Every story of a mermaid pictured a goddess-like creature sitting upon a rock in the sea, combing her hair. Almost every one of the ancient races left behind them accounts of the mermaid. These have been discredited for ages, being groomed with other myths such as the Greeks entertained. The sea serpent and dragon of such terrible aspect described by writers of old were ranked with the mermaid as a figment of imagination. But the discovery of this skeleton, it is claimed, discredits all the theories of civilization and brings to the fore once more the question so often asked—were there really mermaids?     The name mermaid is of Teutonic origin, corresponding with triton and siren as used in antiquity. The Childeans called this creature Oannes, the Chinese named her Wimpus, and even one tribe of American Indians were said to have had a legend of the mermaid, in which they term her Ottawes.     It has been one of the unexplainable points of the mermaid legend that so many peoples in such distant parts of the globe believed in the reality of a creature half woman and half fish. It would be hard to imagine two races further apart than the Chaldeans and the Indians, but both knew of the mermaid.     Whatever of truth there may be in the reported finding of this skeleton, it, at any rate, opens anew one of the most fascinating chapters in the lore of mankind. The Lancaster News. (Lancaster, S.C.), 07 Sept. 1917. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress.