The Hartford herald. [volume] (Hartford, Ky.) 1875-1926, 1916-03-08
some HISTORY Of
THE CARDIFF GIANT
That Mystified the Public
Years Ago.
MUCH EXCITEMENT PREVAILED
AT the Discovery" OF the Pet.
rified Body Of q Mon.
ster Man.
THE HOAX FINALLY REVEALED

1t is not often that a hoax be
comes nationwide and stirs a coun
try to a frenzy of excitement as di
the supposed Cardiff giant find
which was reported to the public il
1869. In that year, on October 16
w. c. Newell, a citizen of Cardiff
N. Y, a village about thirteen mile
from Syracuse, was digging a well
| He had not gone very far when h,
unearthed what he supposed to be {
monstrous stone man. After care
fully examining it he decided that Il
must be a petrified giant.
The unearthed giant law only
about five feet under the surface OF
the ground. A small stream flowed
about it, and to this was attributed
its having turned into limestone,
with blush veins still visible, as
well as tiny pores.
The citizens of Cardiff were nat
urally very much excited, and it was
not long before the news of Farmer
Newell's find was flashed all over
the country Then began a regular
stream of visitors to the little vii
lage, to such an extent that it was
almost a continuous procession. A
big tent was erected in the field in
the center of which lay the supposed
prehistoric monster. Even although
only a small admission fee was
charged, an idea of the vast number
that journeyed to the place can be
estimated when it is calculated that
the sum of close to 100000 was
paid to see the giant"
For a long time only the curious
assembled, but finally scientists from
all parts of the country went to Car
diff to pass their opinion. While
these learned men disagreed. for the
most part they were credulous.
James Hill, the New York State ge-
ologist, was one of these scientists
who expressed that he was con-
WINGED.
Newell's family, when interrogat-
ed, stated that though they had lived
on the farm for many years, they
We're never aware of the stone mans
presence until they began digging
the we'll. To add further to the
mystery, an old Indien 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 scientific men possessed va
rious views. Some expressed implicit
confidence that. it was a prehistoric
giant; others claimed that it was Q
statue, thousands of years old, and
that it demonstrated that an ancient
race who understood sculpture had
once inhabited upper New York
State. There were others who be-
lieved the whole thing was a hoax.
One college president asserted that
the giant was a statue of Phoenician
workmanship, and that its presence
proved that the Phoenicians had dis
covered America long before Column
bus.
While the scientists argued. the
fame of the Cardiff giant grew day
by day. A syndicate was formed to
take the monster through the coun-
try and exhibit it. P. T. Barnum,
the eminent Snowman, offered
large price for the giant, but the
syndicate would not sell.
Finally the truth of the mystery
was revealed. 1t was found that
Newell was sending thousands of
dollars to his brother-in-law in Iowa,
named Hull. An investigation was
started, and 1t was learned that Hull
bad had quarrel with a clergyman
over the Bible text, There wore
giants in the earth in those days"
and had set to work making /,
giant" on his own account.
Hull had chosen a block of soft