Coral g!Jrdelt was plIJt of strange construction the eceentric created over 3D-year span.

Florida's

CORAL CASTLE

MYSTERY

tons.

Tbis slight IOO-pound man r,ised stones weighing "I have discovered the secret of the Pyra."ids,'" he explained.

But no one today understands what that secret was.

leeclikalnin. bUIlt two-story tower for living quart .. rs '\lind worbhop but no CIne was allowed in while he Wll5 .li~e.

How COULD one man, weighing about 100 pounds, work~ ing' alone in secrecy, quarrY and rame into place coral rock$lab,s weighing as much as 35 tonsil This is the tl'l:ystery of the socalled Coral Castle and its yal'd of gigantic carved that baffles engineers and ijlO'\i~ sands of visitors annually.

Surrounded by an eight.foot. high wall, it Iies south of Miami near Homestead, Fla., U.S. Highway 1. To entel1 enclosure you turn a block of coral. It weighs

tons b¢ is so pedectlY and balanced that it swung with one finger.

You are now in a

~onderland of rocks hewn into ,undreds of shapes and objects. :A::gWl. with. just a finger, you ean'Set in motion rocking chairs Weighlp.g thousands of pounds. There's a IS-foot-long table with its top carved into :the shape of the state of Florida. A.tiothe~ t:a:ble has the form of a heart gam which a fiowel'ing centerpie:ce 'blooms. There are couches, b~Els and a bathtub all sculp- 1.UFed from solid Gotal slabs.

11U one corner of the enclosure is' the "castle" - a two-storied tower with a total estimated

weight ell 235 tons. Several of the oblong blocks which form the walls weigh nine tons. Near the center of the .rear wall around the courtyard there is another stone door weighing nine tqns and so perfectly balanced on a center pivot that a child can move it wjth ease. And it is S0· closely fitted into the wall that there is barely a half inch clearance between it and the stones franting it.

All of these wonders - and -there are many more - were created in the hope that a dream

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would ceme true. It never did but Edward Leedskalnin, in addinen to being a brilliant eccentric, w.as a very stubborn man. He preserved His futile faith until the end of his life.

It begap long age when Ed was a youngman living in a village near Riga, Latvia. He fell in love with a 16-year-ald peasant girl, They became engaged and Ed was happy. Then, just before the wedding, his world fell apart. The gh:l tearfully told him she loved someone else. HeartJ:;rt:)ken and humiliated, he fled from his

Nine-ton eor ... 1 stone door in rear wall is so perfectly balallced on its center pivot it can be swulIg with one fin<jilr.

home and the village. But he sti loved her.

America was the land of 0 ; portunity. There, l:lerhaps, ht1:l could accomplish something sli unusual that he would gain th,i world's attention. He would b~ oom,e famous. his name would 1:;. known everywhere, Th~n the gi,r would realize ber mistake. Sh would leave her Simple peasant life and come to him. "FIe woul!i forgive her and together they would start a new life in the Ne World. During the rest of his days Ed always referred to hik

lost love as "Sweet Sixteen. I> '

So Leedskalntn eame, to the United Staies. For the .next decade he wandered across th'· country from New York to California, a IOlIely man working a odd jobs, living simply and saw ing most of his money. His leisure hours were spent in .reading scientific books and conductin experiment:> in physics.

It was while working in Tex ' that he discovered his secret. Now he knew what he must ,d9~ He would build a monument iliA: would be one of the wonders if the modem world. The J1Il'ojeet 'Would require much time ~ h~d labor .but fame eventua1fl would be his and Sweet Sine would return to his arms. Sin* he would have to work the year 'round, he moved Flo_rida.

Engineers remain mystified ilS to how these simple tooll. could move giallt sto.nes.

Ed was 31 years old in 1918 when he settled On several acres Qf isolated land near the village ,€If Florida City. He cut down .;$ome pine trees and built a log . cabin. His few neighbors found him 'friendly but secretive about .Ills activities. At first they ~ ought he Was a treasure huner. He quarried rock and from jt ;made his own furniture for the Cabin and began to carve some of his exhibition pieces.

Several years passed and then ai real estate developer began to u:ild homes close to his cabin. If l1:'e was to attain fame, Ed. knew his working methods would nave o remain mysteries. He located '~ lO-aere tract north of Homestead several miles away, aban-

oned the cabin, and with the . tance (:If Bob Big:gers who

owned a heavy-duty truck, he moved his rock furniture to the new site. At that time, in the early 1920's, th~ nearby toad was only a trail. Today it is the heavily-traveled four-lane approach to the Florida Ke~s.

