| Archive for Nevada Nugget Hunters Nevada gold nugget hunters forum, prospecting in Nevada, Nevada gold locations, Nevada Gold Nugget detecting |
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TIDBITS OF INFO- KNICK KNACKSPACIFIC MINING NEWSENGINEERING & MINING JOURNAL-PRESS 145 Croppings Fortunately for a housewife at Walla Walla, Wash., a piece of coal was too large to put into the stove. She broke it in two and discovered a stick of dynamite, a cap and fuse. The dynamite stick was believed to have been overlooked when the coal was shipped. A lawyer has registered as a student for the short course in mining at the college at Fairbanks, Alaska. Although this course is designed especially for prospectors and miners, lawyers and other professional men will be enrolled and given a chance to put on rough clothes and do practical work in the laboratory. One of the foremen of the Dan Creek Mining Co. was bound over to the grand jury at McCarthy, Alaska, recently on a charge of willful assault. He alleges that he shot at a squirrel and missed it, the bullet going into a cut where several men were working. On firing again, the bullet took the same course, and the men left work and entered a complaint. Accepted theories in the development of shale-oil recovery processes have been shown to be incorrect. Investigations made at Columbia University have shown that the products, including gasoline, kerosene and lubricating oils, are not formed one after the other, upon heating of oil shale, but are formed simultaneously by the cracking of the semisolid bitumen, which is formed first. The work has thrown new light on the character of the organic matter in shale. Although the mine and smelter of the Mammoth Copper Co. at Kennett have been shut down since the war, and the company has had no income worth mentioning, it is now receiving a considerable sum from the sale of slag. The Southern Pacific Co. is paying I0c. per ton for the slag and is hauling away 80 or 40 carloads per day. The net returns from a carload are approximately $5. Slag is a good railroad ballast It packs well. The sulphur scares away the insects that bore into wooden ties. Probably the most interesting development in Californian industry, according to the Los Angeles Times, is the expansion in oil refineries, and in oil-well equipment concerns. The tremendous development of oil wells has made it necessary for the companies to erect new refineries and equipment, with the result that there are now’ in construction refineries costing in excess- of $20,000,000.. It is interesting also to note the effect on the metal concerns, particularly the oil-well equipment companies. Five and a half miles north of Deer Park, Wash., lies a deposit of kaolin, ochre and sienna. These materials have many uses and are imported into the United States in large quantities. They are used in the manufacture of paint, paint colors, calcimine, paper, linoleum, porcelain of all kinds, chinaware, tile and pottery. More than 100 test pits and drill holes have been put down in the property, which proved the bed to cover 100 acres, with 8 ft. of kaolin, under which is 6 ft. of ochre and under this lies 5 ft. of sienna. Hurled to the bottom of a 25-ft. abandoned shaft while driving his automobile, James Pennman and family, consisting of wife and three small children are alive to tell the story. After extricating himself from the wreck, Pennman picked up his wife and climbed the ladder to the surface and then three more times descended into the old workings, each time bringing up one of his children. The family then trudged to a nearby mining camp, where the owner of an automobile volunteered to return them to their home at Schurz, NV. The largest still so far uncovered in Churchill county, Nev., was “knocked over” recently by Sheriff Crane, accompanied by several federal officers. The still, which was of 40-gal, capacity, was set up in excellent form and was charged for a run when discovered. Over 200 gal. of first and second-run whisky was found and destroyed, and enough material was found for several weeks’ operation. The still was located at the old Bowder mine, 90 miles east of Fallon, and is believed to be the source of much of the illicit liquor in this section. During 1922, the Calumet & Arizona company, from its local properties, mined 350,591 tons of ore; 297,279 tons went to the C. & A. smelter at Douglas; 80,606 tons of exchange ore to the Copper Queen smelter at Douglas; 12,886 tons of low-grade copper, high-sulphur ore to the New Cornelia Copper Co. at Ajo; 8,416 tons of low-grade copper, high-sulphur ore to the Old Dominion Copper Co. at Globe; 9,219 tons of similar ore to the International Smelting Co. at Miami, and 574 tons of lead-silver ore to the Kansas City Smelting & Refining Co.