Cardiff giant; Geology -- New York (State) -- Onondaga County
Mr. Newell has stumbled upon an "elephant" in this Giant. His
neighbors say it is a fortune to him. It is averred that he was
offered $5,000, $10,000 and even $20,000 for it; that a clergyman
offered his farm in exchange for the monster--but these offers
were all declined. We talked freely with Mr. N. He was quiet and
modest, and we doubt if he has received any such proposals, except
perhaps jokingly. He indicated no such thing. Yet he seemed
anxious to have the "thing" brought out all right if possible, be
it what it may, and therefore guards it by day and by night.
During Saturday night the surface water had settled in the pit so
as to cover the image. The wise men of Cardiff were consulted. One
said, bail out the water--exposure to the air will do no harm. The
other said, leave it thus until some scientific man comes to decide
as to the prospects of destructability. And the latter's advice
was adopted. Yet, when the water was undisturbed and clear, the
whole could be seen perfectly plain. Later in the day Dr. J.F.
Boynton, the geologist, drove out with Mr. John Geenway, the water
was bailed out, and Dr. B. made a thorough inspection of his Giantship,
put his arms under the neck, and fairly hugged the monster. The
general impression is, that it is a petrifaction of one of those large
human beings of which all of us have heard so much in our youthful days,
and have read accounts of in maturer years--not here, but somewhere
else. A book lies before us, having account of several, varying from
eight to eleven feet; but we stop not to extract therefrom. Prof.
Boynton, from a hasty examination, is of opinion that it is a work
of art--a sculpture from stone. If this theory be correct, it would be
scarcely less interesting than if a petrifaction. In the one case
arises the speculation as to a gigantic race of beings that may
have inhabited portions of this "new world" hundreds of years before
Columbus discovered it; the other as to how long ago the artist
did the work, and where came he, or his ancestors, from? Men nigh
on to a hundred years, and who have resided in the county seventy
of them, have never heard allusion to such a thing; the Indian
traditions speak not of it. The record of the first white man in
this region--Catholic Jesuits--is of something over two hundred years.
That record preserves matters of less interest than this would be,
but not this. Then again we say it would have scarcely less
interest as a work of the chisel, than a petrifaction.
Our city is talking about the Giant. The story has passed from
one to another till very many, probably ten thousand, of our
citizens have already heard it. The interest is great in it,
insomuch that it has been almost impossible for us to thus
disjointedly write about the great wonder, because of the constant
interruption by visitors who are anxious to hear from one who has
actually seen.
From the Syracuse Courier, Oct 18th, 1869.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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