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The Siqux County Journal,
VOLUME VII.
HAKKISON, NEBRASKA, THURSDAY, JANUARY 24, 1805.
NUMBER 20.
THE PUZZLED CENSUS TAKER.
'Got ny boys?" the marshal said
To the lady over the Khine;
And the lady shook her flaxen head,
And civilly answered, ".Vein!"
"Got any girls?" the marshal said
To the Judy from over the Rhine;
And again the lady shook her head.
And civilly answered, ".Vein."
"But mine are dead?" the marshal Kaid
To the lady from over the Hhine;
And attain the lady shook her head,
And civilly answered, "Neiu."
"Husband, of course?" the marshal said
To the lady from over the Itbine;
And again she shook her flaxen head,
Aud civilly answered, ".Vein."
"The d I you have!" the marshal said
To the lady from over the Hhine;
And again she shook her flaxen head,
And civilly answered, ".Win."
"Now, what do you mean by shaking your
head,
And always answering 'Nine' ?"
"Ich kann uicht English!" civilly said
The lady from over the Rhine.
John i. Saxe.
A LEGITIMATE THEFT
Most girls are happy when. In addi
tion to having a home which Is pleas- :
ant. ami a mother and father who are
Indulgent, they have an admirer who Is
young, good looking, interesting and
wealthy, hut May Vilas was not com
pletely happy.
She not only had the pleasant home tlnjulit that if she got angry with Carl
and the Indulgent father and mother,, ton bis chances would be decidedly bet-
but had the admiration, If nothing
more, of two men who were, both of
them, young, Interesting, rich and good
looking. And these two admirers were
what caused her unhapplness.
Kach had proposed to her and she had
given the same answer to both, and us
she was not engaged to either her an
swer was not hard to guess.
She liked them, but could not decide
which she liked the most nor whether
she liked either sufficiently to go
through life with him.
She sat In her room one evening and
mentally compared the two men. The
first she thought of was Henry Carlton. '
Ilu was nit enough, he danced well, I
talked passably, had a good position I
and was rather good looking, but the
thing that weighed In the balance
against him was that he talked about
hlniM'If on all occasions, and this did
not please Mia Vilas.
Herbert Wllloughby, his rival, was no
more to her liking than was Carlton.
though Wllloughby had the same
. iperticlal bids for favor that Carlton
-ad. Miss Vllaa could not make up her
c.ind that he Xultllled all the rejulre
um UUi of an Ideal hero.
"Well," said Miss Vilas, rising from
In front of the looking glass, where she
had been unconsciously surveying her
self while she mused, "I'll never marry
a man w ho talks about himself all the
time, nor one that I'm not certain I'll
never regret accepting, and there's an
end of It."
"It's a shame," she said, with a stamp
of her foot after a few moments of deep
thought. "Here I've refused both of
tin-in. and Instead of becoming angry
aud going on about I heir business, they j
Just go on aud act as though nothing j
had happened, and bother me nearly to
death."
She went to the window and looked
out on the street, thinking all the time
of the two persistent admirers who had
caused her auch annoyance.
The snow was falling fast and the
ground was already covered, carriages !
rattled down the street, and now and
then people with coat collars turned up
and hands thrust In capacious pockets
could be seen hurrying up or down the
broad avenue. While ahe stood there a
carriage rattled np to the door of her
house and Herbert Wllloughby, one of
the hateful admirers, alighted
She Jumped away from the window
Instantly and pulled down the shade.
"I wonder If he saw me?" she asked
herself, and then continued with a pout,
"I suppose, if he did, he'll think I was
anilously waiting for him. Pshaw!
Just like the conceit of a man. I wasn't
waiting for hltu," she went on, as
though some one had accused her, and
a contradiction was necessary. "I had
forgotten all about the old concert ho
was going to take me to."
But, though Miss Vilas had forgotten
the concert, she was all dressed for an
evening's entertainment, and her wraps
, were lying on a chair near the bureau.
