The Jackson standard. [volume] (Jackson C.H., Ohio) 1847-1888, 1880-02-05

dred feet deeper between that time
and this; and those of you who with
Caesar have struggled through the
long and arduous campaigns of the
Gallo war, of two thousand years age
will remember that Labienus got his
army entangled among lakes and
marshes and lagoons Of the Seine, al
the very spot where Paris now stands
and it was with the greatest Difficult
ty he succeeded in extricating himself
and army. And yet, two thousand
years have swept by, and carried with
them in their flight, marsh, lake and
lagoon, and their ancient site is now
decorated by the finest city of the
world
We may now turn another page of
the ponderous volume we have been
considering, and read the chapter con-
corning man as he appears in the
next, or the age of polished stone,
shading off as it does and dovefailing
into the age of bronze This deposi-
ton has been but recently deciphered.
Until 1871 its symbols were misun-
derstood and its language mistransla-
ted. It was only after patient study
and long continued investigation that
the key to the solution was found and
the writing became legible, notwith-
standing two continents furnish pag-
es rich in this interesting lore. And
here in our own beautiful State, in
prolific abundance stand evidences.
chapters in the life Of man during the
age of polished stone so plainly writ
ten that he who runs may read.
In this period the race appears to
much better advantage than in the
former. The implements indicate a
higher degree Of skill, and much wi
der range of invention. Many articles
purely ornamental in their character
attest the birth Of that taste for the
beautiful, and personal adornment be-
yond the mere gifts of nature, pos
sessed alone by the human race. But
by reason of a misconception of the
signs, more fully stated hereafter, sci
ence for years was groping in the
dark. All persons acquainted with
the physical geography Of our State
know that large portions Of it, COM
paratively speaking, have but recently
been converted from water into dry
land, and that plains where now stand
cities full of the bustling activity of
our varied industries, vast landscapes
where all the products of agriculture
find planting room, culture and har-
vests, not long since were covered by
great lakes, whereon navies might
have ridden, and battles been fought.
Conspicuous among these are the
plains of Pickaway, though much
smaller in extent than the mighty in
land sea which at one time inclosed
Lake Erie with its adjacent territory,
and surged its southern waves against
the backbone of the State in Summit
County. The Pickaway plains are
adequate to furnish the illustrations
here needed. The wide deposition of
gravel throughout all this region, and
It's great depth conclusively prove the
agency of water in constructing these
fertile regions, and when there is su-
peradded the evidence of shells, the re-
mains of fishes, and other aquatic be-
ngs, belief becomes certainty, and
knowledge takes the place of conjec-
bure. The first discovered fossilized
human remains Of this age led scien-
lists into the grave error of supposing
that there as a fault or lapse in the
human race; that the rude barbarians
Of the age of stone had in some mys-
Lerious manner been swept away and
their ancestors did not arrive upon the
scene of action until ages after. But
the ancient lakes now dry land were
at length compelled to give up their
secrets. In other words, the missing
links attaching this to the past age
were found; the pathway lost in the
cloud that settled over the final traces
Of the age Of stone was rediscovered,
and step by step mankind has been
traced by his ingenuity, and now the
links in the chain Of evidence, from
the primitive stone ak to the modern
are all perfect, none want
ing. Still the absence Of fossil man
for apparently long period contin-
ued to distress the scientific world.
Where were the remains Of the men
who had fashioned implements found
buried in the bottoms of these ancient
lakes?
The form of sepulture had changed.
The grottoes were no longer made the
receptacle of the dead; but funereal
pyres blazed over the extent of two
continents, and cremation was the
universal method Of burial; and thus
although many old lakes had been
searched, and constant proofs produc-
ed of the existence of a race as con-
stantly increasing in art and invention,
yet investigation was driven to the ad-
jacent high lands to find his charred
bones; the incinerated remains of the
intervening generations. Various dis
coveries led to the suggestion that
mankind in his first attempts at ag-
gregation did not select the site of his
village upon the plain or mountain
side, but chose the shallow margin OF
sheltered bay of some one of the many
lakes with which the earth at that
time was dotted. And there, at more
than a spears cast from the shore,
upon posts driven into the Shiny ooze
at the bottom of the lake, he erected
his simple dwelling; his hut in the
sea; his pathway to his neighbor's be-
ing rough slab extending from
door to door, over posts firmly
driven for that purpose. The main
street from the shock bring over like
pathway constructed of slabs easily
removed when danger threatened either
from prowling animals or the maraud-
ing of hostile tribes. The floor of his
wigwam was also of slabs, scuttle
being left open in one corner for con-
venience. Into the lake, through thi'
scuttle, was cast the refuse o:
the dwelling. Through this wer,