-at El Paso. A slab of granite bearing hieroglyphics believed to have been carved by members of a prehistoric race has been found by miners who were tunneling on the holdings of the Springfield Development Co., near Sonora, Calif. The stone is of irregular shape, 12 in. long by about 9 in. The characters extending across its face are from 3 to 4 in. high and are regular in shape. The stone, bearing its inscription, has not been submitted to archaeologists, but will be forwarded to the University of California for study and deciphering. It is apparently a part of a larger rock. While Frank Mitchler runs his hotel at Murphy, Calif., his pigs work a gold mine. He maintained a large pen of porkers on a little flat behind his hostelry for several years, butchering them as necessary. The pen stands over an old river channel that has produced gold. The little piece of ground which It covers has never been mined, however. During the summer the hogs pulverize the gravel and loosen it. Then the heavy winter rains wash off the surface, and the heavy yellow metal remains behind. After every big storm Mitchler finds a few little nuggets. John Clarke, veteran miner and prospector of the Meadow Lake district, spent the winter at Grass Valley, Calif. He is now more than 80 years of age, but is still strong and vigorous, In the prime of life he was counted the largest and most powerful man in the county. Clarke still proudly wears the big nugget pin given him by President Roosevelt following the reception tendered t0 Roosevelt at Colfax 20 years ago. At that time Clarke and John Hogan, another exceptionally large man, were delegated to present the President with a chest of Nevada county gold specimens. May, 1923] |
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MACKAY SCH OF MINES GETS GERMAN'S LIBRARY TMJ 10 30 1929THE MINING JOURNAL FOR OCTOBER 30 1929MACKAY SCHOOL OF MINES GETS DESERT GEOLOGY LIBRARY What is said to be one of the largest libraries in the world on desert geology, is now on its way to the Mackay School of Mines at Reno, Nevada, from Germany, and is expected to arrive soon, is announced by President Walter Clark. The library, containing over 500 books and pamphlets, was collected by a German geologist over a period of many years and from all sources. It was bought by Clarence Mackay and is being shipped by him to the school of mines. |
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EXHIBIT OF METAL COLUMBIUM TMJ 10 30 1929Exhibit of Metallic Columbium—The first metallic columbium made in the United States was exhibited at the recent exposition in New York by Dr. C. W. Balke, chemical director of Fansteel Products Company, North Chicago, Illinois. This is a metallic element of steel-gray color and brilliant luster. It closely resembles tantalum, chemically, and is usually associated with it. Tantalum was also first produced in this country by Dr. Balke. This exhibit consisted of several pounds of the metal in sheets, bars, rods and wire. Except for about one-half ounce made by Siemens in 1906, the Fansteel exhibit represented, it was said, all the metallic columbium in the world. The metal is about one-half the price of gold. Columbium is soluble only in a mixture of nitric and hydrofluoric acids; in electrolytes the metal is uni-directional. It is very ductile and is easily worked cold. It may be rolled, drawn, hammered, formed, or cut with ordinary working tools. it may easily be welded to itself or other metals by the spot-welding process. While the ore has been found in several places in the United States and Canada, workable deposits are said to occur in the Black Hills of South Dakota. THE MINING JOURNAL 10 30 1929 |
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RUSSIANS DREDGING THE URALS W/US DREDGE EQUIP emj 1925
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THE EMPLOYEE AS A BUSINESS PARTNER TMJ 1 15 1930The Employee as a Partner—Profit sharing as an important phase of industrial relations was practiced in France, as early as 1842. Thirty years later, the first English plan was organized, and shortly afterward, attempts at profit sharing were made in the United States. From the plans now in effect, in the United States, Canada and England, the Policyholders Service Bureau of the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company has drawn from the best practices of more than 80 companies, and has incorporated them into a report entitled “Sharing Profits with Employees.” In this report the term “profit sharing” is used in its limited meaning as an agreement between an employer, and his employee, under which the latter received a share, fixed in advance, of the profits of the firm. This excludes bonuses, and production bonuses. The discussion of this practice, which has been found helpful by many companies, is building up employee morale, [and] centers on four general types of plan: 1. sharing profits with all eligible employees; 2. sharing profits with employee stockholders; 3. sharing profits with employees participating in a savings plan; 4. and profit sharing for executives. Each type is reviewed in detail. Copies of this survey are available to interested executives, and may be secured from the Policyholders Service Bureau, Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, 1 Madison Avenue, New York City. |
