The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1892-11-27
WESTERN ODDITIES.
Mound Builders Antiquities Gathered by
an Enthusiast in Indiana.

an Enthusiast in Indiana.
LETTERS onyille correspondence of the In
| diarapolis News has the following: Near
| this city lies a large shanty-boat, 15x2I
| feet large, painted white, and with the
| sign Mound Builders and Indian Relics
| displayed upon its sides. IL does not dif
| fer in outward appearance from the typl.
| cal house-boat; but, led by curiosity,
went on board and found that something
new had been discovered. There Is OF
this unpretentious vessel a collection OF
ANTIQUITIES which far excels the great
collection of the Smithsonian Institution.
There are stone images, stone arrows
stone discs, stone axes, stone everything
besides no end of earthen vessels and
utensils used by that mysterious race
which, for want of a better name, are
called the Mound Builders. Choicest
among the many craven idols Is one
carved out Of large amethyst, anS
another out of a stalagmite. The laH~r
IS nearly life-size, and is most strikingly
like q skull, found close by, in y mound
near Clarksville, Tenn. The lFs5gfey value
Of this collection is something enormous.
This stone head is wanteA by great
collector, and he offers 500 tor it. This
spear-head, twelve inches LONG, commands
the neat sum OF $50. This image can be
sold any moment for SIS. and these Won
derfuliy polished arrow-heaes and spear
points are actually worth their weight
in gold,
The entire boat is crowded with totems,
tools, weapons household utensils, idols,
jars. ceremonial utensils, agricultural i'm
plements, etc, Of the vanished race, and
I'm looking over them one wonders at the
ingenuity which fashioned them, put a
knife edge on the flints and polished the
stones until they shine. And where d,1
they get the flint? There Is none in the
regions where all these things were found!
The owner OF all these archaeological
treasures is Captain j. p. Johnson, and
though he refuses to set a value upon
his immense collection, it cannot be worth
less than $4,000. perhaps as much as S75.-
000 IT is not only wonderful that any
man should have gotten together such an
enormous collection, but that ii should
be found upon a shanty-boat, and that
II has escaped the eyes OF newspaper
men so long.
Captain johnson has, with the assist
ance of his son, II. l.. Johnson, found the
majority of his treasures himself. He
told the story Of his searching very will
ingly and picturesquely: Il have been at
1t for seventeen years" he said, when
1 started from Whites bend, on the Cum
beland river. and searched up the Caney
the various rivers, and am now on my
way down again. having been as far up
as Cincinnati. But the Ohio is not as
rich in prehistoric relics as the Tennessee
rivers and their valleys. Evidently the
central settlements Of the mysterious
people were there. They must have been
q onderfully intelligent and painstaking
people. Look at this" he said. raising the
head carved out OF stalagmite. No
mechanic of to-day could make better
job with steel tools, probably not as good.
1t is a portrait. Notice the odd com
preston OF the skull-no one knows
whether that was artificial CT natural
but it corresponds exactly with yonder
skull. The face looks mild very much
like some OF the pictures from Egyptian
monuments.
I'VE drift up and down the rivers and
stop wherever we please. and look here,
he raised a trap in the floor of the boat,
there is my buggy. All we have to do 1
is 10 put IL together. hire a horse, and
drive where fancy takes u.s."
The collector has I'm fact walked and
ridden over nearly every foot of ground
within ten miles of the Ohio on the In
diana side. trading and buying relics or
digging for them. Sometimes he sells
some OF his specimens of which he has
duplicates, and sometimes, If he strikes
a larger town, he shows his collection
for a consideration, but really 1t does not
begin TO pay the expenses Of collecting.
much less OF living. though, what with
no rents TO pay and fish TO be had for the
catching, it does not cost much. But he
is not collecting for the sake OF Gain.
When asked whether he would sell he
gave an almost indignant look, and 10 the
question what he would ultimately do
with Il, he replied that he had never
thought of It, but that after his death
his son would probably keep on collecting.
But though the papers seem 10 have
heard nothing Of Captain Johnson, he
Is by no means unknown. His cores
pondence with the learned is something
enormous end includes the savants OF
the Smithsonian. There seems 10 be
queer Freemasonry between the various
collectors Of antiquities, and though no
paper heraided the arrival Of Johnson's
boat, they know it for many miles back
from the river, and come TO see and COM
pare. The Captain is an enthusiast In
his chosen work, and fears no trouble or
labor If it will lead TO the discovery OF
so much as good arrow-point, and he
has dug more mounds than any other
man living.