"I will be down In a minute," she said
to the maid, who handed her Mr. Wll
lotighby's card, and then she proceeded
to don her wraps and go down to the
parlor, where Herbert Wllloughby was
waiting.
"My," said Wllloughby as she entered
the room, "what do you mean by break-lug-all
established rules and lelng
ready on time? Did yiu think tnnt thin
thing commenced, at 7 o'clock Instead
,of 8, for you know It's .only 8 JV) now."
"No," she replied, In an Irritated tone,
"I knew what the time was, and I'm
always ready on time."
"Well then, let's go If you are ready,"
aid Wllloughby.
"All right," Hid Mia Vllaa, a she
started toward the door. "Ob! but hold
on, I wuat f you oin letter to mail.
On pf tbrnn la Ttry Important Mr.
Carlton taked ma to jft to a bop with
,la to-ntorrbw nlfbt and t profe4
o writ, to bh If 1 MM o, kid t bM
t that Wttar off at mm."
She ran upstairs and In a few mo
menta returned, carrying several let
ter, which she handed to Wllloughby.
"Now, be sure and mall thorn l-fore
10 o'clock, for they must be delivered
tomorrow morning."
"If they must le mailed before 10
o'clock." said Wllloughby, "1 11 have to
do It Ix'fore we go to the concert, for
that won't Im over until about 12."
A servant threw open the door and
the pair walked down the snow-covered
steps to where the carriage awaited
them.
They took their seats, aud after the
coachman had received his orders tin)
door slammed and the carriage rolled
awuy over the slippery ground.
Miss Vilas talked to Wllloughby on
many subjects as they rolled along, but
he made no reply except to nod his head
and say "Yes" or "No." He appeared
In deep thought, aud so he was, for In
that short walk from the doorway to
the carriage Herbert Wllloughby had
decided to commit a crime.
He was going to rob the mall andtie
tray a trust within the next twenty
minutes, and Instead of being ashamed
of the Idea he was rather pleased with
It.
He had made up his mind to steal the
letter that May had given him to mail
to Carlton. lie knew that she liked
Carlton, and he was Just as sure that
she asked hint; in fact, with that con
celt that Miss Vilas had spoken of, he
thought that she loved him, and, al
though she had refused his proffered
hand and heart a short time ago, ho
ter.
He reasoned It out that as bis letter
was to tell Carlton that Miss Vilas
would go to the hop. Miss Vilas had
told "Carlton that he should not call
unless he heard from her.
"Now," thought Wllloughby, "she'll
be angry with him If he does not ap
pear, and, although it seems mean, all's
fair In love and war. I'll do It."
At this moment the wheels of the
carriage grated against the curbstone
and the carriage stopped. Wllloughby
assisted Miss Vilas to alight and then
said : "Now I'll mull these letters so that
they won't be forgotten," and with that
Herbert Wllloughby walked to a letter
box ami mailed the letters. Miss Vilas
saw that he placed three letters In the
box, and, as that was the number she
had given blm, she thought It was all
right.
Sin was mistaken, though, for the
square envelope addressed to Henry
Carlton was at that moment reposing
In the pocket of Herbert Wllloughby,
who was now talking at a great rate as
he escorted her to the place of enter
tainment. The concert was long, and
It was quite 12 o'clock when Herbert
Wllloughby, after seeing Miss Vilas
safely Indoors, jumped Into the car
riage and, after lighting a cigar, or
dered the driver to take blm home.
"I'll mall that letter to Carlton some
(lay after I'm married to May Vilas,"
he murmured, and then Herbert Wll
loughby Jumped Into bed and slept the
sleep mat Is generally supposed to
come only to those with clear con
sciences. The sun had been up and at work on
the snow-covered grouud for about four
hours when Mr. Wllloughby betook
himself to his office the next morning.
instead or the white snow that had
been on the ground the night before, he
now found a muddy, slushy ground cov
erlng, which caused nearly every foot
passenger to break the third command
tnent at a very rapid rate. Things
earthly did not, however, bother Iler-
bert, for he was thinking of Miss Vllaa,
and that subject occupying all of his
thoughts, the ground became a matter
of complete Indifference.
