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About The Alliance herald. (Alliance, Box Butte County, Neb.) 1902-1922 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 16, 1903)
I ' m TAe Day of yil Sanfe Solemn Ceremonies Mark Its Observance in European Countries Prayers For the Dead and Decoration of Graves. Open LongsSealed Graves Explorers Find Remains of Great Egyptian King Buried Fortyfive Hundred Years Ago Splendid Paintings and Sculpture, Salt Lake Is Drying Up Utah's Great Natural Curiosity Threatened With Total Destruction Business Men of the City Are Much Alarmed, (Special Correspondence.) t WWVNSN VNrf-VW (Special Correspondence.) (Special Correspondence) ,m 4 4 If V h HROUGHOUT Kttrope the llrst nnt second days of November nre grunt church holidays. No. 1 All Saints' lay the Hainan Cath olics and Lutherans i ft TBrQii obseive In .honor of the sacred group of martyrs and saints. The follow in day All Souls' they decorate to the memory of "the souls of all those who have died In the communion of the hod and blood of our Lord." Chancing last November to be In Munich the heart ot Gorman Roman Catholicism 1 had the oppor tunity in participating in homo of the Interesting old-woild observances of these festivals. During the last week of October the city underwent a trnnstoimatlon. Long lines of scaffolding sprang up along the street curbings and quickly their buses weio hidden under w tenths of lilies and immortelles and masses of chrysanthemums. The business thor oughfares wete deserted, while wom en and men flocked to the cemeteries, working like bees among the serried graves. Hy the close of Oct. 31 every grave had its floral decoration and Munich's whole population was pre pared to divide the time dating the two holidays between the churches and the burial places. On the morning of All Saints', not knowing what places would be the most Intel estlng, I decided just to follow the largest crowds. The stream flowed into St. Boniface, an immense chinch copied after the early Italian basilica. Counting their beads the people hurried down the long aisles and descended stairways under the choir. I found myself In the vault beneath the church, where monastic orders bury their dead. Twelve-Year-Old Jesus on The arrangement ot this subtetra nean burial place was like that of the staterooms of a ship Compartments Eix feet thiough divided the sides and centers of the vault. On either side of these partitions weie narrow aisles which lead into the center aisles. Vines and flowers festooned the white walls, making the heavy air of the vault more oppressive with their odors. The multitude paused to pray In the aisles and to sprinkle holy water on the flowers I peered mound to find the graves. A big German poined a finger toward the wall. A funeral wreath encircled an Inscription cut Head of Infant Christ. (Murillo.) into the calcimine: "hler legt B ru der Johannes.'' Nothing more. Sealed up In tho wall, "Bruder Johannes" lay with only this meager inscription to mark his narrow resting place. It was a relief to come from these tombs into the light and air of the streets. The people were wending now into old St. Michael's, where during the feasts the royal vaults are thrown open. Soldiers stood In the aisles and marshaled the crowd into single tile. While the head of this line In' the rear end of tho church was going down Into the crypt, the peoplo were stepping Into place out on the street, Tho Southern cemetery of Munich, which contains the finest monuments In Germany, is one largo flower gar fln for All Souls'. So costly arc the Sic-oratlons of the rich that they often njL i- must hire watchers to gtinrd them by night. Fashionable people vlo with each other In getting up striking floral designs. 1 saw a largo winged angel of white roses on one hnndsomo mon ument. Ampng other artistic designs were doves of white lilies and crowns ol yellow chrysanthemums. On many of the graves were photo graphs of tho decedents. On somo were evergreens decorated with burn- Madonna of the Grotto. (Carl Mullor.) Ing candles, like a Christmas tree. There was no grave so humble that it had not some kind of festal dress. As in Germanj whole families often use one grave and one monument, be ing buried one nbove another, the ex pense of decorating for All Soul's Is greatly lessened The festival of A'll Saints had its His Way to Jerusalem, origin in the seventh century, In the conversion of the Pantheon at Uomo Into a Christian place of worship. Tho Pantheon, dedicated In pagan times to Juniter Vindex, was in tho seventh century the Inst remaining monu ment of heathenism. Pope Boniface IV. obtained permission from Emperor Phocas to re-dedicate the 'Pantheon to the Virgin and all tho martyrs. Old church annals relate that at this dedi cation twenty-eight carriages bore the bones of martyrs from all the cemeteries In Rome to the Pantheon. The anniversaries of this day were