First, Leedskalnin built a wall of stone slabs, each weighing several tons, to a height of eight _feet around his courtyard. Then he erected his two-story tower or castle. The first floor was his workshop and storehouse. He lived on the second floor whim was furnished with a rocking chair. a bed Which could be pulled to the oeiling, and a legless table which project-ed .from the wall. Ed had a Passion for neatness and he didn't want anything in the way when he sw~pt the floor;

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Now he went to work on his endless creations of mammoth stone.

"I have discovered the secret of the Pyramids," Ed said in later years. "I ·have found out how the Egyptians and the- ancient builders ;i'n Peru, Yucatan and Asia, With only primitive tools, raised and set in (place blocks of stone weighing many tons. The Pharaohs had thousands of slaves but I can do it alone. " Modern engineers who have viewed his work will testify that hi!; claJ.m was certainly not an idle boast.

Although no one ever saw Ed quarry the corrul'ock, a'study of the tools he left gives some idea of his methods. He apparently drove one end of a wire cable several feet into the rock with an iron stake. The other end of the cable was attached to an apparatus that he moved back and forth dn a sawiM prosess until the cut reached- the depth of the driven cable end.

A similar par@el cut would be made at a distance determined by the size of slab he wanted. Next he cut a trench between the: parallel cuts several feet in depth and set a row of fiat chisels down. BY' hammering each chisel .in- succession with a sledge the block of stone would eventually crack free £rom the bedrock.

Setting up a tripoCi pf logs to-

LORIDA'S GORAL CASTLE MYSTERY

support a hoist, Ed would sling cable around the slab gradually raise it out of ground with the aid of [aeks wedges, Fina.lly, with the use wooden rollers ana an mined arrangement of he gradually would move sla'Jj to the- location where idresseq it and set it Into manent position. It was tedious labor but Ed was a of infinite patience. Mereover. was his proud boast that never had ruined a stone.

AS to his method of Weights as great as 35 tons, it known that Leedskalnin covered improved ways of the prtnciples of pulleys levers. He even. showed ~isitin experts. the type of equipment used - heavy chains 15 fee_t length, wheels from the l-~CJ.l""'i1U handcars salvaged from yards, steel cables and What mystifies the however, ish0W equipment this nature and size could

sibly be enjoined to the tremendous Weights that raised in the air to high 01' stood upright. There is doubt that Ed applied :s principle in weight lifting remains a secret today.

For example, Ed handedly quarried, moved raised an obelisk that is 27 high --three feet higher than

;eent-ral trilithon at Stonehenge, England.

Another obelisk - 25 feet high d weighing nearly 30 tons - is art of Ed's Iensless polaris telecope. .It has a circular hole bore_d throug.bit near the top.

-lthin the hole are wires crossng at _right angles like 3. gun"sight. A similar' hole with crossed wires is in another, much (;;lweI', stone several feet away. _' rom tois stone, by lining up the ~re cross-points :in -it and the Iilbeli<;k, one finds he is looking airectly at the Nor';h Star. Ed's i!nterE!'s,tin astronomy is also e.vident in the coral representaof the moon and planets are lined along the rear ard wall.

Ed's mirror for washing and was a small, rectangstone, hollowed out to a of about two inches, The '"I'J;ll"~-""U.l was darkened with pitch

o't.!" u, ",lien oevered with water,

a pe;r.£ect reBection. At , after a hard day's work,

would relax in what he claimthe first contour

- a massive three-ton

~\I!Ju"l;Illt: with a curved back.

One of the most astonishing

LeedSkaInfu's creations is a sundial whlch gives the to within two minutes of all year around. On

curved base-s- a large, semislab of smoothed stone

- are a series of long loops that correspond to the sun's apparent course throughout the seasons. On June 21, when the sun is at its northernmost position, the shadow of the pointer falls along the bottom of the loops; on December 21, the sun's southernmost position, the Shadow moves along the top of the .loops. The laops are numbered for even and half hours. Thus at any period of the year the pointerJs shadow Will give: the a,ppr()~tr)ate time. A more accurate time can be obtained by measuring the dIstance of the shadcw'spoin-t £ram the sides af the loop it happens to be moving in.

Through the years Edward Leedskalnin lived a Spartan existence, A small allowance from. a relative's oil business in Texas covered his meager living expenses. A bicy-cle was his means of transportation and he freguently rode to the public library at Homestead where he would spend hours reading books and magazines'.

Ed permitted, but did not seek, visitors. Usually he was friendly and would lead his guests through the gro-unds, patiently explaining his creations 'in a heavily-accented voice. At no time would h-e allow anyone to enter the tower. No fee was charged but he did accept donations if they were offered.

