Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1889-02-26
FACES IN STONE.
STRANGE RESEMBl- l-ANcES SEEN IN
NATURAL FORMATION.
A Monster Hump Backed whalo In the
Rocky Mouutains-The Head Of the Iron
Duke In Brazilian Stone-washineton
and Garfield by the Great Artist.

and Garfield by the Great Artist.
Among the wonders Of nature none are of
greater interest than those strange resem-
blances in natural formations to human faces
and figures, as well 70 other forms, which
are found in various parts of the world
One of the most beautiful of these curiosi.
ties is found in the Mammoth cave Of Ken
lucky, which contains many others which
have been more frequently described.
This is the Last Rose If Summer" mag
nihcent formation in the center ceiling of
one of the largest chambers, which is abso-
lutely perfect in its shape In size it Is about
eight feet in diameter, of pure white, with
bud, flower and leaf, and, in the glare Of
torches, sparkling like countless diamonds
Many similar stalactitts are found in other
parts of the cave In one room the entire
ceiling is thickly studded with the most
| graceful formations OF flowers, all of the
most dazzling white
THE MONSTER OF BEAR LAKE
Although not, strictly speaking, natural
| formation, the wonderful ''monster of Bear
| lake." i'll the Rocky mountains, may be
| spoken of i'll this connection. This is the pet
| rllied form of what WIS evidently once an
| Immense sea monster. 1t died on high
| plateau, i'll a position giving rise to theory
| among antiquar'ies that its resting place was
once great shoal, and that the antedluvian
| leviathan hourished ano persisted on the sur
| face as the water receds I'd The petrifaction
| is perfect, and it is estimated to weigh about
| ten tons, A geologist slys:
1T presents duh appearance, the head
and body of hump backed whale and the
extremities extend into feelers and antenns
| like the polypus or devil fish, with the ex-
| ception that evidently, during life they were
lined with bard and bony substance The
| eyes are set in each side of the head, which is
dat and obloug, and are twenty-four inches
apart. The mouth is armed with triple rows
| OF teeth, sharp in front, but underneath and
| well in the jaw are turned into grinders,
| cupped by solid osseous formation, running
back from the widest portion of the head"
| The length of this singular relic of an un-
| known age has not been determined, but as
the body blends into the tail it tapers to a
small size, so that, making due allowances,
the entire weight would not be far from that
stated. This monster s. beyond doubt, the
descendant of the denzens of the mighty
ocean that once submerged this region
Few natural curiosities are moro remark
able than those in which rocks or mountains
have, through the action OF the elements and
similar causes, assumed most striking re-
| sembances to the features OF historical char
acters.
The range OF mountSin situated near Rio
| Janeiro, in Brazil, displays to the gaze Of ap-
| preaching voyagers complete head of Well
ington, apparently rising out of the sea around.
| As it raises its majestic form high above the
| level of the ocean no one who has over seen
| portrait of the famous duke can but think
| chat nature must have had him in view when
| il constructed this addi ion to her great gal
! lery of curiosities.
At Heuui in the far away regions Of Ice
! land, the high bluff there overlooking val
| ley Is surmounted by a colossal head, with
| high cap covering it.
! One of the countless rocks which stud the
northwest coast Of Norway forms the exact
| likeness of gigantic horse and rider, 800
| feet high, plunging heailong with fury into
the sea In this figure tle poetic fancy Of q
! native bard has seen the form of Odin retreat
| ing before tho advance Of Christianity
In the Island of st. Vincent, one of the
| Cape Verde group, situhted OFF the coast Of
| Africa, there is huge Volcanic rock, which
forms complete bust of George Washing
ton, in recumbent position, with the face
| upward The hair, the profile, the chin and
even tho very collar fril, is reproduced with
| singular exactness, though q gigantic
scale
| GARFIELD AND TIE 'oLD MAN"
the uregularly undulating boundary Of the
Catskiu mountains, near the Hudson river,
New York. The "Recli1 ing Giant" or MAN
| in the Mountains" near the southern begin
| ming OF the highest SUBMITS, has long been
noted, but 1t may not Do generally known
thnt this recumbent form Is an excellent Ike
ness Of the late Presto ent Garfield The
features are sharp, the body stretching down
ward, is somewhat angular, but ON tracing
| the line backward TO the north one is startled
With the sudden recognition Of the grave face
| Of Gen. Garfield, reclining precisely as the
| illustrated papers repres ented him in bis last
days His broad and high forehead is shown
as in the best photographs, although, Of
course, the details are not SO well preserved
| This is, however forgotten in the surprising
| proportion of each par to the whole, the
| splendid physique and the grave and thought
full expression of the lanented statesman,
| being faithfully presery ed Us an enduring
memorial III the ''everlas ting hills"
Any mention of great stone faces' would
be incomplete without some reference to the
| famous "Old Man of the Mountain" Of the
| White Mountains, New hampshire, which II
| unquestionably the greatest curiosity Of the
| kind in existence. No finer description has
been given of this nat ural sculpture than
| that by Samuel Adams Drake, the distin-
| guished author, who wriles:
1T is difficult to believe the evidence of the
senses Upon the high ifs Of the mountain
| is the remarkable and celebrated rock sculp
ture of human head, which from q
| height OF 200 feet above the lake has for un-
| counted ages looked with the SAME stony
stare down the pass upon the windings of the
| river through its nconlI arabic valley. The
| profile itself measures about forty feet from
| the tip of the chin to the fattened crown,
which imparts to it such a peculiarly antique
| appearance. IL is perfect, except that the
| forehead is concealed by something like the
| visor of helmet. And all this illusion is
produced by several prof ,cting crags.
| 1T is the most extra ordinary sight Of o
| lifetime A slight change Of position varies
| more or less the character of the expression,
which u, after all, the II arked popularity of
! this monstrous alto relieve; for let the spec
tator turn his gaze vaci ntly upon the more
| familiar objects at hand, as he invariably
| will, to assure himself that he Is not the vic
| tim of some hallucinatio1, a strange fascina-
| tion draws him irresistibly back to the Dan
| Gesque head on the highest battlements of the
| pass, face too majestic, too nobly grand for
| anything Of mortal mold st. Louis Globe
| Democrat
| A Shark story.
An English cruiser had once seized what
they believed to be a SLAYER, but were obliged