El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1910-02-07

! quake placed it here Little by little it
has strayed from Cairo to where we
now find it
The theory is entertaining. but not
practical / retorted. Cross the Nile?
From Cairo or Ghizeh?" / laughed at
him. The Sphinx was where 1 had last
seen il; its Weighty bulk was as evident
His speech was preposterous-
q tell you it moves he reiterated.
Dig up Cheops and tell that to him.
I said. I am too sensible a man to pay
attention to what you say 1 turned
from him.
"'Spivins,' he shouted, coming to me,
are you really a sensible mann
Il thought of my recent business
ventures. which had brought fortune to
me. A sensible man? L was. for my
wealth was changed to currency, and
was in my pocket.
al am willing toa bet you twenty
five thousand that the Sphinx moves,
he insisted.
Il have told you of my inaptitude to
grasp the necessities of time and
place ] have explained to you at for
mer times my mental trend toward
commercialism which makes me think
of putting a refrigerator scheme on
the market in the frigid zone and a
realize mys own inability to cope with
the fitness of conditions, but here, 1
thought. was an opportunity to profit
by anothers similar mental incapaclty.
NV money! thousand more than the
amount of his proposed wager-greW
warm I'm my pocket Money in my
pocket always smells like cloth burning,
but 1 like the smell. and at this time
saw a chance to add to it; in fact. TO
create a conflagration in my clothes
I'VE walked back to our hotel in
Cairo. We rehearsed the wager so that
no mistake might be made Jenkins
contention was that the Sphinx moved,
and not alone moved, but moved at
goodly gait. I contended 1t renamed
fixed where it had been for ages we
each deposited twenty five thousand
in the hotel safe to back up our con-
tention. And then came the question or
making a Decision.
...PII take the word of the hotel pro-
prietor or amy one else who has been
in Cairo for ten years. l said
land 1 wouldn't take the word OF
ANYBODY. even If they'd been here a
hundred years retorted Jenkins.
Must be shown; I settle my wagers at
first hand
.sTo me this made no difference. pro- |
vidad the matter could be determined |
at first hand. But If I were a scrib- |
bling humorist 1 could write mirth- |
ful volume about standing by, looking |
at such an anchored bulk as the /
patched up Sphinx and expecting an
ocular demonstration of its propelling |
Fancy seeing the Sphinx
crawl forwerd at snairs pace. Or fancy
seeing il run and then stop. 1t would
be horrible nightmare. AS well ask
the Sphinx to orally decide the wager
for US as to stand and expect to see it
move.
You understand the wager? Good
How would you have decided it? You
don't know? Jenkins knew how. He
suggested driving an iron stake into
the ground and measuring the distance
from the Sphinx to the stake, deciding
the wager at the end of a fortnight |
by another measurement. To which
I saw nothing but correct,
candid results, and acquiesced.
I'VE did the work ourselves, making
our wager a matter of secrecy. He ham,
mered a stake into the ground until
just a couple of inches showed above
the surface of the sand Then he held
a tape measure at the stake while ran
to the Sphinx and placed the tape at
the point nearest the stake. I read the
number and made a note of II, then
walked along the line, making sure of
accuracy at both ends. Jenkins dupli-
Gated my performance and noted the
same distance.
"Then l dismissed the matter of the
wager for the time being. Only once
lid / give thought 10 what 1 would do |
we're it proved the Sphinx actually did
move and l lost my money. So in
eresting would the item be to science, !
thought, that not only the amount of
ny wager but more, too, would return |
O me when 1 should make public the
acts of such strange and unthought |
# phenomena.
Consider what moving Sphinx
would mean to the scientific world 1t