The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1875-09-29
A Monster Of Frishtful Wien.


A Monster Of FrfghffuI Hien.
Prof Woodman has now in hi:
possession, says the Dubuque (lowal
Nelrs. and is arranging the bones o
a specimen Of the extinct mastodOu
family which are worthy Of exami-
nation by al who have any curiosity
OF interest ia natures wonderful pro-
ductfous. We have all heard Of the
mastodon, and may have farcied him
to be q mythical animal, but now an
opportunity is presented TO examine
bones that viii not only put TO rest
anv doubt as to the existence Of the
giant beasts, but will give someting
Ike an idea Of what his mOnstrOus
size must have been. The Professor
has sixtv-eight bones 10 all, and is
making search for the remaining
ones. which viii constitute the whole
skeleton. In purchasing what ne
now has, he has also purchased the
exclusive right 10 dig in the ground
for the rest, so that there IS bat little
doubt in Q short time oar energetic
professor will have the bones Of the
largest animal ever found in the be-
som Of mother earth. About q year
ago 4 German farmer, living at Wes-
ton. TWENTY-FIVE miles west Of DaTen-
port. on the Chicago, Rock Island
and Pacific Railroad, in crossing q
small stream, noticed something pro-
iectiBg from the bank Of the stream
which excited his curiosity. He pro-
cured a spade and commenced to IN
earth il. and discovered, when he had
It out, that it was a huge bone Of
some kind, but what kind was beyond
his ken. His curiosity was now tul-
" excited, fer he felt tha. be had
struck bonanza of some kind; per
haps the graveyard Of some pre-
Adamic giants. He continued his
explorations. and within q few feet
Of where he found the first relic OF
some departed mountain Of animal
life be found number Of other bones
similar in proportion to the first The
discovery came to the ears of our
Wo0dman, who is alive to anything
tha. NAV reveal the wonders Of na-
ture. particularly if It comes from
our own State, and he opened negO-
tiations with the old farmer, which
resulted in his becoming the owner
Of the bones and Of the right TO
search for more. Among those be
now has are many Of the prominent
ones. which will give an idea of the
size Of the animal to which they be-
Ionged The shoulder blade, which
appears as perfect as if it came from
the animal yesterday, is three and Q
half feet long by three feet wide, and
when turned up presents a surface
large enough for "a ordinary sized
family 10 dine on
The lower bone Of the hind legs,
Joining the knee with the foot, called
by 1aturalists the tibia, IS about 80
inches long, about 30 inches around
its largest end, and is heavy enough
to load an ordinary man. The parts
of tie back bone forming the joints
are from ten to twelve inches across;
and one bone alone, belonging to the
foot, is 2S inches around. All the
other bones are Of Ike tremendous
When the bones form
ing the pelvic arch are placed in pO-
sition they form an opening from two
and q half 10 three feet high, which
would easily admit the passage Of q
barrel The bones are all in mag
state of preservation The
sockets in some Of them are large
enough for washbowl, and the
smallest portion Of the collection IS
sufficient to convey On idea Of the
great size Of the animal 1t would
be difficult just vet to give It's exact
bit q comparison Of
homes found in other places will ena-
Die US TO judge. The shoulder blade
Of DR. Warren's mastOdon, found
near Warren, New York, does not
appear so large as this one which
Prof. WOodman now has; and the
engLh Of DR.. Warren's animal is as
to be thirteen feet That
would make the length of Prof
" oodman's fully equal, and its height
would be about fourteen FEET Now
that would be considered pretty
AIR sized animal, and will rather
eclipse all our fancy stock Of the
present day for size. But what will
be said when it is stated that this an
maI, whose skeleton is low under
investigation, was only q calf
Yet this is fact which Is estab-
ished by the want Of perpect ossIh-
cation in the joints, and At the end OF
the scapuIa or shoulder blade. There
: 10 question that it was q very
Young animal What it might De az
is maturity We may guess, but viii
never know. 1t vas found about
our feet from the surface, IN what
biologists call the drift. From all
the location was she bed
# stream, and TO the fine sand IN
which they were imbedded, 10 doubt,
: attributable the splendid state OF
in which the bones we're
ound-
A Missouri man tried TO ride
mule across q creek thirty feet deep
The man was drowned, bat the mule
rossed ip safety, walking on the
'otl0n and breathing through bis
ars.