The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1899-06-25
FAMOUS CALAyERAS SKULL.

Ever since tho time when man nrst began
70 take an interest In the existence OF pre-
historic races there have been men who have
iound srea. pleasure 10 the fact that they
nave been able 10 fool the scientists Again
wonders nave teen found In the most unex~
peeted places and generally the alleged prn-
historic specimen has bean declared 10 be a
hoax' We have had tho Cardir Giant ana
'ehes OF the stone and other distant ayes
nave been rnearthed In almost every part Of
'Iis country from Maine to California. buN
'nerc nave been few fakes that have fooled
ss many great scientists az the famous Gala
veras skull.
When this remarkable skuif' Was rrst
Drought to the attention Of the scientific
world IN 1895. no one questioned its authen-
ucity. IL was generally looked upon as the
oiuest Skull In existence and as such was
Nanined by almost every snthropoioKist ana
ethnoiog'st OF note In the country, Accord
ing to tho story that was told the skull was
ioVnd 1870 feet below the surface in Bald
mountain, Celavsfas county, CAL. ana vas
IN close proximity TO completely petrfhsd
OAK, All along the region where this ma
was mado 10 series OF hish. double topped
elevations which rise from 800 to 400 feet
anove the ben OF Angels Greek, Bald noun
tain Is the most conspicuous OF these hills.
In sinking the shaft at the bottom OF which
II was claimed the skull was found the min
ers penetrated q 40 foot strata OF black lava.
followed by feet Of gravel iS feet OF light
lava, 70 feet OF gravel, feet OF dark browu
lava and feet OF gravel, at the bottom of
which the skull lay, so thlckIy imbedded in
and incrusted with earthly and stony material
that II was some time before It was reoos-
ui1ed as human skull
In June, 1866. Or. William Jones Of Mur-
nheys took the news Of the remarkable md
to San Francisco and a party OF government
experts at once went to the spot to examine
the skull and the place where II was alleged
to have been found. Tho skull was by no
means perfect one, as the whole Of the
parietnl and rearly the whole OF the oecipitai
homes as we'll az large part OF the right
half o. the base OF the akpll. were missing
Most OF the homes OF the face vero intact,
however, and the experts who examined tho
relic we're satisfied that II was genuine
specimen preserved In the earth since the
PREHISTORIC ages
Naturally enough there was note OF dis
cord In the midst OF this scientific rejoicing.
The arohaeolOgists agreed that II was genuine
and estimated Il to be anywhere from 100000
to 100000 yrsrs old, hasing their calculations
on the various strata Of earth covering it ana
the discussion that followed was extremely
heated IN It's character
Professor whitney Of Harvard was one OF
the emphatic advocates OF the genuineness OF
the discovery, and be aid great deal TO ar
rest the suspicious that were felt especially
by the mass and ile Of the newspaper read
ers Of that time. He assured the public that
the relic was actually the skull of man who
had llyod nees before Chemical analysis. ha
said, proved that It was not taken from the
surface, but that II was dug up somewhere
from some place where II had been long de-
posted and whors It had undergone changes
which do not take place In objects buried near
the surface
The appearance Of the skull, ne went on.
showed that It was not an ordinary skull
picked up al random in order that It might
no ralmed on as curiosity on unsuspectlng
biologists and after these words Of assurance
II Ia not surprising that the unscienthc world
accented the specimen as genuine
For ysar or more the various scientific In
stitutlons pulled every possible wire TO get
possession OF the remarkable relic ana at
last II was taken 10 Cambridge, Mass, where
for mora than thirty years It has rested In a
glnss case, TIE most important OF the many
rare specimens on exhibit in the great mu-
scum OF Harvard university. or course there
lave been people who have persisted In re-
rardnF the Caaveras skull as a hoax BE-
fore Bret lIarte got civilization and went to
Europe before he had smoothed his tousled
bair into refined and proper British bang.
he wrote an address to this relic OF the plio-
cone age In this poem the poet called upon
the "fragmcntary fossel" to tell the wondrous
secret OF It's past e1istsncs Theni
Even as sazcd a thrill of the maxIlla.
And a lateral movement OF the condyoid
process,
with t-pliocene sounds of health mastica-
tlon.
Ground the teeth together.
"And from that imperfect dental exhibition,
Stained with expressed juices OF the weed nj
cotan,
Cana those hollow accents blest with softer
muimurs
OF expsctoration.
which my name Is Bowers. and my crust
was busted
Falling down shaft IN calsveras county,
But Ia tokc III hluuly u YOU beuu tne PiSSes
Back to old Missouri
~
The scientists who read the poem laughed at
the wit OF the poet, but they shrugged their
shoulders pityingly at the assumption that
they hrd been hoodwinked. That was years
ago however. and today the same Harvard
scientists are willing to admit that Bret Harto
actually knew more about bones than they
themselves, for, since Prot William H.
Holmes has completed his exhaustive sxami-
nation OF the SKULL which has included visit
to California, where he talked with men who
we're residents OF calayeraa county when the
skull was found, they are compelled to admit
that there is a reasonable probability that,
after all that has been said. the relic is
fake.
Prot Holmes found that while there was no
doubt that tie place indicated as the spot In
which the skull had been found was in one
OF the Oldest OF the land formations. he has
not discovered sufficient evidence TO satisfy
him that The specimen was not plass-e as a
stupendous hoax The testimony is SO con-
nictlns that ~ has been impossible to make
tho InysstiEatisl as complete as he would de-
sire but the appearance OF the skull Itself
n -