The Morris County chronicle. [volume] (Morristown, N.J.) 1877-1915, 1903-03-20
SCIENTIFIC
WORLD ASTIR
AT the Discovery Of a " Sand
Fairy :" by Italians While
at Work m this City.
A ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

snake llle SclenUlHC world TO us very
foundations and which will have far
reaching effect on the general litera-
ture and knowledge Of paleontology
was that made by Mr. John Denman
and his gang Of italian laborers while
at work Wednesday afternoon in the
dry bed OF what was once Speedwelb
! Lake.
1t is hardly necessary to say that the
MorriStown Sanitary Association has
purchased this lake and drained it in
order to increase the healthfulness of
the town and vicinity. MI. Denman
was given the contract, some months
ago of cleaning out the bed of the lake
and since that time he has been buSily
engaged in the work whenever the
weather would permit. In the course
of his work It became necessary to re-
move large portion of the lake bed
from the northern end of the pond,
and it was there that the discovery
was made.
In order that the nature of the dis
covery may be understood it will be
necessary to make a remark with re-
gard to the geological position Of Nor
ristown. AS all scientists know, it is
situated exactly on the dividing line
between what is known as the High
lands and the Piedmont Plain, the
| Whippany River marking the divisions.
The eastern edge of the Highlands is
what is known as the terminalmoraine
and one portion of this skirts the lake
on the north. This is composed of a
vast bed of loose sand and gravel super
paleozoic period AT this point of the
lake the glacial drift is spread in avery
thin layer over the SUPPLYING rock, and
it was Mr.. Denman's purpose to re-
move this stratum of loose gravel in
order that all larvae of the culicid dip
ferrous insects known as the germ-car-
rying mosquito might be broken up
and forever done away with.
Mr.. Denman had given directions
for the work and left it in charge of the
foreman of the gang while he went on
prospecting tour to the upper bridge.
He had not gone more than two hun
dred yards when he heard great yell
ing and screaming, and turning around
saw the men running away from the
place as fast as they could go. They
were all running but one man who was
stretched out on the ground. Mr.. Den
man turned and ran back with all
haste, fearing that a riot was in pro-
greSs and that one of the men had been
killed or seriously wounded. He shout
ed to the men as he ran and they came
to standstill, waiting for him to ar
rive. When he reached them the fore
man, Manuel Speggetio, explained with
much gesticulation and sputtering
that there was no riot, but that they
had all received terrible electric
shock man who was left behind
having been shocked to death.
When Mr.. Denman heard this he
went wonderingly over toward the
man lying on the ground, but who
stirred feebly when the Others APP
preached. The Italians hands were
scorched and he was unable to speak
when he came to his senses a few min
utes later His name, it is said, is
MARITIME Maccharonio, and he is now
lying at his home on Flagler steet in a
serious condition.
Within few feet of Maccharonio
Mr.. Denman saw small hole in the
Substratum of rock which had been
uncovered. The hole was about twelve
inches in diameter, and Speggetio said
that a spade had fallen down the hole
and was lost. He said that while Mac
charonio was digging off the gravel his
spade seemed to strike a soft spot and
sank out of sight He endeavored to
draw it back through the hole when it
was suddenly seized from below in an
iron grasp and shaken violently. Mac
charonio had yelled for help, and the
others rushing to his aid had been Sc
verely shocked when they touched him.
Now, Mr.. Denman is rather credu-
lous, but he blinked his eyes several
times while listening to this story and
came to the conclusion that the Ital-
ians had been indulging in too mach
Whippany River water" However,
he put his cane down the hole just for
fun and the next minute jumped back
with a whoop leaving his cane to dis
appear down the opening. 1t was not
to his liking to lose that which
was a gift from Washington Engine
Company on his retirement as presi-
dent and so he announced that the
hole would be enlarged at once and an
effort made to discover the cause of the
shock. Knowing that iron ore abounds
, in this vicinity he was OF the opinion
, that the opening was a shallow cave
which led to ledge of iron ore having
an outcropping on Speedwell avenue,
and which had probably fouled with
, the electric light wire. However, he
was very careful in making the further
opening that no tools penetrated the
, rock to any great depth.
The rock proved soft and the digging
easy, and it was not long before great
/ hole had been dug. But it was clearly
/ evident that something besides cleo
! tricity was at the bottom of the hole,
for the commotiOn was something ire
/ mendous The chunks of stone which
! fell in the hole were sometimes flung
out again with great force and horri-
Bile crunching noise was continually
J heard underneath. 1t rasped the
nerves of the Italians to such an ex
tent that they wanted to run away anc
t would have done so had not Mr.. Den
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