The Iowa plain dealer. [volume] (New Oregon, Howard County, Iowa) 1867-1895, 1879-05-02

sNxfA " - MMNaA Win A#t~ MtEs
gsnr MSeA N Meh. w t~Nmr A,~a
VIZ v%tsAr ~ ~ NashAnssi Ns~~strs, N
N~~hnsr. 0snnew rnnhts, n. Nj, -
! Tiny thtast aesn their s,4As&, ranss
Arpa AsfasihiMg hAst. hhr = s~A
THY irSad~d n d-ahtfnlls, mr. il
St~msA improbable thsa i r1A Nhcnll
W. IN ih~ msslsl III l~d II mnrk.
IN NJ cla ln0.s sAid cne.
M. aid Anpthrr, -ita Too hard.
Mere iilels stsM t~n@.-
They sF~lSd % the muck, aud mar.
TALLY eaDsssd hinge hnay masA. In
which ~rfc the s.ckrts II TN enormous
cyvs.. MI little Aktrnish.d. ihc men
Seas~d u thc strange ol,iecl With iecl.
Inn Aktn n awc.
lta the skall III ~ 1niun stnnt, "
exclaimed nhe. "And tins Ii his gravel .
They eul ont u the rt, and, the
stnaky snn being now about ta set, they
wrAt hosnc and tnld NF. nr~sNscr Cha.
they had ling nut \ giants skull.
The statement produced somc mrrri.
mcnt II their EXPENSE Having some
cMriusiis IL 500 what the men hah rNlly
found, Mr., ll~~Ntcr aud his son. Ii. law,
Mr.. urrge =. Weeks, went 10 thu
muck pit early the following morning,
where tl,ry n once saw that. IL not thu
AkMu VI m Indian giant, II WINS certainly
that III some gigantic animal. III present
unknown ~ man.
urNping shovel young Weeks
jumped lnto the pit, and, with the help
III the ~orkmen, soon cleared away the
black dirt frnm the skull and uneNrt he'd
twn lung white tnskS.
Willis digging fur muck. they had. by
chance. stumbled upon the grave" III
= mnstodon viynnfcns, An animal of
tho elephant family, lint immensely
larger than thosa which walk the earth
eoslAy.
hl,csrspolcs we're vet up over thc pit.
a,d tackle procured, Meantime. not
Ia than lsD pcf~oDa had collectrh, ansl
MAidxt great excitement tim ,nAnisr
skull and nnwicldy tnsks were raised
from their res,ing.place. In tho net of
raising. however, ono tusk broke,
allOut midway II liz length, int,
two picecs. the Init remaining III L.
scckrs, hut thc point sticking last Ia In
marty he'd.
Continuing thu search, tho hone. IL
tAc vrrtc m aud the long ribs were
found; and, m(tcr thcae. Tho hsoad shout.
des.blada; and, deeper In the mari, the
en0gmoas femurs. or thigl.lones.
10 carefully. IN fnct. ~. thc proOseH
ii exclamation conducted. TINT every
home III the skeleton wn~ found excerpt
the phal.ngss. Or @toe-bon. =" 81 The
left hind loot.
Within Tho ayched cavity formed b.
the RIBS, was mAxs nj live or nix bush.
cls III broken And crushed twig., Of vii.
low, maple AMI iir. intrrmixcd with
what seemed 10 have been leaves aud
grasH. This wA., no doubt, the mAsto.
don's Inst dinner.
u IN likely that the gigantic creature
had ventnred into tho s~amp for water,
and became mircd" In tho muck. II
would seem that many Of these hinge
and pondcrotN brntra found tlnnir
ggHves IN such swAmp4. Tho wci9llg III
This ma&tOlon, when living, has been
eAeimAtrtl ri 10000 pounds.
The skeleton wa exhibited In sev.
eral citieA and towns, both In New York
and New England. At len9th Il waA
purchased BY DR.. John q. Wassea, a
Doslon phyalcian and naturalim4, Who
wr0te work, accurately describing II,
and alterwArd erected building III
stone and iron on Chestnut street, u
secure ito aale preservation. II VIM
there tllat tho writer nav II = TOW days
Nincr.
Close tsaide II stands tho Skeleton 81
lhs Oll elephant .rixArru,r which sc~ms
that u plgmy beside IN mighty kins.
man 81 old days. snbjoin Tow meas.
mrcmcnts 81 this mnnlOslon. Measure.
msntx Of the skeleton, hOwever. rive hut
apoor idea of tho aixe aud grandcnr oil
the living animal.
The height u about 10 feet. The
lsugth q tlsa b0dy aud head II ~ fest
that ol 4. tail mot iAr from I feet. The
eash. aFs s~ch II feet long. and this
trunk 10 presumed 10 have been u least
l0i feet. The cntiso length OF tho AMI.
NAL mnst, therefore, have becn upward
of ~ feet.
This \ ~ negeNefoss sk9lelss 81
the mAAl0tl0n Oj0AJ4 6ooe thu - been
ldupd; and may Alld NAT ~ Warren
Mmaetin, q, - y IL dmnOuDy called
~the MnHlosionn House, = III worth !
visit, not only 10 40 ~ mn1lsdo bn.
for the many other interesting object.
and caTiositias which II contains.
Tho resnainH II many maatod0na have
been, from timc 70 lim.. discovered
throughout the Middle states and tho
West. New Jcrsey, and especially the
valley of tho Delaware river, seems "a
have bcen fayCrite locality with thcse
colossal animals. Tho skeleton "a Tho
Natural History room 1t Harvard Col.
lcgs was exhumed from p0nd. hole
n~ar Harkett~town. N. J.. Tho place
wa~ on the farm of Mr.. Abraham,
Ayrsa.
Mr.. Ayers. like Mr.. brewster. ",
digging muck Tor manure, and nal
drnlnAl tIlis small hog Tor that purpose
III TIN mnck, within space scarcely lOt
fsst ~ seventy.iive, the skeletons III I'm,
mAsto1ons wsrc discovered, 81 which
Che Cambridge skeleton ii the largest.
O1e II thcsH four skrletons WA that
q qunstef.Gr0wn cali. which may heve
onllow0d ~ mother into ho b09.
Tho masf0dOn " One time probably
lahabitAd tho whole American con.
eluent, lint u how remote = period 81
time II not known. Tho condition ii
the skeleton ionnd 81 Nrwbnrgh indi.
catrs thAt TIN lUneA could not have hern
lying there for more than lOO or 6O(l
ycass. = most. From I'm 10 i,O(hl
years no. herdA Of mAslMlons were, nj
doubt. common On thu Delaware and
throughout thu West.
Tho name mast0don II from two
0Seek words, Hnsf0x and 0d0nS, and
stent6se nippls.tooll,. or tooth having
na@nillated eminencs1 On In grinding
surfaces.
- Europe md Ama, ths animal which
there corresponds With The maelOdOn III
America h moro commonly termed The