Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1913-02-06
ONE Or THE FINEST COLLECTIONS OF
INDIAN RELICS IN The UNITED STATES
IS POSSESSED BY AN ALMA BANKER

Under the above head the Detroit
Sunday News Tribune OF February
End had the following interesting
story from its Alma correspondent.
Mr.. H. C. Moore is the genial cashier
OF the Alma State Savings bank and
is thoroughly interested i'll the sub
iect OF Indian relics and evidences OF
prehistoric man.
The item referred to follows and
was dated Alma, Mich, Feb
Hiram {. Moore, well known
throughout the state because OF his
connection with the state banking de
partment during the Warner admins
tration, and at present cashier OF the
Nina State Savings bank, is the pos
SCISSOR OF probably the most complete
and representative collection of In
dian relics and evidence OF pre-his-
toric man in the state The Moore
collection consists of approximately
1000 pieces, representing every walk
OF Indian life. Ii has taken twenty
years to gather this collection.
1t was in the eighties that a strang-
er dropped into the bank where
Moore was working and gave him
the notion OF collecting Indian relics.
lie had on his desk worthless stone.
so he thought. The stone was used
as a paper weight and had been there
ever since he became connected with
the bank He had often commented
upon the peculiar shape and forma-
ton OF it, The stranger remarked
upon the beauty OF the stone and said
it was an Indian relic known as a
SHINING stone. Mr. Moore became
interested and started a collection 1t
"asn't long before he saw the histor-
zeal possibilities hidden in this re
search work. He told his friends
and the patrons OF the bank and soon
his small museum began 10 increase
People around Columbiavile. where
he was connected with bank. made
the first contributions. Then, when
he became connected with the state
banking department. wider and more
productive fields were opened to him.
When he discontinued his services
with the state and became associated
with a trust company in Detroit his
fame as a collector Of such curos
had spread throughout the state In
dian relics and valuable articles be-
gan to pour in upon him In this
way Moore got hold OF pieces that
were of unknown value. although con
sidercd worthless by the contributor.
While going through his collection
he often smiles as he recalls some of
the trips he made in order to possess
many of the pieces.
He says no one knows the possibil-
tiles for research until one gets into
the work
Mr.. Moore has never during his ex-
perience in this particular line of re-
search work allowed himself TO con-
slider his collection merely as a dis
pay of precious and rare stones. He
can give you reasons for every article
in his collection. He can also ex-
plain the method of their use
Moore is an admirer of the unfn-
ished product. When he mentions
this he means nothing more than
pieces that have. passed through the
entire chiseling stage. The smooth
and shining arrowhead has a slight at
traction for him compared with the
crude stone in the early process of
chiseling. He loves the unfinished
for the simple reason that it affords
him the opportunity of studying the
different stages of preparation through
which the specimens passed before it
was considered perfect