Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 13.djvu/210

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been validated.
198
THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

tive inhabitants of the neighborhood. Martin, now thoroughly disgusted, withdrew from the project; but Hull, hearing of another gypsum-bed in a more retired locality, on the line of the Dubuque & Sioux City Railroad, then in process of construction, went thither, and the following Sunday engaged the foreman of the railroad-gang to employ his men in quarrying out as large a slab as the nature of the ground would permit, paving for the labor with a barrel of beer. The result was a slab weighing three and a half tons, measuring twelve feet in length, four in breadth, and twenty-two inches in thickness. With almost incredible difficulty and labor the block was transported over forty miles of terrible road to Montana, the nearest railroad-station, where it was shipped to E. Burghardt, Chicago, who had been engaged to grave the image. On its arrival at that city, it was moved to Burghardt's barn, which had been prepared for its reception, and two men at once set to work upon it—one, Edward Salle, a German; the other, an American named Markham. It was Hull's desire to represent a "man who had laid down and died;" but, as he entertained doubts as to the universal acceptation of the "fossil-man" theory, it was decided to produce an image that might also pass for an ancient statue. This combination of designs was the cause of that curious feature which attracted notice and provoked discussion when the giant came to be exhibited, viz., the lack of hair.

The last of September the stone-cutting was finished, but the work was far from being completed, having the appearance of newness peculiar to freshly-cut gypsum. The figure was now subjected to long and patient rubbing with sand and water, which produced the water-worn appearance so often cited as incontrovertible evidence of extreme antiquity. The pores of the skin were imitated by carefully pecking the entire surface with leaden hammers faced with needles, giving the peculiar "goose-flesh" which puzzled so many. There still remained an appearance of freshness, which was finally obviated by bathing with writing-fluid, and afterward washing with sulphuric acid, giving the desired appearance of antiquity. Packed in sawdust, the giant, now weighing 3,720 pounds, was shipped to Union, New York, where it arrived October 12, 1868. Meantime Hull proceeded to Salisbury, Connecticut, to inspect a newly-discovered cave, in which he hoped to bury and resurrect his giant, but was discouraged by the price demanded. Suddenly remembering that fossil bones had recently been discovered near Syracuse, New York, he now visited a relative, one Newell, living in the locality, at Cardiff, and opened the enterprise to him, proposing to bury the giant upon his farm. Newell at once accepted the terms proposed—one-fourth interest—and it was decided to inter the image near the barn, where a well had formerly been projected.

All being arranged satisfactorily, Hull returned to Union, November 4th, and shipped the "fossil" for Cardiff by four-horse team, under the charge of his nephew, Tracy Hull, and one Amesbury. On the even-