The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-01-09
FOUND Il DEN OF STONE SNAKES.
Pennsylvania Section Hands Make . QueeE
Discovery Near Altoona.

Pennsylvania Section Hands Mako Q Queer
Discovery Near Altoona.
ALTOONA. Jan. s.-Section hands on the Pitts.
burg division Of tho Pennsylvania Railroad,
while at work not long ago. unearthed n den of
petriied serpents In a cutting twelve miles west
Of this city. In a period Of ;hawing weather
o top portion of tho cutting fifty feet above the
tracks gave way and fell. filing the gutter. A
gang Of section mon went to work to clear away
the fallen rock and TO level the side Of the cut
ting to make It as neat as possible. While tho
last Of the work was being completed. Mike
Flanagan, one Of the force. dug up q cylindrical
section of rock curious In appearance. He
turned 1t over with his pick, and then tho re.
markable resemblance of the stone to o snake
nearly made him fall over the bank.
Would yez moind phwat I've got here Z" no
said TO a fellow workman.
"Wait till l dig out this damn root" replied tho
other. granting in his efforts.
"Begob. you've got the rest av i'm" Mike said
as his companion a few seconds later turned out
. section similar In appearance.
well. what do you make out of itf' tho
finder Of tho second piece asked of Mike after
they had surveyed the ind In silence for q time.
III Old a had the maxim av 1t, Ord a not
made q stone snake. which 1t is By the bones of
St. Patrick"
In the next half hour CT es Of wonder oame
from all parts Of the gang. Section after sec
ton Of the curious formation was unearthed.
and. finally, the attention OF the foreman was
called to the find. He examined one of the
pieces and found II to be what no pronounced a
portion Of 6 petrided snake. the notified skin
and vertebrae being perfectly distinguishable
The portions OF the snakes. as they were loos,
ened. were thrown on q heap In the gutter. and
when the work was co npletod 10 was found that
several wagon loads OF the Stone formation had
been unearthed. Most OF them were carted away.
but q great many specimens were secured by
railway men and curiosity seekers. A large
number of the pieces were brought to this city
and displayed In shop windows, labelled as
relics of the reptilian epoch.
Then q local geologist went to the scene with
his little hammer and returned to town with q
theory that knocked the enthusiasm out OF the
relic hunters. He announced that the curious
formation was due 10 the percolation OF water
through interstices In the rocks. and that, in
stead OF snakes. The stones were merely odd
shaped rock sections. Owners Of tho stone
snakes. however. scout the biologists lore and
hang to the serpent theory. Their claims are
borne out by the fact that tho section where the
snakes were found abOunds In fossiliferous de-
pOsits. The particular spot where the find was
made is In stratihed yellow sandstone remote
from rock %crevices. At any rate. lovers OF tho
curious can see from any Pennsylvania Railroad
train, the indented outline OF a twenty-foUt SER
pent In the rock along the cutting. The curious
spectacle was preserved by the section foreman,
who still believes that he unearthed q den Of
stone snakes.