El Gambrisino 2013-12

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ELGAMBRISINOGem Crafters & Explorer's Club Bulletin,

P.O. BOX 3091, Las Cruces, NM 88003

Dec. 2013 - Volume 55 Issue 11

Affiliated with: American Federation of Mineralogical Societies www.amfed.orgMember of: Rocky Mountain Federation of Mineralogical Societies www.rmfms.orgMember of: Blue Ribbon Coalition www.sharetrails.org

2013 OFFICERS & volunteers:

President Cookie Saathoff 382-3464 [email protected] Vice President Sheri Gaines 526-7176 [email protected] Treasurer Pat Grace 202-2862 [email protected] Secretary - Brenda Gadberry 202-0200 [email protected] Refreshments- Patti Pickert 532-9351 [email protected] Don Saathoff 382-3464 [email protected]

Programs Eric Fuller 524-0204 [email protected] Field Trip Director- Eric Fuller 524-0204 [email protected] Editor- Maxine Wyman 649-4900 [email protected]

We meet on the third Friday of the month at Gardiner Hall, Room 118, NMSU campus, Las Cruces, NMat 6:30 pm for social and 7 pm for the meeting. There are no meetings in July and December. Duesare $10 per adult per year. They are due Jan.1st of each year. A membership form will be emailed ormailed to you in December to be filled out and returned with your check to the treasurer. There are noregular committees or board meetings nor do we sponsor a show.

Our purpose shall be to gather knowledge and provide educationalbenefits to members on geological, archaeological, lapidary, andmineralogical topics of interest, to include assistance to members inall lapidary problems, the study and identification of minerals and gemstones in the rough, the field study of geological formations whichproduce minerals and gem stones, the collection of minerals andgemstones, and the exploration of any geological or archaeologicaltopic or area which may be of interest to the membership.

NOTE: All articles and photographs are by the Editor Maxine Wymanunless otherwise noted. Any address or email changes must be sent tome at: [email protected] 4680 St. Michaels, Las Cruces, NM 88011.

Permission to reprint is granted if acknowledgement is given.We reserve the right to edit all material submitted for publication

Info for the Newsletter: If you have information, articles, pictures or a website related to gem crafting, rock collectingor exploring and would like to share please give me a call at 649-4900 or email me at [email protected] If youhave a good idea or story to tell I will be more than happy to help you write it up. Also if you have minerals, outdooror camping equipment, etc. that you would like to sell please let me know for our FREE "Classifieds."Maxine Wyman, Editor

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Gemcrafters and Explorers Club "EL Gambrisino" Dec. 2013 - 2 -

Meeting Minutes Nov. 15, 2013Submitted by Sec. Brenda Gadberry

Speaker: Howard Dash retired assistant Director ofManagement for the Metro-North Railroad in New YorkCity. The topic was his perspective of events in NYC atGrand Central Station on 9/11.

Visitors: Lynda Huff, David Diffie, Carl Lea, and KenLilje.

Treasurer's Report: Paid $215 to the RMFMS and abalance of $305.51 in the bank.

Old Business: Club approved and voted 2014officers: Dave Smith, President; Sheri Gaines, VicePresident; Pat Grace, Treasurer; Bill Pickert,Secretary.

Day Trips: 1)Al Spencer will be leading a day trip tothe Corralitos Ranch to dig geodes, Saturday,

November 16th. Meet at Love's Truck Stop at 8:30am.2)Mike Bromwell will be leading a trip to El Paso topurchase mineral specimens from Mexico. Meet at9:00am at the Dairy Queen on University.

Campout: Old Hachita campout 22, 23, and 24th ifweather permits.

Mineral Meeting: Wednesday, November 20th atCookie and Don Saathoff's house. Gates open at5:30pm, meeting at 6:00pm. If you need directions,contact Don Saathoff.

Club's Xmas Party: Club's 2013 Christmas party willbe hosted by Pat Grace and Tony Nunez at their homeon December 6th at 6:00pm. The party will be potluck.If you wish to participate in the gift exchange, pleasebring a gift that is gender friendly and preferablymineral, hiking, or camping related.

