The Florence tribune., 1901-06-22
REMARKABLE RUINS.
Lately Investigated by Special Agent
 Holslnger.
From the Phoenix Republican,

TOfnstL6 nO6nlX ISepuDiiedHl
 Mir. s. J. Holsinger, special agent of the interior department, has lately re- turned from tine ruins at Bonita Pueb- la. N. M., about 76miles north of Gal lup+ The object of his visit was to in- spect the ruins, which are perhaps the most remarkable on the western con- tinent, with view to preparing re- port to the government recommending that they be included in national park or reservation. The ruins consist of eighteen buildings of various sizes. ranging from 25Girooms to 120J rooms. The buildings are constructed of kind of red stone quite skillfully cut and set in an indestructible cement. The largest house is semi-circular in shape. The diameter or front is 732 feet, while half the pe-imeter measures more than 1900 feet. This is considerably big ger house than the= Waldorf Astoria. Another, containing 500 rooms, is elliptical. The largest building is four stories iu height as to its outer wall. The apartments are arranged in tiers or rows, each being one story less than the outer one. The center of each building contains a courtyard. The stories range from twelve to fifteen feet in height. The joists or vegas are perfectly straight logs highly polished. The ends have been cut off as smooth as if the work were done with saw. It must have been done with thin stone knives, great many of which have been found in the vicinity and represent incredible labor On top of the vegas there are willow poles all perfectly straight, fastened together so neatly and closely as to resemble sheets of corrugated iron.
 Almost nothing is known in the out side world of these ruins, though for a long time the Hyde exploration com pany has been engaged in investigat- ing them. The company has explored 300 rooms of the largest building and has secured 50, 1000 pieces of turquoise, several of them as large as a mans hand, 5000 pieces of pottery, 10000 stone instruments and innumerab ole other articles, among them feather blankets, beads and sandals. Only fourteen bodies have so far been re- covered. The company has suspend ed operations pending action by the government. It contends that it's mo tive is philanthropic; that it is acting wholly in the interest of science, and that all the specimens recovered have become the property of the American Museum of Natural History of New York. The company has petitioned | the government to be allowed to con- 1 tinue it's work and offers to deed to the government, in lieu of this privi- lege, three sections of land rich in ruins acquired from the railroad com pany.
 Members of the Smithsonian Insti- tute and other scientists are trying to arrive at the age of these buildings The natural drift of ages has covered the lower stories of the buildings, s change that could be worked only ir the course ofmany centuries. The ex- plorations have shown that these ruins were built on earlier ruins, the course of whose walls is transverse.
 The source of the turquoise found 1T the buildings is mystery.
 The sandals and other articles were
 made of cotton, showing that the in-
 habitants made use of that texile
 There were found great piles of bones
 of birds, which have been classified al
 turkey bones.
 On account of the small number O
 mummies or other human remains it ii
 surmised that famine or pestilenc,
 drove the inhabitants away and tha
 they expected to some time return
 but never did. Otherwise they woul, have carried their wealth with them