Year: 1879

The Ithaca IN. W Journal contains
a full expose of the Taghantic ''stone
man" obtained from the lips of Ira NJ.
Dean, its creator. The Journal reports
| him as saying.


''It took but little labor to carve out
the man compared with the study nee
essary to get the material right.
studied Winchell upon 'Primeval
Man and similar works. I was mod
erately well versei in geology before,
but knowing the scrutiny to which my
handiwork would be subjected, I gave
to 1t forethought and study that should
defy any ordinary chemical test. And
so it will. 1t may be broken to bits,
powdered, cut with acids or subjected
to the most powerful glass, and it would
puzzle the best minds. But unfortu-
nately for the joke, for such, so far as |
am concerned, assure you it was, sir
the tongues of live men wag freer than
those of men petritied."


''You brought the grindstone dust
and iron borings home from the shop in
wheelbarrow and at times in dinner
pail?


eyes, l did"


"You commenced carving your con-
ception of a man older than the flood
sometime in April ?'


eyes, / made measurement of N.Y.
self. | carved him down to the hips
with an ordinary table knife. By that
time he had hardened so had to
cut with clisel his legs and feet. But
no mark of a tool or implement can be
found upon him."


"You first blocked him out rough on
board?"


eyes, and he will be found true to
every law of anatomy and proportion
of the human frame"


"Was it necessary for you to cover
him with sash and submit him to
bake as you did p


"No; the concrete hardened thorough
ly. But / did, as you seem so we'll to
know, put him through heating pro-
cess"


''He laid about six weeks in your Gel
lar after completion.


"He did. Then five ofus loaded him
on a wagon at night and transferred him
to where he was found at Taghanic."


Chow about the root of a tree found
growing across his breast"


"Oh, that amounts to nothing; | threw
that across there to carry out the pro-
ject. 1t was one of chain of puzzles
made for the learned men to wonder
over and debate upon."


Chow many knew of your work on
the man while it was in progress ?"


''Three or four men i'll my shop, my
wife, who protested against my having
anything 10 do with such a wild prac-
tical joke. and these two little ones
renl and before the removal L called
two responsible business men of Tru-
mansburg into the cellar and explained
the scheme to them and showed them
the stone man. This did as a meas
ure of protection to myself in case of
any emergency that might arise. The
names of these two men prefer not to
mention to you or anyone else.


81 have had more than $100 worth of
fun out of this thing. | have many
day spent an hour at Taghanic arguing
anG asserting that the stone man must
be humbug, made by human hands,
to finally find myself completely out
argued and almost convinced that it
must be genuine relic of 1000 years
ago. / have seen professors devote
hours to study of it with a magnify
ing glass to find themselves only the
more convinced of its being q genuine
case of petrifcation as their nvestiga-
ton progressed. l never have said it
was genuine. On the contrary, have,
when appealed to for an opinion, invar-
iably stated my belief that it was a
humbI1p"