Marble Man 4

THE marble man is occasioning more controversy in Sydney than BARNUM'S mermaid or Indian mummy did in New York. The doctors are differing on the subject ; some declare most positive that it is a real petrifaction, whilst others are confident that it is only a sculpture. Yet if the is one thing more than another that modern surgeons are supposed to know it is anatomy. I am one of the sceptics. I do not believe the thing a petrified corpse, and I do believe that it was manufactured within the last few months. The question could be settled by the simple process sawing the object in two. That could be done without damaging it as a curiosity, but the betting is the whole of Lombard-street to a Chinese orange that the owners will not sanction the experiment. Neither would I, if I were in their place. The day before yesterday news came from Bathurst that the figure was the work of a mechanic well-known the district, who manufactured it in a shed near Orange within the space of 10 weeks. The believers in the petrifaction theory are regarded with the greatest disdain by Mr. WILKINSON, the Government Geologist, who marvels that any one should doubt that the image is a sculpture. Lady PARK I understand, has not yet inspected the curiosity, but probably she will do so in a few days. It will be her privilege to utter the final word on the subject,and if she says the thing is a petrifaction, then a petrifaction it will be. Her ladyship understands anatomy, in addition to many other things.

The following is about the best analysis of the "Petrified man," which is causing so much talk in the city just now. It is addressed to the editor of a provincial journal by a litterateur (!) of Bathurst, I believe. Here it is :—

deer mr. Headhitter— This here putrified man are a stature, mr. jones, the Bathurst stonemasing, sais he were sculpted at a old public at cowflat. the wurk tooke ten weaks, and arterwards the stature were berried in the ground, then dug up, and hexibetted as a putrified man.

Yet another sensation It has always been said that it takes something of a startling character to waken the people of Sydney, but they now have a new sensation in earnest-the petrified man-over the bona fides of which savants and scientists are much exercised. Great diversity of opinion has been expressed, sufficient to puzzle the steadiest and soberest brain Anatomists and sculptors are at war on the subject, but upon one point they are all agreed, viz, that if the image be a work of art it is the production of a master hand. Admitted Who then is the artist and why did he elect to bide from the world and lose the "bubble reputation which men seek even at the cannon's month?" I hope the mystery attached to it may yet be cleared, for the delectation and confounding of scientific and pseudo-scientific society.

Friday.
The controversy about the marble man, recently found in a marble quarry at Orange, has at length received a check which it is hardly likely to survive. Sub Inspector Ford having come forward with circumstantial evidence which is too clear to leave any room for doubt as to the origin of the "man." His report utterly condemns the specimen as an impudent fraud. The petrified man was, he says, originally dug out of a well known quarry, and was in the form then of a huge, shapeless mass of marble. It was only when it had been for some weeks resident in the hospitable abode of one G. F. Sala, who was then residing at Orange, that this block began to assume a godlike image, whilst all the time Sala was bestowing his patience, energy, and skill on the transformation. All the time, to, a small boy was stationed as sentry at the door of Sala's house, his duty being to whistle whenever a suspicious looking person appeared there. He was also required to purchase some acid for removing the marks of the chisel from the stone, and to assist in the manufacture of a box for the conveyance of the statue to the metropolis.

The Minister for Mines stated in the Legislative Assembly last evening, in reply to a question, that he had received a number of papers, which he had brought to the house with him, relating to what is known as the marble man. A good deal of curiosity has been aroused with reference to the marble figure which has been represented as petrified human remains found in a limestone quarry near Caleula. Instructions were given by the Government to the Superintendent of Police at Bathurst to have the matter thoroughly inquired into. The reports submitted by the police officials, and which are now in possession of the Mines Department, will probably be read with interest. We publish the more important of the documents:

Sub-inspector Ford, of the Orange police, reports as follows, under date 10th June, to Superintendant Anderson, of Bathurst:-

"I have the honour to inform you that, in accordance with your instructions, I have made very careful inquiries about the so-called petrified man, said to have been found by G. F. Sala and son at the marble quarry at Caleula, about 10 miles from Orange. I am thoroughly convinced that the marble figure was made at Croaker's old public-house at Cow Flat by G. F. Sala, and that the marble was obtained from Bell's quarry, about two miles from Cow Flat. I have obtained the following information:

"That Joseph Bell conveyed from his marble quarry, about five months since, a large piece of marble, about one ton weight, to G. F. Sala's residence (Croaker's old public house), at Cow Flat, and put it in out of the dray, half way into the back kitchen, through the door; and Bell states that some 10 or 12 weeks afterwards he saw that a man had been modelled out of it by Sala, and that he used acids ; and, whilst Sala was making the figure, that his son Fred, was always on the watch, and would at once whistle if any portion came in sight, and that Sala would then come out of the kitchen, and shut the door. Alfred J. Hammond, of Cow Flat, most positively says that he made the box in which the marble man or figure was taken to Orange ; and further, that one of the boards is marked G. S. in paint ; and he further states that shortly before the figure was taken to Orange he, by a mere chance, saw the marble figure in the ground in the kitchen at Sala's residence. He showed me the hole, which is about 9ft. long, 2ft. 6in. wide, and about 2ft. deep. Hammond further states that Sala promised him £600 if he could find a good suitable place to plant it in for a time, or he would give him a third of the profit when exhibited. On Friday last I heard that a Mr. William Guilfoyle, the Public schoolmaster at Cow Flat, had a lot of acids consigned to him from Elliott Brothers. I then interviewed the railway station master at Perth, and obtained from him the exhibits marked C and D. It appears that the first consignments were destroyed by combustion on the railway premises, and nearly set fire to the storeroom ; on Saturday last I saw Mr. Guilfoyle, and he informed me that he acted as secretary for Mr. Sala, and that he ordered the acids, sulphuric and nitric, in his own name from Elliott Brothers for Mr. Sala, and that the latter informed him that he was making columns for Mr. John Jagger, of Sydney. I have since then traced Sala and son with the grey horse and wagonette from Cow Flat to Newbridge, thence to Blayney, where a Mr. Boxhall saw the box in the conveyance, and describes it to have looked like a coffin. Sala left Blayney on Monday, supposed the 6th or 13th May last, and had breakfast at Millthorpe and then proceeded to Orange, via Lucknow, I also beg to attach a report from Constable Rossiter, who was on temporary duty at Orange on the 20th May last. William Brydon is a partner of Sala's in the marble quarry at Caleula, consequently he expected to share in the profits of the marble man's exhibition; and he is most anxious to have this quarry brought prominently before the public. In conclusion, I beg to give my reasons for saying in my telegram of Saturday last that the marble man was manufactured at Cow Flat, - viz., the marble at that place is very white, like alabaster. I saw the quarry and the place that the marble was said to have been taken from, also pieces hewn from the quarry at least 12ft. by 10ft., on the ground. All the marble that I have seen from the Caleula quarry is a very different sort from the Cow Flat marble, it being mottled. On visiting G. F. Sala's late residence at Croaker's old public-house at Cow Flat, I found quantities of clippings of marble secreted in the old closet, some covered over with sheep manure, and others in a drain covered over with earth. I also was shown one of the empty bottles which had contained the acid, it was one of those large ones usually kept by chemists for acids, with glass stopper."

