For twenty-five years Fred Schwartzwalder's hobby had been collecting rocks.
Weekend after weekend he had roamed the Rockies, bringing home new samples for
his collection. After his basement was filled to capacity he started building a
rock cairn in his backyard, which grew larger and larger with each passing year.
Then came 1950 and the growing public interest in radioactive minerals. Amateur
geologist Schwartzwalder bought a Geiger counter for $100, after months of hard
saving from his earnings as a high school janitor.
"The day he brought his counter home," says "Time" magazine, "he poked it around
his backyard rock pile. Immediately, the Geiger counter began to jitter
excitedly, but when Fred located the radioactive rock and dug it out, he could
not remember where he had found it. For three months he retraced his steps
through the hills until at last, on a Sunday afternoon, he discovered the spot
where he had broken off the sample from an outcropping on Indian Head Mountain."
That was a memorable afternoon. The Geiger counter went wild and the happy
explorer felt sure he had found a major source of uranium. He had. After many
difficulties he managed to transport several tons of the ore to the government
processing plant in Salt Lake City. Three weeks later he learned from the AEC
that he had hit upon "one of the most significant hydrothermal-type deposits" in
the United States.
Schwartzwalder's uranium has already brought him $125,000 (this was in
1955) , with prospects of millions more. That long-forgotten rock in his back
yard has made him wealthy beyond his wildest dreams.
It is amazing what riches are sometimes found close at hand. It is said that the
first diamond of the famous Kimberly mines was picked up outside somebody's home
and thought to be a pebble. And nobody needs a Geiger counter to lead him to the
greatest treasure of all--the Holy Bible.
Through this Book men are led to the Rock of Ages, the Source of power
immeasurable and wealth incalculable--yet free for all. Fortunate indeed are
those who discover this guide to eternal riches in their home.
By Arthur S. Maxwell, Signs of the Times, January 11, 1955. With permission from
Dale Galusha dalgal@pacificpress.com
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