[meteorite-list] NPA 02-29-1924 Lost (Canyon Diablo) Meteorite to Contain Platinum

From: MARK BOSTICK <thebigcollector_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Wed Jan 12 12:36:53 2005
Message-ID: <BAY4-F1171EDC553E7BCECF59B7EB3890_at_phx.gbl>

Paper: The News
City: Frederick, Maryland
Date: Friday, February 29, 1924
Page: 8

Lost Meteorite Believed to Contain Platinum

     In the Arizona desert, midway between the Grand Canyon and the
Petrified forest, the wise men of the Navajo tell a story that is
generations old. Like many legends of once savage folks, it parallels with
uncanny accuracy the scientific explanation of a weird phenomenon of nature.
     Ages ago, the Indians say, three of their gods, seeking eternal rest,
rode to the earth on flaming blue thunderbolts that cleared for them a deep
and wide-mouthed grave in which the gods still lie
     That is the Navajo version of the fall of what science calls the Canyon
Diablo meteorite, a huge lump of celestial matter that is believed to lie
imbedded in the solid rock, 1.400 feet below the desert sands, beneath the
570-foot crater that it blasted out when it plunged from the sky.
     For 40 years the Navajos have been shaking their heads and prophesying
evil as they have seen the white man's machinery set up at the crater's edge
and his drill bite into the tomb where sleep their gods. For mining
engineers believe that the buried meteorite is a giant treasure chest of
iron, nickel, platinum, iridium and other valuable minerals. Its size has
been estimated as between 300 and 1,000 feet in diameter and its weight as
between a few thousand tons and many millions.
     Recently, the steel point of an oil drill, boring into the rock, was
shattered against a substance harder than itself. Was it the meteorite? The
engineers are assuming harder than it was and have sent for additional
mining machinery to sink a shaft. What the drill struck is more than 1,400
feet below the surface.
     The sinking of the proposed shaft will enable the engineers definitely
to ascertain if the mysterious substance was a part of the long-sought
treasure. But its sinking is likely to prove a difficult task.
     Natural conditions, climate and the presence in the neighborhood of
thousands of rattlesnakes and rats impede the progress of the mining
operations. But they are being carried out wherever possible with eagerness
by both the scientific and industrial world. - Popular Science Monthly.

(end)

Clear Skies,
Mark Bostick
Wichita, Kansas
http://www.meteoritearticles.com
http://www.kansasmeteoritesociety.com
http://www.imca.cc

http://stores.ebay.com/meteoritearticles

PDF copy of this article, and most I post (and about 1/2 of those on my
website), is available upon e-mail request.

The NPA in the subject line, stands for Newspaper Article. The old list
server allowed us a search feature the current does not, so I guess this is
more for quick reference and shortening the subject line now.
Received on Wed 12 Jan 2005 12:35:48 PM PST