THE CARDIFF GIANT, AND OTHER FRAUDS. 199 



ing of the 9th of the same month the heavily-laden team arrived, attract- 

 ing little attention, owing to the darkness and rain, though the peculiar 

 appearance of the iron-bound case and its apparent weight, from the 

 amount of motive power demanded in transportation, had excited con- 

 siderable curiosity and comment on the road. The box was unloaded 

 and concealed in a pile of chaff, and a few nights later the giant was 

 lowered into its resting-place by means of a derrick. 



In October, 1869, nearly a year having elapsed, Hull wrote Newell 

 to " find the giant ; " when, in accordance with prearranged plans, two 

 neighbors, Gideon Emmons and Henry Nichols, were engaged to sink 

 a well ; one Woodmansee was secured to stone it, and Newell, aided 

 by one Parker, began drawing stone. Suddenly the shovel of Nichols 

 struck a hard substance, which, in clearing away, proved to be a massive 

 stone foot, calling forth from Emmons the exclamation, "Jerusalem, 

 Nichols, it's a big Injun ! " As the earth was cleared away, revealing 

 the outlines, several neighbors, chancing that way, were summoned to 

 view the wonder. This was the nucleus of a crowd which numbered 

 thousands a few hours later. 



It has been asserted that the earth showed no signs of having been 

 excavated so recently as the year previous ; but one John Hagan, who 

 was among the first of the sight-seers, in a sworn affidavit says : " I 

 took a shovel and got down into the hole, and as fast as they uncovered 

 the body toward the head I cleared the dirt off about up to the hand 

 on the belly. When we were clearing off from the upper portion of 

 the body, the earth cleaved off from the sod and fell upon the body. I 

 said, ' Boys, this is the spot where he was put down.' No reply was 

 made, but Mr. Newell stepped around, and, taking a shovel, trimmed the 

 sod down square with where it came off." 



The following day, Sunday, four medical men of the neighborhood, 

 of scientific pretensions, investigated the subject, swallowing the hoax 

 without the least difficulty, pronouncing it to be a " petrified man." 

 Later it was examined by Dr. Boynton, of Syracuse, a man possessed 

 of some antiquarian knowledge, who decided it to be a statue " made 

 some three hundred years ago by the Jesuit fathers," and at once offered 

 $10,000 for it. This and more tempting offers were declined, as sight- 

 seers at half a dollar per head were apparently unlimited in number. 

 However, Newell, in compliance with Hull's order, sold a three-fourths 

 interest to half a dozen citizens of Syracuse for $30,000. A show-man 

 was now placed in charge, and, in the way of advertisement, invitations 

 were sent to Prof. Agassiz, Prof. Hull (State geologist), S. B. Wool- 

 worth (secretary of the university), etc. November 3d a large delega- 

 tion of scientific men assembled from different parts of the State for 

 deliberate and thorough inspection, who at once pronounced it a statue, 

 the State geologist declaring it to be of great antiquity. Prof. Ward, 

 who filled the chair of Natural Sciences in the Rochester University, 

 said, "Although not dating back to the stone age, it is nevertheless 



