The Greatest curiosity in the vicinity of Marion is the famous "Moving Ball" which is thirty-six inches in diameter of highly polished granite and rests on the monument in the C. B. Merchant lot in the cemetery.

The monument was erected in the fall of 1896, is 8 feet high, and the huge sphere which weighs 4200 pounds rested in the position as placed until 1900 when it was noticed that the rough spot as shown in the picture had in some manner moved out of the socket where it was originally placed and since then it has gradually moved until Jan. First, 1910 it is estimated to have covered 70 inches.

The movement is much faster in winter than any other time of year and always in the directions of North to South. One explanation is given that freezing and thawing hundreds of times and as the socket is nearly always damp and heat expanding finally forced it out of its socket. However, scientists in Europe and this country are not agreed as to its movement.