WHO OWN THE IMAGE?
Three capitalists have bought of Mr. Newell, (who has declined probably over one hundred offers,) a three-fourths interest in the enterprise. The tour partners will determine what course to pursue.
We subjoin several reports of the Press for a few days succeeding the discovery of his Giantship.
From the Syracuse Daily Standard Oct. 18th, 1869.
The valley of Onondaga has a romance of beauty in its wild scenery, and as the home of the famous tribe of the red men of the forest— the Onondagas—around whose council fires the chiefs and young warriors of the Six Nations assembled to consult on matters of great moment. It commences at the head of Onondaga Lake, having a broad surface where the main part of our city stands, and moderate hill-side boundaries, until we pass two miles south of the city bounds, where the bed of the basin begins to narrow away and the hills on either side to be more abrupt and higher. It continues to decrease in width, until it terminates against Tully Hill, a distance of fourteen miles from the lake. Its beauty of wild scenery is perhaps in greatest perfection in that part known as the Indian Reservation—still held by the Onondaga tribe—somewhat south of the centre of the valley. Two main roads lead up the valley, one at the base of the hills on either side; and riding along either of them in a pleasant day, an admirer of nature's wild grandeur has ample occasion of admiration. The gentle slope, rising way back and up as if touching the clouds, and the more abrupt and ragged, shrub-covered, not less high hills, miniature mountains, with every now and then a ravine down which the water leaps playfully along till it reaches the plateau below and into the little creek on its way to the ocean—is a landscape of beauty not easily described.
Just now this valley is the scene of an excitement, in the finding of a supposed petrifaction of a human being—a giant. The point of interest is on the south side of the valley, opposite and just beyond the little village of Cardiff, in the town of Lafayette— twelve miles from this city, on a farm belonging to Mr. William C. Newell.
On Saturday last Mr. Newell thought to dig a well some six or seven rods east of his house, and a trifle south-east of his barn. The spot is probably thirty feet below the house, and the surface soil is a loose, half sand, half dark muck, the natural washing from the hills above. It is not more than twenty rods from the creek, the channel of which is thought to have been at or very near this spot many years ago. Mr. Newell and a hired man, in digging, had gone down but two and a half feet when something hard was struck, which was believed to be a stone. They thought but little of it at first, expecting to have to break it loose and pry it out. But throwing out a few more shovels of earth from its side, the feet of a man appeared. A few minutes more of labor exposed the legs to the calf; and now their interest being excited, they began to dig carefully around it, until the whole form of a man—petrified giant—was brought to view. The neighbors began to hear of what was found, and of course went at once to see.
Mr. Silas Forbes, who resides a mile and a-half distant, came to the city Saturday evening and apprised us of the new found wonder, and Sunday we went to see it. The story was a big one, and not liking "Silver Lake Snaiks," we wanted to see before telling our readers. And here is what we saw:—
The form of a man lying on his back, head and shoulders naturally flat at hip a trifle over on right side; the right hand spread on the lower part of the abdomen, with fingers apart; the left arm half behind, and its hand against the back opposite the other; the left leg and foot thrown over the right, the feet and toes projecting at a natural angle. The figure was of apparent lime stone, a mixture of the gray and blue, common in most parts of the county, and seemed perfect in every particular. The muscles are well developed; the ribs might be counted; the nostrils are perforated so as to admit a large sized finger up near two inches; the lines of toe and finger nails are plainly marked; the left ear is partially gone, but the right one is perfect and in proportion to the other parts; the nose finely shaped; the forehead high; and the "Adams' apple"' at the throat just projecting out, is as most common with men. The appearance of the "countenance" marks the Giant of the Caucasian race, and not the Indian. If a work of art, the artist has failed in any effort at hair on the head.
We have said that the whole was perfect. And so it appeared, except a few flakes dropped off while the work of exhumation was going on; and perhaps others yesterday. If any well proportioned man will make measurement of himself as above, he will see a striking agreement of ratio.
Though the figure has all the appearance of stone, nevertheless the outer surface shaves off with a knife without materially dulling the blade. This was tried, but of course was not allowed to proceed to disfigure Mr. Giant. A scale that fell from the bottom of one of the feet, looks much like gold quartz, but still is softish and crumbles readily, with a sort of soft sand stone result. It rests on half sand, half clay bottom, the earth above being, as we have already said, of a lighter character.
News of this remarkable discovery rapidly spread, and yesterday when we were there, people were coming and going, from a circuit of four or five miles around, in farm wagons, carriages and buggies, and on foot, to see it.
John A. Clarke, Esq., being at Cardiff, Saturday evening to speak on temperance, took occasion for a lamp-light view. Returning to the city near midnight, he told the story; and was telling it all day yesterday. Not one in fifty of his hearers would believe the counselor, generally esteemed reliable though he is. Still, before the day was over a dozen or more went out to satisfy their curiosity, and returned with full confirmation—and more too, and the "petrified Giant" is now the absorbing topic.
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.
