The morning call., 1892-09-17

"Hellol" said the doctor, "what is thats"
And he kicked over with his toe what ap-
peared to be merely small cobble-stone
covered with an inch of black mud.
The mud was cleaned away. The stone
left in the doctors hand was an ordinary
cobble, though Of small size and obloDg IN
shape.
Those who stood near wondered what
possible scientific value there could be in
that stone and one of them said:
You can pick those up anywhere In Ala
media"
Il think NOT" said the doctor. Have
you pln?"
There was not a pin in the crowd. At
least il there was 1t occupied position of
responsibility and trust from which it dare
not be removed, for no pin was forthcoming.
well, penknlfe will do, said the doc
tor, 'if the blade is small and pointed"
HALF dozen were rroffered.
With the point of one of these Dr. Rivers
scratched away the fine soil at one end,
then dug in the blade.
The suid stone seemed to give away for
the knife blade. but it wasn't the stone at
all that gave away, only little dirt and
mud which had filed up and concealed from
all but the eyes of practiced antiquarian
a hole running clear through the stone.
NO" said the doctor, you don't find
those stones all over Alameda.
THAT Is a sinker
1.-THE Indians who once inhabited this
mound were great fishermen. They needed
sinkers for their lines and nets. They had
no lead and so used cobbles tones.
This siDker was used at the bottom Of
the line. as you see by the hole in the top Of
the stone. That hole was drilled by the
Indians.
tie on to the nets they cast.
"uere is one OF them" and the doctor
picked up small fiat cobblestone.
The ordinary observer would have passed
ii by as worthless, but when DR.. Rivers had
scratched away the clinging soil. small
groove was seen on each side of the stone,
where the rope or net had been fastened by
the Indians.
In this way the doctor went over the
mound, now kicking up a rock OF the So
called flint. from which the Indian mound
builders made their spear and arrow heads,
now unearthing piece of q broken mortar,
or pestle. or roller or grinder. or matata, or
muller or what not.
In less than an hour he had accumulated
an armful of valuable relics, which Will soon
find their way into the university museum.
Then the antiquarian Of the university
was shown the skulls, skeletons and relics
uuearthed by THE CALL.
He was greatly interested In these, and
declared that the university museum would
be materially enriched by their acquisition
"My only regret Is" said the curator,
'that could not have been present at the
excavations. fear great many treasures
may have been overlooked as the earth was
thrown up.
There are, however, many things of in
terest and value among THE CALLS relics,
and | am sure the university Will be very
grateful for them"
And then, under the personal supervision
of Dr. Rivers, the entire collection of bones,
ils rod NJ nd oil In thar
numerous relics unearthed by THE CALLS
excavators on the Alameda Indian mound.
were carefully packed for transportation to
the university.
They Will go to Berkeley early this morn
ing, where they will be cleaned. preserved.
and properly classified.
During his tour of the Indian mound, and
while subsequently examining THE CALLS
relics, Dr. Rivers spoke most enthusiastic
ally and interestingly OF the value Of relics
unearthed from this and similar mounds.
''Do You know" said he. 'that these diff
the Indians method OF grinding their corn,
and thus their own mental development In
plain. unmistakable words.
First Of all, the savage knocked his corn
into powder between two of these round
cobbes tones He laid a grain of corn on
one stone and hit it with the other.
in time the lower stone was worn
smooth, then became depressed slightly,
and the Indian found the waste from flying
particles was less when the bottom stone
was depressed.
From this they learned to depress the
surface OF the stones artifcially. AS the
need became greater for grinding the corn
in larger quantities, they made deeper
depression in the lower stone.
"Then they found that the upper stone,
or crusher, would not fit we'll into these
hollow stones. and it became necessary to
shape the pestle.
s'Thus the mortar and the pestle grew
into existence. like an evolution, and the
mortar became q muller, and finally the
muller evolved into big fiat stone and
roller"
DIR. Rivers is as full OF these apt stories
as a schoolboy is Of mischief, and he tells
them in an interesting way withal.
Many of the specimens taken from the
Alameda Indian mound illustrate this evo-
luton of corn-grinding perfectly. They
will be Invaluable as object lessons for
students.
Dr. Rivers was especially pleased with
the skulls dug up by THE CALLS ex-
cavators. He says they are of undoubted
chronological value.
The doctor was also quite interested in
the large number OF bones of the lower
animals unearthed by The CALLS excava-
tions.
He pointed out several Jaws of the deer
anu lHb DttNtS anu e6clll6u ~ COuSlu6T
them of especial value.
"These bones" said he, "were probably
boiled in soup for the Indians. That ac-
counts for many Of them being severed.
They did this to let the marrow out while
the SOUP was boiling.
"And how do you suppose that soup was
boiled?
mo. sir; not by building a fire under the
stone or earthen vessel, but by dropping
into the soup small cobblestones heated to a
white or red heat.
There is one of their heating stones"
said the antiquarian, kicking over an almost
perfectly round and smooth stone.
They heated those cobbss red-hot, then
kept dropping them into the vessel till its
contents were thoroughly cooked"
OF the relies exeavated by the Academy
OF Natural Sciences, the person delegated to
act exercised the utmost critical discrimina-
tion in making lis selections.
A small stone pestle, perfect in shape and
preservation, appeared to be his especial
delight He priced 1t so highly that he
would not entrust ii to the dangers of trans