The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1901-04-26

hurst, Copiah county. She was a
scholarly woman, and, moreover, an
enthusiastic amateur photographer,
and she proposed to get up an exepedi-
ton to go out in the Brandywine neigh
borhood and make excavations and
take pictures Of the curiosity, but for
some reason the expedition fell through
and the pictures We're never taken
However, the talk of it stimulated To-
cal interest, and a few years later more
definite reports We're obtained Out
groupings of the wall We're reported
from various localities-erosion here
and excavation there-the work being
done either by the forces of nature or
by man. But in every instance it was
discovered that the stone was practi-
cally the same as at the Brandywine,
cut In the same manner and put to-
gether in the same way.
1t was then discovered that the wall
could be traced for several miles by the
mound of earth which covered it, In
some places it was almost level with
the ground, in other places it lowered
a number of feet above the level Of the
surrounding country, and at various
far as reports of it are available the
stones We're exposed, showing almost
conclusively that it was a Continue
ton Of the same work. The exact be-
ginning or ending Of the wall has not
to this day been ascertained, but SO
Tar as reports Of it are available it
length Is somewhere between six and
eight miles.
After the agitation by Miss Jones In
favor of an expedition to examine the
wall at length, Captain T. B. Birdsong,
OF Hazlehurst, became interested in it.
About that time Colonel Louis J. Du-
pre- moved to Hazlehurst, and began
the publication Of paper there. In
company with Captain Birdsong they
agreed to make an examination Of the
place. Speaking of the trip, Captain
Birdsong said. recently:
With Mr.. Bridges, who lives at
Brandywine, and S. S. Stanres, who
also resides in the neighborhood, we
visited the wall. locally known as the
quarry. l cannot give description
OF 1t better than these sketches, which
l have prepared and which you have,
nor better verbal description of it
than you have, except to say that on
top IT appears broad enough for two
morse wagon to be driven on it, and
with plenty OF room to spare. In fact,
the top, where the dirt has been re-
moved, looks much like paved street,
covered with heavy blocks of stone.
Wall Plainly Visible.
Mr.. Bridges got negro and crow
par and showed us how the people of
that section got the stone out of the
wall. The negro stood on top of the
wall with the crowbar and then
pounded at the wall with repeated YER
teal strokes until the crowbar bit
into a crack or seam. Then. working
the bar laterally, out rolled stone,
several feet square, almost q perfect
cube, from its ancient bed of cement,
railing from our feet as though fresh
from the stonecutter's hand. From
the spot from which the stone was
moved could be seen the cement which
held 1T In place, and the ends of the
other stones and their sides, cut and
adjusted with mathematical nicely,
were plainly visible, and were exam
med by us closely.
High above us, 200 or 300 feet, rose
hill, with an oval shape, much like
the dome of the capitol at Washington.
ana the marvellous part remains to be
told-the wall apparently runs under
the hill, for 1t Is exposed on the other
side; 1t can be plainly seen, and its
continuation is too plain to be doubted
or questioned.
distinctly remember Colonel Du-
pre- remarking. If that hill be the sedi-
ment OF ages, how old must be this
ruin? And 1 further remember his
saying that to his mind there exist
ed under that hill more extensive
works than We're visible from the OUT
side.
TO uncover enough Of this vast
stone pile and delve into the secrets
under that hill sufficiently to give an
intelligent idea of what it contains,
whether it be another pyramid or not,
would take small army Of men, with
picks and barrows. some time. We
came away from the place dazed and
wondering. The work was evidently
artificial, but for what purpose it was
put there, when. and by whom, was
more than either Colonel Dupre or
could fathom.
Jewett, who resides at Newtown, O., in
regard to the wall, and who got all the
information I had about it. He pre-
pared a statement about the wall and
submitted it to Professor F. w. Put
nam, curator of the Peabody museum,
and to DR.. J. F. 2nider, editor Of the
American Archaeologist, and to DR.. D.
g. Brinto;l, professor of archaeology at
the University of Pennsylvania, the
latter being probably the most noted
authority in America upon archaeol-
|ogy.
Might BE q Natural Ledge.
DR.. Brinton wrote that he thought
the wall might be a natural stone
ledge with regular qualifications. Just
such wall Ia round in east Tennessee.
and has at various times been quoted
as the work Of aborigines, and the
supposed cement is the decaying sur
faces of the layers in juxtaposition..
But one glance at the wall will con-
vince him that he Is not correct in his
surmise. You will notice that he does
not state positively. but says 1t might
be-
DR.. Snider expressed great amaze
ment about the wall, and said that it
seemed incredible that such a great
curiosity should remain unknown. He
was inclined to be dubious OF 1t as the
handiwOrk Of man, and said, 1t is
scarcely within the range OF POSSIBLE
f1osz that