The Sun.
London, England, 1868-05-22 00:00:00

AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES.

The Reese River Reveille, on the 23d March, ap-
pears to have devoted itself to American antiquities
and arcbmology, a singular subject for the journal '
of a country so wholly new to civilization. It begins
by a piece of information which lately was copied
into many papers, that J. W. Phelps, of Vermont,
has the oldest book extant published in America,
being a dictionary of the Aztec language, printed
in 1571 in the city of Mexico, which is fifty years
before the landing of the pilgrims at Plymouth, and
thirty prior to the establishment of Jamestown,
Virginia. The next is a petrified man, discovered
by workmen when making excavations in the neigh-
bourhood of Corydon, Harrison County. The body
is large, the arms folded upon the breast, and firm
as the solid stone, and bears unmistakeable indica-
tions of having belonged to a race that roamed the
forests before the Miamas or the Iroquois had made
them their hunting grounds. Tne Leavenworth
Commercial is the authority for what follows :
" A most wonderful story reaches us from Mon-
tana; indeed, a tale which we would hardly credit
were it not related to us by one whom we consider
worthy of our credence. The gentleman who re-
lated the circumstance to us came down by the
steamer yesterday, and had himself conversed with
Mr. Edward Parsons, one of the lucky adventurers,
who gave him the following particulars :—ln July
last a company of five prospectors was made up in
Helena, who, having heard of the unexplored coun-
try around the Yellowstone, determined to visit that
district in search of lodes. The country was found
to be almost entirely free from Indians, and there was
abundance of game until they arrived within two
days' journey of Yellowstone Lake, when the scene
entirely changed, the country being entirely barren,
and permeated in every direction with hot springs
and fissures in the rock, from which issued smoke
and noxious gases. Continuing their journey
through .a scorching atmosphere, and encountering
some peril among the rough and irregular ridges of
bare rock, which everywhere distinguished the land-
scape, the travellers on the third day came to the
margin of a lake from which issued a river, which
they judged would lead to the Yellowstone. After
following the stream for some time they came to a
long irregular mound crowned on the summit by an
ancient stone care,' similar to those seen in some
parts of New Mexico, which was half concealed in
grass and low bushes. As the work of removing
the stones did not appear to be a difficult one,.they
being uncemeutel and of medium size, it was pro-
posed to open the earn,' which was done after half a
day's work, and below was found a solid cemented
floor, which sounded hollow to the tread. Being
determined to complete the work, the travellers,
after some labour, dug down some twelve inches,
when they came to an immense stone, seven feet
long, which it took the united strength of the party
to remove. Beneath there was a long, low chamber,
and when the eyes of the intruders became accus-
tomed to the darkness, it was seen that an Indian
catacomb had been unearthed. Seated in a
single row around the quadrangle were the
remains of upwards of thirty warriors, from
whose forms the flesh had long since moulded
away, and whose very bones crumbled into dust at
the touch of the spectator. On the floor around
lay numerous instruments of war or chase, some of
iron and some of stone, and the entire apartment
was covered with a fine impalpable dust, which was
all that remained of the furs and robes with which
this abode of death had doubtless at one time been
carpeted. Lying beside the bones were numerous
ornaments, indicating the rank of the dead, and
among them were many of those twisted circlets of
gold known to antiquarians as torques, which had
at one time entwinel the necks and arms of their
savage owners. Some of these were of unusual size,
weighing from one and a half to two pounds, and
minor ornaments of the same precious metal were
also secured by the happy finders. What chiefly
attracted attention was, however, a massive basin
or kettle that occupied the centre of the apartment,
and was doubtless used as a sacrificial censer,, for
burning incense, it being two feet high and two
feet and a half in circumference. The massive
article, wonderful to tell, proved on inspection to
be pure gold, and was so heavy that the party had
great difficulty in removing it from its resting-place
and bringing it into the upper air. Endeavours
were then made to break the vessel, but the pure
quality of the gold caused it only to bend beneath
the weight of the blows inflicted upon it. After
great exertion the adventurers were enabled, by
means of their axes, to sever the mass into portable
pieces, laden with which the party turned their
steps homewards, having themselves to walk the
greater part of the way to give relief to the bur-
dened animals. The whole amount of gold was
brought to Helena, and Mr. Edward Parsons cal-
culated that his share of the treasure amounted to
about $20,000, the whole being about $lOO,OOO in
value. Mr. Parsons is a native of Montana, and
resides at Green Vale, near Helena, where he is
well known. Notwithstanding his extraordinary
good luck, he intends to return to the river where
these discoveries were made, and which he calls
Green River, feeling convinced that there are more
catacombs in that vicinity."

