Omaha daily bee., 1895-09-15

were probably burned by covering them with
pile OF hay, the live Goals from which would
not only produce sufficiently intense and
equable heat but no risk would be run Of
crushing the tender ware, as would likely
| happen with other fuel. The heat produced
| by this means would be ample to produce
the desired result as is shown where hay
| stacks are burned In prairie fire, the heat
often being sufficient to superfcially vitrify
| the earth on which they stood.
FLINT CLIPPINGS.
In addition to these finished articles Of
clay and stone, which have come down to us
| as memorials Of the habits and skill of de-
| parted race, may be mentioned the multitude
of flint clippings which are to be found in
| some localities. In the same field where
| were found the 600 fragments Of pottery
above mentioned are spots where perhaps a
score Of flint spalls, more or less minute, lie
| in space of a few feet, probably showing
where scrapers or other tools have been
| made or redressed. While these, at first
sight, might be thought scarcely worthy OF
even passing notice, they are Of scarcely less
| Importance than the finished products OF
ancient art, since both tell with equal force
J that men have been here before us and they
alike are factors In piecing out the story
which science has to tell. However small
/ they may be to the practiced eye these
| spalls could scarcely be mistaken for any
specimen tells as surely Of human presence
| and human intelligence as the largest collec-
| tion can do. In formation geologically like
| that of the country under consideration 1t
would be little short OF miracle to find such
| specimen which did not come from the
| hand of man. Such spall Of flint, with
very evident indications of human workman
| ship in the hicks on Its edges unfortunately
| since losD, was found by the writer in a
gravel deposit on the Niobrara river In com
pany with the skeleton Of huge animal.
probably a brontotherium, whose femoral
| bone measured nearly four feet In length, and
whose ribs we're eight feet long. Somewhat
l similar bones have been found In the Loup
river region and 1t may be that the same
, men who made ornamental pots and artistic
arrow points we're sometimes called upon to
| 20 out and repei the invasions OF powerful
and hideous monsters monsters the nrst
| thunderous below Of which would put the
| best trained modern army to ignominious
| flight While 1t is unsafe to base an opinion
on an isolated fact where there is the shadow
| Of a chance to be mistaken we feel reason
ably safe In assuming that the human race,
| perhaps few in number and feeble In re-
| sources co-existed with the mastodon, the
| mammoth, the brontotherium and a host OF
other strange and uncanny beasts OF like
| geological period, the curious remains OF
| which men of science have described under
| pompous and stilted names OF foreign birth.
and, II so, we must allow that they passed
through perils more dreadful than anything
| Of which we read In tabled story.
| The conclusions we may deduce from the
foregoing may be briefly summarized as fol-
lows:
| 1. The Loup river country was the hablta-
| tion of prehistoric race.
2. They were acquainted with the produc-
| tlon and uses OF fire.
3. They made offensive and defensive
| weapons OF stone, similar to those fabricated
| by prehistoric man In Europe.
4. They had some knowledge of the art OF
cookery.
| 8. They knew how to fabricate ceramic
ware and to harden the same by fire, In all
respects comparable to that OF prehistoric
man In the old world.
8. They knew how to make stone knives
similar to those made by prehistoric man In
Babylonia and other parts OF Asia.
| 7. They placed certain ornamental lines
and marks on their earthenware, indicative
Of the germs of an aesthetic taste.
8. They dressed skins for clothing and
other purposes.
Q. They had some knowledge Of agricui-
ture and were acquainted with the maize
| plant.
10. They were contemporansous with many
gigantic mammals now extinct.
| Il. W. BLACK,