At the same time the object of Wll
loughby's thought was eating break
fast and wondering what she would
wear to the hop that night She antl
clpated a splendid time, and waa going
to look her prettiest and that, by the
way, was very pretty.
By the time that breakfast waa over
she had decided on the dress she was to
wear, and so there was nothing for her
to do but find an Interesting book, rend
It and kill time generally until 8:30,
when Carlton would call for her. But
Carlton did not call at 8:30, nor 0. for
he had been tearing his light hair all
day and wondering why he did not re
ceive a note either declining or accept
ing his Invitation.
He stayed In his room and hoed
against hope until 10 o'clock, and then
went off to tho hop and was palmed off
on a lady who had seen at least eight
seasons, and altogether he passed a
very disagreeable evening.
Miss Vilas' evening was no better.
She sat In the parlor fuming Inwardly
that Carlton had not appeared, and at
10 o'clock, when she went to bed, ahe
registered the solemnest of solemn
vows that she would never again speak
to one Henry Carlton, of New York. J
Her anger, Instead of diminishing
after the night's rest, had Increased a
great deal, and flic day she passed wag
Just as disagreeable aa the preceding
night had been, and In the evening,
when a servant handed her Mr. Wlll
oughby's card, ahe took at least ten
minute to decide whether she would
m htm or wot, and then decided In the
aArauUv.
Wrjlouf hby waa la a very good bo
rnor that areata. .
WKa tbaftaiaoca vhath la lafaai
dji aa tM
waaaaa
IMl.l lllif . n mL ,y
tsffaiPt'BB'fc masaiaaPri
ly, he accused her of being In a bad
humor and surmised that her dress
maker had disappointed her.
She attempted sarcasm and wished
Inwardly that he would go, but though
Mr. Wllloughby knew pretty well what
she was thinking about, he remained
and talked to her until after 10 o'clock,
and then, as If struck by a sudden Idea,
he ceased his bantering talk and asked
her In the orthodox manner to become
Mrs. Herbert Wllloughby.
Miss Vilas looked at him steadily for
at least a minute, and then, as she after
ward said to get rid of him she con
sented. Wllloughby could not see. May for the
next five days, but he walked around
the town as though he owued It, and
his only trouble was that he could not
look Henry Carlton In the face without
blushing. Tor Carlton had called twice
at the. Vilas home aud each time had
been mot with a sterotyped "not at
home" that hud told him plainly that he
was In disgrace.
Wllloughby's conscience hurt him
considerably when he noticed the de
jected air that Carlton wore, and for
the easing of his mind he decided that
he would see May that night and tell
her how he had robbed the mall.
The call was made and Herbert
avoided the confession until the last
moment, and then, as he arose to go,
he told her the story of his deception.
May listened to his recital quietly,
and then, instead of laughing, as Wll
loughby had nattered himself that she
would, she grew very angry.
"Well," she said, "of all the miser
able, contemptible things I ever heard,
Ibis Is the worst. And you have the as
surance to tell me this and expect to be
forgiven.
".Mr. Wllloughby," she continued,
with a great assumption of dignity,
"here is your ring. You will please con
sider our engagement at an end."
And May Vilas, after returning the
golden circle to tin dumbfounded Wll
loughby, swept from the room with the
air of a tragedy queen.
Wllloughby stood in the center of the
parlor, gazed at the ring, whistled,
looked amused, then downcast, and
then started for the door. In a moment
he was on the sidewalk and paused to
think.
"Oh, what an ass I was," he said.
shaking hi clenched fist at a passing
cab. "What did I tell her about It for?
Why didn't I let Carlton pocket his
misery?
