The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1902-10-12

natural, not art1nClal means.
Last week there was taken
from the Ohio river at
Evansville the petrified body
of a man, almost perfect in feature, form
and size
The docks along the river, in very
short time, were crowded with the curl
GUS. who passed back and forth the ques-
lions, Who is it? Is 1t real? Where did
1t come from? etc.
These questions, with one exception,
have not been settled. The exception re-
CARDS the genuineness of the petrifcation
Of the body.
Several physicians have examined ana
pronounce it genuine, DR.. ]. M Compton
says:
.oThe general contour Of the body, the
wrinkles in the flesh, the condition Oh the
nails and the position and regularity OF
the bones about the neck and shoulders
convince me that the body is petrifieo'
There can be no doubt about that mat
ter"
Dr. 1ames Y. welborn offers the fol-
lowing opinion:
"It is absolutely impossible to assert
nositivelv whether or not the specimen IS
the remains Of human. The prooaoih-
ties and possibilities counterbalance ana
thus adds curiosity which is already man
ifest That the image Is almost perfect
no one doubts. It Is possible for the hu-
man body to petrify along the course OF
+be river or In beds of mud. This image
presents certain characteristics which add
TO the value Of the specimen. The posi-
tion of the face is one that when seen
during life would indicate paralysis. Inc
left side is larger by actual measure
uents and corresponds to that condition
present in left-handed persons. me I'M
pressions across the chest as II mace oy
a band seem to be of irregular definition
and correspond to many marks on the
body which may have been made by some
probable causes. sculptors chisel or
Ash fin each may have added finishing
touches equally as well as the other. d.
agonal measurements of prominence on
fixed bones. or rather, definite points,
should be the same on both sides OF the
body"
The supposed body IS the property OF
Can't. John p. Eigenmann Of contract
ing firm He with a number of his men,
while engaged In dredging the harbor
near the derricks, f1shed the man out Of
the river Tuesday morning early. 1t was
hauled at once to as empty building In
prominent part of the city and placed on
exhibition and a general admission of 70
cents charged to see the image.
Why the BODY had not been discovered
before is a mystery. Did 1t remain in the
water for months and years unseen? This
theory Is not accepted for the reason
that the river at the point where 1t was
found has been dredged time and again
and when the water was lower.
Several people have turned up who say
they can identify the body, but their
stories are looked upon by some as I'M
probable. Mrs. Mary Troyer, living In the
city, says she knows positively that the
body is that of her husband In April.
1884 the husband of Mrs. Troyer is said to
have disappeared, and the police believed
at the time that the man was murdered
and thrown into the river. Troyer has
not been seen alive to this day.
One Of the men employed by Capt. Eigen-
mann Lewis Lamb. who assisted In pull
ing the body out Of the river, has sued for
the possession of the image and places Its
value at $1,000. The suit will be heard
this week.
The "petriied man" measures five feet,
seven inches. He weighs between 300 and
S75 pounds.
In life he was q strong, well muscled
man, and the strange fate that has pre-
served him as craven rock has left por-
trayed the curves and contours of re-
markable physique
Measurements Of the limbs near the
thigh show that the left leg IS one and
half inches larger than the right. The
left arm is also larger than its mate,
which the scientific men say indicate he
was Ieft-handed or did work that en-
ployed the left side Of the body more than
the right.
The color Of the ''petrifed man" is what
might be termed a light stone color. 1t is
of ashen hue and in looking upon the face
an observer might we'll make himself be-
lieve he could see the life t1nts fadlng