The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1872-03-27

High. : :
orrespcnt1ence OF The New York Timex. 5.
ozfSylLLs, Orange County, N.TY.,3 s.
81 Tuesday, March 4 o. 1s7a.{ ! I
The farm Of Mr.. Andrew aiitchei, aRn,,.
one mile from this place, Is ana has been
tor weeks visited by very many people. The
attfactlon y the huge and almost entire. skeie.
Ton OF Mastodon, which has been found ,v
iaeNeIfeai IN swamp on his land since IAN
!. uary iast, ana which has been put together
ny professor from Boston, Mass. Thefarm
Nnich mas so suddenly become famous WIS
purchased by Mr.. Mitchell some time since
| anu III january he hired man to dig muck
iioni swamp to place on the uplantls. he
HIMSELF being engaged in New York. I,he
nan nad excavated to the dentb nf
,our ieet when he cane, upon an enormous
oonc shaped liked rib. He stonned yyorL
ana informed MIR. Mitchell of his diseoverv
VINO, thinking it must have belonged to some
monstro,ls animal, directed that deeper and
more extended digging be done. At a deuth
Oh hlteen rect the pelyis, head, and other
large bones We're found. Search has been
continued until almost the entire skeleton has
been exhumed, and the scientific gentleman
from Boston says it is much larger than the
famous remains in the Boston Museum. which
were also FOUND In this county, and which
was the largest known specimen of thcsc a,r-
tinct malnmalia. The skeleton is in n hor,
on Mr.. Mitchelps farm, and no train stons
at this station but brings numbers of
curious or scientifically inclined persons
on their way to view the monster. The
upper jaw and main portion of the head
weighs about five hundred pounds, and
measures three feet seven inches across
the top There are four teeth in the
upper jaw, two on each side. The back teeth
extend seven inches along the jawbone, and
are four inches across. The openings where
the tuskS have been are three feet and eight
inches deep, and eight inches in circlImfc-
renee. The vertebrG was found in forty
pieces, but lying all together, while the pelvis
was taken out whole and uninjurcd. The
channel where the spinal cords lay when the
monster was alive, is five inches in circllmfc-
renee. Among the missing bones are the
tuskS, the lower ijawbone, and those of the
hind legs. One bone Of leg that has been
found weighs alone over 350pounds. When
the skeleton is reconstructed it will measure
fourteen feet from the bottom OF its feet to
the top of its head, and over twenty-five feet
from head to tail.
Work is steadily prosecuted in the eXca-
yatn% in search OF the missing bones. Great
difficulty is met in the filling in of water, q
pump of considerable capacity being steadily
worked by horse power to keep the pit clear.
A singular incident connected with the
skeleton is that in its stomach was found a
quantity of undigested matter. Among it
| were frcsll-looking and very large leaves, of
odd form. and blades of strange grass, OF OK
treme length, varying from an inch to three
| inches in width, and looking us if freshly
cropped from the earth. The spot where
the remains were found is low, marshy
ground.
Parties in New York have already opened
negotiations with Mr.. Mitchell for the pur-
chase of the skeleton, and he has refused
81 800 for it.
| [This latter part Of the story reads like n
hoaX1