198 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



tive inhabitants of the neighborhood. Martin, now thoroughly disgusted, 

 withdrew from the project ; but Hull, hearing of another gypsum-bed in a 

 more retired locality, on the line of the Dubuque & Sioux City Railroad, 

 then in process of construction, went thither, and the following Sunday 

 engaged the foreman of the railroad-gang to employ his men in quarry- 

 ing out as large a slab as the nature of the ground would permit, pav- 

 ing for the labor with a barrel of beer. The result was a slab weighing 

 three and a half tons, measuring twelve feet in length, four in breadth, 

 and twenty-two inches in thickness. With almost incredible difficulty 

 and labor the block was transported over forty miles of terrible road 

 to Montana, the nearest railroad-station, where it was shipped to E. 

 Burghardt, Chicago, who had been engaged to grave the image. On 

 its arrival at that city, it was moved to Burghardt's barn, which had 

 been prepared for its reception, and two men at once set to work upon 

 it one, Edward Salle, a German ; the other, an American named Mark- 

 ham. It was Hull's desire to represent a " man who had laid down and 

 died ; " but, as he entertained doubts as to the universal acceptation of 

 the " fossil-man " theory, it was decided to produce an image that might 

 also pass for an ancient statue. This combination of designs was the 

 cause of that curious feature which attracted notice and provoked dis- 

 cussion when the giant came to be exhibited, viz., the lack of hair. 



The last of September the stone-cutting was finished, but the work 

 was far from being completed, having the appearance of newness pecul- 

 iar to freshly-cut gypsum. The figure was now subjected to long and 

 patient rubbing with sand and water, which produced the water-worn 

 appearance so often cited as incontrovertible evidence of extreme anti- 

 quity. The pores of the skin were imitated by carefully pecking the 

 entire surface with leaden hammers faced with needles, giving the 

 peculiar " goose-flesh " which puzzled so many. There still remained 

 an appearance of freshness, which was finally obviated by bathing 

 with writing-fluid, and afterward washing with sulphuric acid, giving 

 the desired appearance of antiquity. Packed in sawdust, the giant, 

 now weighing 3,720 pounds, was shipped to Union, New York, where 

 it arrived October 12, 1868. Meantime Hull proceeded to Salisbury, 

 Connecticut, to inspect a newly-discovered cave, in which he hoped 

 to bury and resurrect his giant, but was discouraged by the price de- 

 manded. Suddenly remembering that fossil bones had recently been 

 discovered near Syracuse, New York, he now visited a relative, one 

 Newell, living in the locality, at Cardiff, and opened the enterprise to 

 him, proposing to bury the giant upon his farm. Newell at once 

 accepted the terms proposed one-fourth interest and it was decided 

 to inter the image near the barn, where a well had formerly been pro- 

 jected. 



All being arranged satisfactorily, Hull returned to Union, Novem- 

 ber 4th, and shipped the " fossil " for Cardiff by four-horse team, under 

 the charge of his nephew, Tracy Hull, and one Amesbury. On the even- 



