Iowa state bystander. [volume] (Des Moines, Iowa) 1894-1916, 1913-03-28
MYSTERY
Hope to UnraveI Secrets Of Eas-
ter Island.
It 10 Queer Little Spot on the Great
Ocean Fourteen Hundred Miles
From the Noted Pitcairn,
the Nearest Land.

Ocean Fourteen Hundred Miles
From the Noted Pitcairn,
the Nearest Land.
Two recent events have revived In
terest In and promise the final solu.
ton OF mystery that has puzzled the
world for 200 years, or at least since
the Dutch navigator Jacob Roggeveen
discovered the triangle Of land known
as Easter island, on Easter morning.
1872, 81 degrees and 80 minutes south
Of the equator, 1000 miles from South
America. and 1,400 miles from the
nearest land. Pitcairn island.
The two facts that may prove the
keys that will unlock the secrets OF
Easter island are The sailing OF an ex.
petition in an auxiliary schooner
yacht fitted out by the British mu.
scum. as an expedition Of research
and Investigation, In charge Of w.
Scoresby Routledge, and some late
conclusions by Prof. w. e. Stafford Of
the United States department OF agri-
culture. botanist and ethnologist, who
has travelled among the isles Of the
Pacific and also in South America to
trace points of similarity, IL they exist.
between the as yet unsolved sculpture
and untranslated language OF this AZ
square miles of land and the monu-
ments and peoples Of Peru and b.
livia.
On this bit Of territory have been
counted $50 sculptured statues, Gre
ated upon cyclopean masonry, accord
American Union. Also there are stone
houses. some more than 100 feet in
length, with walls six feet thick, built
like forts. There are tablets IN a
strange language, terraces on head
lands, with wall toward the sea, some
times 80 feet high and more than 200
or 300 feet long. On the land side Of
the terraces are large stone pedestals
for the images.
Most of the effigies and Inscriptions
are cut from rough solid lava. Forty
are inside the crater Of one volcano
and outside are az many more at the
foot of the slope, where they were
placed for removal to different plat
forms. Some platforms measure only
three or four feet in length. while 9TH
ers are eighty feet in extent. The
largest is in AN unfinished state. II
erected upon Its pedestal it would
stand seventy feet in height. The
smallest figure is but three feet high.
All are Of the same grim. frozen-faced
type, with the head long, eyes closed
under heavy brows, nose large, low
bridged and very broad at the nostrils.
the upper lip short and the lips pout-
ing. In most instances the head tits
backward. The lower part Of the face
is broad and heavy. but perfectly
formed. Ears are long and pendent.
The shape generally ends at the Shout
ders or waist. The expression is pro-
foundly solemn, disdainful, rudely pic
turing supercilious scorn. r -.@.
One Of the most remarkable fea-
lures OF the mystery is the fact that
only one OF these images stands In
it's original position upon a platform.
All the others were thrown down. IT,
The work OF these ancients stopped
suddenly. But why? For two centu-
ries this question has remained unan-
swered. Was it the eruption OF a vol
cano that did it? Some of the largest
of the images are buried to the neck
in ashes and fragments Of lava.
The recorded writings OF the race OF
stone artists is cut into wooden tab
let's. Their alphabet, words and SEN
fences, significant thoughts, are ex-
pressed by pictures of men. animals
end various geometrical designs.
To read page in this supposedly
fascinating recorded thought, provided
you had the lexicon, you must read
from left to right. Then you must
turn the wooden page upside down
and continue to peruse from left to
right. Then again must the student
invert his tablet. reading as before.
until the screed Is finished.
Professor Stafford, a man of great
learning, has made the interesting dis
covery that the language Of the less
than 200 inhabitants today is essen.
TALLY Polynesian and like that of Ha-
wall. Nearly all the words in the lam
guage spoken by the natives could, by
observing certain fixed laws or
changes, be converted into Hawaiian.
Some of the gods have the same
names as the ancient Hawaiian gods,
although the islands are separated by
1000 miles Of water Contrary to the
theory of others, Professor Stafford be.
lieves that the handful Of present-day
Inhabitants are the descendants Of the
ancient lava carvers.
Easter island, with its buried yet
visible mysteries, now belongs to
Chilli, which has discovered ceremo-
NAL scepters, clubs, idols of stone and
hard wood with eyes OF CLASSY VOL
canic rock and shell, ceremonial pad
dies, feature head dresses and small
clubs for beating the bark Of paper
mulberry trees for tapa cloth. III
n.. ~.