celebrated In Rome on May 1. The number of salni having Increased so rapidly that It wa Impossible to dedi cate a day to each one individually, the rites of the feabt of all the mar tyrs were changed to Include the wor ship of all saints In the eighth cen tury the observance of this day spread to England. France and Ger many, but has not yet become a uni versal holiday. In 83.r. Gregory IV. induced Emperor Lewis, tho Pious, to decree a general observance of the Feast of All Saints. Tho first of November was the day appointed as being tho time when men and women were resting from the harvests. Fiom this time All Saints became one of the great church festivals ami was observed In all Catholic countries On All Souls day everything Is done In tho honor of the sanctified, or for tho sake of the souls In purga tory In German villages the chll dren go in bands trom house to Iioubo on this day. crying out: "Oh, please a cake for the poor souls!" Tho house wife Is prepared to All their baskets, hut the children offer no thanks, tak ing leave with these words: "God will repay you." This custom was In vogue In old English times. In country places It was the practice for hostesses to keep "soul cakes" In the house on Nov. 2 for visitors to eat. An old proverb runs thus: "A soule cake, a soulo cake, have mercy on all Christian soules for a soulo cake." On the day of All Saints the pic ture galleries of European cities are crowded with visitors viewing tho masterpieces of tho great painters. Those dealing with sacred subjects naturally attract the most lnterost. We reproduce three of the most famous. N ALL tho history ot excavation no such In tensely human story has been dug out ?f the forgotten pnst ai Jitr &j&Su$ i& has been brought to the light of day by the re cent work ot tho Ger man Orient society of Beilln at the Pyramid of Abusir. Tho report of almost a ycur of ex ploration has Just been nindo. It Is couched In scientific, matter-of-fact language. But In It Is tho whole drama of life a tremendous sermon preached by fallen stones and royal corpses and the bands of the desert, with mighty, all conquering Death for their text Tho German piofessors found a great king So grent was ho that the great gods, Sechmet, tho Lion headed; Annuls, the Jackal-headed, and the Nile gods are shown bowing belore him Upper nnd Lower Egypt were his. When he died men began to build a vast temple ot tho dead for him Four thouband Ave hundred years ago they burled Ne-woser-re, the king. And tho centuries passed and his tem ple, unfinished, disappeared below tho drifting sands He and his fnmily, his roynl lavorlto and his high prlcsta, became hidden deep below the dwell ings of succeeding kings and priests, and their tombs were piled over all. Then they, too, Bank away and were forgotten. Others built and died Egyptian, Greek and Christian in their turns. The gieat clock of History still wanted a thousand years to tho time of the coming of Christ, and Ne-woser-re, the king, was so utterly lost and forgotten that tho poorest of the poor were burled on top of tho mounds that hid his Imperial tomb that tomb which had been sot by its mighty builders to defy eternity It self. And the German professors dug out dnit ortwe JAE a song, too It was deemed to bo Im mortal when written. So grand did it seem 2,400 years ago that a singer In Egypt had it put Into his tomb wltli him. It Is a great roll of papy rusa poem by Tlmotheos glorifying the victorious fight of Marathon and almost certainly the very oldest Greek book ever found. The poem that made such a vast stir once has lain under the Egyptian sands for more than 2,000 years and songs of Mara thon have piled on songs and been forgotten as the dead piled on the dead over tho tomb of the Egyptian singer. Profs. Borchardt, Voelz and Decker conducted the work of excavation. Their first discovery w'as the foro court of the Temple of the Dead. It had been left unfinished and most of the beautiful columns that had been completed had fallen. But two magnificent pillars wero left. In that courtyard was found tho partly broken figure of a Hon, grandly proportioned and far beyond life-size. Its sculp ture Is so flue that the scientists agree that it was tho work of a sculptor of extraordinary talent. The head was perfectly preserved. The next discovery was that of re liefs depicting some of the most famous Egyptians of that time, whose names and deeds are mentioned in many Inscriptions found In various parts of Egypt. There are also de plctlons of sacrifice. Ono wall paint ing shows the slaughtering of animals before tho tombs of the great dead Another portrays tall, beautiful eas ant women who bear offerings Tho great temple relief of all was found between tho hall of columns and the holy of holiest. It shows tho king himself with npron and lion's tall as Insignia of his high rank. He wears a headdress of feathers and herns, tho mark of a god. The jackal-headed