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SAN DIEGO HARBOR PIC TMJ 6 30 1930
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D & C- EDITORIALS NEW AGE OF ELECTRICITY TMJ 8 15 1930for AUGUST 15, 1930Drifts and Crosscuts Dreams do come true—when one as discerning as the late Charles Proteus Steinmetz, General Electric consulting engineer, does the dreaming. Fifteen years ago Steinmetz wrote a magazine article, “You Will Think This Is a Dream,” in which he made eleven predictions as to the uses of electricity. Here they are, and with them a concise statement to show how nearly each one has been fulfilled up to the present time: Prophecy No. 1. “The working day will be reduced to six hours.” This has not yet come true, but efficient factory machinery, driven by electric motors, and using instantaneous electric welding, will make this possible—although the five-day or four-day week may be preferable. No. 2. Steinmetz predicted international radio broadcasting, for he wrote, “Millions will hear concerts in their homes.” Over 13,000,000 radio sets were sold in seven years. “Great singers abroad will be heard in our homes.” They have been. No. 3. He predicted talking movies, for he wrote, “The motion picture and the talking machine will be perfectly synchronized.” The talkies are being put in our 20,000 theaters rapidly. No. 4. “Buildings and homes will be heated by electricity, and cooled and ventilated by electricity.” Hundreds are heated, thousands are cooled and hundreds of thousands are so ventilated; and nearly .2,000,000 electric refrigerators are in use. No. 5. “Much of the cooking will be done on the table. Cooking will be regulated by setting a dial to start and stop the electric stove,” Steinmetz said. A million stoves operate that way today’—set the dial “start at four” and “stop at, six,” and supper will be ready at six though the house is Empty all afternoon. No. 6. “OUR farms will be electrified,” said Steinmetz. Already 600,000 farms have been electrified, and the work is going ahead rapidly now. More farms were connected to power lines in the last three years than in the preceding 43 years. No. 7. “Electricity will be cheaper,” Steinmetz prophesied. Average household rates are now about 25 percent less, than they were I 5 years ago. No. 8. “We will use electricity as freely as water, Steinmetz said. Many of us do now, but do not realize it. We leave fans running and lights burning for hours, but we do not leave the water running long. No. 9. “Industries in the cities will use electric power and so lessen smoke and dirt,” Steinmetz foretold. Much of our present smoke comes from the railroads, and now they are tackling the job of electrification. No. I0. “Industrial plants will move closer to the source of materials, and the power houses will move closer to the sources of power.” Right again—and when the power plants transmit the electricity, they do not have to pay to transport the coal. No. 11. “Single power plants will have a capacity of over. .1,000,000 horsepower.” This prophecy has almost been fulfilled. The largest power plant now is already four times larger than the biggest plant was when Steinmetz made the prophecy. |
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DOWNSIDE TO LIFE IN RUSSIA MINING JOURNAL 12 15 1930Drifts and Crosscuts EDITORIALS OF THE EDITOR CHARLES F WILLISfor DECEMBER 15, 1930 The American retreat from Russia has started, and many American engineers who adventurously went into the land of the Soviet on a three-year contract, are finding their way back into the United States, with much of the three years unserved. Conditions are reported to be “impossible” insofar as American engineers are concerned. They are not used to production regardless of cost, and they just can’t seem to get used to cognac, salt fish, and horse-meat stew, as a diet. The government, while executing people for hoarding a few pieces of gold or silver, is wildly exporting foodstuffs that its people need, in order to get gold and silver in its own treasury. One observer states that 4,000,000 Russians are slated to starve to death this winter because they did not keep their wheat at home. It may be wondered what advantage is to be found by dumping wheat into this country and breaking the market. It is causing an immense undercurrent of discontent among the American farmers, and making them much easier converts to communism. The historic American expression, “Not one cent for tribute, but millions for defense,” might well be used by the Russians, with a slight change, “Not one cent for food, but millions for propaganda,” for the goal of communism is its world-wide adoption. |