On Saturday morning last the quiet little village of Cardiff, which lies in the valley about twelve miles south of Syracuse, was thrown into an excitement without precedent, by the report that a human body had been exhumed in a petrified state, the colossal dimensions of which had never been the fortune of the inhabitants of the little village to behold, and the magnitude of which was positively beyond the comprehension or the understanding of the wise men of the valley. We are told that there were giants on the earth once; and, if the reports of those who have investigated this discovery are true, and that they are we have no doubt, this stony man—who for hundreds of years may have slept untouched and undisturbed, had it not been for the rude hand of a Cardiff farmer—must have been one of them. The excitement in and around Cardiff extended until it reached the City of Salt, and all day yesterday the discovery was the chief topic of conversation at the hotels and public places in the city. Of course, the most extravagant stories were told, and greedily devoured up by gaping listeners. Some would have it that the body exhumed was twenty-five feet high, and proportionately large. All day yesterday crowds visited the scene of the discovery, and returned to tell the tale of the wonderful discovery to their eager friends.
From the Standard, October 23d.
LETTER FROM REV. MR. CALTHROP. DEAR SIR—As everyone is deeply interested in the Onondaga Giant, perhaps it may be as well for each of us to add his mite towards guessing at the solution of the problem he has silently set us all.
It is no wonder that so many are of opinion that he is a gigantic petrifaction. His proportions are so perfect, and his appearance is so life like. I will add, that every one wants to think so. If he proved to be a petrifaction, what a realm of awe and mysterious conjecture would he open to us. But I, for one, feel convinced that he will prove to be statue, and for these reasons:—
First, I think there are evident marks of stratification in the stone. The left eyebrow and the top of the nose are the parts most elevated. These correspond exactly, both being composed of a white layer. On the chest is a squarish layer of a dark tinge; around, and slightly below this, is another layer corresponding exactly with the ins and outs of the first. Beyond, and below this, another and another all alike, seeming to be simply lines of stratification. The level seems exactly kept. Follow with your eye any two adjacent lines, and you will see that where they are close to each other the surface has an abrupt change of level; where they are further apart the surface is nearly horizontal. Where the surface approaches the perpendicular, as on the sides, the dark line showing the separation of the strata is thin, because it has been cut through nearly at right angles. Where the surface is more horizontal the dark line is broader, because it has been cut through obliquely, the breadth varying steadily with the angle of inclination. The same can be plainly seen along the right leg.
Another strong reason for its being a statue lies in the fact that not a single limb is detached. The right arm is not merely glued to the body throughout, as well as the hand, but it has the appearance of only being cut into the stone to a depth sufficient to give due relief. This is equally true of the left arm, and of the two legs, which are joined to each other throughout. The sculptor has not wasted a stroke of the chisel. I would add here, that between the third and fourth fingers of the right hand, the slit is carried too far toward the wrist, seemingly by a slip of the chisel.
Who did it? A trained sculptor; one who had seen, studied and probably reproduced many a work of art; one who was thoroughly acquainted with human anatomy. One, too, who had noble original powers; for none but such could have formed and wrought out the conception of that stately head, with its calm, grand smile, so full of mingled sweetness and strength.
He appears, however, to have worked under certain disadvantages. He had not such command of materials as a civilized country could have afforded him. He had to put up with the best stone he could find. I think that the peculiar posture of the statue can be fairly explained by supposing that the original block tapered away toward the feet, and was only just about the breadth of the statue as we now see it. This seems fairly to explain the curious position of the left arm. The artist had to put it there because there was not breadth enough to put it in any other position. So of the position of the feet—one over the other. The stone may not have been wide enough to have admitted of any other position. Who was he? Let us analyze a little.
In the ancient world, only the Greek School of Art was capable of such a perfect reproduction of the human form. I have seen no Egyptian or Assyrian sculpture which approached this in anatomical accuracy.
Throughout the middle ages till the great Art Revival, no one in Europe had skill enough for the purpose. It appears, therefore, that unless we adopt the somewhat strained hypothesis that a highly civilized society, now utterly extinct, once existed on this continent, we are forced to search for our sculptor among the European adventurers who have sought homes in North America during the last three centuries, as no one, I presume, is prepared to maintain a that the statue has a Greek or Roman origin, unless, indeed, it was brought over as an antique by some forgotten amateur of art.
Was it not then as Dr. Boynton suggests, some one from that French colony, which occupied Salina and Pompey Hill, and Lafayette? Some one with an artist's soul, sighing over the lost civilization of Europe, weary of swamp and forests, and fort, finding this block by the side of the stream solaced the weary days of exile with pouring out his thought upon the stone. The only other hypothesis remaining is that of a gross fraud. One need only say with regard to this that such a fraud would require the genius of a sculptor joined to the skill and audacity of a Jack Sheppard.
But lastly, what did he intend it to represent? Had he known of the discovery of America by the northmen, he might have had in his thoughts some gigantic Brown, or Erio, or Harold. The old northman is shot through with an Indian's poisoned arrow; his body is dying, as the tight pressed limbs express; but the strong soul still rules the face, which smiles grandly in death. If you had objected that there was too much mind shining through the features, the sculptor might have answered that the closed eyes saw in prophetic vision that men of his race would one day rule where he had lain down to die. But this is rather too high flown, so I had better conclude. Yours, S.R. CALTHROP.