"Well, I deserve It, I suppose," he
said, as he walked rapidly down tho
avenue. He didn't feel a bit bad be
cause he had stolen the letter, but he
did regret having made the confession.
"Talk about confession being good for
the soul," he muttered. "It may be,
but It's awfully hard on the temper."
And his temper was certainly not
good at that moment He cursed the
elevated trains for the noise they made.
The clicking of the cable, two blocks
away on Third avenue, sounded to him
like the chuckle of a triumphant rival.
At his oltiee the next day he earned
the hatred of all whom he met and
everything seemed to be at sixes and
sevens. He found a relief In his room,
though, In the form of a small square
note, the handwriting of which he
Knew well, and when he had torn It
open he saw an Invitation to call at the
house of Miss Vilas on that evening.
And, best of all, the note began, "Dear
Herbert," Instead of "Dear Mr. Wll
loughby." He hurried through dinner and took
a long walk until the hour named In
the note arrived, and then he hastened
to the Vilas home.
May was waiting for him In the par
lor, and Instead of wearing the frown
that he expected, her face wore the
Bweetest of sweet smiles. He did not
wait for her to apeak, but rushing to
ward her, clasped her In hla arms and
aid: "May, can you forgive me?"
She did not answer, and It was unnec
essary. He knew that his forgiveness
waa complete. lie drew the ring from
his pocket and for the second time
lipped It on her finger.
He broke the silence, which lasted
over ten minutes, by asking: "May,
what brought about this audden for
giveness?" "Well," said Miss Vllaa, sitting very
straight In her chair, "I'll tell you. I
sent for Mr. Carlton this morning and
told hlra what you had done. He got
very angry about It and talked about
how contemptible It waa, and In con
cluding he said: 'I wouldn't do such
a thing to win any woman In the world,
an so i decided that any man who
wouldn't do a little thing like robbing
the mall to show a girl that he loved
her was not much good anyway, and
o I decided to forgive you."
"Well," remarked Herbert nfter ho
had carefully weighed this opinion as
to what was fair In love and war. "I'm
glad Carlton was so conscientious."
"Conscientious!" exclaimed May.
Why, that was nothing to hurt anv
conscience. It was a legitimate thefL"
- New York Evening Sun.
Remains of VlttorU Colonna Fonnfl
In the caUcombs of the Church of
Han Domenlco at Naples were found
lately the long-lost remain of Vlttorla
Coloona, niarchlonea of Peacara, the
Italian poeteaa, to whom Michael An
gelo addreeaed hi lot potto, and
wUoee fourth centenary wa &ftrata4
foar yearn MP Her AaaM waa to
traite reacafa, u aiaarat) af
UaWaaM
TALMAGES SERMON.
THE PREACHER DESCRIBES
WONDERFUL TOMB.
Vivid Word Picture of the Most Won
derful of Idolatrous Temples All to
Cover a Handful of JJunt-Tlie Great
Campaign of the Gospel.
Taj Mahal of India.
In continuing his series of round the
world sermons through the press Iter. Dr.
Talmnge has this week chosen for his
subject "Tomb and Temple," having ref-
erence to that most famous and beautiful
of mausoleums, the Taj Mahal. The text
selected was, "From India even unto
Ethiopia" (Esther i, 1).
In all the Rihle this is the only hook in
which the word India occurs, hut it stands
for a realm of vast interest in the time of
Esther, as in our time. It yielded then, as
now, spices and silks and cotton and rice
and indigo and ores of all richness and
precious stones of all sparkle and had a
civilization of its ewn ns marked as Egyp
tian or Grecian or Roman civilization. It
holds the costliest tomb ever built and the
most tinioiie anil wonderful i,l,l!itr.,i,u
temple ever opened. For practical lessons
In this my sixth discourse in round the
world series I show you that tomb and
temple of India.
In a journey around the world it may
not be easy to tell the exact point which
divides the pilgrimage into halves. But
there was one structure toward w hich we
were all the time traveling, and having
seen that we felt that If we saw nothing
more our expedition would lie a success.