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BOULDER CITY & HOOVER DAM TMJ 1 15 1931THE MINING JOURNAL FOR JANUARY 15, 1931GOVERNMENT LAYS FOUNDATIONS FOR BOULDER CITY, IN NEVADA Plans and specifications have been approved by the Bureau of Reclamation at Washington, D. C., for one of the greatest engineering projects in history, to be established on the Colorado River, about 30 miles southeast of Las Vegas, Nevada. The project embraces a dam, power plant, and All-American Canal, designed for flood control, river regulation, irrigation, silt control, power development, and domestic purposes. Bids on the dam, appurtenant tunnels and cofferdams, and power plant, will be received at the Bureau’s office, in the Wilda Building, Denver, Colorado, until 10 a. m., March 4, 1931. The government plans to have the dam ready for the storage of water by June 15, 1935. The proposed Hoover Dam is to be built in upper Black Canyon, and to be of the arch-gravity type, the load being carried by both gravity action, and horizontal arch action. Its crest will be 727 feet above bedrock, and have a length of 950 feet. The dam will create a reservoir with a capacity of 30,500,000 acre-feet, and the lake thus formed will extend 115 miles to Bridge Canyon, and 35 miles up Virgin River. During construction, the river will be diverted by temporary earth and rock-fill cofferdams, through four 50-foot concrete lined tunnels, two on each side of the river, and which will have an aggregate length of 16,300 linear feet. After completion of the dam, the tunnels will be utilized for penstocks and spillways, and two of them will serve as main supply tunnels for forty, 72-inch needle valve outlets, located in the canyon walls. The power plant is to be located just below the dam, half on the Nevada, and half on the Arizona sides of the river, forming a U-shaped structure. Water will be delivered to the turbines through four pressure tunnels, two on each side of the river, each provided with shut-off gates and trash racks. Tentative plans for the 1,000,000-horsepower installation call for 12, 85,000-horsepower hydraulic turbines, 12 11 x 10 foot balanced valves, 12 75,000-k.v.a. generators with exciters, 36 25,000-k.v.a., 220,000-volt transformers, four 250-ton cranes, switchboard, control apparatus, and a completely equipped machine shop. The turbines will operate under a maximum head of 582 feet, and a minimum of 422 feet. The plant will be operated by the City of Los Angeles, and the Southern California Edison Company, under the general supervision of a director appointed by the Secretary of the Interior. The Southern Sierra Power Company is building a power line from Victorville, California, to Boulder City, near the dam site. The crew from the Niland-Blythe line in California, has been transferred to the new line, to speed up its construction, and it is expected that the line will be ready to deliver power to the contractors at the Colorado River, by June 1, of this year. =-=-=-= The All-American Canal will carry water to the Imperial and Coachella valleys in California. Two points for the intake are being considered, namely, the Laguna Dam, 10 miles northeast of Yuma, and a new diversion dam to be built five miles north of Laguna for additional head. The proposed canal will be 200 feet wide at the water’s surface, 134 feet wide at the bottom and 22 feet deep. The main canal will be 75 miles long, and the Coachella branch, 115 miles. A part of the course lies through shifting sand, where concrete, spraying with crude oil, and the growth of vegetation, will play an important part in combating the condition. At a point west of the dam, the government is establishing the town of Boulder City, including about 300 homes. Streets are being surveyed, and sewer and water systems laid to be ready when the contracts of the buildings are awarded. A town hall is to be built at a cost of approximately $25,000, a school at a similar cost, a garage at a cost of about $35,000, an auditorium and an administration building. The latter will be of Spanish design, and will house all of the government offices. The low bid on the construction of seven miles of road between the dam site and Boulder City has been submitted by the General Construction Company of Seattle. Construction is well advanced on the railroad from Las Vegas to the dam site. |
