The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1894-01-31
AN INDIANA 0e0IPUS.
An Old Gentleman from Marion Solves
the Sphinx.

II. RingIer was his name, and Marion.
Ind, was his station says the Chicago
Inter-Ocean, but nevertheless he caused
a commotion at the art institute yester-
day long to be remembered by Director
French and his associates.
OF all the treasures possessed by the
institute. the one that the Egyptolog-
lists, archaeiOgists and other savants
most pride themselves over is a plast-
er cast taken from a rock carved in
Asia Minor. This cast has been
brought to Chicago at a great eX-
pense. Learned men from far and
near have studied it and measured it,
and written about it. For a long time
no one knew what to make of 1t. how
it came upon the hillside near Smyrna.
or what was the nature of the hero
glyphic inscription upon its time eaten
sides. Great men finally concluded the
specimen to be cast of the figure Of
SesOstris, known elsewhere as the Great
Rameses.
After much cOgitation every scientist
who studied the last agreed that it was
a figure of the Pharaoh. Then specula-
ton began upon the inscription. Not a
few thought that the hieroglyPhics
contained some reference 10 biblical his
tory, the fall OF Thebes, or the building
Of the pyramids.
But, like the sphinx, until yesterday
the riddle remained unsolved. and when
the QtulpuS llldllg dpptdIcu he ltoh lilt
form Of an old soldier-none other than
Mr. Ringler OF Marion, Ind. He read
the inscription of hand, so 10 speak, and
now the art institute authorities are
willing to give their cast TO any plaster
er who is utilitarian enough 10 make il
into good mortar
1t happened this way: AIr. Ringler
happened to be in Chicago on a visit.
Having a little time on his hands he
strolled into the art institute, and after
examining the various modern paintings
and figures curiosity impelled him to-
ward the hall in which are stored the
ancient statues, casts and curiOs. He
wandered from one object to another
deeply absorbed. Suddenly he became
tranSfiXed before cast of the carving
supposed to be a figure Of Sesostris
He approached nearer and nearer the
figure. With eyes tranSiiXed upon the
group of hieroglyphicS upon the cast he
suddenly uttered an exclamation that
caused the guard to retreat step or
two and then advance to discover if the
man had gone suddenly mad.
The guard grappled with the excited
soldier
Mr. Ringler shook him off. and eX-
citedly pointing to the heretofore unin-
telligible inscription he shouted:
It's my name. That's me. I put it
there. Let me go. l tell you L carved
that name in 1851"
hement utterances Of Mr.. Ringler at
tracted quite a crowd in short order.
The learned gentlemen of the institute
crowded around TO find out the cause OF
the rumpus
They were at first astonished by MI.
Ringers assertions. and then disposed
to think him demented, but he with
trembling fingers traced out each letter.
Under the guidance of his arm IL was
quite plain to every one that the in
scription on the arm Of the cast was no
archaic screed traced with the stylus.
but simply a plain, ordinary United
States name cut there with the indubi-
table point of a jack knife.
Al first the inscription was a little
dim, but after a slight scratching away
the writing stood out very plainly as
III Ringler" In carving his name the
soldier had ca I'm the first letters OF it
but slightly, but the end OF the name
stood out very boldly.
Explanations followed, and it trans
pired that Mr.. Ringler had, in 1857 been
i'm Boghax Kew, Asia Minor, which is
about thirty miles from Smyrna. On
a hunting trip he had come across a
rough rock statue on hillside. With
no thought of vandalism Mr. Ringler
carved his name upon it, and had never
thought Of it a second time, until he
saw it traced upon the figure in the
institute.
II was a severe blow to the directors
Of the institute when they heard the
story. for it had confidently been sup
posed that the inscription was nothing
less than one by some scholarly Hittite.
or perhaps a fac-simile of the signature
Of Sesos iris. done In one OF his best
moments