Casper Daily Tribune Newspaper, January 19, 1925, Page 2

cl Scientists to Search Gobi Hill for Bones of Adam CIENCE is on a man hunt Into the wilds of the Mongolian 4 y Chapman Andrews and e p: rt of Gob!, will push, ng traces of Adam, s not the Adam of the Bible that this party hopes to find but it is the first man of the human era, Ho will be a man who lived on this earth millions of years ago. He was the first of the living things that could claim the title of man, Everything that bore the spark of life before him was a mammal, He will not be a descendant of the ape, scientists bes About the same time that the ape developed from a ed mammai man also was developing, The ape and the man may be said to be both branches, starting from almost the samo point o1. the tree of life. For the first hundred thousand years, scientists believe, the diffe between the man embryo and the ape’s an- cestor was t. oped faster. to a certain point. in our sense of the word, but a day of thousands of years duration, emerged ut something happened. Man 4 The ¢ »© developed highly, but on’ Then one day—it was not a day t man. Ie was the first living creature thut fulfilled the scien: fic definition of man, s beyond the happiest hope of the scien- y find the first tndividual that find but the bones of a descendant that n years later they will be overjoyed, 250,000 FOR A SKULL Dr. Andrews’ party is gambling @ quarter of a million tie party that aman, If the lived half a milli do: thelr lives In the hope of finding perhaps only a skull that urs in cash, five years of their existence and risk of can take its place in the cycle of time as the parent of the world. There is romance in this strange hunt. It wos 46 years ago that Professor Henry F. Osborn, a member of Dr. Andrews’ previous expedition, made the prediction that led to the search. Professor Osborn assembled all the known information about early man before him. He studied the prehistoric man, his ancestor, the Pithecanthropus, and his ancestor, the Piltdown man, the Neanderthal man, and the Cro- Magnon man. Remains of these early inhabitants of the sphere had not been confined to one continent. Furthermore, animals known to have been contemporaneous with them were found in widely scattered portions of the earth, And the earliest of these men showed a high development. “Preceding our own race by ten to twenty thousand yours were the artloving Cro-Magnons of Europe Their brain was as large as our own, and evidence indleates; that their Intelligence was highly developed,” he said, MINDS OF HIGH TYPE “Superior individuals of this race undoubtedly developed their owt philosophy. that could take {ts place with the philosophy of the modern man. We have evidence of great artistic ability. Clearly st took centurles for these people to develop. I belleve we can trace the Cro-Magnons to Asia.” For intelligence—it 1s that that puts man above the njammal—grows slowly, ‘The ape has been on this earth as long as man. Yet the ape has not developed the brain that man has, although the ape's opportunities were at one time as grea’ ‘The lizard has been on earth longer, perhaps, Yet it has but a feeble intelligence. Its opportu- almost completely borne out that scientists are nitles, of course, were much less than the opportu- nities of man, The country in which the present expedition is going was at one time ideal for the development of confident that in Asia can be found the missing specimens. . The remains of the man the party expects to nian. “The country was never densely forested,” Pro- fessord Osborn declared. This 1s indicated by ant- remains. No alert race can develop in the forest nor in the river bottoms, where there {s plentiful food and luxuriant vegetation. “It {s on the plateaus and uplands, where life is most exacting and where the struggle for existence sharpens the wits and makes man develop or die. was an upland country, even ge of mammals, It was an open coun- ngolia alwas the h forests here and there, and with a climate inlike that of the United States. “GARDEN OF EDE ’ l this point man could have uted all over { Africa and the Americas were linked by lund in times past and there were no bar riers to Europ Professor Osborn belloved: Man was a million years older than it was gen- erally belleve he Cro-Magnon man was not the earliest’ man, but a comparatively modern being. Man had one central place of origin, and if this place could be found evidence of the earllest hu- man life on earth could be found there, 1 2 Where was the Gar- 4 r Professor Osborn predicted that central Asia was t Ho had made fossil dis « ies that Indicated to him that it eo 7 ible to find t s of the earljcst ofr s there. He named the animals he t ht 1 be found, Some of these were un- h ven thelr bones had not been found, Ho there would be found remains of PREDICTION COMES TRUE Txpeditions set out and found fossils of every 1) Professor Osborn had predicted, with one ‘That exception was the five-toed horse. bones of the first man are yet to be un- find will disclose sloping forehead, receding chin, long arms and short legs. “Yet, he will be neither ape nor man,” Dr, An- drews declares. “However, his physical characteristics will close ly resemble those of the ape or gorilla.” In brief, that is the famous explorer’s answer to evolution. In other words, Dr. Andrews holds that unless we are willing to accept the theory of evolution in some way, then we are unwilling to believe our own eyes. It was last turned to the Unite r when Dr. Andrews re of States with pos the gr t collections ¢ wu expedition, With him. came has been busily engaged ever since arranging the wonderful collections taken from the bowels of the distant Gobi Desert. “So extensive were our finds it was