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VARIED TOPICS FROM THE MINING JOURNAL 1 30 1931THE MINING JOURNAL for JANUARY 30, 1931COMPREHENSIVE PROGRAM OFFERED AT WESTERN METAL CONGRESS Numerous items of interest to the mining industry are being injected into the programs of the Western National Metal Congress, to be held February 16 to 20, in the civic auditorium, San Francisco, according to officials of the American Society for Steel Treating, who have charge of the event. W. H. Eisenman, of Cleveland, Secretary of the Steel Treating Society, who has been sent west to arrange the congress, said the Western National Metal and Machinery Exposition, to be held at the same time and place, will be found equally informative to the mining industry. One of the main features of the Congress, it is said, will be the sessions of the American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers. These programs are being arranged by Charles G. Maier, of the Bureau of Mines, Pacific Experiment Station, Berkeley, and Corey C. Brayton, of the same city. Already, it is assured that officials of the Steel Treating Society, all of them expert metallurgists, will deliver talks, which will be of value to the mining industry. These speakers will be J. H. Watson, of Detroit, President; A. H. d’Arcambal, Hartford, Vice-President; A. Oren Fulton, Cambridge, Treasurer, and the four directors, B. F. Shepherd, Phillipsburg, N. J.; W. B. Coleman, Philadelphia; F. B. Drake, Berkeley, and O. H. Harder, Columbus. Probably 50 talks will be included on the five days of technical sessions, according to Eisenman. These will not interfere with the exposition, due to the hours at which they will be held. Many of the displays in the show are to be put in operation, to add to the clearness of the demonstrations. In almost every respect, the exposition and convention will surpass the similar affair held two years ago in Los Angeles, Eisenman believes. He bases this prediction on the success of the Los Angeles event, which was the initial attempt of the steel treating society to bring its educational exhibits and speakers to the coast, and to the great progress made in the past two years in the working of metals and to production of industrial machinery. In addition to the two societies already named, the following will participate in the program or the exposition. They are: American Welding Society, American Chemical Society, American Institute of Electrical Engineers, American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Institute of Metals, National Purchasing Agents’ Association, Pacific Coast Electrical Association, Pacific Coast Gas Association, Society of Automotive Engineers, American Society for Testing Materials and National Association of Power Engineers. In announcing the coming double event, the steel treating society’s secretary said: “It is of interest to note that on every program will be items of interest to the mining industry, and to every other branch of industrial activity in which metals are employed. What applies to one line of work will apply to another, and for any one person to omit attending one of the sessions may mean that he will lose valuable points that would serve to guide him in his movements in the days to come.” =-=-= THE MINING JOURNAL for JANUARY 30, 1931 Develops Placer Machine—Charles N. Hudson, 2053 E. 38th St., Los Angeles, Calif. has developed a placer mining machine, on which much experimental work has been done on placer areas in the desert country. These machines are unique in many ways, and are quite different from other devices, which have formerly been used. The features of the Hudson Placer Mining Machine, as claimed by the inventor, are as follows: They excavate, elevate, screen, and wash from five to twelve cubic yards an hour—*they conserve water by using it over and over—new screen features prevent clogging or choking—16 mesh fines are delivered to metal sluices —tailings are discharged at sides as cut advances—are equipped for dry, as well as wet operation, by using adjustable air pressures through stream line nozzles, replacing water sluices—can be operated by two men—mounted on wheels and easily transported—completely equipped at moderate prices. These machines are not adapted to quartz mining, rock crushing or tunnel driving but are exclusively for placer work in either wet or dry areas. * In the desert, a pond of water has to be provided for that will serve as both a water reserve, as well as a tailing runoff area, in order to recapture water for re-use in machine. =-=-= THE MINING JOURNAL for JANUARY 30, 1931 Relay Motors Introduces Multi-Motor Drive Principle—A new type of truck, introducing the multi-motor principle for the first time, as a means of developing power, hauling capacity, and speed, has been announced by the Relay Motors Corporation, of Lima, Ohio. This is a dual-engine, six-wheel, heavy-duty model. So powerful is the new model, that double loads are possible, the truck having a capacity of four to six yards of wet mixed concrete, or 5,000 to 10,000 bricks or tile. The truck is equipped with TWO straight eight cylinder truck type engines, with a combined power of 275 brake horsepower, at 2,800 r.p.m. The power is applied to the drive in a radically new way, each engine delivering power to separate rear axles, via a separate transmission and differential. Thus there is no chance for “fighting” between the rear axles, no loss of power or strain, each operating as an independent unit. 