god Anubls steps toward hlpa bring ing him the blgu of life. r Ldttitor,meJeAE sywMo i-ToMrs ys, vVTcomH m WmEsjiiV --" V In a smnllor relief Ne-woser-ro 1 pictured with rnlsed club slaying a group of men whom he holds by their liair. In digging out the chamber of sta tues, the explorers unexpectedly came upon a splendid painting. It was In tended to show a door set Into the solid wall The colors laid on by hands and brushes of which there hns been no estlge left on earth for 4,000 years were bright and glowing, shin ing out of their long-kept darkness Into tho light of today as If they were still wet But scaicelv had the sun streamed in betoio they begun to pale Fortunately the expedition num bered a skillful painter among Its members, and he succeeded In making a true copy In full size ot tho undent work of nrt. Then tho diggers reached tho tomb of tho high priest Jen-em-Jachwet. After breaking out the first stone the Europeans peered In and for tho first time In forty-five centuries human eyes looked upon the coffins of the priests of Ne-woser-re. Tho tomb had been too small for the last coffins and the handles had been sawed from the ends before the stoneB were set In place and sealed. Thoso cuts of the saw were clear and sharp, Just as ivWNO i-TDMrs they had been left on that day ol burial. Here great finds were made. Large ships of the deail were on the coffins that they might be used for tho voyage Into the under world Thtie were the great stone Jugs that had contained water to refresh the shades on their journey. The last gifts of friends and carved wooden statuettes of tho do mestics nnd slaves were scattered through the tomb. Now came the question as to wheth er or not the mummies In the stone cofllns would be found In any state of pieservatlon. If they were they would be the first mummies or that period that ever had been found In condition to bear removal to Europe. The whole party gathered around eagerly while the wooden nails were diawn carefully fiom the coflln ot the high priest and he was found In it just as he had been put to rest when Egypt was young. Jen-em-Jachwet was wiapped in a long brown linen shroud. A colored mask of linen and gypsum lay on his face. The mask had a nanow bide beaid and a long chin-beard, and the eye had been made larger by stieaks of vermilion. A big wig, parted in the middle, was colored bright blue to Imitate lapis-Iazull, showing that the dead man had already become a god, for the ancient Egyptian gods had hair of lapis-Ia.uli. Under the head was a wooden rest. It Is shaped exactly like the wooden pillow that Is used to this day in the Sudan. By his side lay a little wooden statue representing him. According to Egyptian belief this statue was to do the dead man's work for him in the under world. A woman was found next. She wns a Sat-Nofer, the favorite of the king. In that gorgeous life of 4,500 years ago no doubt she had been beautiful and clothed with rich apparel and sur loundod with loveliness and luxury But in death she was not to He as lay tho true queen or her master Placed In a rude coilln of thin wood she was put away In a bare chamber far from the habitations of the rojal dead. Hardly any gifts were laid with her. Instead, as if in Irony a grim joke that was to wait for Inconeeh able time to make Its point they laid by the coffin of tho poor, forgotten lourtcban a bronze mirror without a handle and a little stone used for giinding rouge. As tho digging piogiessed from this point tho history of decline became uncovered. When the explorers reached the remnants of the period 2000 before Christ they found habita tions of priests, bhowing that tho tern pie had votaries. But they were poor and meager, like the ruined graves of the khallfs. And when the workers reached the remains of 1,300 years be fore Christ they found that dust and Band had even then buried the glori ous dynasty and over them wero bun dreds of mean graves. HE Irrigation ditch anil the salt evaporat ing plants ot Utah arc rapidly drluK up the Gieat Salt Lake. The il ci line of Kb wntors has at Inst alarmed tho business men of Salt Lake City to such an extent that they havo petitioned tho Department ot the In terior to pievent If possible, the con tinuance of such phenomena They sn that tho subsidence of these wa teis will he a shtinknge of their pros perity as well. With the Gieat Salt Lake a mere brackish pool. or. should their worst expectations come true, a halt en field of salt, the thousands of lsitorn who now go thither nnd spend their money In the hotels, the snna toriums and tho bathing pavilions will go somowhoio else On the other hand, tho fuimer asset ts that It Is more Important to reclaim the thou sands of tulles of dosuil laud In this region than to pto.sorvo a great sea of stagnant water. Ever since tho (lient Suit Lake be .'nine known to the white man it has been soon to bo slosvlj evaporating, for Investigation showed