The Bon Homme County independent. [volume] (Tabor, S.D.) 1904-1913, 1911-07-27
MYSTERY OF PYRAMIDS
SOLVED BY AMERICAN

| feet, and the channels may contain no
further obstruction until the exterior is
reached. During this work he found
several rare relics, the most important
or them being small bracelet of iron.
/ or perhaps 1t was n childs anklet. This
was lying imbedded in the cement Of
the saith course.
1T Is the oldest iron object known to
men," says Mr.. Covington.
! In 1887 Mr.. Hill, an engineer, found
imbedded in the 1913 course a fiat piece
iron equally as old. which is now in
ly the material, not a finished object
Mr.. Covington has been allowed to re-
tain his find.
Then Mr.. Covington came across the
mystery Of the granite blocks. Why
they were SO toilsomely lugged with
in the body OF the immense mass OF
stone and cement has never been an
derstood. He was cleaning out the
strange little pearl-shaped grotto In
the well shaft when he came across
one OF them. 1t had been lowered to
the grotto with great difficulty aitd
concealed there-why. no one knows
Professor Flinders Petrie had discov-
cred the other four granite blocks in
the subterranean PASSAGES
| He refers to ii as follows: his
Pyramids and Temples Of Gizeh,"
page 8.
"A large block of granite was found
lying In the passage worked on both
faces and one end, and having on one
edge a part Of an old Egyptian tub
ular drill hole which had been cut
right through the mass. What part
Of the pyramid this can have come
from is a puzzle; nothing like IT and
no place for it is known"
Mr.. Covington discovered that all
these five important granite blocks
measure at least one way the ancient
Egyptian cubit, and that the one found
concealed In the grotto contained two
ancient drill holes similar to the Petrie
stone. Believing that these mysterious
| granite blocks played an important
| part in the interior construction OF the
pyramid. Mr. Covington is still trying
to discover their original location.
| Masons today build no more beauti-
fully than did those ancient men who
toiled $500 years ago. They have left
their own monument in the Queens
chamber, which, apparently, was never
used. 1t is superbly finished ant
jointed; yet. oddly enough. the en-.
trance to this superb tomb was Gov.
cred and concealed. Possibly 1t was
intended for Mertitefe, Khufu's queen
but she survived him and married his
brother Chephren, who built the sec.
ond pyramid in the great group which
stands today as perpetual monuments
just outside Cairo.
The great Kings chamber, 80 feet
by II by 10, is wrought in polished
granite. Just 100 perfect blocks ih
rive courses compose its walls. Nine
granite slabs form its ceiling and the
floor Of the low granite chamber
forms the floor OF third chamber,
and so on up to the fifth, which is the
topmost, each one rising over the
great one intended for the dead king
Like the Queens chamber, this top
one is rooted with an arch Of heavy
limestone slabs. On one OF those slabs
there still stays in living paint Khu-
fu's quarry mark, or official seal-two
birds and snake. surmounted by q
round dot.
One of the strange things about the
construction OF these chambers is that
the ceiling side of each tier of gran
lite slabs are carefully polished. while
These chambers were discovered by
Davidson in 1868. He forced a pas
sage upward from the Grand gallery
until he came upon them.
Even today it is very difficult and
dangerous to make the ascent. Ordi-
narily tourists are not permitted to
essay this journey into the bowels of
the tremendous thing. In .he past 10
years but three men have been al.
lowed to try it--Mr. Covington him.
SELF Professor Martin Of Trinity col
lege, Hartford, Conn, and Lord Dun
sany, Of England.
OF the mysteries he has found Mr..
Covington has just spoken. and espe-
cially about the Grand gallery, 1876 feet
long and % feet high. by which the
Kings chamber is reached.
II consider this the most mysterious
part of this mighty miracle In stone"
said he. because IL the pyramid were
intended only as tomb there was
practically no use for this elaborate
Grand gallery, with its strange and re-
markable features, except perhaps to
temporarily accommodate the granite
plugs which still close the lower end
of the ascending passage, bat which
find fit too tightly to have been slid
!, into position. At an agile Of about 20
degrees. minutes. 1t slopes up for l5a
. feet, its height % feet, and its Width
above the ramps nearly feet. Ita
great sides are clearly marked by
, seven overlapping layers Of stone
while it is rooted by SO slabs. Border
ing the third overlapping layer is q
finely finished narrow groove extend.
Ing right round the gallery; 1t is but
one of several remarkable and mex
plicable features which distinguish this
part of the structure.
"A 20-inch ramp borders each side
of the gallery, extending right up to
the great step, which Is just one yard
high. Each ramp contains % ramp
holes, over nearly all of which, fol
some stronge and as yet unknown
reason shallow holes have been CHS
: elled out, and a neat. close fitting
: stone let in.
las most pyramidlsts are much per-
J picked by this feature and have ad-
I vanced various theories must venture
{ mine. 1t is just possible that the
: places chiselled out originally con-
2 tanned inscriptions which the king fol
some reason desired to obliterate. /,
. became necessary then to remove-tt
chlsel out--the disfigured parts caused
: by the obliteration and replace then
: by a close fitting let-in stone.
1 I'm 1905 / discovered on the 26tf
Y course of the south flank a similar
> let in stone, to the reverse side o.
I which still adhered buff colored ce
! ment. 1t had doubtless become de-
tached from the face Of falling
e casing stone. Clearly incised in tn,
e dressed surface was the full 10th par
: of an 1S-inch diameter circle. 1t wa
e the only known inscribed stone eve
= found on the Great Pyramid. ! woult
Judge 1t had been let into a south fianl
n casing stone at a place from which
S another inscription had been for SOM
t reason chiseled out"
f Such is this newest story of tn
r pyramids which have been standing
v | a mid the sands of GiZeh these thou