BONES BELIEVED REMAINS OF HUGE PREHISTORIC ANIMAL

The skeleton of what appears to be a mammoth prehistoric animal was found on land of Owen Marcum, farmer, who lives on the Old Fork of Jennies Creek, about five miles above Crum, one day last week.

Pelting rains which broke a slab off the side of a mountain uncovered the skeleton. It was found near the bank of a small stream where it had evidently been buried for centuries.

First indication that the neighborhood harbored the bones of a prehistoric monster was when a young man, Wayne Perry, found a bone which had been washed out by the stream. A Search was started immediately by Marcum and several of his neighbors, with the result that the group found a bone sticking out of the ground a mile up the stream from the Marcum home, Marcum started digging at the spot and by Sunday had unearthed the lower jaw bone of the animal, a long horn or tusk, a leg bone and a knee cap.

The skeleton has petrified and resembles wood in appearance but is in a good state of preservation.

The lower jaw bone was in two pieces, the right and left side, and imbedded in each were several large teeth, the surface of which was well preserved. One of the teeth, lifted out and weighed on scales at the J. B. Queen store in Crum, was found to weigh five and one-quarter pounds. Some of the other teeth, however, are twice as large. They are set in the jaw bone in fine order and have a shiny top surface similar to any polished teeth, but the under surface extending into the jaw is in a state of decomposition. The smaller teeth which are removable from the jaw bone are about seven inches both in depth and width. The jawbone is about 30 inches long and each piece is estimated to weigh close to 75 pounds.

The horn was broken into several pieces in being excavated, but when put together is approximately seven feet long and eight inches wide.

Mr. Marcum excavated but 14 feet back into the hillside and at that point encountered one of the leg bones, indicating that the animal was a huge monster.

Efforts are being made to have the excavating work stopped until it can be arranged for experts to complete the job, with a view to preserving the skeleton and perhaps assembling it. Officials of Marshall college are planning to contact Mr. Marcum with the proposal that the skeleton be turned over to that institution.

The belief that the skeleton was that of a mastodon was expressed Monday by Charles W. Gilmore, of the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D. C. He formed his opinion from a description of bones already found and said that the animal was a prehistoric monster larger than an elephant. He added that similar discoveries have been made in several sections east of the Mississippi river.

For this reason he doubted that any national museum would he interested in financing excavation of the bones. He said the project might be carried out by some institution nearer the scene which would have use for it for exhibition purposes.

Mr. Gilmore was more certain of his identification of the bones when told they had been found near a creek bed. Discoveries of this type are almost always in swampy regions, leading authorities to believe that the huge animals were mired and trapped and eventually perished.

Mr. Marcum was not aware of the significance of his discovery at first, but as the news spread around visitors flocked to his place to see the several bones he has on display in his back yard. Several hundred persons, some of whom traveled 100 miles or more, viewed the exhibits Sunday.

This is believed to be the first major archaeological discovery ever made in Wayne county. Mastodons in general structure resemble elephants. Their chief peculiarities are nipple-like excrescences of the molar teeth.

Discovery of the skeleton provides Wayne county citizens with first hand proof that mammoth animals roamed the earth many centuries ago.

State Geologist Paul H. Price, of Morgantown, fearful lest curious visitors carry away parts of the mastodon skeleton, requested that a guard be placed over the find until other arrangements can be made.

"It appears that this is a fine specimen and one which should be preserved and retained in West Virginia." Mr. Price said. He added that, no other complete mastodon skeleton has been unearthed in this state, although fossilized remains have been excavated in Kentucky and Pennsylvania.

Bones already excavated should be protected from the air to prevent deterioration, Mr. Price said. He is planning to visit the Marcum farm this week to view the skeleton.

Meanwhile, Mr. Marcum's find, while rare enough to bring him considerable fame and publicity, was also causing him considerable trouble. He has been visited by so many curious persons recently that he has found little time for anything else.

"I'll be glad when somebody takes this thing off my hands," he told a Wayne County News reporter Sunday.

The visitors have flocked to the site of the find despite the fact that the road for about a mile is virtually impassable. The discovery is so rare and has stirred up such interest, however, that people are not discouraged by the fact that they have to leave their cars on Jennie's creek and walk the more than a mile along Old fork to the Marcum home. If they want to see the spot where the excavating is being done, they must walk still another mile beyond the Marcum home.
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