Under date 10th June Sub-inspector Ford writes as follows :-

"I beg to inform you that since writing my report of yesterday concerning the marble man, I ascertained that G. F. Sala hired the waggonette and grey horse from James Small, of Orange, on or about the 9th May last, and when he returned to Orange on Monday, the 13th, he hid a long box in the same. On the following day he took the same to Dr. Souter's residence in Anson-street, Orange, and the doctor then found it contained the marble man, and he retained the same for nearly a week for examination. Sala then took it away, and exhibited it in Summer-street for two or three days, and then took it to Sydney. I am now more fully convinced than ever that the marble or petrified man never was at Caleula."

The extracts referred to in the report are all attached to the papers, but they contain very little additional information. Police Constable E. F. Rossiter, of Blayney, reports on June 8, for the information of Sub-inspector Ford, "That on the 20th May last, during the time he was doing temporary duty at Orange, he visited a house in Summer-street which was occupied by a, man exhibiting a marble figure, which he represented to be ‘an ancient sculpture, or petrified human body.' Before entering the building the constable was accosted by a man who stated his name was Bridon. He also informed the constable that the figure that was being exhibited inside was carved by the man who was exhibiting it at his quarry at or near Caleula, and added that it was a fraud and an imposition on the public. He also stated that his boy was engaged by the sculptor for three months, his duty being to watch the place and give an alarm in the event of any person approaching, so that he would have time to cover it up in order to prevent its being seen. Bridon also stated that he had visited the place times out of number during the time the man was working at the figure, and noticed that he used a quantity of acids and other chemicals. He assured the constable that he was speaking the truth, and, when leaving, stated that he was going to each of the local newspapers to have a paragraph inserted so that all the public should know that it was a fraud.

Mr. Oscar Dilmer, of Orange, writing to Sub-inspector Ford, on June 6, says :—

The first time I heard about this specimen was on the 13th of May last, when Dr. J. C. Souter informed me that a certain Mr. Sala had found in a quarry at Caleula the petrified remains of a human body, and had conveyed them into Orange with the view of consulting the doctor as to the genuineness of the find. The specimen, packed in a case to fit its size, was then at Mr. J. Small's Tattersall's Hotel, but was brought the next day to the doctor's residence, his place being more convenient for examination. Mr. Sala, in course of conversation, told us that he was the owner of a marble quarry at Caleula, and whilst engaged in laying bare a large block of marble, suitable for his purposes, discovered a foot of the abovementioned specimen sticking out of the ground. He then, with the assistance of his son, a youth of about 14 years of age, dug the specimen out, and finding it to be the shape of a human body, hid it out of sight from the other workmen. Later on, when alone, they washed it, first with soap, then with soda, and lastly with acids, in order to get the loose dirt off, after which they brought it into Orange for examination, and also asked us to keep it perfectly secret and not allow anyone to see it until the doctor had examined it and proved its genuineness. Well, he did examine it, and soon proved it to be a hoax. I refer to Dr. J. C. Souter's letter in the 'Western Advocate' of the 22nd of May last. The next day Mr. Sala again paid us a visit, and on hearing the doctor's doubts about the specimen, again told the interesting story how he found it, but in want of a little memory, contradicted his former statement somewhat. He also informed us, under the seal of secrecy, that he had found in the same place, a petrified woman and a child complete ; he had hidden them under a large tree, and had covered them with leaves. I did not believe him, more so as Mr. Brydon, from Lewis Ponds, suddenly became his partner, whose name he (Mr. Sala) never mentioned in our first interview, and it was from him he wanted to hide his finds. As Mr. Brydon knew nothing about them, according to Mr. Sala's statement, he (Mr. Sala) intended to have the specimen exhibited, but without his name being connected with the affair, in order to cheat Mr. Brydon, as he explained himself. The next day, to my astonishment, Messrs. Brydon and Sala put in their appearance, and it seemed, from what I could see, that the former knew more about the specimen than the latter. The whole affair, therefore, seemed to me a made-up thing, a swindle, and I was in this belief confirmed by Dr. J. C. Souter, who, after visiting the place where it was alleged the specimen had been found, declared it utterly impossible that the specimen could have been found there. A few days after a man from Cow Flat, by the name of Bell, came and informed us that he knew about this marble man being hewn out on Cow Flat.