The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1900-05-27
PETRIFIED MEN TO ORDER.
California Concern Is Prepared to
supply the Market.
from the washington Post.

From the Washington Post.
Lots of people try to bunko scientists"
said Professor ]. w. MCGEE of the bureau
of entomology last week. The government
and its agents are looked upon as legit-
mate objects of prey. Sometimes there are
intentional receptions, sometimes only
those of ignorance. All sorts of queer OBJ
jects and limitations of utensils Of orehis-
toric times are sent in 10 this bureau. l
have received from out West this foot, or
what purports to be foot, and the sender
thinks he has found a valuable petritisd bit
of human body. Now, the fact is there is
no case known 10 science in which flesh
has become petrifed, though it is possible
that il might become so by first being
mummified.
I'm spite of this fact, the bureau Is every
little while in receipt Of objects from all
over the Union, the senders claiming to
have unearthed the specimen in some cave
or watercourse, and they forward II to us
us get our approval of its genuineness. In
consequence We have brought to light in
the last few years a great many fakes,
frauds which were impositionS on the pub
lie and and which drew big crowds as side
shows whens the truth was the so-called
wonder was made in a factory which Is
said to be located in some part of Califor-
MIA This factory made a speciality of turn
ing out natural wonders, petriied bodies
and similar curios.
envy reply after careful examination
of the foot, was that it was composed OF
cement and sand that it showed not
trace of any bones in the fracture, the in
terror structure being perfectly similar 10
the exterior, while it also showed indisput-
able evidences of having been nodded,
with a gas pipe for stiffener. 1t had ovi-
IDENTIFY come from the factory in California,
fAr1 tpt hU
agents of the makers and found to be
sold as a wonder to some confiding person
who bought ii at a good price. This IS
only one of many similar fakes constantly
brought to our attention"
One of the first frauds exposed by the
bureau was that of petrifed woman
owned by man who. after travelling over
nearly the whole country and securing
certificates of genuineness from hundreds
of physicians brought her to Washington
to be pronounced upon by government ex-
perts. She (eall her Mrs. Stone for sheriff
was exhibited in hall on pennsylvania
avenue, and was here visited by throngs
of the curious. She lay on her back, enc
arm extended at the side and The other
thrown naturally across the breast. Inc
gentlemen of the bureau were invited to
inspect the wonder and did so, being also
accompanied by dentist who was 10 OK
anime the teeth. This was an easy matter
as a norton of the upper lid had been
broken off, disclosing two teeth intact. The
dentist looked at them carefully and de-
clared that the first tooth was on the
wrong side of the mouth, this being the
opening wedge in the examination of what
turned out to be a rank fraud. The experts
next noticed that the back of the woman
was very fat just as If the cast had set
lied when taken soft out of the mould,
while about the body were bits of plaster
of paris. Obtaining permission Of the
owner, these gentlemen procured drill
and bored into the back OF the leg, bring
ing out core which showed no sign OF
bone, but only composition.
A second boring being made, the tool
struck a bit of gas pipe. This evidence
convinced the owner of the spurious ma
ture of his specimen, and taking down the
sign of "petrifed woman" he substituted
one reading "the greatest fake of the day."
and made almost as much money as be-
fore.
Al the time of the Atlanta Exposition,
about three years ago, there was shown
what pufported to be a prehistoric num-
unified giant The late Brown Goode was
in the South at the time and made cur
sorry examination of the specimen, and
finding no evidence of fraud recommend
ed its purchase by the National Museum.
II was decided that before buying Ii II
should be subjected to careful examina-
tion and test by Professor Lucas, who is
country.
MIR Lucas went to Atlanta and spent
several DAYS in slowly studying the giant,
which lowered high above the living men
of the day and in all respects seemed 20
be a respectable prehistoric inhabtant of
ancient America. AS far as he could see
by mere inspection, without making eny
tests. there was not sign of any fraudu-
lent work But on coming away he man
aged to bring with him several strands of
the "giant's'' hair. Subjecting this to ex-
animation he discovered that the so-called
hair was nothing in the world but pure
jute.
With this as a starter Professor Lucas
made another visit and procured a bit OF
The flesh of the mummy. This he soaked
In water and found il contained fiber which
was part of the composition used in max
ing what seemed to be the brown antique
skin of the giant. Having proved that the
hair and skin were manufactured, Profess
sor Lucas devoted himself to finding how
the thing was made.
Another examination brought to light
the fact that the unusual height was pro-
duced by an ingenious means. The tody
OF the giant was built on the skeleton q
a human being OF ordinary size. but by
disiointing a part of the frame and plac-
ing the bones back in the same position.
but about a foot at least apart in the re-
gion of the thigh, height Of seven feet
and more had been obtained. OF course
when covered with the skin and wrapped
as all mummies are 1t would be impossible
to detect ordinarily the fraud. but the
professor by noticing the size of the knee
Joint. which had been purposely left to
protrude outside of the wrappings, as IL
age had shrunken the parts, saw that the
bone could extend only certain length
as far as IL would In an ordinary man,
while In the giant the bone. though the