Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1913-09-26
A Connecticut Mastodon.

From the Hartford Courant.
First of the species ever found east
of the Hudson river. the bones OF
a mastodon have been unearthed
near Pennington, Conn, by laoorers
digging on the estate of the late Al
fred A. Pope. Paleontologists must
revise their maps of the range COW
erred bv these extinct creatures. Pro-
lessor Charles Schuchert, head of the
department of paleontology and his
tori-geology in Yale University, has
sent four assistants of the Peabody
Museum to superintend the removal
of the bones. They have stationed
an armed guard at the spot by night.
The Connecticut mastodon will be-
come the property of Yale Harvard
has Just made an important nndlng
in Maine by the discovery of huge
animal believed to be triceratops.
The bones of the mastodon were
found quite by chance. A valley on
the Pope estate, lying between two
hills and divided by the New Britain
road. has always been swampy, and
older Pennington people can remem-
Der when a small lake used to be
there. Lack of water led Allen b.
Cook, superintendent of the Pope
farms, to plan q drain of agricultural
tile through this Doggy valley The
first ditch was dug two feet deep.
1t was decided to go down deeper,
and laborers were again set at work
to add two feet to the depth of the
trench. When they reached the spot
where the mastodon had for so long
been buried the diggers uncovered a
gigantic thigh bone of the animal.
Thinking that it was a root, they
began to cut through at the trench
walls. Soon they found that the OBJ
stacle was not wood, but bone. Mr..
Cook was summoned and realized
| that the bone was of some species
| of animal no longer on earth. A lit
| tie digging uncovered more bone,
and on Saturday of that week, Pro-
lessor Schuchert was notified. He
| and an assistant arrived the next
day. and not only saw the bones
which had been uncovered, but I'M
covered enough more to assure them
selves that the bones belonged to
either a mastodon or a mammoth.
The probability favored the finding
of the latter animal, for they were
known to have lived in this part of
the country many thousands of years
| ago, while remains of a mastodon had
never been found east of the Hudson
river. Careful digging uncovered the
bones of the giant frame, and the
scientific experts recognized that the
animal was a true mastodon.
How the big, clumsy mastodon
| found itself at the shores of the lake
is not explained, but it is unique that
| the animal has been found so far
east. However, in some manner, 1t
| became begged near the shores of the
lake, struggles only fixed it more
| firmly in the black, clayey mud, and
it persisted. Then, through long
years, its weight rolled 1t on down the
hill which formed the bottom of the
lake, until at last it reached the
lowest point and rested. That the
trench which was laid out along the
lowest line of the little valley, be-
cause of the use for which 1t was
wanted, should have opened the
grave of the long dead animal points
most strongly to the probability of
this theory.
Growing Tobacco In England Now.
From the London Times.
Members of the press were privi-
legged yesterday to witness the
harvesting of the tobacco crop on
A. j. Brandon's estate, Redfields,
Church Crookham, Hants. Mr.. Bran
don was one of the few who took
immediate advantage of the removal
four years ago of the prohibition
upon tobacco culture in England. He
is the largest grower, with an area
of thirty acres, the total area In
England being 129 acres
After this year, when the rebate OF
one shilling two pence duty on the
. .I.s.<. l.