Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1916-02-29
ANCIENT DRAGON
CAUSES CH|NKS.
TO GET EXCITED
Discovery of Mammoth Fossil
in Prehistoric Cave Is Be-
Iieved by SuperStitious to
Have Great Significance,
tAssociated Press Correspondence,

| Picking, Jan. 25.-Superstitious Chi
nese have recently been greatly ex-
cited by rumors which are spreading
throughout the republic concerning
the discovery of the fossil Of a dragon
500 feet long in a prehistoric cave at
Ichang in SZe-chuen province. The
| chamber of commerce at lchang,
members of the schools and prominent
citizens memorialized the central gov
eminent on the subject, saying: Now
IA monarch has arisen IKE dragon,
and the foundation for a dynasty of
ten thousand years is to be laid. The
fossil of divine dragon has up
peared in The regions along the Yang
Use river. 1t Is a symbol of the pro-
lection Of heaven and the JOY of the.
people 1t is therefore requested that
a telegram be sent to the throne to
bring t. the notice of the public the
discovery of the stone dragon at
Ichang, and the fact referred To the
bureau of history to have ii recorded
for the information of posterty Thus
the signs of heaven for prosperity of
the nation will he appreciated and the
desires of the people will be fulfilled
This memorial was widely printed
throughout China, and attracted very
much attention, especially among the
uneducated persons. In an effort to
refute the rumor that the government
was responsil lie for the circulation of
this story in such general manner,
the president issued mandate dis
counting all attempts to capitalize SUI
perstition and urging the pablo toI
bring about general enlightenment
Mandate issued.
1T is says the mandate. absurd
To get excited over matters which one
cannot understand, and try TO inter-
pref everything as "A sign of peace ana
prosperity. The request To refer the
above fossil to the bureau of history
for record is not approved However /
as the ancient fossil deposited IN the
cave of the mountains may serve AS
material for research, the said gov
ernor and Chang Chun are hereby /
structed To make the local officials re-
sponsible for its preservation, mus
students may proceed there to institute
Investigations
j. O'Malley Irwin who was a mem /
Der of the party which discovered the
dragon last october, was accompanied
by N. Hewlett, the British consul at
Ichang, and a number of other for-
eigners He has recently published an
account of the exploration The cave
in which the dragon fossil was discoV-
cred is at the upper end Of the lchang |
gorge. near a customs station eaiieu
Ping Shan Pa. The Chinese call the
cave Shen Kan Tzu In describing
tho discovery, MI. Irwin says:
large rock is seen at the entrance TO
the cave and about eight yards be-
hind this Is peculiar piece OF roch
somewhat like the coil of q large rep
tile. This resemblance, faint as 1t u.s.
evidently appealed to the Chihese
mind for we arc informed that 'he
cave was sometimes called the dragn
cave and that It was reputed To eN-
tend for fifty Ii or about seventeen
miles. and to lead to the Lung wong
Tung or Cave of the dragon klhs'
situated near Ichang.
IN former years many foreigners
have penetrated far beyond the spot
where the fossils are now plainly visi-
bile. so that it seems likely that they
have been recently uncovered. proba-
bly BIZ heavy discharge of water
through the cave
.sWhen with lighted lanterns we had
about one hundred yards
we found ourselves walking along a
ridge in order to keep out of the sur
rounding pools of water. and it was
the peculiar serpentine course OF TINS
ridge which excited our curiosity ana
led to a closer examination, when re-
vealed the fact that we were Watkins
along the back of what we ~ INST
supposed TO be chinese ar"soh