Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1875-11-04
The History of the Cardiff Giant
!. -. ..'.s.- Hoax. E-r-s l.-E III -.

The History of the Cardiff Giant
!. .|-..- Hoax. s-.-s.s-.--. 81
+ The recent revival of the discussion
/ Regarding the Cardiff Giant has made il
worth while, pelhaps, to present q con.
nected statement Of the facts regarding
the origin and history of that monstroua
! hoax. The stone image has been fire.
Quently traced from its source In an
! Iowa gypsum quarry to the workshop
of q stone-cutter in Chicago, and thence
over various railways and wagon roads
| to Cardiff, New York, where it was
| buried only a year previous TO its pre-
| tended discovery. But the manner in
which this curious project for hoaXing
the world originated, and its history
! from beginning to end, as it appears
| froIn taE E0irt of view of those cOgniZ-
ant of the facts and aequaiutes With the
| giant manufacturer himself, has never
| been given to the world. s.--..-
George Huh, who. conceived the
scheme, and carried it out to. its conf
piete fulfillment with a perseverance
| woFtAy % G much better cause, lives in
the city of BinghamtQA, 4seW ! ork,
where he has of recent years erected .
| brick block in which he carries on the
| tobacco business, and which was built
| with funds earned for him, as ruInor
GAYS. by the Cardiff Giant. Previous to
! bis er4barKilE II the hoax, ne had been
known as q small fsrnles engaged in
raising tobacco on O few acres In the
outskirts of the city This occupation
was not very lucrative, and In 1865 he
! vent West to see if he could not better
his fQrfaaes. IN lie Course of this tour
something brought him ia tue village OF
Aekley, ia Hardin county, lows Here
one winters night found the wandering
tobacco planter watching at the sick bed
of g man of the name of Benjamin 0g
den, and having Tor q companion IN the
sick room a clergyman of the village, a
Rev. Mir. Turk. The two entered en-
discussion of theological subjects, and
concluded long argument With a warm
dispute about the sons of Anak. Hull
went to bed at late hour excited by the
dlsonsst0R Enp convinced of the i1or-
dinate credullty OF lnans.n --ssA,sase;eslsr
| regarding the giants mentloneds GIN the
| Bible. In this state OF mind his sleep
| less thoughts conceived the scheme of
manufacturing 8 giant which could be
| buried and Unexpectedly dispOvered in
| the earth, and pass for petrifed man.
be believed that snch q device would
both substantiata his theory as to the
credulijy of mankind, and something
Of far greater in1portsnce--make his
own fortune Fs-s ~ ~. r. .--..-
The man carried this project in his
mind for year and a half before put
ting it in a practical form But at
length, his faith in it having grown
with his diminishing success in other
pursuits, he removed his family again to /
Binghanlton, and, providing for them
for few months to come, returned ini
mediateiy to the West Tor the sole pur-
pose of entering on the work of making
the giant. He had UP to this time con-
tided his mysterious plans to only sim |
gle person, q man named FL. B. Martin,
of Marshalltown, Iowa, who had been |
taken into confidence. under The promise
OF partnership in the enterprise.
On returning to the West, Hull joined |
Martin at Marshalltown, and the two
proceeded to Fort Dodge 10 look at the |
gypsum of that vicinity, which, as they |
judged from the description, would fur. |
nish the proper material for the pro. |
jeeted Giant. On the 9Th of June, 1858, I
these two men registered themselves at |
the St. Charles Hotel, Fort Dodge, and |
at once proceeded TO view the gypsum I
quarries on the river bank Just below the
city, Satisfied with the huge masses of
soft stone which they saw there, and its |
apparent ease OF carving, they bought of
one John McDerm0tt an acre of quarry
land for one hundred dollars, on which /
they Immediately commenced work, at
to secure block suitable for
The Giant. But finding it difficult to get
)ne large enough, aud annoyed by the
and suspicious of the neigh
1ors, they finally deserted their quarry. |
At this point Martin forsoOk the en-.
erprise. But Hull, holding to his pur-
)ose, and hearing of another bed of the
anne stone opened by the Dubuque and
'iOux City railroad, in the construction {
# a culvert over Gypsum Greek, about
wo miles east of Fort Dodge, went /
here to renew the effort After care
ully looking over the ground, he gave &
be foreman of the work, one Michael {
Foley, keg of lager bier, as consider |
ton for engaging his men to work on | i
unday and to Fracture OUT as large a I
lock as possible of the gypsum They t
lcceeded in detaching from the bed a | t
twelve feet long, four feet b
tide, and twenty-five inches thick. r
his block contained the unhfwn form ! a
the future Cardiff Giant .-.... u
But it was forty miles from Gypsum | il
reek to the nearest railroad station b
over the poor road cover r
Ig the distance il required three weeks q
, transport the huge stone. Three Il
,amsters In succession undertook the Il
employing all the horses r,
and abandoned, the job. BY II
lie aid of q 'sditching machine" thing
ocular to Western farms, and an adj Il
tional gratuity of $125 to Transfers, ri
ull succeeded, at the end of twenty N
rvs, in loading his stone, weighing T
me :, 1000 pounds, on a railroad car at I'll
ontana, and enjoyed the satisfaction hi
seeing it start on the railroad, con- ST
gned to and marked 'tE. Burghart n
hicago, Ill" The consignee was Ed gi
ard Burghardt, a well known stone le
liter in Chicago, now, or recently, q hi
ember of q granite and marble manu- &c
curing company, and at that time re- ia
ling at No. $40 North Clark street. / W
here he had on his premises an old shop / III
barn, In which it was designed to cut IL
t the image. Hull had learned of this al
lrghardt through one Foreman, of st,
Orrison, H., to whom, after Martins va
sertion, he had made oyertures of on
Foreman had declined the nj
'er, but referred Hull to Burghardt, bu
10, after some hesitation, agreed to m,
rnish place and workmen to: COM So
tie the image, and TO take: asthis pay as
e-foiirth OF the proceeds s.e tn