Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-08-15
DUG UP MAsTODON BONES.
Discovery of More PrehistOric Re.
mains i'm Orange County, N. Y.

Discovery of More PrehistOric Re-
mains in Orange County, N. Y.
A dispatch to the New York Sun from
Newburg. N. Y, says: The remains of an
other mastodon have been discovered in
Orange county. This Is the eleventh dis
covery of the kind since 1894. The bones Of
this mastodon were first brought to the
surface of the ground on Saturday on the
farm of Fred w. Schaefer. The land is free
from stones, and the soil is nearly black in
color. It Is made ground, and years ago
there was a lake there.
During the recent rainy season Schaefer
had been annoyed and had suffered loss be-
cause the surface water from the neighbor-
ing huts overlooked his vegetables and in
consequence he decided to dig drainage
ditch through the land. Workmen were put
on the job on last Friday and the work was
progressing rapidly in the soft soil on Sat
urday afternoon when one of the men,
while working at a depth of about six feet,
found what he thought was root. He dug
around it sufficiently to enable him to pull
it out and was surprised to find that he
held the rib bone of some animal of very
large size. Mr.. Schaefer was notified and
FASTENED to the scene. The bone was found
to be exactly forty-nine inches long.
MIR. Schaefer, supposed that he had found
the remains of a maStodon, and work was
resumed in a careful manner; each shovel
full was examined carefully for other parts
Oh the skeleton Alter Il lew more minutes
or digging, part of the vertebra, which
measures thirteen inches in diameter, and
several more ribs ana other parts of the
monster were found.
The next part found was the lower Jaw
with the teeth intact. The jawbone, at the
base, measures twenty-five inches across,
while its extreme length is thirty-seven
inches. 1t is in an almost perfect condition.
the point of the jaw being slightly broken
Off The back teeth are of pure white and
are eight by four inches in dimensions.
Forward of these toward the point of the
jaw, two smaller teeth. which measure
each five by three and a half inches. One
OF them. which was removed, weighed ex-
actly two and one-quarter pounds. The
other head bones were found this morning.
The mastodon had lain upon the left side
with the point toward the north. The head
was found in about the center of the ditch
and measures. as near as can be ascertain
ed, not being wholly eXcavated yet, about
thirty inches across.
The tusks, which enormous in size. eX-
tend westward under the bank of the ditch
about six feet, where they join on the head
bone. They measure eight inches in di-
ameter, and as over six feet of their length
has already been disclosed, it is supposed
that when wholly excavated their extreme
length will be about eight feet. The big
bones and several other parts of the animal
skeleton have not yet been found. The
bones, taken as whole, are in a fairly
good state of preservation, some being per-
feet.
The last mastodon found in Orange coun-
ty was discovered twenty years ago on the
farm of Hugh Kelley, six miles west Of
Newburg. In 1872 one was found in the
town of Mount Hope and is now in the
museum at Yale College. One found in
1915 at East Coldenham is in the Boston
Museum
This one was complete and weighed 1 1876
pounds. The first exhumation in the coun-
try was in 1874; the second. 1900; the third
1903; the fourth, 1905; the fifth, 1888; the
sixth, 1874; the seventh and eighth, 1915;
the ninth, 1872; the tenth. 1879. and the
eleventh, 1899
The one discovered in 1916 the Brews-
ter farm has long been known as the finest
specimen ever found. 1t was eleven feet
high and seventeen feet from the end of
the face to the beginning of the tail