The engines may be used in combination, or one at a time. Each engine has its own transmission. An air mechanism shifts the twin transmissions in perfectly synchronized time, thus eliminating the human element, where the driver is concerned, and insures the twin shiftings in mechanical harmony. One lever will shift both gears when both engines are in use. Two simple movements from the driver’s seat, connect or disconnect either engine. Safety and quick stopping facilities have been provided by heavy-duty air brakes, with cast brake drums, and molded brake blocks, on all six wheels. Twin emergency brakes offer an added margin of safety. A hydraulic booster mechanism on the steering apparatus eliminates all steering strain, and reduces the driver’s fatigue to the absolute minimum. A feature of economy is offered by the dual engine design, since on return trips, if the truck is running empty, or with a small load, only one engine is used. =-=-= MINNESOTA HYDRAULIC MINE AND MINERS 
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SOME DOWSING LINKS TO EARLY AMERICAN HISTORYVermont dowsing rootsThird draft Ian Pegler 5.5.03 Imagine yourself back in time to 1826, walking through the lush countryside of Vermont USA and coming across an 8½ ounce nugget of gold just lying there on the ground. No need for a hazel twig or even a spade. There it is right in front of you, glinting in the New England Sun! Believe it or not, something like this actually happened. The discovery of this one nugget of gold was enough to jump-start the Vermont "gold-rush" and the hunt for gold continued until the end of the 19th century when interest fizzled out. Nobody struck it rich, and it turned out that the gold nugget - known as the "Newfane lump" had been dropped accidentally by counterfeiters. This is one story that I came across when I set out to research this article. My original purpose was to try and find a link between Vermont and my native Wales in terms of historical dowsing activities. We'll come back to the Wales-Vermont link later, but it needs to be examined within a wider historical context. Whilst engaged in this research, ensconced in the reading-room at the National Library of Wales, I uncovered a bizarre mix of "money-diggers", Mormons, mystics and mineral springs which is worthy of discussion. What triggered all this was seeing a rather cynical book-review on the web which wasn't really a book-review at all. It did, however, point out the popularity of dowsing in Vermont. Sig Lonegren as you probably know is originally from Vermont, and this state was also the birthplace of the American Society of Dowsers back in 1960. What triggered the popularity of dowsing in Vermont? Was it due to the birth of the ASD, or was the birth of the ASD something that came about because of a strong "dowsing culture" in Vermont? I've already mentioned the gold-rush, and even today treasure-hunting is popular in Vermont as a quick surf of the web will confirm, but the founders of the ASD were far more interested in water-divining than the quest for buried treasure. Before I try to resolve this last point, let's look at some more diviners in Vermont. The "rodsmen" of Middletown In 1799 a stranger by the name of Winchell arrived in Middletown near Poultney. This somewhat dubious character was wanted for counterfeiting in Orange County to the north. He was, unfortunately, both a con-man and a dowser and duped people into funding his treasure-hunting activities. Not the sort of person you would want to meet at a conference! Winchell met a man named Nathaniel Wood who had started his own religious cult. Influenced by Winchell, Wood adopted the divining rod and made it a part of his religion. Very soon Wood and his followers, nick-named "rodsmen", were using the twig for "money-digging" (seeking treasure buried by pirates, Spaniards or native Americans), fortune-telling and divine revelation. The Mormon connection One resident of Poultney at the time was a man named Joseph Smith, father of the Joseph Smith who founded the "Latter Day Saint" movement, commonly known as the Mormons. Winchell introduced Joe Smith Senior to the divining rod, either whilst he was still in Poultney or after he went to Palmyra, New York. It seems that Joseph Smith Junior later used a slightly different form of