Show A CITY amm FINDING OF MUMMIES FACTS FU HOOK OF STUDENTS A ady thai ill list bave obtained a of the washington post contains ss account of the unearthing of a buried city in alie salt eiver valley it says sir frank H cushman of zuni fame has unearthed tho ruins of a prehistoric city in the salt biver valley about eight miles northwest 1 of tucson prof cushman is at pros in southern california lying extremely ill but the force ho put at work during the summer exhuming alio buried city are still encamped on the spot continuing their explorations the camp is located on the edge of the unearthed city and about yards from what was its citadel or fortified temple this is believed to have been a building of considerable size and strength probably several stories high and had its foundation laid deep in the earth the material used in its construction was sun dried clay the same as that used by the mexicans of the lower and middle classes and before mr cushman began his explorations there was nothing to mark its whereabouts except a sort of oblong hillock or mound little of the walls above tho foundation were found intact but the ground plan could be traced in aery detail as well as the lines of the outer wall the rooms were of different sizes and seemed to have been constructed with much architectural skill A number of the smaller apartments has undoubtedly been constructed for burial vaults for when they were opened skeletons were found in them the being invariably to the east in 0 of these vaults was alie skeleton u a child mr cushman was of the opinion that the building had been a sort of a combined citadel and sacred temple and that the remains of those found there were those of priests and their families the city extended out in all directions from the palace or temple and the foundation of numerous dwellings has been exposed many of them consisting of but a single room but now and then there is one of larger and more ample proportions and in most of these larger ones there has been burial vaults and skeletons two thousand of these have been exhumed already according to the letters in the post but it is thought by the officials of the geological survey that this is a misprint for A great deal of pottery has been taken out of course no iron copper or metal instruments of any kind have been found but great quantities of stone axes stone pistils and mortars bones kneedler kne edles and knives and other shell materials as belong to the stone age tho skill with which these articles were made was far superior however to that shown by the indians found in america by the whites these prehistoric dwellers of southern arizona were a people of very superior intelligence mr cushman has found a good deal of wheat and barley and other grain all of it of course in a charred blackened condition and ho has also traced several canals and found the ruins of a large reservoir so that he has no doubt that extensive irrigation had been carried on and that all the valleys had been under cultivation he thinks there must have been a population of at least in the mined city and that most of the inhabitants lived by cultivating the soil of the surrounding country I 1 mr cushman was questioned as to his theory abelt the complete disappearance of the people who occupied the city 1 I think said he they suffered from some great calamity like the inhabitants of Herculana eum and pom it was probably an earthquake I 1 have found skeletons under the walls of houses lying as if the walls had suddenly fallen upon the person and crushed him to death yes I 1 think there came a terrible earthquake which killed many and frightened the remainder away the discoveries of relics of the ancient dwellers upon this continent have been remarkably numerous of late and decidedly interesting A special to the chicago from bloomfield kentucky dec gives particulars of one of the latest atsas J A alien of this place while excavating cava ting a foundation for his new grist mill struck the dome of a cavern of immense proportions from which a strong current of cold air issued with great force as the workmen made the opening torches were procured and mr alien and mr were lowered down by means of a windlass it was about sixty feet from the surface to the floor of the eave which they found to be level and sandy as if it were buco the bed of an ancient subterranean stream they followed the main avenue for a distance of over two miles and discovered an opening in a cliff on tho farm of benjamin wilson and a beaten path was easily discerned that was once trod by hum in beings although now in many places covered with fores forest t trees and undergrowth mr alien and mr burset alter emerging from the cave started back to town and reported the result of their discoveries A large party was at once formed which entered tha opening of tho cliff on alio wilson farm on one of the main avenues numerous evidences existed that the place had evidently been the abode of cavo men as numerous relics were found in the shape of pottery and bronze bric a brac A so wis discovered in a large acho on one avenue at right angles with alio main avenue aud in it are numerous mummified bodies or corb being in plain view three of the mummies wore removed to town where they great curiosity the formations in the cave are beautiful beyond description stately towers of mites suggestive of grotesque and unique figures are encountered all bjong the wonderful subterranean avenue thero is a beautiful little j artke with water as pure as crystal and as usual in cave streams it is full of tiny eyeless fish the avenues of tho cavo will measure in all probability about seven miles so I 1 atit may fairly bo considered an rival to the mammoth cave and of y great cave won ft tucky the land of caves contains th following fort hill ono of the noted earth works of the mound builders bail ders found in southern ohio is to pass into the bands of the trustees of peabody institute the owners of the great serpent mound and it too will be restored and preserved from the ravages of time and the destroying hand of roan this wonderful work is two miles north of sinking spring in this county and about seventeen miles southeast of this city it overlooks the old path through the wilderness known as zanes trace and although very little has ever been said about it in the public press fort hill under the resorting hand of scientists will doubtless soon become a mecca for those who take an interest in the works of a prehistoric race fort hill was undoubtedly intended for a defensive work and is therefore different from the majority of mounds or ancient earthworms earthworks earth works the hill is entirely isolated and rises brer to a height of five hundred feet grand imposing and almost the summit of this hill is an almost level plateau with au area of forty eight acres about the same as the great serpent mound it is covered with huge trees and other monarchs of the forest equally as large lie upon the ground decayed and decaying bunning along the crest of the hill and making a complete border is an embankment of earth and atone inside of which is a ditch not far from fifty feet in width the soil of tha hill rests upon waverly sandstone and in many places the ditch has been cut through this sandstone to give it the required depth the embankment is over one mile and a half long in height measuring from the bottom of the ditch it is from six to ten feet and has a base from thirty five to forty feet it is thrown up a little below the brow of the hill making the outward slope more abrupt than that of the hill there are thirty three openings in the embankment at eleven of which there are fills in the ditch something on the plan of moats that sometime surround modern fortresses it is supposed that these eleven openings were intended for egress and ingress buethe use for which the other openings were intended is a subject of conjecture when the scientists of peabody and harvard get the fort in hand all these mysteries will doubtless be unraveled the work is divided into three carls by the chaps of tha summit of the hill the northern extremity is a bold steep ledge the most prominent part of the hill overlooking the entire work and commanding a view for miles upon miles of the country be lowit this point was no doubt the where the sentinels watched looking out for a coming foe where ever the rock here has been laid bare it bears traces of ingenious action giving rise to the supposition that signal fires were burned upon this prominent point The central division is much narrower and is connected with abo northern by a neck of land not more taca one hundred feet wide the southern division is the broadest and largest and probably used for garrison purposes As has been stated the embankment is composed of earth and stones but there are no indications that the latter were ever laid together with any regularity but rather that they were thrown up in an irregular mass with the earth that the embankment is of artificial angin is indisputable and that it was intended solely for self defense against some powerful enemy is be pond doubt the situation is so well chosen the topography of the hill BO admirably adapted tj the purpose that the artificial works make it almost impregnable to any mode of attack that could have been known in the age when the fortification was constructed What a wonderful people must bavo been those who selected constructed and occupied this remarkable work the skill displayed and the amount of labor expended on this single fortification causes wonder and surprise and excites our admiration even at this day with all our skill in engineering modern machinery and mechanical appliances the work at fort hill would be a big undertaking how patient resolute and abill ful then must have been taps who with the rudest implements mada of this hill a great fort an impregnable fortress |