The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1901-01-09
MIsslssIPPps GREAT WALL.
An Interentlug Prehistoric Wor:> tho
Origin of Which Is - Mystery.


One " the scientific piz.i,s OF the STATE
If Mississippi is Il.' i;r.ndNw'itr *ione
wall" 1t has les. been Il problem that
i, yet nnso.yr.! some time ago Mr..
Thomas Watson Of llazlriiurst sent Gov
crnor I.ongino ], .,cncil drawing OF an
ilmcnsc pile Of stone in the southeast
.,ii portion q! Claiborne county, suggtSt-
in:: tlat the stuii. might he utilized in
building the n.w capitol. In IL letter
which accompanied llic drawing AIr.
Watson stated hat these stones, piled
gh OH each other. cover m area four
niles square. Each stone is u feet
long. s feet wide AMI = feet thick,
aIi they arc joined together with IN eX-
crllent qualify Cf cement. No man knows
how they came there '9.cy may have
bctn there for thousands of years. The
builders, the Jackson News thinks, were
some prehistoric racC--it could not be
otherwise. This structure is supposed 10
be continuation Of the great Chinese
wall. which seems To begin below Ray
mUnd. i'll the southern part OF IiinCn
county, and which is traccable through
Cop.l. 1t is broad enough - arcommo-
date two on three wagons abreast and is
one Of thi. wonders or tho world
MCntOn of this remarkable exhibit"
says the lInZlchurst Courier. has ciicited
ii" iiiic comment II iii fact. a5 brought Il
letter to Nir. Watson On The warden OF
The United States pcnitrntiary at Lcavcn-
worth. I<un., ana also II letter to DIR. IT.
y. Birdsun; from another distinguished
source. it being known that the latter
some years ago investigated the matter.
Mr.. Wat>tii. however" says The Cou-
ricr, has given the sub irct more Dntient
thought and gone over the ground more
thoroii.hiv than any one else. md to
him lii" Courier is indebted for the fol.
lowing facts:
lie call, il the 'Brnndywine stone
wall and says this wonderful and mass
i've structure ar parts OF structure Of
masonry done i'll stone, which have with
.etOod the ravagcs OF time for perhaps
alhny thousands nf years. still stand an
enduring relic OF prehistoric civliZa-
ton and 4 knowledge OF the art OF build
ing not inferior i'll many respects 10 the
present day. These stone buildings lie
for the most part buried in the earth in
the southeastern portion OF Claiborne
county and lying against the Copiah
county line OIL the slopes overlooking the
valley OF the Brnndywine creek from the
west side
these walls run from northeast to
southwest. They are built OF white or
Erhyisli white stone of immense size,
weighing from two To three tons measur-
ing from q 10 feet in length and 3
feet wide by = feet thick These blocks
or slabs nrc laid in n very fine quality
nf cement and as perfectly as brickwork.
i Inc joints are perfect and very close
~ one place the wall is exposed nv
the earth being washed away to width
OF Gu feet and Il l"nrth OF % feet This
exposure has the appearance OF brick
hearth.
".\t another place the stone has been
qnarrird for domestic use to depth Of
l.,x, Ill.
width or "a feet. or eight blocks, and
length OF % blocks. or 100 feet. The
length OF this wall as indicated by the
Groupings is about 200 feet.
At another place about 800 yards
away from the place just mentioned is
wall jutting from under Il slope for u
distance Of nearly 1000 feet. This stone
work IS exposed in IL great many places
over nh area Of four miles.
The sides and angles Of the blocks of
stones are so perfect that they resemble
pressed brick. The tops OF these walls
nrc perfectly horizontal and without re-
gard to the uncvc!ncss OF the eart!i's
surface. The seams between the tiers
are perfectly straight. and each block OF
stone is perfectly horizontal in position,
AMI these blocks arc smoothly dressed on
the edges and ends. while the broad sur
faces arc rough. shnwin. IL broken sur
face brought down 10 Il level plane hut
not dressed. They arc held So firmly
together 10y The cement that it Is with
great difficulty that they are broken up.
~ personal Inspection or these great
structures as they lie partly buried III
the earth would relieve lllr minds Of the
most skeptcal or all doubt OF their not
being tho work of the hands OF man.
In MI that is above mentioned in
connection with numerous cavings in Of
The enrth5 crust. which represent the
existence OF underground cavcrns. abun-
dnnt evidence is found to bear out the
theory OF tho existence or n great buried
city in that locality.
The information above given is vouch-
cd for hy other parties who have visited
the scene III recent years and bears out
the theory advanced by Mr.. Watson.
Truly there is work for the scientist
here. New Orleans Picayune.