The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-04-09
PROF. MARSH AND A FRAUD
THE FUN AND FCSs HE HAD ~
EXPOSING the CARDIFF cav"
Scientific Men Had Pronounced III. Fo,,r
Genuine, but Prof. Marsh Detected ,t"'
Fraud Mt Once-Thc Rev. Dr. McWba"
ter's Dispute with Him Mnrsb's yIc,a.-

Genuine. but Prof. Marsh Dete,ted -"
Fraud Mt Once-Thc Rev. Dr.. McNha"
trr's Dispute with Him Marsh's Vic,ns.
NEW HAVEN, April 81 do not ,,.-
whether Prof. o.. G. Marsh has le, 49,,
memoirs" said II Nalc man. commenting NO. 49,,
the recent death Of the famous ualToptoIor,,
but the world has surely lost n prea, an,rn,
he has not. He used frequently to tell mo ,L,,
h. intended to write n volume Of his rc,.,a
ccnccs. and the last time | saw him in ms .,rI.
at the Peabody Museum he was collecting 1,,,
for an article upon the celebrated Cardiff si,r,
fraud. merely as an excursion from tina mo,s
serious work in which he was engaged Tt.
professor had n keen sense al humor. and m.
fraud was one Of the things in which ha 40
lighted. II was Prof. Marsh who arst dc,oc,o,
tho fact that this wonderful Cardiff CHM, u.
not what il pretended to hc-that, rs n r,,,,o,
of fact. II was one OF the greatest frauds q N.
aEo. lnasmuch aS many "f the leading scion.
titlc men OF III" tirIe had testified tr m,
gcnuiness Of this wonderful petritaction. M,
was quite Il feat in itself.
There were very few people some thin,
years ago who didn't know what the Cardi,
giant was. II had been on exhibition for sev.
cral months. special trains hal been RIM T.,
Syracuse to accommodates those who wished IN
sect I. so that It was very well known. In m.
lIS tldtt wv 'Hl'llli ElilJ was The eighth
wonder Of the world; in the second. it was,
fossil man OF marvellous antiquity. 1t had hoon
unearthed in the fall OF 1873, upon the farm ~
ono George Hull. nj Cardiff, \, Y.-an Inn.
mense statue. some q feet long. hearing nm
mistakablc evidence of being a f~ossilizcJ mar.
No wonder that the who'll" community was
aghast that HUI. hal an OFFER Of 10000 ,ra
part interest in his find: that Prof John
Hall. the geologist nt New York State. had
given scientific sanction To- its antiquity than
DR.. Oliver Wendell Holmes had testified 10 it,,
wonderful anatomical interest that Emerson
began to Datronize it in his philosophical vav
and pronounce it beyond his depth. and that
the whole scientific world was debating
whether il were II real fossil. n stone cut 400
wears letor" by. the jesuit fathers or A
PhTni"iqn god Inci!"M'nIlv i was not sur.
I'rising that George Hun aul his friends wars
accommodating a neat fortune t.y exhibiting their
wonder to deeply Impressed mobs. who re-.
earded 80 cents q heal - an insignificant al.
mission fee FOR this great privilege.
There wa" on" man in New Haven. how.
ever. who was not, So greatly impressed ny all
that Prof. Marsh was II urtivr OF western New
! ork. familiar with it, geological features and
r ian, eT Mao snn ,mr very ~ I r,;n 1,i in which the
for, SO many centuries, FOSSILS were somewhat
in MS lins, too, even n ih"s' early DAYS. and!
have been aroused by thos" stories If a fossil
lied man. He was. however. s%kcrtical from
ne start. He determined To- pNamine into thu
foundation toral! the wonderful stories he had
heard. and, so one day u small. kcen-eyed man
presented himself and his 80 cents at the tent
In. Syracuse the wonder Law in state.
attendants had no idea who their Wis.
itor was. and their susTirions were not aroused
even when he requested permission 10 go in.
side the rones aud make n more minute exam
nation; Ihis permission was secured, after
IomS H', Wba. iur hM w thc "= "Somina,i" 1 oyLt ans,
pointing out all The fine POINTS 81 his charge In
nrparent fear that Prof Marsh might miss
great many more things than any one had any
idea Of. The first, thing. ho noticed was that
gypsum. 1t So happens that cypsum is SOLUBLE
IN 400 narts Of water. and that the re.
GcpH d IN which hd dHe u imST9 tS WAS suh foI IND was wa.
fcssor asked himself, could it have retained
hat fine polish and all the fine pinhole marks
that the sci.ntists Ind explained as pores Q.
the skin? The professor further observed
that these pores, themselves occurred at regu-
ct once led him to the conclusion that this had
been made with some instrument moving reg
'sahT' Sa HiGF s ,n% snrdac1 the IL thi inSt' P ys mi MSfs.
frs, stop he took after rcacGinr the. hotel was
the fraud, which that gentleman at once pub.
lished. This letter went the, rounds OF tho
Eres nr and Wa GENERALLY r"Enrded as %c2nyinc.
Prof. Mnrsh'S trouble did not end there.
however; II" met. antaGonism near at home.
a" ''E r' M!!Wh or er0'' M %SyS %es !n Sa sea a A YaT:
logical Seminary. a man Of much antiagarian
knowledge and genera! scholarship. There
was one lh,nS IN the world OF which McWhor.
lif giant. II was a very tender spot with him.
n re f had a pet theory that long before the tim'
aud, especially that region in western New
York. had been Inhabited by the PhGnicians:
was conclusive evidence that this theory was
correct 1t was not a foSsilized man. after all.
b!' 4 iwHGI,n,rinm god. many centuries old
the old Phanirinns themselves. and when
he read Prot, Marsh's letter he was a very an|
New Haven his theological friend began to up-
You are wrong. sir-absolutely wrongrhs
"ane.. .l3u do not know what you are talking
The whole things a fraud returned Prof.
81 tell you sir answered the divine. that
IN three months it will he in the British MI.
Prof. McWhorter nearly lost his mind on
,nH su1lec,; I'm" cRrdiff giant and his name
"Isewhere. He preached about It.. ,iectured
nm" i; went on a regnlnr missionary tour;
IN Prmf. Ihachcr's room and. with the aid
nroprj"tors Of the image at once tool:
cue from Prof. McWhorters To tell ths
'Tnrsi !9n nXp%eS E En5 G SsaIIy r a t5if1e hhSIl, f so%:
- Il " ''' '"'' NV ~
he nrigina, thing ard public interest wa.
HavenI,ora Yale professor. Us the report went
had declared that the image was a Phnni-
.,nn God revived the boom. The propriet9r'
ton under the left arm. which might
likely have beer, phTnician as any
declared that these marks we're PhPnician.
nut he. translated them into something 10
mysterious as the lines onselves-'Tamur.
Enl o. gods or something like that: When
h." statue came 10 New Haven prof. McWhorter
Ma = front seat fr"" At every, performance,
This inscriptinL and ether Tina points.
NJ You can laugh how he said to Prot.
time will come" .
And sure, enough it dill. Prof. McWhortor
wr"t" an elaborate magazine. article upon tho
subject; which was arccricd nv the Gdl1yv IL
published. too. with illisfratfOus On this
SD" Of the water this article, nut, the whole
to relate. it was taken seriously abroai.
\ wcll-known German scientist of Brr-
IN was. in particular. much Impressed.
reviewed rr3f.: NeWh9rterS a%rtis's
.atlnls ~ GcrmnMy. Mn.entcl The Yale mnM.a