The Vancouver independent. (Vancouver, W.T. [Wash.]) 1875-1910, 1878-11-28
The Career of the Petrified Man.

The Career of the Petriiied Man.
The history vt the "Coloradr pcuited
man" is given bv the New luk Tribune.
1t was made at Elkland "a little mountain
town in northern Pennsylvania, 10y George
Hull. the maker of the Cardiff giant p.
T. Baruum became interested IN the
scheme, and supplied part of the capital
The figure was taken to Colorado, buried
there. and finally dug up, in accordance
with carefully arranged plan. An
adroit deception was practcod in regard
TO the results Of the scientific test which
twas claimed was made. Ground stone,
ground bones, clay, plaster, blood, eggs,
and other materials were used IN forming
the image. which was then baked for
weeks in a kiln. Hull had intended to
deceive the public with this pretended
petrifcatipn, and hal spent much time
and several Thousand dollars in expert
ments.
The story is told to the New York 2ri
bune by Justice I. J. Cox, of 1ornells-
Vile, Who supplied Hull with a part of
the money for the euterpri c. He owned
an interest in the humbug, but had been
so misu,ed by Hull that he determined
t. reveal the whole business. He gave
Hulrs career AS a swindier with great de-
tail. He is known rs the man VITO made
the Cardiff giant in Chicago in 1869 out
of Iowa gypsum.
Il went 10 Etkaud January IS, 1871"
said Mr.. Cox. about the lst of Febru-
arv Hull said his work WIS done, and on
the evening Of March II lie came to me,
all enthusiasm. and said: Cox, | want
YOU to see the old man; we've got him
out all right. He gave me to understand
that the giant had been liking whole
yoa-. Ard think Hull made his own
charcoal.
when entered the 'ice-house' the
giant was lying on board structure sup
ported by two stout saw-horses. y der
fick-like structure stood over the kiln,
and had been used to take the giant out.
Barrels of plaster of Paris, ground bone,
ground stone, and other materials were
in the corners, and thc!e were many plas-
Ter moull> wing about and On shelves.
Hull was in ccstacies. The giant was
dimlv outlined by The light Of an old
coal STOKE. Said he, Cox, | would give
500 If YOU corG have been with Case
and me the might we took him out. We
had rope around his reck, and pulley
up there. and how we worked and tugged
on that rope. | went through torture-my
whole existence hung by that rope. Ii
seemed as if | lived a thousand years
while we were pulling him out, and when
he hung up there by the neck, tell you
he looked alive; he looked as If he was
going to talk, Don't tell me that the
people won't be fooled by this" SO
Hull went on in the most extravagant
talk.
Hull called my attention to the four
inches Of tail which adorned the extrem-
ity of the figures back bone, and struck
a match so that could see 1t plainly
Said he. Cox. look at that tail take hold
of it,. Then rising, for we were stoop-
ing, he exclaimed, that tail alone is worth
a million.
II called his attention to the fact that
the man was not perfect. lie struck
matches to show me the differences in the
toes. He said it would not do to have the
man perfect; that there was nothing per
feet about it, 1t had been made 50 as to
have it not like anything ever discovered
Of the human or brute creation. The arms
he said were made disproportionatel
long. So as to make it appear something
between man and an ape. He explained
how he had used two hundred and fifty
gross of steel needles, which had been
fastened in lead, dozen or so ut time,
and with these he had gone over the entire
surface of the figure before it was baked,
producing that 'goose-skn' appearance
which has puzzled scientific men.
suppose, said l, some scientist pro
poses TO go into him, what are you going
TO dor on, said Hull, I've got tina,
fixed and he pointed To two places
where, he said, the scientists could have
foot surface to work on, where they
would be cure to strike bone. If they
want to 90 in anywhere else, said be. we
shsn't let EN-
al think Hull must have spent $780,
900 or $12 900 in making his experiments
and moldin. and baking his giant, said
Mr.. Cox. Case, also. had invested
heavily 10 the speculation. Hull had
succeeded in making q stone giant, 70.
the baked composition WAS just like
stone, but il WAS n white elephant on his
hands. He had no money to plant It
with. This led him to apply to B.rnum,