Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1931-10-01
RELIC found
BY EDINBURC
i BUSINESS Man
Discussion RACES Pro
And Con As to Its
Origin
BY Il II
Herald Staff CORRESPONDENT

Herald Staff Correspondent
EDINRURd. Oct. Statue or
woman?
Daily the controversy RACES over
the figure unearthed from a hill
side near Roma by 4. A. Brown OF
Edinburg but the more study that
v givzn 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
q 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 IL was q statue d Geneva
Smith, the girl who named Texas,
whose statue was stolen by the
Indians and has never been found.
Brown says the gentleman is all
wet" because the statue OF Geneva
Smkh was that Of a living person
while the figure found in the VAL
ley was In or represented IS being
in death. The eyes are closed and
the hands folded over the breasts.
The Smithsonian Institute. Uni
versity Of Texas, the government
and others have been notified OF
the find but none OF them have
come forward to investigate. They
may come IN time but before them
are many who wish to buy, n
GLIDING representatives OF circuseS.
One Houston doctor. who came all
the way TO the Valley to see the
figure and who became convinced
that IL was that OF a human be-
ing, IL said TO have offered $1,000
for II.
Not For Sale
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 he
would not mind having the stone
woman as O playmate" during thai
time.
2 Enough evidence is to be found
to establish the figure as being
either q statue or as the petrified
body OF . human being TT h
found to tear these conclusions TO
pieces.
Some OF the things used to sup
port arguments that it is h
petrified body Of a woman is the
fact that 1t was found In the L,tri-
fled forest near Roma and that II
apparently Is OF the same material
as some Of the stone / that vicinity
although there were no petrified
trees Immediately about II. An
other argument in support OF the
human being theory is h fact
that If 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
argued a statue would have been
made flat footed.
Undertakes are almost unani-
NOUS that II Is the body Of a woman.
They say that the body OF a wo-
man naturally flattens after death
with the exception of the hollow
OF 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 q statue. The head Is
very large at the top and the feet
are extremely small but 1t Is known
that many Indians had these char
acteristics. The breasts also are ex-
tremely small. Some inhabitants OF
the west coast of Mexico are stu
said to have very mail feet
Laborers Frightened
II 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.
"Es 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 one OF
them with a stone and tried to re-
assure the laborers by telling them
IL was not a human being. They
finally exhumed II ! II 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
IRE was found underneath. 1t Is
presumed by some that this was
some embalming substance, al
though mummification was sup
posed to be a lost art. 1t is believed
also that this substance, being so
heavily applied. ~permeated the hair
on the head and helped preserve
i'll 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 we're being
played upon II 10 photograph II,
some women with magnifying
glasses found i'm .rints of cloth
- - E.lA~M AA4~L& 1