fmpossible to carry on 0) properly arrang field work until they had been 4," Dr. Andrews explained, in giving an account of the time the Third Asiatic Expedition has spent in far away Mongolia since its arrival in 1920, RAISES MONEY FOR WORK Since his return to this country Dr. Andrews has been the guest of honor at countless dinners. Din- ners, he hints, are more strenuous than actual work upon the desert, and for this reason he is glad to get back. “The first month after I returned, I was a guest at 32 dinners,” Dr, Andrews exclaimed, These dinners have served the explorer well, for it was al them that he was able to Interest men and women of wealth in his work. Subscriptions are still coming in as a result of them, and the present expedition, with its quarter of @ million dollars, is one of the most fully equipped in history “Money talks, and. it takes talk to get money, ‘That's an excellent slogan,” Dr. Andrews sa; “Millionaires are usually sentimental, Quite often they have made thelr vast fortunes in some kind of venture. ‘Then, rich and poor alike are equaily Interested in knowing what the human race comes fiom.” To answer this quostion was the expeditions ARTIST'S CONCEPTION OF PRIMITIVE FAMILY. first problem. When it went forth in 1920, it was to test certain theories concerning the origin of mankind—to find, if possible, the cradle of civilization. “The expedition was concerned with no depart: ment of science which did not bear directly upon this problem,” Dr, Andrews declared. SPECIALIZE ON MAN “Of course that 1s our hope, although so far as work {fg concerned we shall be able to show suffi: cient results even if we bring back no new ev!i- dence upon the beginnings of the race. “We can't be definite. We can only say that the evidence we have convinces us that we are seeking in the right place. We are specializing on man. We have never tried to find him before— we were examining rocks older than humanity, But now_we are going to the rocks where human remains are most likely to exist. It 1s a gamble as to what wo will discover, but we think the justify gambling. ‘Some students will tell you we are hunting for @ needle in the geological haystack. They say that man had a higher intelligence than dinosaurs and mastodons, He was not easily trapped or bogged. In numbers he was fewer than most other animals. Therefore, he is not so'likely to be found, All this is true. “But if finding man in the rocks {s finding the needle, what about dinosaur eggs? They might the dust on the needle. Nothing more !n- he ca conceivable than thelr discovery could have been postulated. Yet we found the dinosaur eggs and we may find man, Nothing Is impossible. And in the case of man we have the efforts of twelve branches of sclence all brought to bear-directly upon the ven If we are not successful in finding the first man, we will be successful In adding to our rful colle It’s like searching for gold. The clement of ¢ is always with you.’ CARAVAN The scene of the expedition'’s operations is the Gobi Dosert of southern Mongolia, The name Gobia Is given by geologists to a hitherto unknown continental surface in the heart of Asia. In the expedition are 200 camels driven by na tives, seven motor cars and 40 men; representing twelve different branches of science, When the expedition left !n 1920 there were only six branches of sctence represented. The expedition starts.from Kalgan some dis- tance north of Peking and Will penetrat. one thousand miles into the Gobl Desert. Before the staff of scientific men under Dr. Andrews leaves Kalgan, it will be preceded by the 200 camel carayan next November. It will be the purpose of this caravan to estab lish depots where gasoline, food and other supplies can be stored. The caravan will proceed at.the rate of about 15 miles a day while the motor cars to follow will average one ‘hundred iniles a day. At the end of this tedious Journey, ‘across the hard hot sands of Mongolia, is happy hunting ground for members.of the expedition, It was here the expedition found the dinosaur egg, mil Hons of years old, now resting in the ‘American Museum of Natural History, and many other speci mens of animal life which frequented Central Asia at that time. 15,000,000 YEARS It 1s estimated the Central Aslan perlod goes back fifteen milllon years, and at that time ku rope and North Amerfea Were so undeveloped, geo logically speaking, that both continents were bob bing up and down In the waters of the ocean. What could be a better reason for man's first chotce of homes? It was natural first man should choose substantial surroundings. And, according to the scientists, Central Asia was the only real terra ffrma upon which he could plant his two feet firmly, and fight the gigantic beasts of lis day. The arboreal theory of the origin of man must be givon up, Professor Osborn declared, “Flls ancestors, If they Hved tn trees, left them in the middle period of the age of mammals, 1, 500,000 years ago. “Anatomically man may be compared to the higher apes, but at feast one important differ- ence.must be noted. The limbs of man are not adapted to life In trees. ‘The tree jiving apes have long arms‘and short legs. Men has short arma and long legs.” WANDERED FROM HOME Remains of anclent dinosaurs found in Great Britain, and as far east as the New Jersey coast, ROUTE OF ANDREWS’ PARTY show that some of these prodigious creatires wan- dered out of their favorite life zone. They have been found’ in greatest numbers between the parallels of latitude, and along the ancient {90- therms of climate, where life way most agreeable to them. When the expedition launches forth again, great effort will be expended in the search for a five toed period in the evolution of a higher type of hoofed