THE CARDIFF GIANT. History of a Great Humbug, Told by its Inventor.

Te Aroha News, Volume V, Issue 211, 16 July 1887, Page 3 (Supplement)

THE CARDIFF GIANT. History of a Great Humbug, Told by its Inventor.

GhORGE Hull, of West Supeiioi . Wi-., Inventor of the " Caulifl gianL," i«l<.,i- ill 1 history of iN cieation and (iov. nut'l < i•' lows : "Down near Foit Lodge I gr I 1 1 > >i lating in that g^p'-um biT-ine^s Lo'>Lmi_ over some of the huge pie cc-, one da; 1!c >» was one which appealed in good ri'\il -'m| of a man. I got interested in the d.nk line^, which looked very miu'h iii'Kfl lik^ the veins in the limbs of a hinn.in be,']!'.'. ,\ grand pehome -tmck me, or I -tirf X it. T secured the largest, mc-t solid pi< cv 10 I>r» found and -hipped it to Chic.i '."■>. /\ft«r sometime 1 got hold of a man -aul (.•!>... ,i firpt-cla^ maible cutter. J told him ny, scheme was to get out of the blork ot gypsum the potiified lemains of -i t.i.menclou> giant. r fhc fello\> caught on, and bcth of us studied o^er the pro-prcr fu" some time. Tlicn the arm f- and hand 1 - v, <.u marked out, and the veins show ed up in fine style. Gad ! jou never saw anything mine complete in your life. They woie al-o visible in the temples and forehead It cost me a heap, though, to get the ,'n r,Kt at his work. He had my seciet. and handled me as he pleased. >Sr mef iine ihe'd get on a .spree for days and we. !^-. Several months passed befoie the eonci'in was finished ; it was a grand piece of woi k. We boxed it and shipped it eastw ai d a-» a block of marble. Its weight w.is 2,f1!)(>11.s I took charge of the great wonder. At in-t I did not know exactly what to do to bring it before the people. When I i<ml I >ial New York State I seized upon a pl,m of burying the giant in a secluded hpot, a l'omantic nook by a mountain hide. I finally selected Cardiff, a village on (he Onondaga Creek, Onondago Coui'i\, twelve or fifteen miles south of »Syiac.i"e. I confided my secret to a lone fanner. Ue appeared to be all right in the mallei. I gave him money .end piomi.sed him moi^. We dug agra\c by the i-i\er, and, n-, Im.k would have it for petrification pmpo^c^, at the depth of about six feet wo ftmck puie mo>-ing water. The giant wa'< iucio.scd in a rough case and deposited in the gra's c. "No one but the faimer, his wife and myself knew of this transaction. The agreement was made between u& that durinL the year the farmer should aceident.dly find the giant ; word would reach me ; I would make a great ado about it, take people to the spot, taking care to lose my way several times before reaching the .said spot. The arrangement worked all right. News of the finding of the petrified remains of a human being near Cardiff was spread over the neighbourhood like wildfire, and in a flay or two newspaper men were there, and then the whole world knew of it. I purchased the petrified remains and proceeded forthwith to erect a tent over the grave, the remains staying undisturbed. Hundreds

and thousands visited the place. I charged a fee, of course, to get inside the tent, just to pay expenses. la a few clays the crowds could not be accommodated. In one week soon after the discovery I took in '2,00(Mols. The rush kept increasing. The mo^t scientific men in the country wero piob^nfc, and they made critical examina-tion'-of tho giant as ib lay in its restingplace." Uull=olcla third interest for 30,000c101=, and after tho secret leaked out. Hull wa> totmerly in business in Madison.