TURNED INTO STONE

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1749, 25 January 1888, Page 3

TURNED INTO STONE

4» Dakota, In America, is truly a marvel* lons and wonderful country. Not only wonderful m mineral and agricultural re■ouroes, but It abonnds m geological formations that afford ormstar.t ourprise and study for the student In this interesting oolence. The Bad Lands, located seventy miles south-east of this point, have no I equal on this continent as a receptacle for petrifraeilons of amphibians nnlmOe The peculiarity of the soil transforms flish in*o stone. But ihla piwer ia not only confined to the soil of the Bad Linda, but exists m many localities m the Btack Hills. A oase has ju»t come to knowledge, and proves that many bodies burled m the Hills have turned to stone. The oase at hand fs that of a lit le son of Mr Eugene Holcomb, a prominent oltizsn of Rapid Oity. Some years ago the boy died and was buried m a spot not set ailde for general burying purposes. When the oity grew and a cemetery waaaeleoted, Mr Holoomb had a Urge monument erected, and the departed disinterred. The family expacted when the shoval of the gravedigger reached the casket it wonld need replacing, and had made preparations to that end. The ooffii I was reached, and as the man endeavoured to plaoe a rope underneath to hotat. it to the surface, he was surprised at its great weight. Thinking it was the narrow, contracted hole that reduced his strength, be made several more efforts, but only removed it a few inches, and was o impelled to oall for aid. Two men succeeded In placing the rope about the oaiket, and with a hard pull It waa brought to the surfaoa. An examination followed, and upon the .deceased being revealed it was found that the body had turned, not, ai Sorlpture says, "Dust ohou art, to dust retnrneat/' but into nolid rook From a gentleman who was oreient and whose word can be relied upon It was learned that the p»r9nta easily reoogniaed the ohild. The body had assumed a dark-brown color, the faatnrea slightly shrut ken, and he compared it with the appearance of a mummy. The eyebrows and hair were a lighter hue, while the hands looked perfeot. It was the most singular sight he had ever witnessed, and only the sensitive feelings of the parents kept the matter from the newspaper columns. The body w*s again Interred.