mass of any natural fissure into it by whicBTf 
access could have been obtained, either 
■there or in the neighborhood, 
“And Mr. J. H. Neale declares upon his 
oath that the foregoing- statement is in 
every respect time. 
“(Signed.) JOHN H. NEALE, 
“Subscribed and sworn to before me this 
second day of Augmst, 1890. 
“(Signed.) EDWIN A. ROGERS, 
“Notary Public. 
“And still more authoritative than these 
is the find by Mr, Clarence King- of a pestle, 
well-shaped, though fragmental, in the old 
gravels underlying- the lava cap of Table 
mountain. 
“When we consider the amount of this 
The Calaveras Shull. 
apparent association of 
elics with the remains of 
and supplement these 
statement that such men 
and Becker consider the 
sufficient to satisfy them, 
at there is evidence, and 
thy of serious consider a- 
evidence and the 
the remains and r 
extinct animals, 
statements by the 
as Whitney, King 
accumulated data 
all must allow th 
evidence, too, wor 
tion. 
A Visit to Tahlc Mountain. 
“A visit to the auriferous region has a 
fascinating interest to the geologist and 
student of human history. The ground is 
made classic in science and in song, and 
the story of the gold hunters, and especial- 
ly the gold finders, of ’49 is unequaled in 
the realms of romance. But a look into 
the deserted shafts of Table mountain and 
a visit to the few surviving members of the' 
Society on the Stanislaus afford little aid 
to the student, for the observations, pre- 
served in tradition and recorded in books, 
cannot be made over again. But it is a 
great satisfaction to read the geologic sfory 
on the spot and a pleasure indeed to in- 
terview the sturdy men whose lives span, 
the whole recorded history of the golden 
age of California. 
“Angel’s Camp, wmcn was tne site of the 
first discovery of auriferous man, is still a 
typical mining town, and -here, and at 
Murphy’s near by, are to be found a score 
or more of sturdy forty-niners who have 
vivid recollections of the early days and 
take great pleasure in recounting- the events 
of that eventful time. Many have a more 
or less definite knowledge of the finding of 
the Calaveras skull, some from actual 
knowledge of the circumstances, some from 
hearsay, and it is a noteworthy fact that 
nearly all of them agree that the story of 
the finding of the skull is a ‘fake.’ 
Joke on a Scientist. 
“One of these men, now occupying a posi- 
tion of honor in the community, laughed 
heartily when the subject of the ancient 
skull was referred to. ‘I was in Angels at 
the time,’ said he in substance, ‘and can 
tell you all about it. The boys of those 
days were given to an Inordinate love for 
“joshing,” and, under the leadership of J. 
C. Scribiner, many practical jokes were 
perpetrated. Why, I had that skull, with 
the mate to it, in my store for weeks before 
the scheme of making sport out of it was 
thought of. They were brought to ms by 
J. I. Boone from a burial place at Salt 
Springs, twelve miles west of Angels. 
Scribiner got hold of one of these skulls 
asd conceived the notion of “joshing” his 
friend Mattison, who had a, mine on Bald 
mountain near by. It was finally planted 
in the bottom of the mine and duly discov- 
ered by Mattison’s workmen. Then the 
conspirators, not getting much satisfaction 
out of Mattison, carried it to Dr. Jones,, at 
Murphy’s, who was the leading physician 
of the section, and a great collector of curi- 
osities. He took it in, but later, finding 
cobwebs inside of it, threw it into the 
street; but, relenting, took it up again and 
resolved to give it a show; and this was 
done when Prof. Whitney came along. .It 
was shown to him and tire story of the 
finding told him. He took a deep interest 
in it, as a matter of course, and departed 
at once to find Mattison, from whom he se- 
cured the affidavit as to the circumstances 
of its discovery. All were delighted to have 
the joke on Whitney, who, being an east- 
erner o ; f very reserved demeanor, was un- 
popular with the miners. So the story be- 
gan, and that is all there is in the busi- 
ness.’ 
“Other versions were heard and a few in- 
dividuals were found who doubt the story 
of deception and say the old men of Angel’s 
are still given to ‘joshing,’ These stories, 
however, do not seriously affect the evi- 
dence found in Table mountain and else- 
where, but they serve to indicate the dif- 
ficulties that surround a proper investiga- 
tion of the subject, and it is only by a 
most painstaking gathering and sifting of 
the various strands of evidence that a 
solid basis of fact can be reached. 
“As the question stands, today the very 
imposing group of facts and observations i 
arrayed to support the theory of great < 
antiquity of man in California is compelled 
to meet objections so strong that they may < 
not be able to withstand trie onslaught of 5 
skepticism.” " e 
fe * — ; «► ' :4) 