divination - a "peepstone", which was used in a manner similar to scrying. To quote David Persuitte: "By placing the peepstone in his hat and gazing at it much like a fortune teller would gaze into a crystal ball, he would "locate" the treasure and direct the diggers where to dig. Mormons have usually denied that Joseph ever searched for buried treasures in such a manner ... Nevertheless, the evidence shows overwhelmingly [my emphasis] that Joseph did use a peepstone to search for buried treasures." A letter purporting to be from Joseph Smith Junior to one Josiah Stowel was leaked to academics. If genuine it contains a method of dowsing used by Smith: "...Take a stick one yard long, being new cut, cleave it just in the middle and lay it asunder on the mine so that both inner parts of the stick hang up one right against the other one inch distant. If there is a treasure, after a while it will draw them both together unto themselves..." Mineral springs and the tourist trade While all this is very intriguing it doesn't address the problem mentioned earlier, namely that it was water-divining, not gold-seeking or money-digging that was the impetus behind the ASD's formation. There is, however, still a demand for water-divining in Vermont and historically there may have been a commercial demand which went beyond domestic or rural needs. Back in 1776, a mystic called Asa Smith dreamt that a spring in a forest would heal his skin-disease. The following day he went to the nearby forest, found the spring that he saw in his dream, drank from it and was cured. Some years later George Round, a neighbour of Smith's, built a log cabin by the spa and started receiving money from guests. He was so successful that he later built a hotel. This started a trend as luxurious spa hotels opened up elsewhere, including Sheldon, Highgate, Newbury, Brunswick, Middletown, Brattleboro and Manchester. By the 1860's there were about 20 spas in the state of Vermont. The trade was boosted by the coming of the railway. By about 1900 there were more than 130 springs in Vermont and more than 30 of these had hotels. These mineral springs were accredited with curative properties that were nothing short of miraculous. The spa at Clarendon was said to be able to cure just about anything from cataracts to cancer. These spa hotels were large and luxurious. Franklin House in Highgate could take 125 guests. Missisquoi Springs Hotel at Sheldon was similar in size. Many of these luxurious hotels, including Franklin House eventually burned to the ground. The Welsh Connection As mentioned by Christopher Bird, dowsing crossed the English channel in the 1500s from Germany. The German metals specialist Christopher Schutz and his compatriot were granted the authority to mine in a number of areas of England, including Cumberland and Cornwall, and also within Wales . According to historian John Davies, one of the first Welsh ventures was a smelting works in Neath, set up to smelt ore from Cornwall, which dates back to 1584 . Mining in Wales goes back much further of course, but the important thing to note here is the Cornish (and German) connection. John Davies also says: "... the link with Cornwall was later to be a key factor in the industrial development of West Glamorgan. At the same time the lead mines of Cardiganshire were more significant." Cornish miners later emigrated to Cardiganshire (now Ceredigion) to work in the silver and lead mines there. The 18th Century Welsh surveyor and mine-owner Lewis Morris mentions their presence in a letter dating to 1742, in which he brags about having learnt everything the Cornish immigrants knew about mining . So the labourers moved around, taking their skills, including dowsing with them. At some point (possibly due to a miner changing professions?) dowsing crossed over into farming which is one of those trades which in times past (and to some extent even today) was kept "in the family" and so skills were past down from father to son. I didn't have to look very far for an example. My grandfather and great grandfather were both farmers and both tried their hand at water-divining. My great grandfather also worked as a miner, which proves my earlier point. All this is very intriguing but what does any of this have to do with Vermont? One of the things that