Announcements: Free tickets can be picked up atthe Munson Center, Las Cruces for the El PasoMineral and Gem Show, December 6th thru December8th, 2013.

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Program Notes Nov. 15, 2013

Howard Bash

He spoke of his experiences during the 9/11 tragedy inNYC. The planning, the implementing, the movementof people and equipment out of and into NYC was a

monumental task of great importance.

Howard had an interesting career in the railroad field.He was hired in 1972 as a Tower Operator and in 1974was made a Yardmaster. In 1982 he went to work forthe Penn Central and was moved to Grand CentralStation in New York City in the Control Tower as aYardmaster. At this time keeping track of the trains wasdone by Pencil and Paper, a piece of paper for eachyard. In 1995 the system was automated and trainswere kept track of electronically. He was on thecommittee to design this new system. By this time hewas the Assistant Director of Management for the

Metro-North Railroad in NYC.

Grand Central Station has 42 tracks on its upper leverand 16 passenger tracks plus a number of yard trackson the lower level. They move 100,000 people a dayby trains 70% of which were electrified with thebalance being 3

rdrail and diesel

9/11 was a beautiful, dry, sunny day. He was filling inas Director of Management as the Director was out ofthe country on vacation. He was busy working on aschedule for a Jewish Holiday determining the numberof cars per train needed. Several times a yearpassengers were counted on certain days so theyalways had a good idea of how many cars would beneeded at any time. He was notified by one of hisworkers that a plane had crashed into one of the TwinTowers. Shortly afterwards the second plane hit theother tower. At this point they knew the worst hadhappened and didnt know if any other buildings wouldbe hit. He was called by the Superintendent of theOperations Control Center to get over there. All trainswere stopped and ordered to stay at the neareststation letting all passengers off. It was his job to knowwhere every train was and how much fuel it had. All but

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six workers were sent out to 42nd

Street as it was notknown if the transportation sector would be hit also.When he went out at 10 AM smoke from the Towersfilled the air. They asked the engineers for fourvolunteers to run the four tracks at 5 mph to look forbombs. Each had a policeman with him. They foundnone.

At 11 AM the doors to GCS were opened and thepeople rushed in. The regular schedule was thrown outand he had as many cars as possible put on each trainand as many people as possible put on them, evenstanding room used. By the end of the day they hadmoved 75,000 people out of the city. He finished up hisday at 11 PM and then took his normal two hour trainride home.

There were pictures of the many spread sheets usedthru the years to keep track of the trains. Since then allengines and cars have had GPS tracking unitsinstalled on them making it a much easier job to keeptrack of them.

Howard finished his talk by reading a very touchingpoem written by a terminally ill young man and thenasked for a moment of silence to pray for the peoplewho had lost their lives in this tragedy..

Reminders and Gen. Info:

The next meeting will be as usual on the third Friday ofthe month which is JAN. 17

th, Room 118, Gardiner Hall

on the NMSU campus at 6:30 PM for socializing and 7PM for the meeting. Remember there is no meeting inDecember.

Well we have had our election of officers and a newpresident and secretary were elected. (Unfortunatelyfor them there were no nominations from the floor).Many thanks go out to our outgoing president CookieSaathoff and secretary Brenda Gadberry for theirexcellent service and help. Also thanks to Patti Pickertfor her outstanding job in the handling of therefreshments before they were done away with.

I wish everyone a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidaysand a great New Year.

Authors note: Here's the most recent episode of fossilmemories. No exaggerations; if anything, I toned thestory down a little. (Don't want anyone to think we werenot totally sober.)

Joans Ramblins - Episode 3

Happy Hour

In the early years we each cooked dinner separately,and since many of us had young children along,evening meals tended to be early, fast and kid-friendly.By the mid to late '70s most of the kids had droppedout from camping, and a few people started bringingadult beverages. Relaxing from the exertions of theday prior to breaking out the camp stove felt verygrown-up and civilized after so many years of hot dogsand toasted marshmallows.

Of course, civilized drinking calls for snacks. At first itwas just cheese and crackers passed around, and westill cooked our dinners afterward. Then people started

bringing more and more finger food, until the timecame when there were so many snacks that we gaveup any pretense of dinner; just pigged out onappetizers washed down with adult beverages. HappyHour was well and truly established.

