The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1899-06-24

Megargee, in Philadelphia Times.
The recent death of Professor o. c.
Marsh the famous paleontologist Of
Yale college, brings to mind the fact
that he was the first to detect the
fraudulent character of the famous
petrified man known the world over as
the Cardiff giant. Some years ago.
shortly after the war-the narrator
cannot fix the exact date and all books
of reference are silent on the subject,
although it was probably in lS69-there
was published in some of the newspa-
pers Of the country an announcement
that there had been exhumed near
Cardiff,a small settlement not far from
Binghamton, n. Y, what was called
and long supposed to be a perfect fig
ure of a gigantic man, which by the
preserving qualities of that particular
bit of earth had been transformed into
a stone image, or petrifaction. The
discovery created intense excitement
not only in the scientific world OF this
country and among learned men
abroad, but among people generally,
as being strong evidence of a gigantic
race of men once having trod this con-
tinent. The colossal stone figure--it
on exhibition on the spot where 1t was
found, an admission fee being charged
for the privilege of viewing 1t, and the
proprietor of the farm took in more
money than if he had discovered a rich
vein of gold-bearing quartz. There
were doubling Thomases, however, but
it was not until some years later that
the Cardiff giant came to be looked
1,ty rric Mt ~
fraud instead of gigantic petrifica-
tion.
MAYOR RANKIN.
About ten years ago the narrator, in
the law offices of the late James II.
Heverin, was introduced to geEtle-
man named John Rankin, who had
been mayor Of Binghamton prior to
the discovery of the famous stone i'm
age. He was born in the small town of
Homer, N V, whence he removed to
Binghamton, where for awhile he
taught penmanship. There he met Mr..
Heverin, who then was frequent VS.
itor to that prosperous community,
probably owing to the fact that the
lady who afterward became his wife
was there receiving her education. Af-
ter the discovery Of the Cardiff giant,
Rankin suddenly and mysteriously
gave evidence of having acquired con-
siderable wealth. AS a result of the
narrator meeting Rankin he learned
no matter how or from whom-the true
history of that famous exhumation,
which you will find in no book, but you
can depend upon its entire reliability.
The Cardiff giant was one of the
cleverest frauds ever perpetrated up
on that most Gullible coterie known as
the "scientifiC world" 1t is singular
how learned men of this class can be
duped by charlatans with an ease that
would be impossible among ordinary
men possessed of no greater mental
equipment that plain common sense.
Instances of this kind are numerous.
The great Leidy pronounced Fore
paugh's calcimined elephant a genu-
inc" White Elephant from Siam," and
men of equal scientific rank declared
that the Cardiff giant was the petrifed
body of a prehistoric man. Professor
John Hall, the geolOgist of the state
of New York, publicly stated his be-
lief in its antiquity; DR.. Oliver Wen
dell Holmes expatiated upon its Won
derful anatomical interest, and even
Ralph Waldo Emerson pronounced 1t
beyond the depth of his philosophy.
Yet the stone image was an utter
fraud whose originator was John Ran
kin, and his sole motive was the max
Ing of money. With the aid of a far
mer, named George Hull, on whose
grounds the figure was subsequently
found-and probably with the assist
ance of others-the mammoth human
efigy was constructed out of cement
and sand secured for the purpose in
the neighborhood of Cardiff. When
completed different parts Of the body
were washed repeatedly with strong
decoction of coffee until the dark stains
had permeated below the surface.
When it was in readiness the figure
was buried at night time at a spot
where ii was subsequently discovered,
the dirt in and around the hole hav-
ing been thoroughly mixed with the
same kind of sand of which the alleged
petrified body was composed. Every
thing being in readiness, the farmer
who owned the land found a pretext
some time later for making an exhum-