Rensselaer Republican, Volume 18, Number 39, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 3 June 1886 — THE WITCH-HAZEL. [ARTICLE]

THE WITCH-HAZEL.

An Instrument for the Discovery of Gold or Petroleum. f The witch-hazel, or magnetic rod, which a great many years ago created so much attention in the early days of Pennsylvania and Maryland, is yet used to some extent in the mining regions of the West. ,It is said that some of the best mines in the Stata of Colorado and in Arizona Territory were found by the influence of the magic rod, or witch-hazel, and hence there is yet a superstitions belief that to some extent they are valuable. Upon several occasions in l the different tracing of veins the witchhazel has been brought into execution. Recently a reporter met a professor of Leadville, who is spending the winter in Denver and has gained a wide reputation as an operator of the magnetic rod. “What is your mode of operating one of these instruments?” asked the reporter. “They are very simple, and for your benefit ! will some day get out the rod and go outside of the city limits and show you how it works. Here in the city I cannot make it work as successfully as I should like to. on account of the loeal attraction. You may take a silver dollar or a gold piece and place it under the surface of the ground anywhere in a field, where there are no unusual attractions, and I cam find it very easily with one of these rods. “A friend of mine at Georgetown several years ago took a gold watch from a friend of his and buried it in a pasture. Prof, Malstrom, with whom I was then traveling, paid a dear price for the watch if he was not able to find it inside of three days. This was one of the most remarkable tests I have ever seen made with one of these hazels. The watch was buried at midnight in a swampy pasture, and a sod about eight inches in thickness removed and so perfectly replaced that the party who placed it there could not find it the next day. The owner of the watch was very much worried about the timer, but was rewarded in cash for more than its value. The Processor was also considerably interested in its recovery, as he was out a round SIOO on its account. On the third day the rod turned downward just over the place where the watch was buried,* and it was not long before the gentleman recovered his watch. Of course it created a sensation,,.and at least one hundred successful experiments were tried after that.” “Did you ever try them for water, oil, or petroleum?” “No, I never have, but they work on the same principle and as successfully. In Pennsylvania they have been tested for oil wells, and to this day are regarded as possible factors for the discovery of oil. An old fellow,’ whose name I am unable to remember now, is operating one in Wyoming, and through him the petroleum beds were found in Carbon County. They are also used in Missouri to trace lead deposits, and are also utilized successfully.”