The Washington weekly post., 1899-06-20

Iowa City. June 15.-It is a cu-.o-s go.
that creditsble witnesses. SCI la-,..-s
officers OF her majss'y's marr. ....
more than once reported meelr. .--7.
they described as sea scTpeHtS Sa ~7-- DE-
in water-snake fashion in troy ca as
The fact that such creatures c0r- ?.
tainly lived and lived tn ths sea . h4h a.
unchanging. lends the color Of 0IHrEa -..
10 reports that have, ~ SAID. uslr Han
once attracted tho attention ~ IN. s-s..
tific world once there were gcn4 ~. So
serpents or a least there were .or.r
of reptile life that might hav, S.. r.r
every purpose OF sea SNTpentS. CC-l5 rra.
have been perpetuated 10 thh q. s-~.
time. Any one who has doubts en- p.
subject may have his doubts remove .
visiting the museum of the Ini"arS.'y 10
iowa. fo- the Davenport Alumni A~s1-
citation has Just presented O. m -s ''g
ton one Of the mos; interesting and ,cu.
plete skeletons Of these old-f7SHioa,l g.
ard ssrpents so fer discovered. IN 'I~e-
gone by a shallow sea stood over VS.
Kansas. and in this sea numbeTlsy~ rrs-
bodied, serpeut-lIkc creatures ti~Vor -
themselves or savagely Tough. a-h Nrra-
in the ever-reCUrring conflicts thu. -r
mails wage for food. The forms ir a. =
tion had the elongated. flexible body ami
the fo-ked, pTotrUdable rcngUe of fne ser
pent The body, Furthermore. was &C., r.
ed with scales. FUt, unlike se~7snfs. tres
creatures had limbs The limbs were .or
weak to be of usa in terrestr a. l.c1c~o-
tion, but being modified into ,.adt,e-. ..-
served effectively as organs oi prop s.yi
in the sea.
Mosasaur is the name science gives 4
these strange reptiles. They are not ssg-
pents. but are in reality zsTds ot s0tSe-
like proportions ana gigantic $40 Ila
larger individuals measured fcr;y-Irn
feet In length. large enough 20 satisfy taa
most imaginative dwelle- al our fashion
able seaside summer resorts. The NOR.
commOner dimensions met with. how YER.
range from fifteen TO thirty feet N-ry
seldom are the skeletons perfect. ...ey
were usually dismembered and tie hon -
were more or less scattsr1 b. vs.I.Gs
agents before they were eUmp.e,s.y CO.,
red and protected by tE" aCcuiaala ,ins
ooze of the sea bottom. even afte. the
complete imbeddnE the bones wrrr B.d-
orally broken or distorted by n pc
ure of the superintendent sediments.
Skeleton Nearly Complete.
The specimen just Tecaived at the MI
Vtrsity of Iowa is Cnusualiv peTl'--
With the exception of a number o. t-e
last caudal vertebTac. every b'.r -
Uresent. and is practically free from is
tortion or crushing. The verJsDTal CO.
umn, the head. the limb bones, the T's,
the peIvis-all are present except "a r"''t
above. and all are practically In their
normal position and relations to 'ac'
other. The most unique and valuable
specimen that has ever been recovered
from the hardened ooze of the cretaceous
sea bottoms indicates an individual ina.
when alive, must nave measured do'-t
thirty-five feat in length.
There is no denying that fossils such az
that at present under consideration form
a remarkably substantial background TO-
all sorts of sea-seTpent stories. Amons
the most interesting of these stories MAY
be mentioned that of Capt. McQuh-e.
commanding H. VI. S. Daedalus. who on.
c0untered sea-serpent near the Tr"pla
of Capricorn. and not very far from the
coast of Africa. The weather was dd-k
and cloudy. and with a long ocean swell
In reporting the occurrence 10 the ddmi-
rslty Capt. McQuhae described the appt-
rition as an enormous serpent with held
and shoulders kept about four feet con-
stantly above the surface OF the sea.
Description "f a serpsnr.
Continuing. Capt. McQuhae said: "AS
nearly as We could approximate by conf
pairing it with the length Of what Our
would show in the Va
ter, there was at the very least sixty iee'
of the animal fieur d'eau. no portion or
which was. To our perception. used iH
propelling II through the water. either Oy
vertical or horizontal undulation. il
passed rapidly. but so close under our lee
quarter that had II been a man Of my
i should have easily recos-
nized his features with the naked eye.
and it did not, either in approaching the
ship or after il had passed our wak@, de-
viate in the slightest degree from o.
course 10 the southwest which II held o7
at the pace OF from twelve TO fifteen mile
per hour. apparently on some dei'--
mined purpose The diameter Of the ser
pent was about fifteen or sixteen inch"=
behind tn head. which was. without AM
doubt. that Of 4 snake; ard II was never.
during the twenty minutes that b. cor
tinued i'm sight Of our glasses. once beioT
the surface of the water: its colo 4 dark
brown, with yellowish white about the
throat. IT had no fms. but something Ike
the name OF a horse. or rather a bunch OF
sea weed, washed about its back
In the words Of another witness. Lieut.
Drummond: THE appearance of the head
which. with the back I'm. was the only
portion of the animal visible was long.
pointed. and nattened At the top. perhaps
ten feet In length. the upper jaw pro
iecting considerably; the nm was. per
haps. twenty feet In the rear Of the head.
and visible occasionally; the Captain also
asserted that ne saw the tail. or another
fin. about the same distance behind y, in'
upper part Of the head and shoulders ap-
peared Of a dark-brOwn color. ann ne-
meath the under-jaw broVnisn white T.
pursued a steady and undertaking coH-e-.
keeping its head horizontal With ne
water. and In rather a raised posi'io'.
disappearing occasionally beneath 4 wave
for a very brief interval and not appar-
entity for the purpose OF respiration. y
was going AT The rate Of, perhaps. from
twelve 20 fourteen miles an hour. ana
when nearest was perhaps 100 yards l's-
tant In fact IL gave one quite ihe 4e4
OF large snake or eel
Another Careful View.
Another sea serpent Was seen ~ ihe
CAPTAIN and Officers Of the Queen ys'h,
Osborn.. In June. 1877. N the coast ~
Sicily. OF this appearance the o'i'S'N'
port says. .,,e,-
The time was ; O'Clock IN IN" "'l.s
nocn. The sea was exceptionally .'i'p','.
and the officers were progifei Nl'n So
telescopes. The monster heI -.
skin. aevsid Of scales. bulle'-sh@p'p h.''
and fscs Ike an alligator II 0ss ~
imm.n,r mn length. and sIons ,he 5>es ~.
a ridge Of fns about sfreer Zee, y ,-''s,
and SIX feet apart II m"'-a '.''
wa. seen by ali the ships of'cer' .s.
These -,ari.s Of the sea serpent misn.
be continued 20 almos, any lens'n. ne =.
have always been received With moft %
i.-. focrcdnlity but 80 ortsn have ne
been repeated ina, ne sc9ire,. ,.' nay va 80
unable 10 account for the 10 "a
many reputable witnesses agfct tl
sea .erren, subject A. before sisi.l
l. certain that sea rerpeais ohst - -
-. or... s,sd there u no reason ~