A Visit To Chalcedony Park Arizonia

Tweaity years ag-o ti ininer who had tieem proaeef.uig Arteona gave me aai oWong block o: peeultarly marked ftgate. After lettimg frienl cut oíf a dozen paiu-s of slecve buttons fromi it, I h'iitl tlif rent of the block polkslied as a cablniet specimen. It was w:l ntly a k'jad of petrified wood, and tftlie donor told me that tbere were icamenee quaaitiitie.s i 'n ba a región whei-e he liad been exploriog Tliat sanie reglón is uow kroo-wn as tiie Chalcedony Park, and wae meationed te me ly the railroad officialw as beiaiK oue of the most extraord:mary of tdie ina-ny reinarkable localit-k's alomg the Stuita Fe route. Holbrook was the place where I was told to leave the ears aiwl take a Bt-aire l'oir the park. liut there was no stage, and ithie Band that was raining at the tinne was such as 110 man vho vai-ued hiK coiniort and safety was wXl'jag to encounber. Cori-izo nas somewhat nearcr the park, but it was a niere wateriug ttation, witü nio housee or conveyauces. On stating the oaée to the conductor of the fast Califoa-nki exprese, lie kinUly relaxed liiw rnien amd stopped hib olid train oi I'-uilman cars at whistling post 233" in the mklst of the sage Im-usJi, ana just iit sjinset. i'oiiitkig to a wiiMlmfll tlie liorizon, he tsaid: -'Tliat is Adam Haana's ranch, the only house within 10 miles. Mayfoe you can gct a horae tlivn-; and ii aot, you can foot it iu the nioi-niug." Tlie traiu roMed on and left me and my kodack alone ín tiie wiidernet!. After proceedáng for about a mlle tihe bamks of am arroya were rcached, UBually dry as a timder box, but now Jlooded by mening uow. T1l stream Beemed to be a moving quicksand and variied in widtli from ioi-ty to two httiidred feet. The ranch was on the toher eide of the etream, but my halloo bronglit out the inmates, iviio dürected me to a pilie of drilt -sood a tllie only means of cross ing. Whv Mr. Hamna does not occupy higher grouind, near the railroad, and íurtlxer bis oto interest, as weü as ttooee of touiriBts, by regular trips tto t&e park, was a matter not iully made clear. The next mormnK, after on exciting epfcdoe, bting notlinig Jiess than an attack on the lady of the ranch by a pair of eavage coyotes, I Btarted alome, on horseback, for my destinat'ipai. It was an easy trail, and the Mstajice dd nat exceed seven miles. But it was & dreary ride over mesa amd arroyas, with otcasional glimpses of rthe dis-tant moraitains. Froiu the very titart t.he road was limnl by specimens of aBfftiaed wood equal to the ome I had ten guan-ding for sso inany yeare. Now arad then a petriíied log or solitary t-.tump, werc harbimiiers Of ivliat was tu een ïurther in. The term ■■park" is a mitenomer; for there i no natural park herc, nor lias thie hand of man done anytlfmi; but to Bhatter tlxe niarvelou.-; relies oí dátele antiunity. The pëofcle oí the -vieimity always Bpeak of it ae "thie letriii)ed Forest." But that agaim is misleadiiïg; there is 110 ïorest, -wliiatever there may have been fifty ciMiuirk's ago. It L-criainly sccins hs if thie piiaoe ouglit to be made a nattonal pink, and sliould be both better protected and more easy of acces. As it ie, the enchanted spot V.es at the ïiieirey of vandal, the ouly precautian a ga luist npiilation being a c-ailroad rule agalnwt shipping specimens Tram it in bwlk. Hew sluill the fhak-cdony Park le deBortKed At first onw gets tlie iiupressiO'U tlwit t is a small at'fair, of perhaps fiït.v acres. Theo he says it .musí be a hiiiidred. After riding over Uk amazing ruïne tor many Uours ioi üTifceiisïuii, he concludes that the área imcludes a tihousaud acres; and ficaally he hardly qüèSttemefl the bold estímate of Mr. ('. F. I-.ummis that the extenKive foreet now hardened into tone foirmerly CQverecJ liundreds of square milos;" and accept s without dSesent tin' asserttom of Mr. G. F. Kuöz, ttfiat tliei-e may here be Been at a glauee a millton tons of precious litoixes. A nuittor-of-fact visitw rajghit Kay that the scène reminded Min oí a vast logging camp, vliere the lututernieti had tossed the huse log irom their tsledges at ra.ndomi, aud then liad ?one away, leavmik thwm rai-!oeiked and moss-iïrown. ïlie tTees whon standing were fully 200 feet lvih; for evea now tlu-ir prostratc tnukt measure, when uuba-okn, -ipom 100 to 150 feet. The peculiairity already hinted at is that tüiese uiighty tnuiks are as regularly severed iut Bectious as Lf the work had been done by a uroniMïUt saw. The lengths vary from disks Hke cart wheels to loga 20 or 30 ieet long, or tonger. TwIgB are ïoutod au toeh tliirough, and trunks ten feet thick. 