The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1904-06-22

Quartz Greek Described by William
Foster-Parts OF Four Gigantic Ribs
Of Another Specimen Found.
Mining for mastodons Ii one Of the
new industries Of tie KIondike, says
the Dawson News.
William Foster Of Dawson, who has
returned from sixty mile jaunt to
the End Of mastodon bones in Quartz
creek. describes the skeleton and his
journey to 1t as follows
We climbed down a ladder IN the
shaft thirty-eight feet deep and CROPPED
our way through the drifts with light
ed candles for about $50 feet, when we
came upon his royal highness nc the
end of this drift lie was facing with
his head in a horizontal position at
least three feet above the floor Of the
tunnel and looked to me us If he might
have kneeled down on his front legs
when be had some thousands Of years
ago given mp the ghost one Of his
tusBs was still frozen fast in the roof
Of the tunnel, while the tusks and the
fore part Of his head were suspended
IN the open space from which the gray
el had been removed after thawing
Il out with ordinary steam points. The
tusks are about six feet long and sew
en- inches in diameter where they are
firmly Embedded in the sockets of the
skull They are curved upward and
taper gradually to their upper ends,
which are about two inches thick.
The sensation of meeting this silent
monster of prehistoric origin ia such
place associated with gold iii the frozen
gravel, is something so novel, so inter-
esting and SO awe inspiring that ! can
not begin to describe It. The specimen
Is indeed almost perfect, so far as the
skeleton is concerned although there
is no hide or hair SO far in evidence.
The skull Is about five feet long, the
immense eye sockets are perfect and a
large cavity IN the top OF the skull
marks the former resting place Of its
gigantic brain. This cavity was also
filed with frozen gravel. which Char
ley swanson dug out with the end Of
his candlestick and fingers.
In addition to this fine specimen
Swanson Pearson and YocheIle, who
are working this claim. for gold as wen
as nastodons, have found parts Of four
gigantic ribs which were taken from
the face OF. the drift near the skull
Mr. Swanson and myself were in the
drift nearly al day, while we were
thawing out the gravel 50 as to remove
the skull from its suspended position
on the floor Of the tunnel while Vo-
cheile took care Of the boiler near the
shaft. The steam laden with foul
odors from the phosphates of lime, per-
meated the atmosphere. and we were
compelled TO inhale this stencil while
removing the thawed gravel Bowl
ders muck and gravel rained down
upon our heads and bodies continually,
Willie our candles, which were almost
useless, were frequently extinguished
thereby and even knocked out Of our
hands. The feeble glinIner Of a single
candle would hardly penetrate the
steam laden air for a distance of
foot. so we were continually cropping
about In the steam looking for one an
other TO get a new light 70 enable the
driving of the steam points Into the
gravel We employed seven steam
points at the same time and used the
greatest care in removing The thawed
gravel 10 prevent damaging this won
derful skeleton
The safest way to move about in a
drift where gravel end powders are
falling is to stand up straight or keep
your head close to the low ceiling,
which allows the stun to slide down
ones buck and ron over one without
having an opportunity TO strike a hard
blow at any point Of ones anatomy.
The peculiar odor TINT has been
escaping from this skeleton passed
through The tunnel and out Of the
shaft i distance 81 $50 feet and is even
observed IN the open air d long ais
tanee from the mine and led many to
think that by removing enough gravel
the entire skeleton viii be found where
the monster is supposed to have fallen
down and died. The under jaw is
missing, and but two teeth remain in
the upper jaw Of the skull, but these
are in d splendid state Of preservation
Although this claim Is not supposed |
to he rich in gold tt will produce a |
fair output Of placer gold this season.
While in all the reports this famous
skeleton has been referred to ais that |
Of a mastodon It IS really that Of a
mammoth, or Siberian elephant. The |
Siberian elephant roamed about the far
north IN the prehistoric days when, So
the scientists say the climate was
quite temperate. 1t was a hairy beast, |
its coat ranging from four or five |
inches to fifteen inches in length 1t IS |
the theory Of scientific men that some |
time during the long drift period the |
mammoths were overcome BY some |
sudden catastrophe, probably by some |
subsistence Of the land and an invasion |
by the sea and an killed In 1890 near |
the mouth OF the river Lena, one was
found nicely preserved in a huge cake |
Of ice. Its skeleton now reposes in q
museum in ST. Petersburg The mann
moth was an animal with curved tusks,