That one object was the Taj Mahal of In
dia. It is the crown of the v, hole earth.
The spirits of architecture n'- i,, inthrone
a king, and the spirit of the I , i thenon of
Athens was there, and the ;irit of St.
Sophia of Constantinople we 'here, and
the spirit of St. Izaak of S' Petersburg
was there, and the spirit of t: Baptistry
of I'isa was there, and the . tits of the
great pyramid, and of I.ti. Obelisk,
and of the Porcelain tower of Nankin,
and of St. Mark's of Venice, and the
spirits of all the great towers, great cathe
Jrala, great mausoleums, great sarcophagi,
great cnpltols for the liviny and of great
necropolises for the dead were there. And
the presiding genius of the throng with
gavel of Parinn marble smote the table of
Uussian malachite and called the throng
of spirits to order, and called for a vote as
to which spirit should wear the chief
crown and' mount the chief throne aDd
wave the chief scepter, and by unanimous
acclaim the cry was: "Long live the spirit
of the Taj, king of all the spirits of archi
tecture! Thine is the Taj Mahal of In
dia!" The Taj Mahal.
The building is about six miles from
Agara, and as we rode out In tho .varU
dawn we heard nothing but the hoofs anil
wneelB that pulled and turned us along
the road, at e.very yard of which our r-
pectation rose until we had some thought
that we might be disannointed nt tho st
glimpse, ns gome say they were disarm,, int-
ed. But how can anv mm hn .lu.,.,.... i
1 y i?u
with the Taj is almost as great a wnn.W
to me as the Taj itself. There are some
people always disappointed, and who
knows but that having entered heaven
they may criticise the architecture of the
temple and tho cut of the whit.. r.a,
say that the river of life is not .mite nn tn
their expectations, and
hornfia on which th
, " '!"" 1 IHc ot. frill
little HprinKhfllt or spavined?
l? T 8nid' "Tbere I said,
Whore?' For thnt tvhi,.h i, o. . . .
the building seemed to me to be more like
morning cloud blushing under the
stare of the rising sun. It seemed not so
much built up from earth as let dowu
from heaven. Fortunately you stop at an
elaborated gateway of red sandstone
one-eighth of a mile from the Taj, an en
trance so high, so arched, so graceful, so
four domed, so pointed and chiseled and
scrolled that you come very' gradually
upon the Taj, which struct,. r iai nnminK
to intoxicate the eye and stun the imagi-
iwu nuu eniraDce me soul. We go ud
the winding sUlrs of this majestic en-
irouce oi me gateway and buy a few pic
tures and examine a few curios, and from
It look off upon the Taj and descend to
the pavement of the garden that runtiiFaa
everything between the gateway and the
ccsisay oi mamie and precious atones.
You pass along a deep stream of water in
which all manner of brilliant fins swirl
and float. There are eighty-four foun
tains that spout and bend and arch them
selves to fall In showers of pearl In ba
sins of snowy whiteness. Beds of all
Imaginable flora greet the nostril before
they do the eye and seem to roll In waves
of color as you advance tow ard the vision
you are soon to have of what human
genlui did when It did its best. Moon flow
rs, lilacs, marigolds, tulips and almost
everywhere the lotus; thickets of bewil
dering bloom; on either side trees from
many lands bend their aboroscence over
your head, or seem with convoluted
branches to reach out their arms toward
you in welcome. On and on you go amid
tamarind and cypress and poplar and
oleander and yew and sycamore and ban
yan and palm and trees of such novel
branch aud leaf and girth you cease to
ask their namo or nativity.
As' yon approach the door of tho Taj
one experiences a strange sensation of
awe and tenderness and humility and
worship. The building Is only a grave,
oui wnai a gravel ituill tor a aueen.
who, according to some, was very good,
and according to others was very bad!