A Happy Hour engraved in my memory took place atSkeleton Canyon, AZ. There's nothing to collect there,so we must have gone for the historic associations: it'sthe site of Geronimo's surrender. There were only sixof us in four vehicles.

Ed & Edna Dahl, ?, Ada Demarest, Pete Chadman at the

monument commemorating Geronimos surrender (1977)

We arrived early in the afternoon, and had barelychosen a campsite when a steady rain set in. That wasbefore we had a communal shelter, but Desert Petehad a small Army-surplus canvas tarp, maybe 6'x8'. Helet down the tailgate of the old Scout, raised the backwindow flap, and we rigged the tarp over the flap andtied it to nearby trees to create just enough shelter forus to sit huddled shoulder-to-shoulder. It kept onraining; we had nothing to do; so it wasn't long before

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several bottles of wine, Pete's vodka, a can ofsardines, and a mid-afternoon Happy Hour was in fullswing.

Joans Camper Rig in the rainWe had made some headway into the refreshmentswhen we noticed a man walking toward us. Pete said,When you see a man walking in the rain, in the middle

of nowhere, it means one thing: his vehicle has brokendown. Sure enough, the man (a Forest Service orBLM ranger, dont remember which) said his truck wasstuck about half mile up the road. We invited him to

join us and warm up with some vodka and sardines(yum!). By the time it stopped raining the wine wasfinished, and the vodka seriously depleted, but wewere ready for the rescue operation. Pete stood up, hishat bumped the tarp, and all the rainwater that hadaccumulated in the tarp poured down the rangersback. The poor guy gave a little yelp, but he wasalready soaked and he needed our help, so what couldhe say?

We all went up the canyon, Pete and the ranger in theScout, Ed Dahl in his pickup and the rest of us on foot.After the men dug out the rangers truck, Ed went toturn his pickup around, backed into deep sand andbogged down. Pete backed up the Scout so its rearbumper was against Eds front bumper, intending topush him out; but unbeknownst to Pete, there was agiant boulder right behind the pickup. Ed shouted, No,Pete, I cant go back! Pete was revving his engine soloudly that he couldnt hear, so he kept pushing Edagainst the boulder. Much hilarity among the onlookersas we waved our arms, yelling, No, Pete! He cant goback!, while Pete remained oblivious.

Eventually the confusion was straightened out, andvehicles freed without too much damage. We werehalfway back to camp when the lead vehicle got stuckin another stream crossing. Dj vu all over again.Finally reached camp as night was falling. The rangersaid a few polite words and left like a shot. (Who canblame him?)

The next day was absolutely perfect... blue skies,warm sun and colorful autumn foliage.

Skelton Canyon (1977)

To be continued...

Wonders of a Crystal

A crystal is one of the strangest objects of nature. It isnot alive, yet it grows. A crystal attracts the same kindof materials of which it is composed, arranges themwith great accuracy in geometrical forms, cements theparts together and holds them. Place a crystal in aliquid, or vapor composed of the same ingredients asthe crystal and the process of accumulation

immediately begins. If a crystal was broke in two partsand placed in a bath of liquefied crystal, the brokensurface will be repaired and each part will grow intoanother crystal, providing the other conditionsfavorable for crystal growth are present.

Even after a crystal has been worn until it is but arounded grain of sand, it will speedily become a crystalagain if placed in a solution containing the ingredientsof which it is composed. There is no known limit to theability of a crystal thus to repair itself and resume itsgrowth.

Under a microscope a crystalline solution can be seenforming into crystals, and it is a wonderful sight. First,innumerable dark spots form in the fluid; they stand stilland then begin to move. It is soon seen that themovement arranges the spots in straight lines, likebeads. The beads speedily coalesce into rods, and therods arrange themselves into layers until a crystal iscreated. The process proceeds so rapidly that it isalmost impossible to follow closely.

Via Rock Scoop 2\01 via Dusty Rocks 7/01Via Golden Spike News 8/01

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.Another Malachitespecimen

Not so colorful, but interesting to me is this Goethiteafter Pyrite. You can tell it looks like Pyrite with thefive-sided faces, but the Goethitehas replaced the

Pyrite with itself.