The bones of an enormous reptile of the lizard
family have been received from Kansas by the
Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, to
which they have been presented by the discoverer,
Dr. Turner. The geologists of the Academy are
busy chiselling out the remains from the crystallized
gyps,un in which they were found imbedded.
The backbone has been cleared of its rocky case,
and the vertebra, put together, extends in length
about 30 feet. With the head and tail it is believed
to have been at least 50 feet in length.
At the regular meeting of the California Aca-
demy of Sciences, Monday Evening, March 16,
President Whitney (in the chair) read a com-
munication from J. W. Foster, of Chicago,
giving an interesting account of a stone implement
received there recently from California. The mate-
rial is syenite, very much like the Quincy granite,
symmetrical in shape, not quite circular on the
cross section, ground and polished so as to exhibit
in marked contrast the pure white of the feld-
spar and the deep green or black of the
hornblende. The blunt end is pierced, with a
hole, whose outer edges are rimmed out, so that
it looks very much like a plummet. It was found
in digging a well, thirty feet below the sur-
face, on or near the premises of Lafayette N ealy,
in the town of Woodbridge, San Joaquin county,
about eleven miles from Stockton. After reading
this communication, which was accompanied by
a drawing of the object, considerable discus-
sion ensued relative to similar objects known
to have been found in this State, and to the
habits of the Digger tribes, who seem to have ad-
vanced no farther than the stone age. In connec
tion with inquiries on the early records of the human
race in this State, Professor Whitney stated that
he was preparing a paper giving new light on the
famous Calaveras skull. Ile also exhibited a fossil
sent to the Geological Survey by Roger S. Day, a
rare species of ammonite, apparently, found in
a hill-top in the mines seven miles cast of Folsom,
and interesting for the additional evidence it pre-
sents of the secondary age of the California gold
formation.

An exploration of the various tumuli in the Mis-
sissippi Valley, in the neighbourhood of St. Louis, is
about to be commenced by a scientific gentleman

who has paid especial attention to the subject of
American Archaeology. Monk Mound and the other
tumuli composing the Cahokia group are first to be
investigated, the research being under the auspices
of a prominent Eastern scientific society. What-
ever relics of ancient art may be discovered are to
form part of a proposed National Antiquarian
Museum.—Anglo-American Times.

711 E NEEV UNION LEAGUE CLUB-
-110 USE.

The members of the Union League Club of New
York city held their first reception in their new
building on Thursday evening, April 16th, and
were favoured with a large and fashionable assem-
bly. The spacious reception-room had been taste-
fully fitted up for the occasion, and the various
apartments were enlivened by the display of na-
tional colours, relics of the war, large banks of
fragrant flowers, and a superb collection of oil
paintings by our leading artists. The entire build-
ing, including the theatre, was thrown open to the
guests, a band of music was in attendance, and
every step was taken that would add success to the
occasion. The ladies, as usual, lent a very attrac-
tive air to the reception, and exhibited the most
costly and superb toilets. Among the invited guests
who accepted the courtesies of the club were nume-
rous representatives of the army and navy whom it
had so cordially sustained during the war ; dele-
gations from the Union League of Philadelphia
and the Union Club of Boston ; eminent civilians
of this country, and a few distinguished foreigners.
Of the army there were Generals Anderson, Bar-
low, Heintzelman, Butterfield, Waller, Webb, Fes-
senden, Pleasonton, Cullen,, Barnard, Santell,
Newton, Ingalls, and Greene ; Admiral Gordon
and others of the navy ; Baron Osten Sacken, the
Consul-General of Russia ; Mr. C. K. Tuckerman,
our new Minister to Greece; Professor Mahon and
Kendrick from West Point. About seventy letters
of regret were received from Governors, Senators,
Representatives, and eminent civilians, whose public
duties prevented their attendance. The new Club
House is situated on the corner of Madison-square
and Twenty-sixth-street, and was originally designed
by Leonard Jerome, Esq., for the Jockey Club
House, but was leased by the Union League Club
previous to its completion, and fitted up according
to the necessities of the patriotic organization. The
building is highly attractive in its exterior view, and
will bear comparison with any similar edifice in the
country. The stairways are of oak, and are covered
with a Wilton carpet of a neat pattern and luxuri-
ous softness." The balustrades are massive in pro-
portions, and are capped with a handrail of black
walnut. On the first floor is a commodious read-
ing room, fitted up with black walnut furniture,
and ornamentel with heavy brown-coloured rep
window hangings, edged with purple plush. Over
the centre of each window, as well as on the backs
of the chairs and tete-a-tetes, is the monogram
"U. L. C." The reception room is opposite the
reading-room, and is fitted up in a corresponding
manner. At the extreme end of the hallway, into
which these rooms open, is a gallery set apart for
the exhibition of pictures. The walls are covered
with red baize, and, besides the light from the win-
dows, there is a beautiful crystal chandelier hang-
ing from the centre of the ceiling, to which
is attached a patent arrangement, by which the
most mellow light will be obtained. Adjoin-
ing the gallery are the hat and cloak room, a
spacious bowling-alley, and a first-class billiard-
saloon with four tables. The second floor is set
apart for dining purposes, and this is divided into
five compartments, each containing six tables, and
affording facilities of entertaining twenty-four per-
sons. On the third floor is one of the most elegant
apartments in the building, and is designed for the
reeeption of distinguished personages. The furni-
ture of this apartment is of polished black walnut,
upholstered in costly style. The window draperies
are of brown silk, trimmed with fringes of red
velvet. It is the intention of the . Club to give in
the theatre, during the year, a series of dramatic
and other exhibitions, in aid of certain city charities.
These performances will be gotten up under the
auspices of lady friends of the Club. Ou the fourth
and fifth floors are a number of sleeping apartments,
each containing a complete set of black walnut
furniture, and an exceedingly comfortable easy-
chair. From the windows on the upper floor the
visitor may enjoy one of the m)st extensive and
beautiful views of the city and suburbs, and be re-
freshed with a current of air of a purity seldom
experienced within the city limits. The club have
secured a lease of the building at a rental of
$lB,OOO per annum for ten years, with the privilege
of purchasing the entire property within three
years.—Frank Leslie's Illustrated.