that tho ptesent surface of 2,000 or more square miles Is only a little remnant of the sen of former times. Up to ro dent years, however, tho dectcaso of water has tosulted simply fiom slow ivnporatlon in the suu'b rays. Changes In the annual rainfalls may aavo affected the depth of the waters jllghtly Irom year to year, hut the de cline of the wnteis was extremely slow. Tho question of preserving tho Jlrent Salt Lake, therefore, enn slm- Assembly ply be pinned down to a fight between the farmer and tho city man. Tho farmer has learned that by Irrigation he is able to transform tho arid, burn ing, alkaline soil of the western coun try into fields of luxuriant nlfalfa and orchards of peach and plum. Accord ingly, thousands of pioneers have peo pled what was once a wilderness, and vast areas in the debert have been re claimed. Tho farmer has taken his water from the streams which had hlthetto flowed into the Great Salt Lake, the final drain of all watercourses with in the great confines of what is known ns tho Great Basin, including an area of about 210,000 square miles, and comprising the western half of Utah, tho greater part of Nevada and portions of Eastern California, South eastern Oregon, Southeastern Idaho and Southwestern Wyoming. It was Salt Palace. (Bait I-nko City) not long, therefore, before this diver sion of water resulted In the rapid de crease of tho volume of tho lake, and in tho last fifteen years the surface has fallen ten feet. Ono evidence of the great commer cial value of this lake to tho people of the metropolis of Utah Is to ne heen In the vabt amount of money ex pended in a single bathing pavilion, known as Saltalr Beach. Here a rail road was built out on a trestle four thousand foot Into tho lake. Tho wa tors are bo shallow that even at this distance from the shore they are only waist deep. The pavilion Is like i a little city In Itself, with a central dome sltnped building, a root much like tho egg shaped covering of the Mormon tnbornnclc, towers and bal conies of Mooiish architecture, and long sti etches of bathing rooms, which oxtend on onch side llko tho wings of a bird. The whole length of tho strut ture Is nearly a quarter of a mile, supported on piles, which had to be driven through a bed of salt, where holes weio made by means of. jfete ga.tfVSI Brlgham Young'a Grave-. hot steam. Tho total cost ot the pa Villon was $300,000. Tho enterprise, however, has proved a prospeious ono. The peculiar qual ities of the water, In which the hu man body floats as lightly as a cham pagne cork In fresh water, brine 160, 000 lsltora hither annually. Next to tho Dead Sea, these waters are tho bilniest In the world. They hold so much solid in solution that the mo ment tho body which has been mois tened by a dip is exposed to the air It Is covered with glittering scales ol Hall. salt. If a bather does not take a fresb water shower bath afterward, he will get somo Idea of tho meaning of Mil ton's expression, "cased In alabas ter." It is difficult to swim these waters, as the foot fly out or the water. It la a stiugglo oven to keep tho hands un der, and a splash of the brine In the eye or on the mucous membrane ol tho nose or mouth causes sharp pain. Tho easier method of propulsion is simply to sit lu tho water as one would In an easy chair, dipping tho hands In n few Inches for an occa sional shove. The boats that one finda there have also to accommodate themselves to the stubborn water. They are built almost perfectly flat. An ordinary craft in this heavy liquid would prove top heavy. Salt gllstena on the piles or the wharf, and on the shore the- little wave of a foot In height crashes on the beach with the roar of a ponderous ocean billow. Another bathing lesott Is at Garfield Beach, which has an attendance ol 84,000 visitors annually, on the Ore gon Short Line railroad, .which runs from Salt Lake City to Portland. Ore. Although at present nearly the size of the State of Delaware, the Jake was once 300 miles long and 180 miles wide, and as large as Vermont and New Hampshire, with Rhode Island thrown in. It Is only necessary to look at the wall-like mountains that surround the present lake to see the ripple marks of centuries ago. On the slope of one ridge thirteen succes sive benches, or beach marks ran hR I found, which marked the varying snores of the lake It is thus esti mated that tho original depth of this body of water was six hundred feet. Its greatest depth now is less than forty feet. Suffer from Mississippi Trip. Nearly every man who went with President Roosevelt to shoot bear In Mississippi came back with malarial or "break-bone'' fever. Secret service mon and others are having chills and fevers. They were knocked complete ly out by the miasmatic conditions of the swamps. Tho President's secre taries and stenographers did not es cape, but apparently the trip had no III effects upon the President. To know temptation does not dishonor. -