Finally, here is a nice (although kind of dirty)spray of Hemimorphites.

As I mentioned, these are only a few of what I found,but they certainly made the trip for me!

Composite level map of the Stevenson Bennett Mineshowing underground geology.

The main shaft was over 600 feet deep.I do not know how many idiots chanced fate and fell to

their deaths.I think I can remember at least two such occasions.

Note & Map sent in by Eric Fuller

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A Pilgrimage to Mount Cristo Rey

& Other Locations on the BorderReport & Photos by Kathy and Eric Fuller

The faithful make an annual pilgrimage to the top ofMount Cristo Rey. A large cross with Jesus on it marksthe holy site. Our pilgrimage was for a different

reason.green!

On Sunday, November 2, 2013, the club took anexploratory trip to visit the border and hunt Peridot atthe Portrillo Mar. A total of nine vehicles and seventeenpeople made the trip. We left from the parking lot onthe Eastside of the Pam Am Center. We had perfectweather. Since it would be a long day we took I-10 tothe Sunland Park exit and headed to Monument 1 onthe border with Mexico (usually we try to take the morescenic back roads). It was interesting to park right onthe border and see the old Mexican Customs house(renovated) and the very tattered Mexican Flag.

Mount Cristo Rey is on the border of three states, twocountries and two counties. With the GadsdenPurchase the US acquired 29,670 square miles of landand a southern railroad route from cash strappedMexico. For the border survey the first surveyorsmonument was placed at the south east edge of MountCristo Rey at an offset point from the center of the RioGrande River. Here we saw the first green, the greenof Border Patrol uniforms and the stripe on the BorderPatrol vehicles. No fence exists at this point. TheBorder Patrol was present, they are the fence, andthey stand on the X as they say, but they moved clearof our picture taking.

Jannettes dog Mandy is in Mexico!

Next we traveled a short distance north on the eastside of Mount Cristo Rey and saw some dinosaurfootprints in a very neat rock formation. Someone hadput white paint and/or a plaster cast material in someof the footprints which made them easier tophotograph. Can you imagine what it would have beenlike to live when the dinosaurs were roaming this area?You could actually see the path of travel by thecreature(s). The foot print was over 12 inches in length.Next time we are back here we will make a plaster castwith plaster of Paris and saran wrap for a mold release.

We then traveled toward monument 2c on the southwest side of Mount Cristo Rey. The night beforesomeone(s) had cut the border fence. The borderpatrol officer was guarding the men who wererepairing the fence and he could not escort us to

Monument 2c. I did not get a photo, but the borderpatrol vehicle had special metal mesh guards on all itswindows to prevent damage from the rock throwersthey encounter along this stretch of the border near thetown of Anapra. The Day of the Dead celebration wasto take place at this location within thirty minutes. Thefence here is chain link so friends and relatives on theMexican side can be that close to the Americancelebrators. We moved on to avoid the crowd ofcelebrators.

At our next stop we found more green Peridot.Here at Monument 8 is the Portrillo Mar, similar to

Kilbourne Hole and known to have large Peridot. Mostof the Portrillo Mar is in Mexico and in the past rockhounds had crossed the border and hunted there. Thefence at this point is a rickety old barbed wire ranchtype fence. The barrier here is anti-vehicle and it issomewhat reminiscent of the tank traps on theNormandy beach on D day.

Left to right: US Border Road-Vehicle Barrier-BarbedWire Border Fence-Mexico

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I took several photos of the Mar and surroundingterrain, as well as some of the Peridot that wascollected. The weather was very cooperative and Ithink everyone had fun collecting to their heartscontent. We decided to omit one of our intendeddestinations, the old railroad stop and border crossingof Noria due to a shortage of time. Eric located some ofthe largest Peridot he has ever found in 40 years of

collecting at Kilbournes Hole.

Some of the trip attendees ended the day with a trip toRudys BBQ, just off I-10, exit 8, on the west side of ElPaso. If you have never eaten there, we highlyrecommend trying it. Nothing like good BBQ and an icecold beverage to top off a great day in the field.