'Piiey lie at every angU'; parallel to .a.li otiKT, aral at rjght angies; singly anl Id ftreart groops; down in gtiileys eund peyehefl llik MiJinon on Mi] i!ps. And aJl lli.-c niyr'.;il. ( trunks, Kturaps, tose, braaèsiea and fmy twigs are BOCd tone. ïlnoe tliat remain intact liave been weathered to a lark red, rlcto iinimii. or sober black. V.ut Time" relentless ax, aidirt liy the geologist's hainnver. has made witli w) miijiy oí them tliat the gromuid is tlLickly siroira -w-Rh tíelr frajrmeuts, Irom pocbs MUe bowlders dOAvji to chips and minute splinters, tjhat lihow their briilliamt eolors imdcr ttoe fierce Arizoma kiui with fealeidoecopic elteot. Ai evary footfüll you tiread on gemsí, saine oí which jniulit Ki"K'' a ducal1 corooet. while vilo móet i)la'm and least attractivo won'.d le -wovtihy of an honored place in the t'inest cabinet. The re are no rubiee, aappbiüWB nor dteumonde Ucre (as lias been incorrcrtly reportod). Imt 1he ametliyst abounide, and the red ; ïi! yellow Jasper, chalcedony ol every hue, the topaz, the onyx, the CW ueliam ,and every imaginable variety of agate .No log, uur fragment, Ie limitad to a single kind of gein. Mauy aa-e mass'.ve moeaies of all the kinds n&nH'd abmv. The material breaks pret t y easily ito cubical Itonw, but H ís extremely hard. and takos a bri.liant and durable polish. Vaide.r a magnifying glass the ceUular Ktractui-e Uis plaioly visible, and experta assure us that the aneient tovert was made p of trees vnalogou to our piaes and cedars. The regiom ba decidedly volcanic, lava beds arnd extinct craters being in sight in pverv direitLon. Some catatrophe dotíbtlet lled the "íorest primeval," which was subsequently buried in voteaníc asihes. FJoods of hot silicious waters were poured over the ashes, possililjtkirom geysei-s. The wood beoam water-soaked, and gradually tibe eilica took it place a,nd Jiiape. Th puire sillca, aa Mr, Kumz suggeste, wouW tomi the limDid nulartz, wWle the rieh colors of red, broTs-a, yellow aaid parple woma lx; duie to irán aud nuuiganese held in solution. I found one block of wooil tliat liad clianged to eolid h-on. Spurring ray Irorse from thc valley to ttoe sunimit oí the mesa, main.y formad of Hghrt undstoae, I followed a t.raia to lts fmrttier Btóe, wliere M is cut by a smaM camyon about 50 íeet dwp. And here te tbe Agate Bridge, tOne most wonderhH object of Re kind in existente. Tliis unique In-Mge Ls simply a hui? truivk spannimg thc eanyon wIkto it te 60 feet wífo. Tin' trunk itóAll IS 100 feet kni?-!, 'l t;ii)i'i-s down froin a thlckoetm oí íive ú'ft to a diameter of three Mi Jts enture maes Is made up of agotes, jaeer8, aind ottoer tous ïnateriafe. At a point twotlukrds of tlie way aerows it is fractuired, vliet her naturadily or by vio■löiioe I could m:t deterniine. At the bottoon of thi riinyon iis a pool reorted to by tli'o ciattle of the plains, and aiwund it gi-ow the on!y living trees t be setin. for mijes. The task of select img peclmen8 f rom a niUilUm toas of gems is less easy thian It te agreeable. Each crystal, or woss agute, or amethyst, or onyx, woniH mtost deeirable tlll it lies in yoiir pocket or eaddle pouch, and thn others assert their superiority. At ïatst my loKud was as lieavy as cra'l le mainaged on horsebaek. With relucbance I left tlie enchanted íoirest, jnade my way Iwiek to Hanna's rajnoh, crossed the periious arroya, ílagged an approaohiiií; Main, Rained pei-misskm. tu take my sacktul of t.reaswes oin board, aiul gped 011 my jowney, eoiivinced that whatever marvete may have exi-sted in the days of t.iie Aralnam Xijïht's entertainnu'iits, none in these more modern tiniea could i-;val, ia its way, tlie pctriil'd forest of Arizoaa. Attempts have been made, to a liinited ilei;we, to introduce ai;i'tizc'l vood for orna menta tion. Tiie maíejriaj, hïwexfir, is SO' extremely hard iis to require special machiaery ior cutttng anxl poi fcíh-Ing, and we do not k-now oí aniy compaaiy tliat hos unïertaktin tlvis work öa a larc scalo except the Drake CWupany, oí Sioux Fililí, Dak., npecimens of wlwjse werk are on exMbition at Tifiany's, In New York City. The largest of these is a bloc-k 8(3 iiachies in height, 41x34 in. ',n dtametor, and woifihing -:1 tons. It enttoe top is beautifully pcl}s(hed, s1ioymi the inany kinds of genis of wtoteh iit (B coinposed. The Indian name ior agatized wood is "Chinarnimp." l-'or cemturiies tlw? abarlgtoee have ivsorifd to the PetrSfted Poreet for Jais from vh: -H to make the preoiooiö arrow tij so greatly niiii-ed by collector.