The Tipton advertiser., 1875-11-25
THE e CARDIFF GIANT.
A Do' allied lllseory 0flhc Great.
esl HOax or the Age-HOW Bar.
mom stole A0ll's Thunder.

a DC allied Hlseory or the Great.
esa HOax or the Age--HOw Bar.
nam stole Halls Thandor.
The recent revival Of the discus.
sisn regarding the Cardiff Giant ha,
made It worth while, perhaps, to pre-
sen, connected statement of the
facts regarding the origin and history
Of that mons,rous hoax. The stone
image has been frequently traced
from its source in An Iowa gypsum
quarry to the workshop Of . stone
cutter in Chicago, and thence owe,
various railways aud wagon roads to
Cardiff, New York, where i. was
buried only year previous to its
pretended discovery. But the man
ner in which this curious project for
hoaxieg the world originated, and its
history from beginning to end, as it
appears from the point of view of
those cognizant Of the facts and &C.
quainted with the gisnt-manufacturer
himself, has never been given to the
world.
George Hull, who conceived the
scheme, and carried it out to its COM
plete ful6llment with perseverance
worthy of much better cause, lives
in the city Of Binghamton, New
York, where he has Of recent years
erected brick block in which he
carries on tho tobacco business, and
which was built with fuads earned
for him, as rumor says, by the Car
diff Giant. Previous to his embark
ing in the hoax, he had been known
as small farmer engaged in raising
tobacco on few acres in the out
skirts of the city. This occupation
was not very lucrative, and in 1865
be went West to see if he could not
better his fortunes. In the course of
this tour something brought him to
the village of Ackley, in Hardin
county, Iowa. Here one winters
night found the wandering tobacco
planter watching At the sick bed of a
man of the name Of Benjamin Ogden,
and having for companion in the
sick room clergyman of the village,
= Rev. Mr.. Turk. The two entered
on discussion Of theological SUBJ
jects, and concluded long argument
with . warm dispute about the sons
Of Anak. Hull went to bed q, late
hour excited by the discussion and
convinced Of the inordinate credulity
Of mankind-especially regarding the
giants mentioned in the Bible. In
this state Of mind his sleepless
thoughts conceived tho scheme of
mannfac' uring giant which could
be buried and Unexpectedly discov-
cred in the earth aud pass for pet
r6ed man. He believed that such a
device would both substantiate his
theory as to the creduli,y of man
kind, ani-something of far greater
mportance-make his own fortune.
The man carried this project in his
mind for . year and . half bef re
put ting it in practical form. But
II length, his faith in il having
grown with his diminishing success
in other pursuits. he removed his
amiiy again 10 B,ngham, ON, and,
providing for them for = few months
o come, returned imm .diately to the
Yves, for the sole purpose Of enter.
* on the work OF m king the giant.
He had up to this time confeled his
mysterious plan. to onlv single per-
n, man named II. 3. Martin of
MArshalltown, Iowa, who had been
aken into confidence under the
promise OF partnership in the enter
prise.
On returning to the West, Hull
Joined Marin ut Marshalltown, and
the two proceeded to Fort Dodge to
look at the gypsum of that vicinity,
which, as they judged from the de-
scription, would furnish the proper
material for the projected Giant. On
the 9th Of June, 1868, these two men
registered themselves 1t the ST.
Charles Hotel, Fort Dodge, and at
once proceeded to view the gypsum
quarries on the river bank just be-
low the city Satisfied with the
huge masses Of soft stone which they
saw there, they bought Of one John
McDermott an acre Of quarry land
ior one hundred dollars, on which
they Immediately commenced work,
attempting to secure block suitable
for the giant. But finding it difficult
70 get one large enough, and annoyed
by the curiosity and suspicious Of
the neighbors, they finally deserted
their quarry.
At this point Martin forsook the
enterprise. But Hull, holding to his
purpose, and hearing Of another bed
Of the same stone opened by the Dn-
buque aud Sioux City Railroad, in
the construction of a culvert over
Gypsum Creek, abur two miles east
Of Fort Dodge, went there to renew
the effort. After carefully looking
over the ground, he gave the FORE
man of the work, one Michael Foley,
keg Of lager beer, as : considera-
tion for engaging his men to work
on Sunday and to '4racture out" as
large block ~ possible Of the gyp-
sum. They succeeded in detaching
from the bed frag mcnt twelve feet
long, four feet wide, and twenty-five
inches thick. Tbs block contained
the unhewn form of the future "Car-
diff Giant"
But it was forty miles from Gyp-
sum Creek to the nearest railroad
acknowledgements over the poor
road covering the distance it required
hree weeks to tr .usport the huge
stone, Three teams ers in success
son undertook the transportation,
m ,ying all the horses ohtainable,
md abandoned the job. BY the aid
OF a Sd tchlng machine" thing
peculiar t. Western farms. and an
additional Rrs,uity OF tl25 TO team
ters, Hull lcceeded, al the end Of
went, day, in loading hs stone,
weighing some 1000 s., on a rail
al car at Montana, ani enjoyed