Corralitos Geode Field Trip Report

Report & Photos by Al Spencer

On Sat. the 9th of Nov. fourteen club members met atLoves truck stop on I-10 prepared to dig geodes in theCorralitos area. We traveled North through the Ranchgate, then west a few more miles, then north again ona gravel road that seemed to be disappearing intonothingness as we wound our way towards thegeodes. Finally, as the road turned to rocks and grass,we were there.

Matt Durning had located this area while prospectingon his ATV and it is remote!!! (I think he just wantedsome privacy while he went to the restroom).......andthere they were......screaming geodes! We spread outover the area and started digging. Some areas weremore productive than others but the geodes are prettymuch spread out over a large area a foot or so underthe surface in decomposing basalt and limestone.

Matt Durning

I believe everyone found something to take home......ageode filled with dreams.....glittering crystals......beautiful blue druzy quartz and even ruby and emerald- at least until they are cut open. So mine is laying inthe yard (uncut) full of glitter and dreams. Mike andSherri Gaines found the mother lode and generouslyshared their stash with those who didnt fare sowell......THANK YOU!!

Joan Smith, Bobbie & Wilma Hutson

As the day wore on the wind was also making itselfknown and we pretty much called it a day around noon.Jan, September, and Mike were still unearthingtreasures as I drove away and Russ was determined toexplore further north in search of the connecting roadinto Foster canyon. Luckily everyone made the tripback out to the highway and returned safely ready foranother adventure.

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BENCH TIPS FROM BRAD SMITH

MINI DRILL PRESSIf you find yourself drilling a number of small holes foryour work, you might want to look at the small,inexpensive drill presses now available. They take up

just minimal space on your bench and are alwaysready to give you nice straight holes. Some models

even have a variable speed control. I've been verypleased with a low-priced one that's been well-used inmy classes for over a year.

Because these machines areonly a foot high, they're limitedas to the size of workpiecesthat can fit into the machineand the size of the drill bits youcan use. But I've had noproblems with drill bits up toabout 3/16" (4.5mm), evendrilling steel.

The machines are sold by anumber of companies. If you do get one, be sure tobuy a spare belt because they are generally notavailable at local hardware stores.

LASER WELDINGA question came up this week about how to soldersome jump rings to hold blue topaz briolettes onto anecklace. We've all heard about ways to do somesoldering close to a stone, and some of us have sizeda ring without taking the stones out of their mounts.

We've used wet paper towels, garnet sand, cooling

gels, and my favorite of suspending the stone in a dishof water. All techniques bank on the principal of using asmall, hot flame to do the job quickly before the stonegets hot enough to crack or change color.

But each job is somewhat of a gamble. Some stonesare hardy and some are frail. Jades and jaspers willgenerally take a lot of heat, but I'd never chance it withthe likes of topaz or opal. Trying to shield a stone fromthe torch is always a betting game, and sometimes youlose.

If you're worried about soldering something close to a

stone, perhaps it's time to consider a no-heat methodlike laser welding. Most jewelry stores have laserwelders these days, and the cost of having it done isquite affordable. They used to have problems doingsilver, but now seem to do it routinely.

I've used a local shop twice in the last year, once for apiece with little emeralds a "friend" asked me to repairand for a second piece where I needed a safety catchand didn't want the torch heat to expose all the solderlines again.

Like these Bench Tips? Treat yourself to the book forChristmas! "Bench Tips for Jewelry Making" onAmazon. More Bench Tips by Brad Smith are atfacebook.com/BenchTips/

LeRoy sent us this notice just in time to insert it:

The Doa Ana Archaeological Society will meet at 7PM Tuesday, 10 December 2013, at the GoodSamaritan Auditorium, 3011 Buena Vida Circle, LasCruces. Professor Emeritus Warren R. DeBoer willgive a presentation "Pots by Tots: The Ceramic Art ofShipibo and Mimbres Children". His presentation willcompare ceramic art made by contemporary Shipibochildren of the Peruvian Amazon with eleventh totwelfth century Mimbres pottery that has beenattributed to child artists. The meeting is free and open

to the public. Info575-524-9497.

