Evening Republican, Volume 22, Number 158, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 7 July 1919 — BURIED WEALTH IN IVORY [ARTICLE]

BURIED WEALTH IN IVORY

Place in Far Northern Siberia Is Undoubtedly Where Mammoths Went to Die. In the region of fjte Lena delta, In far northern Siberia, there is a gigantic species of mole which, burrowing underground, dies if by chance exposed to light. It Has enormous tusks, and the half-savage nomails of the country sometimes use strips of its thick hide for reindeer harness. Truth to tell, the ‘‘mole” is the longextinct mammoth, tyid the last surviving specimen perished long before the earliest dawn of hitman history, says a writer in Philadelphia Ledger. Indeed, it may very well be that 100,000 years have passed since the youngest mammoth walked the earth. In their day these huge animals roamed in herds all over northern Siberia, when* the climate was mild and salubrious. But then* came a sudden change and .lack Frost established a permanent reign in-llujt part of the world. 'l'he mammoths, huddled lu valleys, were overwln Itttcd by snowdrifts, which hardened to so!hl ice. preserved their bodiespintm 1 < v >ll to the present time. L Now ami then ti* hot sun of the short arctic summer ntehs out aud reveals to view One <--f the great carcasses —the meat still fresh enough to be fed to dogs. . The eyeballs of one specimen found i<n rhe Tas river, between the Obi and,l he Yencsel, were ns perfect as if the anima) had been killed only a titty or two earljer.