The St. Cloud journal. [volume] (St. Cloud, Minn.) 1866-1876, 1869-11-11
4 . = y '
THE ONONDA0A GIANT.

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"A correspondent Of: tho New York
ReraM writing concerning the8 giant1
fesu, orr statue recently found near
SyEacuse,> New York, says: !. = s'';i
hAPlease do not credit tho statement
that the statue wsa brought in = wagon
and buried , year ago BY the light Of 81
'dart lantern: Nobody Who ;: has see.
thSl figure Is it lies there in all its maj:
esty believes tho yarn. Pie weight IF
the figure cannot BID less th.n;3, 900 oor1
4, 900 pounds md hoV.eqqMoa Or. two
men handle such 40 object pnaided by
machinery. Twenty stout men might
osrry:it from a'wag on ID an ''iron-bo1nd
boz and deposit It there, but less than
that number would find it difficult Job,
to manage. Besides, 1t Is evident that
tie earth about the object has not been
disturbed since it was deposited there
by natural 'csuses!1ro % ~: !: :::c -
while every intelligent person rldi-
cules the idea Of fraud Or deception, the
question as to the age Of the statue, or
fossil, Or tbe" date Of its lodgment there,
remains unsolved. a.; great number
cling to the belief that it is q veritable
'pstrifactiob, and they make what; ap.
pear to be some good points, establish
ing their side Of the case. The advo-
Gates Of the statue theory appear how
ever, to have the prepondeiance; and
they are probably correct in their: sur;
misses. ,;.,,. .,,.: -. 49,, .,,,; -. 81.
But, admitting it to be a work Of art.
whet was it created and how came it
buried inatho Onondaga valley? I cam!
not divest myself of the suppression that
il VA brought there by the tJesaits cat
the time they attempted to plant them
selves permanently in this valley, about
ESQ years sgo. Their facilities for trans !
porting it here were ample. It could
have been broughtifrom Quebec. BY the
way of the St. !. lawrence, Lake On,
tarie and the Qswego and Seneca rivers.
The Onondaga creek, which, before the
destruction Of tho timber In the valley
was a much larger stream than at pres
ent, Afforded sufficient water for floating
such an: object from its =. mouth to the
point where the same was discovered.
There is cert.inly nothing improbable
in the theory that these people brought
the figure here for some purpose con:
neoted with. their mission It lies in
what was evidently once the bed of the
stream, and it mil ht have got there &C
eidentally Or by design. 1t is well
known that che Jesuits failed in their
eaterpriss,aftsr q trial of, more than
forty years, and when they Loft finding
the statue Of no further present use,, OF
too clumsy for quick transportation,
nothing would have been more natural
for chem than to- throw it; into the
stream Or hastily buTyit on the margin.
o. i requires no stretch Of Imagination
% suppose that it might have been
wrecked, and, for want IF means Or DIS
position, left where it'fsll into tHe va
ter t.;orp,2jca :: ,s.Yia*5:o:t: .e"crq
,,Ssyeral scientific persons !, hare Al,
ready seen and examined the statue
Professor Halt, State aeologist, accom- .:
panied BY Or. Woolwosth;; Secretary
ofith< Board Of Resents,dwent out 10
sssit last week, end bothsthe,e geutlet
men 2. b ere profoundly interested i1 the
object. They consider it; the most re-
markable archaeological discovery ever
made upon the continent; '',:?' ,:-'':>a