The Grange advance., 1876-10-04

DuC ny InaC Ilme Cn6 whole skeleton
of the Mound Builder is revealed.
There it lay, and stalwart' man he
was,-8 feet 3 inches in height: his
teeth white as ivory, and everv one
perfect. Science ruled the hour. but
it could not Danish all sentiment.
When did this man live? What were
his occupations, his loves, his hates.
his pleasures, his ambitions, his honest
was he prince among his people, and
did he proudly rear the mounds over
which he could look from his final
resting-place Or did he toll out his
days in carrying up, little by little, the
earth over which the visitor thought
lessly plods while climbing over them?
Alas nearly every question which
science and sentiment can ask of the
splendid skeleton that lay in deeply
suggestive silence before us, must re.
main unanswered forever. True, some
few things OF him and his people may
be cleaned from the relics they have
left us but little more is known of
them than of many of the animals of
the prehistoric period.
After our scientists had carefully
exhumed and packed the bones of the
Mound Builder, and we had partaken
OF an excellent dinner, prepared by the
accomplished wife of our host, DR..
Richardson, he took his carriage and
drove us to the depot of the Alton &
St. Louis Road. If there is any hotter
place on earth or elsewhere than was
that depot for the hour before the
train started, excuse me; we prefer
to inhabit some less torrid region.
AS Col. w. E. Richardson, the father
OF DIR. Richardson, was for more than
twenty years a resident of Chicago,
and is a partner in the firm of B. p.
Hutchinson & Co., his friends there
will be glad to hear of his welfare. He
IS the active partner in the St. Louis
branch of that house. In their i'm
mense packing establishment they
have given the sleepy denizens of that
city specimen of what Chicago en-
terprise ca2 accomplish.
The mansion of Col. Richardson. on
the bluffs. miles east of St. Louis, is
unique in form and structure, and mer-
it's much more than the passing notice
here given of it. It stands on the
south end of ridge, with a ravine on
each side of it, and with the Belleville
& St. Louis Railway on the south front
front of it. 1t is only few rods from
the depot, from which, in twenty min
utes, the Colonel can reach his busi-
ness. The grand old woods surround
the house on all sides. At first sight
it appears to be a single house of gen.
erous proportions but there are real
ly two houses occupied by the
Colonel, and the other by his son, the
Doctor. On entering, the visitor finds
himself in a spacious hall, 20 feet
wide, extending north and south en-.
tirely through the building, with a
glass roof over it. At the second floor
a gallery runs entirely around it, which
furnishes very extensive conservato-
ry, filled with the most beautiful
plants. The finishing is red cedar with
black walnut. On each side, and OPEN
ing into this splendid hall, are the
dwellings,-the whole, with the ele-
CANT furnishings, forming a really
princely establishment. OF course,
the hospitality dispensed here is all
that taste and wealth can bestow.
Of the Mound Builder, and all that is
known of him and his people, the Ac-
ademy Of Sciences will doubtless hear,
at it's first meeting, from Professor An
dreWS.