I choose, to think she was very good. At
any rate, It makes me feel better to think
this commemorative pile Was set up for
the Immortalisation of virtue rather than
vice. The Taj is a mountain of white
marble, but never inch walls faced each
other with exqalilteoees; never such a
tomb wa cut froai block of alabaster;
never men a congregation of precious
atoae brigkteaad and aloomed and biased
f fjWW WMlM
w palaver pencil nacM its flrat agar,
at aMtaoa't plamb-aiM eaeorj Its Im
compass swept its
A Costly Htructure.
The Taj has sixteen great arched win
dows, four at each corner; also at each
of the four corners of the Taj stands a
minaret 137 feet high; also at each side
of this building is a splendid mosque of
red sandstone. Two hundred aud fifty
years has the Taj stood, and yet not a
wall is cracked, not a mosaic loosened,
nor an arch sagged, nor a panel dulled.
The storms of 2.0t winters have not mar
red, nor the heats of 250 summers dis
integrated a marble. There is no story
of age written by mosses on its white
surface. Montaz the queen, was beau
tiful, and Shah Jehan, the king, here
proposed to let all the centuries of time
know it. She was married at 20 vears of
age and died at 29. Her life ended as
I another life began. As the rose bloomed
i tl( r"s' t""sh perished.
lo adorn tins dormitory of the dead at
the command of the king Bagdad sent to
this building its cornelian, and Ceylon its
lapis lazuli, and Punjab its jasper, and
I'ersia its amethyst, and Tibet its tur
quoise, and Lanka its sapphire, and Ye
men its agate, and Punna its diamonds,
and blood stones and sardonyx and ehal-
cedonv and moss agates are as common as
though they were pebbles. You find one
spray of vine beset with 80 and another
with 100 stones. Twenty thousand men
were 20 years in building it, and although
the labor was slave labor and not paid for
the building cost what would be about
$KI.OOO,0)0 of our American money. Some
of the jewels have been picked out of the
walls by iconoclasts or conquerers, and
substitutes of less value hnve taken their
places, but the vines, the traceries, the
arabesques, the spandrels, the entabla
tures are so wondrous thnt you feel like
dating the rest of your life from the day
you first saw them. In letters of black
marble the whole of the Koran is spelled
out in and on this august pile. The king
sleeps In the tomb beside the queen, al
though he intended to build a palace as
black as this was white on the opposite
side of the river for himself to sleep in.
Indeed the foundation of such a necropo
lis of black marble is still there, and from
the white to the black temple of the dead
a bridge was to cross, but the son de
throned him and imprisoned him, and it
is wonderful that the king had any place
at all in which to be hurled. Instead of
windows to let in the light upon the two
tombs there is a trellis work of marble
marble cut so delicately thin that the sun
shines through it as easily as through
glass. Look the world over and find so
much traiislucency canopies, traceries,
lacework, embroideries of stone.
More of Its Wonders.
We had heard of the wonderful reson
ance of this Taj, and so tried it. I sun
pose there are more sleeping echoes in
that building waiting to be wakened by
the Jmimin voice than in any building
ever constructed. I uttered one word, and
there seemed descending invisible choirs
In full chantj and there was a reverbern.
tion that kept on long 'after one could
have expected it to cease. When a line
of a hymu was sung, there were replying,
rolling, rising, falling, interweavinir
sounds that seemed modulated by beings
seraphic. There were aerial sonrnnos
and bassossoft, high, deep, tremulous,
emotional, commingling. It was like an
antiphonal of heaven. But there are four
or five Taj Mahals. It has ono appear
ance at sunrise, aother at noon, another
at sunset and another by moonlight. In
deed the silver trowel of the moon, and
the golden trowel of the sunlight, and the
leaden trowel of tho storm build and re
build the glory, so thnt it never seems
twice alike. It has all moods, all com
plexions, all grandeurs. From the top of
the Taj, which Is 250 feet high, springs
a spire 30 feet higher, and that is en
ameled gold. What an anthem in eternal
rythm! LyricB and elegies In marble.
