, 1881-11-04
THE MOUND-BUILDERS.
A Visit to the Ancient Mounds at
Marietta, O,
Conversation with Gentleman Who
Has Studied the Subject.
Queries Wh1cl, Naturally Arise In Con.
ncction with These Mounds.
All Theories Thus Far Advanced Absolutely With.
out Substantial Foundation.

Hptetd1 t'arrsponitnes ~ The tnteaoo Trt'atnt.
MAnlErrA. o., Nov. III tAycbecn spcI,tl-
Ing several days IN this classical old town.
annilE the Ohio a,,d A1mskinHuu hills, and
visited for Tho tltrtt nr fourth tItle tho
anc1ent mounds Which fnyu puzzled tIIo
arctcOioElsts III MI tins past. alltl will prnbtl-
bly, cUttihua tu puzzlo them for MI time IL
come. II Ia M Interesting fuct tl.ut tic
ancient civilization which g'.ve plncD to suv-
nEery Should have chosen tho sumo su0t Il,
build thelr town nnd Qualifications Tint WIS
Immediately selected for tho Ilrst settlement
III tfis great State. but IL Is tho lulural
spot for II settlement AMI Il city. Tile Olio,
ltsulf ''nslgablu for hundreds OF miles above,
Is here ]olne1 by thu Muskitfsnm River, ono
Of tho largest streams that t0w Into It dur
Ing its ulltiro course, Tho confluence coultt
bo utilized IN mn,,y why's for commercial
purposes. lIut whether tic builders had
my commerce or not Is Il mystery.
l met hero q gentleman who has spent
| much time
STUDYING THE MOUNDS
To be fouhl III rnrInns carts Of tho country;
md, MS was mich Interested In the sub.
Ject, t0ok OCCASION 10 tnlk with l,u, some
Wlsnt.
"'r]seso are usually called 1ntliun mounds,
arc they rot1 uskctl.
"Tl1cy are; but they never were moro
completely miscallet, ,1n1css we understand
by tho wnrd Indian something mitch different
from Wltat ~ ltsitally meant thereby. THESE
wero never constructed by tile A!neri.
| cnn 1htliAhs MS VIZ know them. they
wero undoubtedly tho work Of II cIylllzutl
race; anu That race, ih all probability, resItcd
]luru befure the Indians ca,l,c."
"Is 1t not u cnrio,1s thought TINT cIytliza-
ton should thus give place 10 osayngrry? 1t is
guile cantsnry t0 tho accepted theory Of tile
| Survival Uf the tittest,' Is 1t lut?''
"Well, It dUesl't exactly carry o,tt that
theory 10 sny the least; but 1t IL
| only In accordance with H. law whicl,
wo hnvo seen worked uilt over and over
ngaiH since tile beginning Of written history.
Tho general law Of the final survival Of tho
| itttest' Is undoubtedly correct: but 1t Inns
CERTAIN VARIATIONS AND CU1.1ous MOD1-
F1E4tT1uSs
In Its O..lnarci,tug course. For instance, the
learned and reflective jew, lii I,ts nativo
to tho barbarous Arab. The
cultured and highly enlightened pcoplc Of
| Europe were once uycrrun by tho l1uns from
Asia, and savage tribes of the North swept
down anu conquered tho Romans. 1Yltcro
t0dny arc tho seats Of Cnrtllnge,ltun, AtuUr-
isl,, and Egyptian civilization? All hayu
| given way to 1arbnrisin. But In the Gentll.
ries to cohp this. viii IN its turn make way
| fnr 2 bright anl shining vlization. Ilnd
arts Of tlu ancient Egyptiais md I'ers'al,s, W.