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But Ed was a proud man. If a visitor questioned the fact that he had dene all the work by himself .. he would glare at the skep.tic and shout, "I did it, all of it, alone I" then tum and march ang.rilyaway. Such. ~uestions, he believed, reHected on his honesty and talent.

It was Ed's theory that magnetism is the fundamental energy, the key to the mystery of the physical mllverl>e, and the force that activates all organisms including the human body-. He wrote several booklets which he published at his own expense. With, one exception, an of them were on magnetism, outlining his theory and explaining simple experiments with magnets, automobile battertes and similar objects. The exception was called A Book r", Every Home which presented Ed's views on politics and sex. There were no references to the Coral Castle or his building methods in any of the booklets.

Despite his 'unique accomplishments, Ed considered himself a failure. HIs lifelong dream. never became reality. He did not attain international fame" Sweet SU:teen never eame aeross the sea to brighten his days and bear his children.

For long, weary hours and yean he had labored in anticipation of her ru:rival. From the coral he

had carved twin beds that :furnish their home, a pail" clI:i1tlren'3 beds, a cradle and small crib. But not one of objects would ever know warmth of a family.

He had hewed a ({F'n .. m~,,,, ..

Heart" - a half-ton stone "'LI"'_.~ ed into a heart shape. Sweet Sixteen comes," he ...... '" .• ~II"'· teU hiS' nEtigheorS, "th~re will ti:mes when one .of us has £eeIin.gs hurt. We can sit until the hurt heals and the will remind us of our love."

He had built a 'Re!pent'Ulcle Comet" where tbe woUld be Semfor punishment. ' believe in disclpline," he plained. "My children will good kids. I will raise them to tine useful citizens."

Most poignant of all was patiQ that he called the " of the Three Bears." It cont~linea three chairs of varied sizes, table and a huge coral bowl, "This is where the will pla:y," Ed said - and times there were tears in. the man's eyes.

For well over three decades worked beneath the Flerida hoping, dreaming, waiting. Sweet Sixteen remained only image of his ycmth, a fore\fer fixed in the stardust memory.

After Ed died in 1951 at the of 64, the authorities and

FLORIDA'S CORAL CASTLE MYSTERY

curlous looked over- his possesaions,: They founq the pulley

system dismantled with no clues as to how it had been assembled. In .a drainpipe in the tower they ound lUs life's savings ~ $3,000

in $J.OO bills,

No, Ed Leedskalnin did not worlq, fam~. But itJday ~w.-'~~ ••• Castle is marked on mapa

of the state ol Florida. Each year thOUS8l).dJ;- of visitors walk through his castle ana look at the massive heWh opjects and wonder. The mys_tery remains. And Ed's Cl'e5l:Uons in 'St{)he probably will decorate his eourtyard -and memorialize his lost dream for years and years to come.

HYPNOSIS OF THE DEAF

By Chester Geier

AT FIR~ 'XHOUGH'l' it James E, Casey of Silver seems llDlikely that deaf Spring, Md., have developed an persons could be hypnotized be- effectfv-e method of using slgn cause of their diftic'!lty in un- language In hypnotizmg the toderstanding a hypnotist's ~oken tally deaf. By this means they commands. :By the use of a pio- bridge the "communication neermg technique, however, gap." Mr. C~y ill skilled.in the deaf- persons can become ready language of $igp;s, for his own

subjects for hypnotism. TltiS re- hearing is slightly defective.

cently was proved 'to an overea- As the aUdience watched. ·Mr. pacity crowd in a New York Cit,' Casey and Colonel Ziglinski aucfitarium during a demonstra- showed that deaf subjects retion aO-Mled by Richard 1\4'yers, . spand to suggestions made Eastern Vtce-Pr..esldent of the through sign langUage while unNational Fraternal Society (jf der bYpnOifis. One young man the Deaf, and ~onsored by the Who had admitted that his shyNew York Civic. Associati[}n of ness made it ilifficult for him to the »eat. speak: to others deliv~d a skill-

For more than two hours; two -If¢ ''pitcli'' as a used-ear salesllrofessional hyPnotists beld the man.:A Oignijied matron, a conaudience $Pellbound as they dis- .seientious housekeeper, got played an am82ing abillty to put down on her knees llnd gave the deaf subjects, chosen at random, lloor an ~erget1c .scrubbing with into a nance _state. a nonexistent brush. A deaf man

The J)l"8ctitionel:"1I; Lt. CoL .ro- who had dreamed in hili youth o:t seph H. Zigllnski, U.S. Army becmning a musician gave an <Ret.), Research Director of the insp!re4 performance with an Washington HnInotic Guild, and imaginary violin.

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