WHAT AM I?(No peeking at the answers below please.)

TTEIOIB___________________________________SFUTEIHC

__________________________________PIDLIOLAEP

________________________________GRAAMIRET

________________________________SCVUMTEOI

________________________________GOORHPLEIT

_______________________________WHAT AM I?________________________________

MICA Check out the following website for photos and more:http://geology.about.com/od/minerals/ig/minpicmicas/?nl=1

Via Boulder Buster 5/04

ANSWERS: biotite, fuchsite, lapidolite, margarite,muscovite

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Gemcrafters and Explorers Club "EL Gambrisino" Sept. 2013 - 10 -

UP COMING SHOW Dates:

DEC 6-8EL PASO, TEXAS:Annual show; El Paso Mineral & Gem Society; El Maida Auditorium; 6331 Alabama; Fri. 10-6,Sat. 10-6, Sun. 10-5; adults and students $3, seniors $2, children (under 12) free; gems, minerals, fossils, beads, jewelry,tools, books, equipment, geode cutting, silent auction, demonstrations; contact Jeannette Carrillo, 4100 Alameda Ave., ElPaso, TX 79905, (877) 533-7153; e-mail: [email protected]

JAN 1-28QUARTZSITE, ARIZONA:Wholesale and retail show; Desert Gardens RV Park; Desert Gardens RV Park; 1064Kuehn St., I-10 Exit 17; Daily 10-6; free admission; Arkansas quartz crystals, rough and polished minerals, fossils, jewelry, gifts,lapidary equipment; contact Sharon (manager), 1055 Kuehn St., Quartzsite, AZ 85346, (928) 927-6361; e-mail:[email protected]; Web site: www.desertgardensrvpark.net

FEB 13-16TUCSON, ARIZONA:Annual show; Tucson Gem & Mineral Society; Tucson Convention Center; 260 S. Church Ave.;Thu. 10-6, Fri. 10-6, Sat. 10-6, Sun. 10-5; adults $10, seniors and active military get $2 off on Fri., children (under 14) free; contactTGMS Staff, PO Box 42588, Tucson, AZ 85733, (520) 322-6031; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: www.tgms.org

FEB 22-23LAS CRUCES, NEW MEXICO; 2nd

annual show, Friends of the NM Farm & Ranch Heritage Museum, NewMexico Farm & Heritage Museum, Las Cruces, Rock, Gem & Mineral Show, 575-522-1232, www.LCMuseumROCKS.com

MAR 5-9--DEMING, NEW MEXICO; Retail show; Deming Gem & Mineral Society; SWNM State Fairgrounds; Raymond ReedBlvd.; Daily 9-5; free admission; contact Shirley Krasinski, PO Box 1459, Deming, NM 88031, (575) 494-5971; e-mail:[email protected]; Web site: www.DGMS.bravehost.com

For further information or shows please check: www.rockngem.comWho knows, there just might be a good rock show in the area of your travels.

A Thought to Ponder:

Christmas-What other time of the year do you sit in front of a dead tree and

eat candy out of your socks.

Some Interesting Web Sites for you to CheckOut Please send me any of your favorites that youthink others might be interested in and I will pass them along.

http://www.trailbehind.com/ another great map site. Sent in by Eric Fuller

Panther Cave Pictographs - 3D Modeling - YouTube Check out the 3D fly-through video of Panther Cave inSeminole Canyon created by Mark Willis with the assistance of other SHUMLA staff members using Structure fromMotion technology. Shades of site visits to come. Among archaeologists across the world, Texan Willis is helpingdefine the techno edge, this being but one example. Google Mark Willis archaeology and see what I mean.Sent in by Nancy McDonald

Classified Ads

FOR SALE: 2006 25 ft. Fleetwood Utah pop-up camper. Two queen size beds, one at each end. Toilet withprivacy curtain. Small refrigerator and stove. Kitchen table and chairs in 6 ft. slide out. Couch across fromtable. Awning and outdoor grill and shower. Electric brakes, water and propane system, spare tire and carrier,front storage box and stabilizer jacks. $7,500. For more info or to see, call Dave Smithat 575-521-3103

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El Gambrisino 2013-12