The times., 1898-02-20

States National Museum, comes for
ward with a startling statement. He
saws that he will take a contract to du-
plicate the great pyramid in less time
than was required to build the original
using only implements of stone and
soft bronze, and without the aid CT any
modern mechanical appliances. He de-
mands only an equal number Of work
men. /. e., 1oo. coo. That number is sa d
TO have been employed in the construc-
tion of the famous Pyramid of Cheops,
and the job took them thirty years 10
complete.
A food of light has been thrown upon
the much discussed problem OF the
building of the great pyramid by Prof.
McGuire's recent Investigations. To
the asfonishment OF scholars, he de-
clares that what has long been held to
be a mystery is in reality as obvious
as daylight. He tells the whole story
of the erection of the mighty structure
from the very beginning. showing just
where the stone came from, and how it
was quarried, transported and put in
place Finally, TO prove his PROPOSE
ton. he exhibits pictures from ancient
Egyptian monuments illustrating the
methods employed down TO the utmost
imaginable detail. The mystery, he de-
clares is no mystery at all. II is a
foolishness of pseudoScientific imagi-
nation that has wrapped this matter up
in a purely artificial puzziement Of
theory. The processes OF construction
involved do not represent lost arts,
and there is no evidence whatever OF
the employment of mechanical powers
now unknown" as some scientists have
alleged.
Prof. Mcguire is the only living man
who has gone into the study of the
stone-cutting art of aboriginal man in
a practical way. For scientific pur-
poses he has become. in his laboratory,
a man of the stone age himself. With
his own hands he has made stone axes,
stone arrowheadS, stone pots. stone
sculptures after the Mexican pattern,
and all sorts of other things in stone,
with the aid OF stone tools only such
as were employed by primitive people.
In this simple way he has made dis
coVeries which have revolutionized no.
tions previously held on such subjects.
II was alleged, for a single example.
that a stone ak was the product of such
enormous toll as to be the result of the
labor not merely OF one generation, but
of several. being handed down from
father to son, and taking shape SO
gradually that the instrument begun
by an individual might be finished by
his sTandchild.
Prof. Mcclure has disproved this
idea by making stone axes of the best
quality in two days or less He has
manufactured stone arrow-heads in a
few minutes each, and similarly with
other things, using only implements OF
stone in the processes. The same meth
DDS he has applied to his study of the
works OF the pyramid builders. and he
declares that he is prepared to dupli-
cate ali the sculpture and architecture
Of ancient Egypt, with proper assist
ance in the way of labor and designing,
employing only such tools as the old
Egyptians had.
Prof Mcguire says that the great
pyramid, though the largest work of
mans hands on the globe. is by no
means so great or wonderful as many
Of our railways, considered as a prod
uct of human labor. There has been
much puzzling over the source of the
stone OF which ii is built, yet there is
no doubt whatever that the material
was brought from the quarTies of Tur-
ra, which are worked to this day
These quarries are situated near the
Nile, opposite ancient Memphis. which
town was located ten miles below
Ghizeh, on the west bank of the river.
Ghizeh, where the great pyramid
STANDS, is practically a part of Cairo,
being on the west bank and across the
river from the latter city Thus il ap-
pears that the location of the pyramid
Of Cheops is across the Nile from the
quarries, and ten miles lower down the
stream. Accordingly, the blocks of
stone had to be loaded upon RATS and
fioated down the river TO Ghizeh, where
they were disembarked and conveyed
overland a short distance to their des-
tination.
OF course. the work was gigantic; but
II must be remembered tnat men were
at hand in unlimited numbers for the
use of the Pharaohs or ancient Egypt
and the saving of labor was no object.
Vast numbers of war-captives. enslav-
ed as such, were available for service
of this kind, and indeed the entire ma
tive people = barring the priests. who
absorbed all the wealth and had all the
knowledge = was scarcely better off.
From the countless pictures Of them
selves which they left behind il appears
that they We're an austere set of choco-
late-broWn men. wearing little or no
clothing besides a kilt of white linen
cloth, with necklaces of blue and white
glass beads They always wore moppy.
fuzzy wigs; for the wig was a great
institution in ancient Egypt Every
thing was done Oh a great scale by the
multitude for the use and benefit of
monarch, who ruled with rod of iron.
There was no idleness-no escape from
work even by the weak and manned. If
failed to give the required
Of labor, he was beaten unmer-
cifully.
The qGarries of Turra are of a fine
white limestone, and it is of this ma
terial that the Great Pyramid at Ghizeh
Is bullt. The exact method by which
the rock was got out is q matter of
speculation necessarily. but Prof. Nc
Guire believes that il was accomplisb
ed in most primitive manner. In the
Of dynamite or other explo-
siNes. the ancient Egyptian q9arrymen
Were obliged to cut deep grooves in the
rock and insert big pegs of wood at
short intervals. Then they had only
to pour water on the wood. the swell
ing of which split away the stone in
huge blocks This is n method of quar-
rying practiced occasionally even at
the present day. and ii is effective with
the hardest kind of rock
There is no reason for being in the
dark as to the method adopted by the
old Egyptians for transporting the
blocks Of stone. once they were quar-
ried out. The whole business is shown
as clearly as possible in monumental
pictures, which have been perfectly
preserved, and these are exhibited by
Prof. Mcclure in proof of his theory.
The blocks We're loaded upon big sleds.
and as a road for these veEicles a track
of beams or joists placed transyersely