into the air and form ing the miniature mountain as it ex- ists today.
 After the meteorite sank into the
 earth the sand and dust settled into
 the depression. The drift of ages
 sifted over the edges of the huge
 bowl and assisted in the work of GOV
 ering the meteorite.
 But the most remarkable thing
 about this meteorite, apart from it's
 value would be quite inconceivabla
 for a good blac kdiamond though
 worthless as a gem, is worth even more than a white one for mechani- cai purposes. It is quite probable
 however, that the bulk of the meteor consists of white diamonds. in which event there would not he enough
 wealth in the world to pay for it at
 the current price of the precious
 stone.
 The largest diamonds in the world, including the Koh-i-noor. the Guilt nan, the Great Mogul of Panama, the
 Orloff, the Great Premier diamond, the Tiffany diamond, the Etoile Polaire, and a dozen others of the same stand
 ard, worth in the aggregate hundreds of million of dollars might all be placed together in an ordinary derby
 hat and not reach the top This me teoric diamond. scientists believe, must be at least half a mile thick. The significance of this comparison is apparent.
 It has long been supposed that all diamonds might be of meteoric origin the scientists being unable to agree whether the bottomIess bores in which they are found and which are known as diamond pipes" are the result of ancient volcanic action explosion of subterraneaG laboratories which are mattress diamond factories, or of meterors which are themselves the crucibles rom celestial regions in which the diamonds are produced.
 Scientifically. therefore, there is every reason to believe that the Ari- Zona meteor is well worth the years
 of effort an dthe hundreds of thou sands of dollars that have been spent
 in trying to locate it; the only ques-
 ton being whether it is imbedded so deeply that all human efforts to dis | lodge it will prove fruitIess. Weighing possibly a million tons and falling hundreds of thousandG oi diies. the giant mass must have been l travelling at an inconceivable rate of speed when it struck the earth, yet
 the engineers who have been direct
 ing the mining operation believe that | 1t could not have penetrated more than twenty-five hundred feet at the utmost
 If his estimate proves correct the | recovery of the mammoth diamond l should be a matter of only a few
 months now, for there is less than
 thousand feet further to dig before
 that depth is reached.
 r-Hs faH