Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1885-08-22

Buddahatchie river, some four miles
east of Pearce's Mills, when the fawn
suddenly disappeared over the edge OF
the bluff. Upon coming up, Hadden
peered over the bluff, when to his as
constituent he saw the fawn standing
on narrow bench, hundreds OF feet
below, near the root OF large spruce
pine recently blown mp. After much
difficulty he succeeded in reaching the
spot where the fawn was last seen, but
the fawn was not in the range of his
vision. Upon looking around he dis
covered that the pine in being uproot-
ed disclosed to view circular orifice
in the bluff some three feet in dame
ter. Prompted by curiosity and de-
sire to catch the fawn, he provided
himself with a torch and entered the
cavern, and made discovery that will
not only immortalize himself and be a
source of fabulous wealth, but will be
of immense value and interest to the
scientific men and biblical scholars of
the world Stretched out at full length
upon the caves rocky floor, lay the
petritied bodies of three human beings
two males and one female-an OBJ
X,
sign, two feet loug, eighteen inches
wide and sixteen inches deep, besides
many other curiosities of smaller d.
mansions. Surprised and terror-strick-
en- Hadden withdrew from the cavern
and returned to his home. The next
day Hadden returned with trusted
friend to the scene of his discoveries
and removed the petrified bodies and
other articles from the cave. The box,
also petrilied, was carefully removed
from its resting place and broken, and
found to contain small earthen jar,
a large roll OF parchment and a brass
rod. Now, the mystery is, to- what
race of people did these bodies belong
and how came them there ? The
parchment manuscripts are undoubt-
eddy written in the Hebrew language.
Many theories have been advanced by
our people, but the most plausible one
that | have heard is that the bodies are
of Hebrew origin, that the box is the
long-lost ark of the covenant, the rod
the veritable Aaron's, the jar the pot
of mamma and the prchment manu-
scripts the seven lost books of the Old
Testament
The scene of this wonderful discov-
cry is one of sublime and picturesque
grandeur. Hundreds of feet above
huge masses of rock lift their hoary
heads high in the air, while far be-
Meath are the limpid waters of the
Buddahatchie ON their way to the
gull, "gurgling kisses to the pebbled
shore" Mr.. MADDEN has carefully
boxed his treasures and will start i'm
mediately for Washington, d. c., where
he will deposit them in the Smithsoni-
an Institution.
Now, Mr.. Editor, this wonderful dis
covery is no "Joe Mulhattan yarn" but
can be fully substantiated by calling
on or addressing the following parties
of Hamilton, Ala: j. G. Hamilton,
Judge probate court, Maj James II.
Cast, editor Marion County Herald,
and Col. James Pearce, on whose plan
tation the wonderful discovery WAS
made. j. w. 5.
On last Sunday afternoon, little be-
fore dark, a Citizen representative
learned that Mr.. ]. w. MADDEN, of Ma
rion county, Ala, was in Pulaski, and
determined to see him and ascertain ii
there was any truth in the published
statement of his wonderful discovery.
Calling at the residence of one of our
citizens, the reporter was shown into
the presence of Mr.. MADDEN, who
seemed to be well-bred, intelligent
gentleman. After the usual civilities
and in reply to question, Mr.. Hadden
said; "Yes, ii is true I've made a won
derful find and | believe | have the
long-lOst ark of the covenant in my
possession. To convince you, as |
know you don't believe me, I'll show
YOU this ancient and valuable relic of
patrarchal ages" and going to one COR
ner of the room, he lifted or rather
dragged to the middle of the floor what
stone about two feet long, eighteen
inches high and as many wide. Re
moving Il leather strap which held it
together where it had been broken
open, he lifted it apart and disclosed to
the astonished vision OF the newspa-
per man, a brass rod about two feet
long with curious and antique charac-
tiers engraved upon it, a small earthen
jar that was filled with petrifed sub
stance, and large roll of parchment
While showing them he said, "This
is the veritable rod of Aaron, this the
pot of mamma and this the seven lost
books of the Old Testament" holding
the roll OF parchment in his hand. The
reporter couldn't deny it, but he want
ed some confirmation of these strange
words, and sent for a Unknown jew
ish citizen living across the street, who
is noted for his eminent learning, be-
ing a fine Hebrew scholar. This gem
tleman, upon arriving and having mat
ters explained to him, unrolled the
parchment and after carefully exam
lining the contents, pronounced the
writing to be in the Hebrew language,
and to have been written before the
flood. "The liquid used to write with"
said he, "is undoubtedly the same as
that used by the master workmen in
putting their marks upon the stones
used in building Solomon's temple.
Those marks exist to this day." he CON
tinued, "and their color, a deep red, is
the same us the writing on this parch-
ment 1t is imperishable and the art
of making it died many thousand years
ago. This Hebrew gentleman was
convinced from his examination of this
strange roll of ancient writings that
they were undoubtedly analogous to
biblical works, and while he was not
prepared to say positively that they
were the seven lost books of the Old
Testament, he felt convinced the relig-
ious world would have such light
thrown on their belief as to change it
entirely, and perhaps bring to light all
the dark and mysterious passages of
the bible. The conversation contin-
ued till late at night, and when the re-
porter left he felt strangely confused
and his feet were hardly sensible to
any touch upon the earth as he walked.
MIR. MADDEN left next morning with
his valuable treasures for the Smithso-
man Institute at Washington, d. c.,
where they will be examined and trans.
lated and given to the world. Mr..
Haddens theory in regard to the box
is that when Nebuchadnezzar captured
the ark of the covenant, he did not de-
stroy il, rs was generally supposed, but
in order to secrete it, he sent it to this
side OF the Atlantic, and its guardians,