triggered this research was the accidental discovery of academic links between Green Mountain College, Vermont and the University of Wales in my native Aberystwyth . It turns out that during the latter half of the 19th century, thousands of slate workers from North Wales emigrated to the USA, especially to the states of Pennsylvania, New York and also Vermont, including the Poultney area. This is the historical basis for the current academic links. My theory - and it is still just a theory - is that when these slate workers came to Vermont they brought their dowsing rods with them, metaphorically speaking. This only added to what must have already been a thriving dowsing culture. A Native American connection To try and establish the Welsh connection on more solid ground I decided to contact Janice Edwards , a Poultney native descendant of both early 1800s Welsh farmers and late 1800s Welsh slate workers. As things transpired, I discovered that her father’s heritage includes Native American ancestry through the Abenaki nation that has been documented in Vermont’s history for over 10,000 years, and that he has used dowsing techniques to help residents find water; skills he learned from his Abenaki grandmother. Conclusion The Western dowsing culture of Vermont goes back to the early settlers who doubtless employed the divining rod in their quest for gold. The hazel stick was employed by the money-diggers, including Joseph Smith and his father. The lucrative tourist trade brought about by the mineral spas surely must have prompted some to try their hand at water divining. The need for wells for out-of-town properties continues to this day and has helped maintain the status of water-divining in Vermont. It surely must be the case that many Vermont dowsers have not only Welsh ancestry, but also Welsh "dowsing roots" too. I would be pleased to hear from any Vermont dowsers who think they might be able to help further this line of research, especially with regards to the link with Wales (my e-mail is ianto@ukonline.co.uk). Asside from Western Man's dowsing, there is also the influence of the Native American tradition, which I think has been amply demonstrated. The first ASD members were interested primarily in the quest for underground water, but the whole subject of dowsing has been completely transformed in the relatively short space of time since the ASD came into being. We are no longer confined to the quest for water or minerals. Like the early pioneers who settled in Vermont we are claiming new ground as our own. There's gold in them there hills... Acknowledgements I would like to thank Patrick MacManaway, Sig Lonegren and Janice Edwards for their help researching this article. http://web.ukonline.co.uk/ianto/Vermont%20dowsing%20roots.rtf http://olivercowdery.com/gathering/Newisrael.htm#part2 |
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ANTS AS PROSPECTORS EMJ 9 15 1928Ants As ProspectorsIN THE course of the field investigation of a number of fluorspar deposits in New Mexico, occasional information of value was obtained from ant hills. A single instance will serve to illustrate their value. In the Little Florida Mountains, near Deming, Luna County, a number of fluorspar veins in volcanic agglomerate have been exposed for a short distance. The veins carry iron and manganese oxides, and the outcrop is often concealed. An attempt to follow one of the larger veins beyond the portion exposed by prospect pits failed, until the writer resorted to the examination of the materials of the ant hills along the general projection of the vein. This method was found to be successful in tracing veins concealed by surface material. A mineral analysis of one ant hill on a concealed fiuorspar vein, by the use of Thoulet’s solution, gave the following results: Lights: rhyoiite, quartz, feldspars; 55.2 Percent Fluorite; 22.5 Percent Iron and manganese oxides; 22.0 Percent Another case in which the materials of ant hills was of geological use, was related to the writer, by Mr. W B Lang. In an areal field investigation in Idaho, in a region of much weathered igneous rock, the presence of quartz crystals in the material of the ant hills was found to be a satisfactory criterion for the identification and mapping of rhyolite.— William Drumm Johnston, Jr., in Science. -4-- |