Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1931-10-01
RELICfOUND
BUSINESS Man
Discussion RACES Pro
And Con As to Its
y Origin
ny n n
Herald Staff Correspondent

0lQt ACaE kk0llld W Es IA 94SWh "a
Edinburg but the more study that
Is given to the absorbing question
the further at sea the investigators
become.
Thousands have viewed the per-
feet human figure as Brown ex-
hibits IL in various Valley cities
but none have come forward with
a plausible solution to the ques-
ton. Wild, fantastic explanations
and inquiries have come TO Brown
by mail since first news Of the
mystery was broadcast in the news
papers OF the land.
One OF the flightiest OF these was
from q man In San Angelo who had
the whole thing all figured out. He
said 1t vas a statue a. GeneVa
Smith, the girl who named Texas.
whose statue was stolen by the
Indians AID has never been found.
Brown says the gentleman is all
wet" because the statue OF Geneva
Smith was that OF a living person
while the figure found III the VAL
ley was in or represented S being
in death. The eyes are closed n
the hands folded owe the breasts.
The Smithsonian Institute, Uni
versity OF Texas, the government
and others have been notified OF
the find but none OF them nave
come forward to investigate. They
may come in time but before them
are many who wish to buy, in
GLIDING representatives OF circuses.
! One Houston doctor. who came all
the way to the Valley to see the
figure and who became convinced
that it was that Of a human be-
ing, Is said to have offered $1,000
for II.
Not For Sale
4 In the meantime. Brown Is not
accepting any offers. He says he
sold his business, the Ford agency.
with the intention OF waiting 10 see
what trend the economic situation
was going to take and that ne
| would not mind having the stone
vdgian as q playmate" during thai
lime.
Enough evidence is to be found
@ establish the figure as being
either q statue or as the petrified
body Of a human being r.. then
enough ether Information can be
found to tear these conclusions to
pieces.
some Of the things used to sup
port arguments that it Is the
petrified body OF a woman is the
fact that 1t was found in the lstri-
fled forest near Roma and that 1t
apparently Is Of the same material
Ne some OF the stone in that vicinity
4 although there were no petrifled
trees Immediately about 1t. An
other argument in support Of the
human being theory is the fact
kthat IL It was a statue that 1t was
] not meant TO stand up because the
toes slant outward or downward as
the figure lies on its back. II Is
aRued a statue would have been
fxade flat footed.
Undertakes are almost unani-
NOUS that 1t IS the body Of a woman.
rhey say that the body of a wo-
nan naturally flattens after death
nth the exception OF the hollow
the knee which does not come
down. The figure unearthed near
Roma Is flat on the underSide.
Doctors pronounce the figure as
perfect In proportions, many Of
them claiming the proportions too
exact for al statue. The head Is
very large d the top and the feet
gre extremely small but 1t Is known
that many Indians had these char
acteristics. The breasts also are ex-
treneiv small. Some inhabitants OF
tbc westx coast Of Mexico are still
said to have very small feet.
Laborers Frightened
IL was the smallness OF the feet
which scared laborers whom Brown
had with him when he went to the
petrified forest to get some stones
for his garden.
aEs muchacho." cts a child or
bow said the Mexican laborers as
they dropped their picks and ran.
The feet were ~protruding from a
hillside. Mr.. Brown tapped n Of
them with a stone and tried TO re-
assure the laborers by telling them
II was not a human being. They
finally exhumed 1t ! Il in constant
fear and trembling. their super
stition almost overcoming them at
times.
A thick black substance. some
times several inches thick, was
found all over the body" and when
this was removed the perfect fig
ure was found underneath. It Is
presumed by some that this was
some embalming substance, al
though mummification was sup
posed to be a lost art. It Is believed
also that this substance, being so
heavily applied. permeated the hair
on the head and helped preserve
II. Some OF this substance still
remains between the legs and the
arms and sides. It has not been
removed for fear OF weaker the
figure.
While strong lights were being
played upon II TO photograph 1t.
some women with magnifying
glasses found i'm. rints OF cloth
mesh on the figure, further height
ening the mystery. Was the cloth
part OF some mummifying process
or was 1t used in making a death
mask" OF the body? No n knows
as yet but the weight OF the body,
over 200 pounds, precludes any
theory that II Is a cast Of some sort
unless II was a petrified cast II such
Is possible. The figure Is five feet.
inch tall and slenderly proper
toned.
A statue?
Nov for some Of the arguments
made In support OF the statue the
DRY. Reclining statues are not at
all uncommon, it is argued, partic-
ularly as grave pieces. Many tombs
have reclining figures above them
and further search may reveal the