mammals. The scientists feel that it is possible that this cradlo of the five:toed hoofed race may be in some other more northerly part of the plateau region of Asia. ' “All that we can feel sure of today {s that these long sought five-toed horses were evolving some- where in a. dry upland country, because {t 1# only in such a country that the loss of the first digit of the hand and foot ‘would:occur,” explains Pro- fessor Osborn. “Thus we are seeking in Gobia, or to the north, 4 country where the thumb of the hand and the big toe of the foot were lost,” he continues, “be- cause when these quadrupeds arrived in Amreica, in the Lower Eocene time, they had without ex- ception left their thumb and big toe behind them.” MAY FIND WONDERS And the scientists do not know what else they may find. They do not know but perhaps as they pry into the remains of ancient swamps they will find bones of mammals that were not known to exist on earth before. They may find remains of plant life that chal- lenges the {magination: of the most advanced stu- dents of prehistoric growths. They may even find traces of a form of life the existence of which has not even been guessed at before. This business of searching great segments of he surface of the carth for a few small bones ts i great adventure to the men who take part. It is thelr life work. The thrilis in it are as sreat as the thrills tn almost any other kind of endeavor. ‘The finding of one bone, small though it be, may prove for one of them a theory that he has dedicated his life to proving. Then, too, there are other adventures. Battles with brigands are not uncommon tn the Gobi wastes. Conflict between Mongolians, Chinese and Rus sians, all of whom desire this territory, have shorn it of police and military rule, There 1s also a gamble on food and supplies. Transportation facilities may become impaired. It is one continual battle against the fates in which, the scientists are staking their all for the advancement of human knewledge. Dead Nations. Explored IORGOTTEN civilizations have felt the probing fingers of mod- ern science. Eerie mysteries of hidden cities, shrouded secrets of dead nations, and the bright-hued stories of Ta, cient monarchies ere being revealed to the eyes of the Twentieth Cen- tury. The structure of history itself is being remade. Today, in different parts of the world, a score of archaeological ex- Peditions are in the fleld—delving into the yellowed story of past clvil- izations. In Old Mexico, study of the Az. tec civilization is belng conducted under the auspices of the American Museum of Natural History, The American Museum also is financing an expedition to study mineralogy, geology and zoology in Mongolia. Archaeological groups in the Nile Valley are being backed by the Metropolitan Museum of Art; in Babylonia, Palestine and Egypt, by the University of Pennsylvania; in Honduras, by Harvard University; in Yucatan, by Carnegie Institute; in New Mexico and the Ozark Moun- tains, by the Museum of the Amert- can Indian; and in Lydia, Asia Mi- nor, by the American Society for the Excavation of Sardis. TRACE DUSKY EMPIRE An expedition of Harvard Unt- versity and the Boston Museum of Fine Arts is endeavoring to deter- mine the extent of the Ethiopian Empire in Egypt. There has been interest in archae- ology—which 1s called the sclence of antiquities—as long as there have been any antiquities, When the Roman Emperor Augus- tus caused @ dozen obelisks, made by Egyptians long before his day, to be set up in the circuses at Rome, he was an archaeologist. Real archaeology, however, came into being about a hundred years ago—when governments and indi- viduals first undertok |the scientific search for relics of forgotten ages. TUT’S TOMB BIGGEST FIND The most remarkable and far reaching accomplishment of archae- ologists in recent time was the dis- covery of the tomb of King Tutankh- amen. In November, 1922, Lord Carnarvon and Howard Carter, in the Valley of the Kings, near Thebes in Egy} dug underneath the tomb of Rame- “>, ses VI. They found a stairway. It led far down to an outer room. On February 16, 1923, the burial chamber was vpened. Under a gild- ed canopy was @ second canopy within which lay the royal sarco- phagus. An adjoining burial cham- ber was crowded with wonderful works of art of every kind. Perhaps the world’s greatest find, thus fer, was brought to light. Within a year later Tutankhamen's pink sarcopha- gus came to view. Another great discovery was made fa Sardis on April 13, 1922, when 30 solid gold staters of the Lydian King Croesus, whose name still signifies wealth, were found in a small pot of coarse gray clay not far below the surface of the soll. ACCIDENTAL FIND 4. workman on a railroad just out- side Rome drove his pick into the roof of a subterranean edifice not long ago. Within'a few weeks archi: tects, artists, archaeologists and hi torlans from all parts of the worl flocked to the scene. Remarkable works of art were excavated. The greatest of the European finds in the last two decades have been made in Russia, especially South Russia. In a Scythian royal tomb of thé fourth century B. C., at Solo- ka, on the lower Dnieper, were found the king and all his treasures. The western hemisphere, too, has come In for its share of archaeolog!- cal aehlevement. The mounds of the middle states, the mesas, the pueb- los, the dwellings hollowed by art and nature in the beetling cliffs of canyon walls, all are absorbing more and more. interest REVEAL GREAT EMPIRES Chile, Peru and Mexico have dis- closed more remains of the gr people of centuries ago. Of late Guatemala, Yucatan and Honduras with their ancient peoples, especial- ly the Mayas, are giving up antiques which date back to a period F2fore Christ.