The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1895-10-02
MONSTERS.
Correspondence Dated Ely, Mimi, to the
st. Louis Globe Democrat. Tells
Fishy Tale.
A NINE-FOOT FATHER.
A Fiye-Foot Baby, Very Young, Found Be
side the S-foot, 4-inch Remains
of Its Mother.


of Its Mother.
When in the course of human events
it becomes necessary for some Duluth
reporter to work OF little superflOus
gas, he seats himself and proceeds to
write some fishy story dated Ely,
to spring on the unsuspecting public.
The scene for the narrative is usually
laid as far away from civilization as
possible to preclude all possible
possibility of anyone ever
locking up the statements made.
Thus an article dated Ely. Mimi.
made its appearance in the st. Louis
Globe Democrat. The article is al
most pure fiction and plainly to be
seen as having been the handiwork OF
some enterprising reporter. Never
theless. considering the absurdity of
originating the article in this city.
saying the scene at Ely and then max
ing the find at the mouth of Little
Fork river, about 12O miles from here,
1t is well gotten up.
After a preliminary introduction
pretaining TO the country in general
the writer saws: The country around
Ely is particularly rich in relics of
the past. judging from the many finds
made by various people since farms
have opened up here. Scarcely day
masses but some new discovery is
made. and the relicts are particularly
interesting to those who have delved
into the records of the musty past to
any extent. There is evidence to
show that at one time this country
was peopled by men of tremendous
size. and by animals in comparison
with which the elephants of the cir
Gus of today would seem like pigmies.
There is also evidence to show that
the people who then ruled the country
were not mere hewers of wood and
drawers of water. but possessed skill
in various directions.
Thomas McKinster has recently
taken Up farm near the mouth of
the Little Fork river. in Itasca
county. At one corner of his farm
stood a knoll, possibly $50 yards
across. covered with a heavy growth
of pine. On top of this knoll was a
huge bird. or rather the outlines of
one, made of stone not found in any
other locality in the state so far as
known. In digging into this knoll it
was found that the place was once a
burying ground of prehistoric race.
Human bones of great size were found,
and the positions indicated that the
original owners thereof had been
buried in sitting posture. 1t was an
easy matter to distinguish the bones
of the male from those of the female,
for they were larger, more massive,
and had preserved their shape better.
In some cases the bones fell to pieces
at the slightest touch, while in Others
they were soft and spongy, the earth
seemingly having entered the cavities
formerly occupied by the marrow, and
furnished a support for the shells.
In one grave were found the bones
of what were once probably father,
mother and child. The huge bones of
the male were about foot distant
from those of the women and child,
which were locked in close embrace,
as though the mother had drawn the
infant to her bosom just before death
came. The larger bones were those
of man who, in life. must have been
nearly, if not fully, nine feet in height
while those Of the women showed that
she had been no dwarf, measuring as
they did s feet inches from the
bottom of the bones of the foot to the
skull. which was larger, fiatter and
considerably heavier than the skulls
of the people today.
The child must have been very
young, for its bones went to pieces as
soon as exposed to the air and covered
the bones of the mother with fine.
white powder. By measuring the out
lines of the bones of the child it was
found that the infant had been nearly
five feet in height, which is really not
so bad for child of tender years. In
the skull of the women was big dent
between and slightly above the eyes
showing that she had met death in a
violent manner. By the side OF the
man lay stene weapon, shaped some
thing like an egg, with a depression
%ut around one end, in which thong