SHOULD lnt!ay bD revcsltE IN tho history Of
their wnrllke deeds, and their songs Of 'loyo
md md. Victory, which were pe;nnett when tho
| derful uegtls were performed. As there Inns
never ygt been discovered II single l[nu or
letter of writing tl,at we absolutely know
WAS T. j ieft b.. by tlls Monnt.nuiltlers, wo
| All theories titus far advanced },uru al,s,,-
lutely nntllinK t0 rest upon with such Ger.
| tHlnty That tie pr0pGulitl1rs enn Sly tAnt hel~
rock has bce't found. Tho following arc
4 FEW Or THE QUESTIONS
| that n.ay property be nske.l: /. Vero the
Monnd-l}uilders uct.nlly Il ,i0rc enlightened
tle 1iound.Bullders dseenerato lnto Tie Tie
Aegca ys sSWysSse WSssi sr . Toy W. long ' t1ey
that are now st,ldiel wItl. So nuci,
Of the Mound-l'ull.ters; aud why aru lut
soine ro,l,nmnts of them and tl!eir. rnce seen
very ancient rs everything would lntiIcate,
why are they not mentioned III HUlilu Ut tlIo
al'Gient sacred writings ot some people, pro-
yl1sl saltl writings. aro inspired !:
iieIo lon and, Ill., T R'"pas 81, witse ,!se ws rt t
liko9 s. DI, they worship oi,u God, orIna,y
g9Hs? .. Dls! they believe III sacrifices; anti
did they look forward to
THE GREAT sACIllFfCE
which thH Christian world Of today believes
\ IN: 10. We're they y wnrlike people, ard dill
| they build these eArthworks as fnrls wherein
70 store'thetr booty taken p wnr: or were
tthoy very tlnld, nntt DID they build
their forts to defend themselves. from
WArltkU trlbpY with which tIiisv ,Ht}rn hlir-
roundcd?? II. Did they have Il rcguiariy
orEaiIlzed Rovernn!ellt; md was 1t repuh-
lean or t,unarch!cal hi It's forM: le. Wero
hunters ANIL fishers, like tl,e Amer1cnM III
dians; or weru they tcntlcrs of herdsn All
tS ts1si Sa S1 u;td IG"sald "n n0y nop auestIons
@M soiae @ q ti!eia jMys DC, boon "'Sc; .Scry
learnctl'y discussed by men who huvu
spout lnllell t[lle Dn thu subject; but | sny
boldly tlat IT IL ny. 0plnEul. tint none OF
them lave beah satisfactorily answered. l
do not profess TO be abie to allswpr thonl my
self, and long sine
| GAVE u1' DOING ANYTHING
| more thpn to Nsake diagrams Of tia mounds,
and to endeNyor to divine whit nsv they
e1sl hHyS ;a. bcSn put 10 by those who con,
Thus, Mt the close. of the conversation with
my learned trlrnd, waa left ls much Il, the
dark as was before. Tllu very flet Ut tiio
Mystery, conllectel with tut subject Is what
cAHSCa tA0 A95Ht Q'I1k !lkEttat+ bFT0 lED uyh-
tory fully solse.l, perhaps theru wutll bU ilu
More l'otise taketl of tho mounds t!lan Ut
/ before thu View without llosu or continent.
One Thing would ssutn to be. tixpd-yiz.; that
the Mo1lMd.Bu1ldcls Ind forn, ot
government tho nltlst rightly Inol,nrcical In
| ils character. Nt,nu hui thu subjects Of Il
tiespotIan eul,!tl ever IIayu been forceu to the
work nf constructing thesu works. 'rhe
| snina discipline must huye been required
| that permitted Alexander tho Great to wear
the alr from the lleatls ut Ills sult(iers In tic
siege ot Tyre. An examination, nf tho H.
teriDr constituents nf tito mounds tlolM0sl-
strateA tho fnct tat tho uarth must have been
brought IN some why frnn. tho Hills sorlo
dtstnnce away. llow. thls was done IL, Ut
course, y question of Interest; but probabIy
| 1t was by carrying 6Y Hand.
THE MOUND OF MOST iSTEREsr
| here is tho ono found IN tile 1nllst OF the
eentery a It y IN ta r 3q 9f 4, shs S, ttnst Is
the aal,le IN diameter ct lto bMse, mil Aalf
that In diameter ut tho top: The st,apt. of
this mound llla buell pvrfectly preserved
through ail tho agcs, alld bids fafr to re,llairl