El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1916-02-26
FOSSIL Of GREAT
CHINESE DRAGON
FOUND IN 4 CAVE
Discovery Excites Supersti-
tious People of China;
Considered an Omen.
GOVERNMENT TELLS
PEOPLE TO BE CALM

/ pelcin, China, Feb. 6.-Superstitious
! Chinese have recently been greatly ex-
| cited by rumors which are spreading
. throughout the republic concerning the
7 discovery of the fossil OF a dragon 500
! feet long in a prehistoric cave at
! lchang, in Sze-Chuen province The
! chamber of commerce at Ichang,
! Members Of the schools and promi-
| rent citizens memoralized the CEN
! trail government on the subject. say
J ing: Now a monarch has arisen
/ like a dragon, and the foundation for a
| dynasty Of ten thousand years is to be
/ laid. The fossil Of a divine dragon has
appeared in the regions along the
( Yangtse river 1t is a symbol Of the
I protection OF heaven and the joy of the
people 1t is therefore requested that
a telegram be sent to the throne to
/ bring to the notice of the public the
discovery of the stone dragon at Ichang.
and the fact referred 70 the bureau of
{ history to have il recorded for the in
formation of pOsterity. Thus the signs
Of heaven for prosperity of the nation
viii be 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 re-
flute the rumor that the government
was responsible for the circulation Of
this story in such a general manner,
the government issued a mandate dis
counting all attempts to capitalize
superstition and urging the public to
bring about general enlightenment.
Not Credited BY Government.
1T is" says the mandate, absurd to
set excited over matters which one
cannot understand, and try to interpret
everything as sign OF peace and pros
perity. 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 mountains may serve as material for
research. the said governor and Chang
Chun are hereby instructed to make the
local officials responsible for its
preservation thus students may pro-
coed there TO institute Investigations.
J. O'Malley Irwin. who was a member
OF the party which discovered the
dragon last October, was accompanied
by NJ Hewlett the British consul at
Ichang. and a number OF other for
eigners. He has recentlv published an
account Of the explorati"7. The cave
in which the dragon fossil was discOv-
cred is at the upper end Of the Ichang
gorge. near a customs station called
Ping Shan Pa The Chinese call the
cave Shen Kan Tzu.
Irwin Describes Discovery.
In describing the discovery. Mr.. Irwin
says; a large rock is seen at the en-
trance 10 the cave and about eight
yards behind this is peculiar piece OF
rock somewhat like the coil of a large
reptile This resemblance, faint as il
is. evidently appealed to the Chinese
mind, for we were informed that the
cave was sometimes called the dragon
cave and that il was reputed to extend
for fifty ii or about II miles, and TO
lead 70 the Lung Wong Tung or Cave
OF the drag on king situated near
lchang
I'm former years many foreigners |
have penetrated far beyond the spot |
where the fossils are now plainly /
visible. so that IT seems likely that /
they have been recently uncovered |
probably Ivy a heavy discharge OF water /
through the cave.
When with the lighted lanterns we /
had penetrated about 100 yards we |
found ourselves walking along a ridge /
I'm order to keep out OF the surrounding
pools of water and it was the peculiar /
gerpentine course of this ridge which /
excited our curiosity and led to a closer
examination which revealed the fact
that we were walking along the back
of what we at first supposed to be a
Chinese dragon carved in stone. and
]
the matter was referred to the Pekin
government.
Finally the revolutionary leaders said
they would be satisfied with the share
of the revenue which has been going TO
Pekin and would not interfere with the
money belonging to foreign bankers II
paid the part Of the revenue due 20 the
IL,