The Palatka daily news. (Palatka, Fla.) 1884-1888, 1886-06-24
ANTIQUITIES plG lr.
4 FIELD FOR ENrI.OEGtS IN
SANGARRIEI. VALLEY. CAL
Many Ancient Objects at Art, The
Site Of an Oi,i Encampnrnt, " here
Elephants Once Eoan,ed.


Site Of an Ohi Encampnrnt, " herr
Elephants Once Eoame,l.
PASADENA. th~. June II.
"You wouldn't think to look at thr
place, said "a native southern ttllfar
man. pointing Ia Pasadena, with IT.
wealth 0f villas and grange grntrs
THAT elephants once grazed here an'
all along the San Gabriel Valley, hut i
is fact. How do know itt Why, TN'
seen en-not exactly the elephant II
self but what there was lett of II. II
was IA few weeks ago. | happened To- b"
oyrr at Los Angelo, on the east side an'
| heard that some one hal found d
curious bone in DIGGING we'll. AMI sun,
enough when got there, there Wa 4
the man had taken it from nul'ody
knows how deep below the surface.
Yes. il was good long time ago. when
our fathers were over IN Asia. II indeed
they hal appeared at all. The mastadon
WAS an elephant that would discount
Jumbo every time. Some must have
stood twelve or thirteen feet and have
presented IA marvellous spectacle as they
rushed along in great herbs of ftty or
more. GENERALLY they are found in herds
in other words, where one Is found the
remains of others appear, ami generally
in boys, the idea being that the animals
had wa,led into these marshy places and
there became mlrel AMI ultimately sank
uut If sight. THIS is known t. have
been the fate Of the giant birds of New
Zealand, aud modern elephants in Africa
have been seen to mlrr themselves IN thu
same way. Ten ar twenty thousand
wears ago this country WAS probably
oyerrun with strange animals. tutally or
quite different from those of to,lav.
One prcnliarity about the maStadon WAS
that it often had three tusks and ,om,
times four. In some of the skulls ON
exhibition throughout the country yotl
will see third tusk projecting from the
lower jaw, and when II grew completely
out must have given the animals en-
riouS appearance AMI certainly II very
Formidable one"
ANCIENT oRIErrs Ut ART.
To the antiquarian southern Califor,
MA oilers many attractions. The entire
coast, from one end to the other. isa vrr
table gra,tya ard of ancient tal,lornians
and one part, If explorers exposed IN "A
very short time the remains Of over ten
thousand human beings and carried oil
pottery AMI curiOsitirs amounting to
several tons. Not only the sea coast,
but the various islarhS oif,horc supply
these ancient objects Of art AMI indus
n. N,,N L.,
stands AN enormous shell mound, made
or hraped up by nobody knows whom,
but evidently hy early natives. who f"l
upon the molu>ks and threw their shells
in this great heap, that grew into mon
ument to perpetual" their memory. In
the mound are found various articles of
domestic Use pieces ot pottery, arrnw
heads, fish hooks, spear points, dishes
made from the beautiful Ahalonr shells,
that are 80 common here. and various
objects.
In South Pasadena there rises an cnor.
nous mound of earth 81 closely rrsrmb.
ling the heaps erected hy the ancient
mound builders of ohio and many Of the
western states. that it has for wears been
viewed with great interest. Later it has
been selected as "A SITE for Il hotel, AMI the
excavations male last spring were
watched by the knowing ONES with much
curiosity, and not few predicted that
some remarkable finds would hn made.
The mound at present presents decided
~ pastoral appearance. The sides have
been converted into rich garden.
oranges and bananas growing in It. with
flowers of every kind. while to the south
Il grape vineyard stretches far away that
Is to produce for the benefit 1T visitors
here next winter. In budding the hotel
the top of the hill was lrvrlcd and en-
citemrnt cur mated Cne morning when
1t WAS announced that a secret chamber
had been discovered. The town became
Hooded with most extraordinary stories
and it was assumed that the hotel would
have "A cellar. the like of which was never
seen before, IA It WAS reported that "a
teritable temple Of Snlgui had been
found and that orders had been trle.
graphrd from Boston to close it up and
connect it as was found to the hotel by "A
private staircase for the benefit oi the
guests, Report had it that the cave WAS
II temple that was lii ed with silver and
gold from the famous mines that are
known to fp lost in this range somewhere
aud had been covered up hy an earth
quake.
Az ANCIENT ROOM.
These and other tales brought the eN.
citenent ~ to fever pitch, and even to-
day many people believe that the secret
chamber still exists and Is lelng kept
quiet for some unknown reason. The
facts are that 4 room wa} discovered Of
quite large dimensions in nearly the cen
ter Ut the mound, the lower portion nf
which Is solid rock the room being near
the surface, and that it va. formed ages
ago there is little doubt. as when di4ruv
cred it was completely filled with inr
sand. ~ that at first the presence Of the
latter was the only evidence that there
wa- cavity here. Public opinion is III
vlted AS to- what the room is. Some
think that il Is a natural cavity in the
rocks and Of volcanic origin; others pro-
Tossing to be posted state that it is un
doubteily cut out of the solid rock by
human hands. Around the hotel the
workmen profess to- know nothing about
it. which i- undoubtedly 50. A. they were,
not here when the excavation was mide,
but that a large cavity or room was
found in the hill was assured by
well known resident of Pasadena.
THE SITE OF AZ Old TNc cAMpMEST.
That the anclent5 lived here in rlcat
numbers at one tinle - well known
Over cart load Of utensils made of