Post by garock on Mar 28, 2007 16:01:26 GMT -5
Now the Moh’s scale as we have come to know it, is currently in the midst of undergoing some dramatic changes as secretly revealed by an insider source recently. Legal briefs have been filed in the 11th Circuit Court in Eclectic, Alabama as of February 29th, 2007.
The Moh’s Scale was initially created to separate and identify differing groups of stone with each group number sharing a very important factor—hardness from the lowest denominator being a soft stone (such as talc) one, to the opposite end of the spectrum with a rating of ten to distinguish the diamond’s high-end rating.
In 1922, Friedrich Leroy Moh, a German mineralogist devised a crude but practical method of comparing hardness or scratch resistance of minerals. It has become universally known as Moh's scale or Mohs scale as the grammatically challenged would call it. Throughout his lapidary life he longed for a set of standards by which the hardness of all stones could be reasonably classified on a scale of one through ten. Mohs, born in Gernrode, Germany, studied chemistry, mathematics and physics at the University of Halle and also studied at the Mining Academy in Freiberg, Saxony. After assuming the position of a foreman at a mine in 1901, Mohs moved in 1902 to Alabaster Alabama, where he was employed in trying to identify the minerals in a private collection of a banker.
His mother, Sophronia Betsy Moh was originally married to a hard working “carnie” that bit the heads off chickens while working as a carnival geek for P.T. Barnum. To say she was the matriarch of a totally dysfunctional extended family is an understatement of major proportions. Money they made; common sense they did not. Sophronia (Mrs. Moh) had an eccentric third cousin, twice removed, by her former father-in-law’s aunt who by chance, had inherited several million dollars from her great grandfather. Turns out, this cousin was named Larry. Larry, who was a loafer; preferred not to waste his valuable time working for a living. Throughout his life he had piddled away the days helping Leroy establish criteria for Leroy’s to-become famous hardness scale.
Not long after Leroy’s eventual death due to an overdose of milk duds, Larry decided he wanted a piece of the action with regard to royalties earned through the implementation of the Moh’s scale. Larry wanted to be remembered and wanted his share of the monies that have accumulated over the years.
Now as if this wasn’t embarrassing enough, consider the following. Mrs. Sophronia Moh’s maiden name was Kurlie. Upon her son’s early and unexpected passing, she too decided she was due some of the financial rewards due her son as a result of his life’s work on the scale of hardness, with which all we rockhounds are now familiar.
Thereon, legal battles of unprecedented enormity have begun in the courts at Eclectic, AL. The chief justices have heard arguments from both sides. No decision could be made at the 11th Circuit Court hearings. So on March 17th, the chief justices moved the hearings to Washington D. C., to be heard by the Federal Courts. Their decision would be final.
This story does have an end, which we are now approaching. In addition to financial rewards being sought by Mrs. Moh as well as the cousin, both are demanding their names be included in the hardness scale formerly known as the Moh’s scale. The sad news, on April 1st, we must report that a liberal judge in Washington, D.C. has agreed to change the name of our beloved scale to include the names of the two claimants seeking notoriety and presumably a name for themselves in the history books.
Therefore, with much trepidation, we deliver the unsettling news to you that as of January 1, 2008 at 12:01 a.m. the Moh’s scale shall no longer be known by its name we had so fondly recognized it by. In the future, mention of the rockhound’s reference to scale of hardness shall be known as the Kurlie, Moh and Larry scale.
Please remember in the future to address this scale accordingly.
;D ;D ;D April Fool's ;D ;D ;D
Co-authors
Herb Whittington -- (334) 793-6811
Frank Foster -- GaRockhound@aol.com
The Moh’s Scale was initially created to separate and identify differing groups of stone with each group number sharing a very important factor—hardness from the lowest denominator being a soft stone (such as talc) one, to the opposite end of the spectrum with a rating of ten to distinguish the diamond’s high-end rating.
In 1922, Friedrich Leroy Moh, a German mineralogist devised a crude but practical method of comparing hardness or scratch resistance of minerals. It has become universally known as Moh's scale or Mohs scale as the grammatically challenged would call it. Throughout his lapidary life he longed for a set of standards by which the hardness of all stones could be reasonably classified on a scale of one through ten. Mohs, born in Gernrode, Germany, studied chemistry, mathematics and physics at the University of Halle and also studied at the Mining Academy in Freiberg, Saxony. After assuming the position of a foreman at a mine in 1901, Mohs moved in 1902 to Alabaster Alabama, where he was employed in trying to identify the minerals in a private collection of a banker.
His mother, Sophronia Betsy Moh was originally married to a hard working “carnie” that bit the heads off chickens while working as a carnival geek for P.T. Barnum. To say she was the matriarch of a totally dysfunctional extended family is an understatement of major proportions. Money they made; common sense they did not. Sophronia (Mrs. Moh) had an eccentric third cousin, twice removed, by her former father-in-law’s aunt who by chance, had inherited several million dollars from her great grandfather. Turns out, this cousin was named Larry. Larry, who was a loafer; preferred not to waste his valuable time working for a living. Throughout his life he had piddled away the days helping Leroy establish criteria for Leroy’s to-become famous hardness scale.
Not long after Leroy’s eventual death due to an overdose of milk duds, Larry decided he wanted a piece of the action with regard to royalties earned through the implementation of the Moh’s scale. Larry wanted to be remembered and wanted his share of the monies that have accumulated over the years.
Now as if this wasn’t embarrassing enough, consider the following. Mrs. Sophronia Moh’s maiden name was Kurlie. Upon her son’s early and unexpected passing, she too decided she was due some of the financial rewards due her son as a result of his life’s work on the scale of hardness, with which all we rockhounds are now familiar.
Thereon, legal battles of unprecedented enormity have begun in the courts at Eclectic, AL. The chief justices have heard arguments from both sides. No decision could be made at the 11th Circuit Court hearings. So on March 17th, the chief justices moved the hearings to Washington D. C., to be heard by the Federal Courts. Their decision would be final.
This story does have an end, which we are now approaching. In addition to financial rewards being sought by Mrs. Moh as well as the cousin, both are demanding their names be included in the hardness scale formerly known as the Moh’s scale. The sad news, on April 1st, we must report that a liberal judge in Washington, D.C. has agreed to change the name of our beloved scale to include the names of the two claimants seeking notoriety and presumably a name for themselves in the history books.
Therefore, with much trepidation, we deliver the unsettling news to you that as of January 1, 2008 at 12:01 a.m. the Moh’s scale shall no longer be known by its name we had so fondly recognized it by. In the future, mention of the rockhound’s reference to scale of hardness shall be known as the Kurlie, Moh and Larry scale.
Please remember in the future to address this scale accordingly.
;D ;D ;D April Fool's ;D ;D ;D
Co-authors
Herb Whittington -- (334) 793-6811
Frank Foster -- GaRockhound@aol.com