Sculptured hosanna! Masonry as of su
pernatural hands! Mighty doxology in
Btone! I shall see nothing tor equal it till
I see the great white throne and on it
him from whose face the earth and heav
ens flee away.
The Taj is the pride of India and espe
?!S,Iy of iJobammeUanism. English
officer at the fortress told us that when,
during the general mutiny in 1857, the
Mohammedans proposed insurrection at
Agra the English government aimed the
guns of the fort at the Taj and said, "You
make insurrection, and that same day we
will blow your Taj to atoms," and that
threat ended the disposition for mutiny
at Agra. 4 i
All to Cover a Handful of Oast.
But I thought while looking at that
palace of the dead, "All this constructed
to cover a handful of dust, but even that
handful has probobly gone from the mau
soleum." How much better It would have
been to expend $(K),000,000, which the
Taj Mahal cost, for the living. What
asylums It might have built for the sick,
what bouses for the homeless! What Im
provements our country has made upon
other centuries in lifting in honor of the
departed memorial churches, memorial
hospitals, memorial reading rooms, mem
orial observatories. By ail possible mean.
let us keep the memory of departed loved
ones fresh in mind, and let there be an I
appropriate headstone or monument in
tho cemetery, but there is a dividing line
between reasonable commemoration and
wicked extravagance. The Taf Vlnh.l
has its uses as nn architectural achieve
ment, eclipsing all other architecture, but
as a memorial of a departed wife and
mother It expresses no more than the
plainest slab in many a country grave
yard. The best monument we can any
of us have built for us when we are gone
Is in the memory of those whose sorrows
wo have alleviated, In the wounds we
hnve healed, In the kindnesses we have
done, In the ignorance we have enlight
ened, in the recreant we have reclaimed,
in me eouis we nave saved. Such a
monument is built out of material more
lasting than marble or bronze and will
stand amid the eternal splendors long
after the Taj Mahal of India shall bav
gone down In the mini of a world of
which It waa tb costliest adornment
But I promised to how you not only a
tomb of India, but unique baa then tem
ple, and it la a temple underground.
Wlti miner's eaidle it TT,
n iui miner caaai we IM mY slf e
thing of tb Hderelde of Auetfarnt, Jilt
wall, or architect's
first circle.
Giuipie, and with guide's torch we had
seen at different times something of the
underside of America, as in Mammoth
Cave, but we are now to enter one of
the sacred cellars of India, commonly
called the Elcphanta caves. We had it
all to ourselves the steam yacht that
was to take us about fifteen miles over
the harbor of Bombay and between en
chanted islands and along shores whose
curves and gulches and pictured rocks
gradually prepared the mind for appre
ciation of the moBt unique spectacle in
India. The morning had been full of
thunder and lightning aud deluge, but
the atmospheric agitations had ceased,
and the cloudy ruins of the storm were
piled up in the heavens, huge enough and
darkly purple enough to make the skies
as grandly picturesque as the earthly
scenery amid which we moved. After an
hour's cutting through the waters we
came to the long pier reaching from the
island called Elephants. It is an island
small of girth, but 000 feet high. It de
clines into the marshes of the mangrove.
But the whole island iB one tangle of
foliage and verdure convolvulus creep
ing the ground, mosses climbing the
rocks, vines sleeving the long arms of
the trees, red flowers here and there in
the woods like incendiary's torch trying
to set the groves on fire, cactus and aca
cia vying as to which can most charm the
beholder, tropical bird meeting particol
ored butterfly in jungles planted the same
summer the world was born. We stepped
out of the boat amid enough natives to
afford an1 the help we needed for landing
aud guidance. Y'ou can be carried by
coolies in an asy chair, or you can walk
if you are blessed with two stout limbs,
which the psalmist evidently lacked, or
he would not have so depreciated them
when he said, "The Lord tnketh no pleas
ure in the legs of a man." We passed
up some stone steps, and between the
walls we saw awaiting us a cobra one of
those snakes which greet the traveler
ofttimes in India. Two of the guides
left the cobra dead by the wayside. They
must have been Mohammedans, for Hin
doos never kill that sacred reptile.
