The Russellville Democrat., 1880-09-23
The Cave DwelIers.
St. Louis Republican.

St. Louis Republican.
 About the latter part of April or the fore part of May, discovery was made in Franklin county, this state, which I consider of great interest and import ance to the scientific world. This was finding of part of the remains of a human skeleton that perhaps antedates the age of the Neamdeathal man. will give the facts as related to me by Dr. R. W. Booth, one of the oldest practicing physicians of that county. The doctor is engaged in mining iron-ore about three miles from Dry Branch, station on the St. Louis and Santa Fe railroad, sixty miles from this city, and superin- tends operations himself About the date named the miners, at depth of eighteen feet below the surface, uncov- cred and exposed to view skull and a few other bones, consisting of portions ribs, piece of the vertebra and DOT ton of collar-bone. There was also found with the bones two flint arrow heads of the most primitive type, being imperfect in shape and barbed. A few pieces of charcoal were also found at the same time and place. Dr. Booth was fully aware of the importance of the dis covery, and tried to preserve everything found. but on touching the skull it crllInbled to dust, and some of the other bones broke into small pieces and partly crumbled away; but enough was pre- served to fully establish the fact that they are human bones.
 Some fifteen or twenty days subse- quent to the first finding at depth of twenty-four feet below the surface, other bones were found-a thigh bone and portion of the vertebra, and several pieces of charred wood-all lying upon what appeared to be a coarse mating, all of which, except the charred wood; crumbled to dust upon exposure to the air. The mating lay upon floor of soft but solid iron-ore, which yet retains the imprints of the threads. Overlying these last bones was a stratum of what appeared to be loam or sod from two and half to three inches thick, below which is deposit of soft red hematite iron ore. lying upon two large bolders of hard ore standing on edge, at an angle of about forty-fve degrees, the upper ends leaning against each other, thus forming a considerable cavity, which was filled with blue specular and hard red ore and clay, lying upon a floor of solid red hematite. It was in this cavity that the bones, mating and charred wood were found intermixed with ore.
 The importande of this discovery to the scientific world rests upon the fact that the ore bed in which the remains were found lies in the second tor saccha- roIbaD Dsandstone of the lower siIurian measures-the oldest formation in which human remains have ever been found and the oldest stratified rocks except at Cambrian and Laurentian.
 It is to be regretted that the skull could not have been preserved, so as to compare it with the Neanderthal and Engls cave skulls. That it antedates them all by many geoligocal ages l think will scarcely admit of doubt when all the facts are considered. The remains here spoken of must have entered or been deposited in cave in the sand stone previous to the deposition of the iron ore. Since it's deposition the second magnetism limestone and the first sand stoue; which overlie the second sand stone, and the remains of which yet cap all the hills in that region, were formed and have been denuded and washed away, leaving the iron near the surface upon tue declivity of the hills. That the place where the remains were found was a cave is evidenced by the formation, dflO Dy tuC ldtt tiidt iouiii VI oOii oS'SAoh feet thick is still found, though in dis turbed condition. This is accounted for by indubitable evidence of upheaval in that whole region. It is apparent from this view that the bones found at the de pth of eighteen feet and those of twenty -four feet belong to the same skeleton, The internal convulsion which caused the upheaval disturbed and scattered the remains among the ore. leaving part above the floor of loam or soil and part below it. That the cave was inhabited by men previous to the deposition of iron ore IS proven by the finding of the stratum of loam or soil and charred wood. Another fact also in proof. I am satisfied from the exama- nation of the piece of iron ore before spoken of as retaining the imprint of piece of mating. On the contrary the impressions cross each other in every conceivable direction, showing conclu- sively to my mind that they must have been caused by rushes or weeks, or pe- haps small twigs used by the inhabitants of the cave as a bed,