Coeur d'Alene evening press. (Coeur d'Alene, Idaho) 1907-1929, 1910-04-15
THE CARDIFF GIANT
A HOAX THAT TOOK


Was the Wonder Of the World When
Discovered.
A farmer, w. G. Newell. who lived
at the village OF Cardlff. about thir-I
teen miles from Syracuse. N. ". was
digging a well on his farm October Is,
1863. when he unearthed q monstrous
stone man.
The figure was that Of a petrifled
giant. It lay about five feet below
the surface Of the ground in a half
crouching position, its body convulsed
as If in great agony, the stone face
also bearing traces Of pain. The giant
had seemingly become petrifled
through remaining buried for long
centuries underground with a sub
terranean stream flowing about it.
The body was seen to have changed
into limestone. Yet the blueish veins
were stun visible. and tiny pores COW
cred the hardened flesh.
Moreover, the underground stream
which ran across it had during hum
dreds of years worn queer looking
groves and hollows in the creatures
sides.
From one end OF America flashed
the news Of Farmer Newell's queer
find. From every quarter OF the
country people locked to see the
"Cardiff Giant" The roads in every
direction were blocked by carriages,
farm wagons, omnibuses and pedes-
trians-all thronging to the field In
whose center covered by a big tent
lay the prehistoric monster. The body
still rested in the pit Of earth where
it had been found. Hither came
strangers by the thousand, eager to
pay high admission fees for the priv
ilege OF gazing upon the awesome
thing.
These admission fees for glimpse
Of the Cardiff Giant are said to have
amounted, first and last, to $3.50, 1000,
First came the public. Then came
the scientists. The former believed
implicitly in the giant. The latter
were less credulous, but soon many
Of them-incIudin James Hill, the
state geologist, became convinced
Newell's family took solemn oath
that, though they had lived on the
farm Tor many years, they had never
known of the figures presence there
until that particular well was dug
and that they were party TO no trick
cry. An old Indian squaw in the
neighborhood told OF a tradition
among her people that a gigantic In
dian prophet (buried in that very
place. had declared his body would
one day be found intact.
The men Of science argued fiercely
among themselves. Some said the
find" was no doubt a prehistoric
petrified man. They pointed to the
pores, the veins, the cramped agon-
ICED position of the figure to prove
this. Others denied that the body
had ever been a human being, but
said it was a statue thousands OF
years old, wonderously carved and
sure evidence that an ancient race
who understood sculpture had once
inhabited upper New York state. The
few who scofred at the whole thing
as a hoax could not explain away the
fact that water channels had been
worn in the hard limestone sides Of
/ the statue. Nor could they deny the
scientific fact 1t takes water many
years to make the faintest impression
upon limestone. One college profes.
sor asserted that the giant was q
statue OF Phoenician workmanship
and that its presence there was evi
dence of the Phoenicians having dis
covered America long before Colum
bus. Another learned man wrote 9
book on 1.-THE American Goliath"
Altogether, while wise folks wrang
led and could prove or disprove moth
ing, and while the world at large be
lieved the stone figure was that Of 4
fossil man, the monsters fame grew
greater day by day. A syndicate
was formed to take the Cardiff giant
through the country and exhibit
(The head OF the syndicate is said Il
have been the man fIom whom tht
dIscoverer had arranged for the gian'
to be found"
So It was that the whole world VA
utterly fooled by an Iowa charlatar
and an upstate farmer. The Cardiff
giant-onee a record money-makel
lis said to be lying neglected and
forgotten now in a barnyard neal
FitehbUrg.
/