Down in the Caves.
And now we come near the famous tem
ple hewn from one rock of porphyry at
least 804) years ago. On either side of the
chief temple is a chapel, these cut out of
the same stone. So vast was the under
taking and to the Hindoo was so ;reat the
human impossibility that they say the
gods scooped out this structure from the
rocks and carved the pillars and hewed its
shape into gigantic idols and dedicated it
to all the grandeurs. We climb many
stone steps before we get to the gateways.
The entrance to this temple has sculptur
ed doorkeepers leaning on sculptured
devils, flow Strang! But I hav6 seeir
doorkeepers of churches and auditoriums
who seemed to be leaning on the demons
pf bad yentjlajiori and asphyxja. Door
keepers ought to be leaning oh the angeis
of health and comfort and, life. All the"
sextons and janitors of the earth who
have spoiled ecrraonj antl lectures ami
poisoned the lungs of audiences By TnV"1
efficiency ought to visit this cave of Eleph
ants and beware of what these door
keepers are doing, when instead of lean
ing on the angelic they lean on the de
moniac. In these Elephants caves every
thing is on a Samsonian and Titanian
scale. With chisels that were' dropped
from nerveless hands at least eight cen
turies ago the forms of the gods Brahma
and Vishnu and Siva were cut into the
everlasting rock. Siva is here represent
ed by a figure lfi by 0 inches high, one
half man and one-half woman. Run a
line from the center of the forehead to
the floor of the rock and and divide this
idol Into masculine and feminine. Ad
mired as this idol is by many, it was to
me about the worst thing that .was ever
cut into porphyry, perhaps because there
Is hardly anything on earth so objec
tionable as a being half man and half
woman. Do be one or the other, my hear
er. Man is admirable, and woman is
admirable, but either in flesh or trap
rock a compromise of the two is hideous.
Save us from effeminate men and mascu
line women.
Gods and Goddesses.
Yonder is the King Havana worshiping
Yonder is the sculptured representation
of the marriage of Siva and Parharl
Yonder is Daksha, the son of Brahma
born from the thumb of his right hand'
He had sixty daughters. Seventeen of
those daughters were married to Kasya
pa and became the mothers of the human
face. Yonder is a god with three heads.
The center god has a crown wound with
necklaces of skulls. The right hand god
is in a paroxysm of rage, with forehead
of snakes, and in its hand Is a cobra.
The left hand god has pleasure in all its
features, and the hand has a flower.
But there are gods and goddesses In all
directions. The chief temple of this rock
is 1.30 feet square and has twenty-six
pillars rising to the roof. After the con
querors of other lands and the tourists
from all lands have chipped and defaced
and blasted and carried away curios and
mementos for museums and homes there
are enough enhancements left to detain
one, unless he Is cautious, unless he Is
down with some of the malarias which
encompass this island or get bitten with
some oi its snakes. les, I felt the chilly
dampness of the place and left this con
gress of gods, this pandemonium of de
mons, this pantheon of indifferent del
lies, and came to the steps and looked off
upon the waters which rolled and flashed
around the steam yacht that was waiting
to return with us to Bombay. As we
stopped aboard, our minds filled with
the idols of the Elephanta caves, I wa
impressed ns never before with the
thought that man must have a religion
of some kind, even if he has to contrive
one himself, and be must have a god,
even though be make It with his own
hand. I rejoice to know the day will
come when the one Ood of tb universe
will be acknowledged throughout India.
During the reign of Solomon the tax
ation of the Hebrew became to Heavy
that Immediately on th aeeeaafbn 0f
hM aoo a dettaad for fafloetto waa
mad, aad npan It Nfaaal tha- alf
tttk eoUaotor, Aflokstt 1m 34 t
oaatti ana a nqiaHii af tU d hftai
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