The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1879-05-02
MASTODONS AND MAMMOTHS.

On6 Sulury AFTERNOON Ill August,
l845, some farm hands who were dig
ging muck, or mari, in "a swamp upon
the estate of Mr.. Nathaniel Brewster, in
Newburg, Orange county, N. Y, as
they thrust down their spades, came
upon something hard, like rock.
They prodded it doubtfully, for it
seemed improbable that rock should
be in the midst of bed of muck.
It's an old log," said one.
NO." said another, it's too hard.
More likely it's bone
They scraped off the muck, and par
TALLY exposed a huge bony mass, in
which were the sockets of two enormous
eyes. Not little astonished, the men
stared at the strange object with feel
ing akin to awe.
exclaimed one, land this is his gravel"
They got out of the PIT, and, the
smoky sun being now about to set, they
went home and told Mr.. Brewster that
they had dug out giants skull.
The statement produced some merri-
ment at their expense. Having some
curiosity to see what the men had really
found, Mr.. Brewster and his son-in-law,
Mr.. George G. Weeks, went to the
muck,pit early the following morning,
where they at once saw that, if not the
skull of an Indian giant, it was certainly
that of some gigantic animal, at present
unknown to man.
Grasping a shovel, young Weeks
jumped into the pit, and, with the help
of the workmen, soon cleared away the
black dirt from the skull and unearthed
two long white tusks.
While digging for muck, they had, by
chance, stumbled upon the grave" of
a mastodon giganteus, an animal of
the elephant family, but immensely
larger than those which walk the earth
to-day.
Shears-poles were set up over the pit,
and tackle procured. Meantime, not
less than 100 persons had collected, and
amidst great excitement the massive
skull and unwieldy tusks were raised
from their resting-place. In the act of
raising, however, one tusk broke,
about midway of its length, into
two pieces, the butt remaining in its
socket, but the point sticking fast in it's
marly bed.
Continuing the search, the bones of
the vertebre and the long ribs were
found; and, after these, the broad shout
der-blade; and, deeper in the mari, the
enormous femurs, or tbigh-bones.
So carefully, In fact, was the process
of exhumation conducted, that every
bone of the skeleton was found except
the phalanges, or "toe-bonts," of the
left hind foot.
Within the arched cavity formed by
the ribs, was a mass of five or six bush
els of broken and crushed twigs, of will
low, maple and fir, intermixed with
what seemed to have been leaves and
grass. This was, no doubt, the masto-
,don's last dinner.
II is likely that the gigantic creature
mad ventured into the swamp for water,
and became "mired" in the muck. It
would seem that many of these huge
and ponderous brutes found their
graves in such swamps. The weight of
this mastodon, when living, has been
estimated at 10000 pounds.
Che skeleton was exhibited in sew
oeral cities and towns, both in New York
and New England. At length it was
purchased by DR.. John G.. Warren,
Boston physician and naturalist, who
wrote work, accurately describing it.
and afterward erected building of
stone and iron on Chestnut street, to
secure its safe preservation. 1t was
there that the writer saw it few days
since.
Close beside it stands the skeleton of
che old elephant "Pizarro," which seems
that of pigmy beside its mighty kins-
man of old days. 1 subjoin few meas
urements of this mastodon. Measure
ments of the skeleton, however, give but
poor idea of the size and grandeur of
the living animal.
The height is about II feet The
length of the body and head is II feet;
that of its tail not far from 7 feet The
,tusks are each IL feet long, and the
trunk is presumed to have been at least
a0s feet. The entire length of the ami
NAL must, therefore, have been upward
of 33 feet.
This is the most perfect skeleton of
the mdstodon giga1teus that has been
Gonnd; and / may add that the Warren
Ndxseum, or, as it is commonly called,
"the Mastodon's House," is well worth a
visit, not only to see the mastodon, but
for the many other interesting objects
and curiosities which it contains.
The remains of many mastodons have
been, from time to time, discovered
throughout the Middle States and the
West. New Jersey, and especially the
valley of the Delaware river, seems to
have been favorite locality with these
colossal animals. The skeleton in the
Natural History room at Harvard Col
iege was exhumed from a pond-hole,
near Hackettstown, N. J. The place
was on the farm of a Mr.. Abraham
Ayres.
Mr.. Ayers. like Mr.. Brewster, was
digging muck for manure, and had
drained this small bog for that purpose.