Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1879-07-15
NO. 1(;0.
miscellaneous.
uNEARTHING 4 MtSTODON.

NEwBCRG, y. Y. July William
Kelley, son of Hugh Kelley, while dig
glng a ditch on Saturday last on his fathers
Farm which is situated about quarter Of
mile southeast of the Little Britain
Presbyterian Church, dug up what ap-
peared To be a log about two feet in
length and several inches in diameter.
Later in the day some of Mr.. Kelley
nrlghbor'S saw the supposed log. and they
came to the conclusion that instead of he
ing piece of wood or stone, the thing
was nothing less than Il section of the LEG
of mastodon. Yesterday X. W Genung
and William j. Morrison. neighhors of
MIR. Kelley, together with Robert Glover.
of New York, who was visiting ut Mr..
Morrisons house began digging in the
trench, ard their labor was rewarded BY
the discovery of large skull of II large
mastodon. besides several bones, sufficient
in number to make an almost complete
skeleton of the extinct mammoth. The
upper jaw of the skull was found about
I feet & inches below the surface of the
ground, and some idea of its size and
weight can be obtained from the fact that
it took five men to lift it from its bed.
The lower jaw was found at the same
depth from the surface as the upper one.
but about three feet away from it. The
SearchcrS also unearthed Il complete mas
todon's tore-eg. sections of the spine
more than a score of ribs and large
number of bones belonging to the feet
The search was continued to-day, and up
10 noon several more ribs had been brought
to light. The first bones We're found at q
depth of } feet. and the trench was exca-
waited to depth Of about five feet, bones
being found in nearly every shovel
ful of dirt. The tlenc., al present meas
ures 80 feet in length and 10 feet in width
but even the digging mp of this large area
has not unearhod all the bones of the
mammoth. The bones are in petried
condition, presenting the appearance of
flint, and soon after being unearthed were
carried to the barn of William Morrison.
who resides near by where they are now
The land on which the discovery was
made is par of a swamp, which 30 year,
ago formed the bed of a pond covering
three acres. About 1929 the water was
drained off, since which time the hog has
been used for the cultivation of vegetable
The morass is formed of rich, black mud
to the depth of ~ feet.
The measurements of the chief parts Of
the skeleton found are as follows: Skull
per jaw. , feet 9 inches; width of upper
jaw, feet inches measurement be-
tween the eyes, feet depth of forehead
Is inches the eye-sockets are 7 inches in
diameter, and the ear-sockets Is inches in
diameter; on each side OF and above the
mouth are holes measuring 6 ~ inches in
diameter from which doubtless protruded
tuskS, which have not vet been found
These openings extend into the skull to a
depth of , feet There are eight teeth in
the jaws, two on each side, upper and
lower, and they are in an excellent state
of preservation. The back teeth OF the
lower jaw measure by inches, crown
surface or - inches in circumference. The
front teeth are 1 l2 by ; - inches. All
oi them protrude FROM the .iaw-bones -
inches. There are 8 fangs on each back
tooth and 4 on each front tooth The
space between the rows of teeth across the
Jaws measures - inches on the upper
and IL inches on the lower jaw. In the
centre of the forehead is a cavity measur-
ing by 1 inches, which is probably. the
socket Of the trunk. The lower law was
joined to the upper, after they had been
unearhed, making perfect skull. Al
though not yet weighed. it is estimated
that the skull complete will weigh not less
than Goo pounds.
The fore leg, including the thigh bone.
measures feet in length. and weighs, it
is estimated 100 pounds. The first joint
of the hind leg measures feet > inches in
length. and the second joint of the same
) feet inches The only part of the 9TH
er fore eg yet found is the second Joint.
which measures feet 10 inches in length,
and weighs about 30 pounds.
TwentySi ribs have been discovered.
the largest measuring ; feet ~ inches in
length. \ dozen or more sections of the
spine are among the bones unearthed, and
the largest measures To by lG inches. A
score or more other bones are also among
the lot, one of them being that of n Toe,
measuring i - by I - inches The
lower Joint of the fore LEG and thigh
bone are missing, but the search is con
tnued with the hope of finding every bone
necessary to make Il complete skeleton.
The bones are in fine condition. and the
men engaged in digging are taking great
care so that they will not he broken or
damaged in any way.
According to the measurements thus lar
made the skeleton is about equal in size
to the largest ever unearthcd. Ii may be
mentioned that the largest and most per-
feet specimen of the mastodon ever dis
covered, was found H. 'i.ii i'm the same
section of country --a marshv region en-
tending from Orange Lake. about four
miles from this citN. into New Windsor.