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About Harrison press-journal. (Harrison, Nebraska) 1899-1905 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 14, 1904)
V ! I "T"ueu oue of twelve. called Judaa lamrtut, wcut unto the chinf i.riesU. ttud Mid unto tlum: 'What will je girt an-. ad I will deliver him umo you?' Ami Ihey corenapted with him for thirty plaew of silver." Matthew xxvi., 14. 15. ST wan elglit yean ago ou the see ndof last April that John Carrlng ford disappeared. I say disappeared advisedly, for to this day I will ven ture the Utrtoeiit that xio oue elite save myself knows what became of that eccentric man. Eery one who knew Boston a dozen year ago, knew something also of John Carrlngford; If not personally, then at least they must have hi-ard some of ths strange atoriea which were told of him how he lived alone In that big handsome house on Beacon street with no one aliout gave a few servants who, It afterward turned out, knew really nothing of the man or his way. ' He wan Rain to have no relatives, which waa proltably true, for no one ever laid elulm to the large estate which be left. To say the least Jarrlugford wan odd. There was not one man In Bos ton, though he was better known there than anywhere clue, who could claim to know hitu. It was common talk that Carrington possessed oue of the fluent collection of antique in exist ence. Who originated the story I have no means of knowing, for up to Ihe time the house wax taken possession of by the authorities, I never heard of anyone gaining admin-don. It prov ed to be true, however, for probably no finer collection of antiques ever saw the light of day outside the British Museum than wan found inside tiie four walls of Carrhigton's house. I have made these explanations in order that lhe reader who never heard of John Carrlngford may know as much of him m any one living, my self excepted. There ate two reasons, which even to this day 1 do not care to divulge, why I have o long kept slleut regard ing ibis man why 1 have allowed year after yejir to go by and have not opened my lip to his strango dls appearance, when w ith a word I could K have" b'jaX-d up the. mystery. But o do that I Klwuld have been com pelled to dispone the purposes of my Journey upon that occasion, and thus give secrets to the world which were not mine to give. The second of April, JNSH, found me iu the then miserable little settlement of Mitford, some forty miles west of Calgary, on the Canadian Pacific rail way. That afternoon I was to take the west-bound train through to the -oast and eventually to civilization. It was wllh a feeling of distinct relief that t at last beheld the pulling en gines, laborlug with the weight of a short truln of cars, come Into view up the grade. When I lioarded the --oach the colored porter Informed me that It was a light trip and with the exeeptluu of myself there was but oue through pasfieuger. Business of a private nature kept me employed throughout the afternoon, so I saw aothlng of my fellow traveler. After dinner I picked up an old news paper and adjourned to the smoking compartment. For probably half an hour I sat reading and smoking, when tii compartment door opened and closed again. I turned about, nk iug It wa the porter, but Instead, much to my surprise, I recognized the tall, gaunt form of John Carrlngford. He was apparently oblivious of my presence, and walking past me to a 4-halr near the window he sat down and gazed out Into the fast approach- ing darkness. I cannot my that I was surprised at his conduct, for It mere ly bore out what I bad always beard iif the man. In answer to a commonplace some ' thing be turned toward me for the tlrst time, and I had the opportunity of looking straight into the most singular .and at the same time the most fas cinating face I have ever seen. There was a look of keen intelligence In those ' big gray eyes and a depth of thought In h& broad while forehead which stamped hi in at once as a man of un- usual character. One question let to unother, and It was not many minutes before we were fairly launched In conversation. We talked politics, travel, finance and then somehow or other we drifted iiprm the subject of numismatics. In a moment the conversation was en tlrely In his hands, and I saw In atantly that It was one In which be was a paymaster. Such were the circumstances of our .meeting and the story. Why Carrlug ford told It at all I cannot say, nor will I attempt to analyze; but will merely repeat It as be told It to me, "Yes." he said. "I have been the most fortunate of the many collec tors of antiques and at the same time tho most unfortunate. Misfortune came as the natural sequence of my nut-peas." Aa I was About to Interrupt be com manded alleuce with a ware of bis long thin hand, and continued. "A strange contradiction you think ItT Wall, have the paUeno to follow me to the end am) erhap you will think as I do. "Twenty year ago I had already secured one of the most complete col lections of coins iu existence. ' I had traveled the paths of the numismatic student one stage and one step after another until I imagined there was nothing more for me to learn. "It was then that I thought of the Judas coins ".No. I see tiie question In your face," he outinui-d: "I am not mud. Why should not some of the fatal silver exist? I had In my pownaslon Greek coma of silver and of gold made five hundred years before Christ was Isirn. I had also ;reek coins of bronze and of tin and copper alloy, minted four hundred years before the Christian era; yes, and some which bore the imprint of seven centuries before the advent of the Savior. There are those of Arabia. Athens, and Koine minted fully as many years ago. The clearest and most authentic portraits of Nero which exist today nre upon the Honmi coin. The artist of that day pictured him as he really was upon his own silver pieces. A glance at one will show you the ferocity, the obstinacy, and the brutality of the iiihu. Some of these coins I had trao isl to direct events. "Was it so strange, then, after all, that I should look for pieces of silver which existed In so comparatively modern a time as eighteen hundred years ago?" As Carrlngford continued to hi Ing fortli argument after argument In sup Mirt of his theory, he seemed to ho coine young again. Ills face lost for the time Its lines of age and his eyes shone with a light which I had not WITH A WILD CRY HE seen before. He never hesitated and never stopped for an instant, but hur ried rapidly along. "Possessed with these thoughts, be said, "I made my way to the Holy Land. Months 1 worked and studied In and alsnit Jerusalem. The pried of the temple had purchased a field of a potter with the thirty pieces which Judas hnd cast away from him. Tin pot ter must be found. After weary mouths of research I grasped the clew. Simon, the potter, when nu old man. had left Jerusalem a prisoner with Titus and his Kouian Legions. From the Holy I-and to Italy I went with all speed, and for it year I worked in Home without results. "The apparent Impossibilities, of my work spurred me on with a fervor to which 1 had hitherto lwsn a strang er. The more Insurmountable the oli stacles became the more eager I was to conquer them. 1 seemed Impelled by a force which my whole nature n--volted against, but which I was still unable to resist. "As soon fi I was satisfied Hint Home could not ive me what I sought I turned toward Pompeii. Why should not some trace be discovered here? For over seventeen hundred years the city had remained undisturbed. It was exactly (is It was on that dread ful twenty-fourth of August, A. J). 711. when Vesuvlous buried it under thirty feet of stoues, ashes and lava. II ere was tbc one place on earth which cen turies had not changed the one city upon which the clvlllzai Ion of ages had left no mark. "After weeks and months of fruit less research wlthlu the city, 1 made ruy way, as tireless as ever, to the surrounding country. Wllh one excep tion I will pnss 1y without mention ...J.4I.1.IUI.., - 1 the dozens of villa which surround the three sides of Pompeii. This one was the bouse of Arrius Dlomedes. Situated aa It is on the road which leads to Herculaneum, it outdoes its I rivals in splendor. From this handsome villa had been taken the greatest paint ings and the richest lotteries. Throughout the vaulted corridors were found works In rare mosaics which to-day are uncquaJcd iu Is-auty and workmanship. This was the residence of that old Itoman, as the world knew it. The excavators found within these walls seventeen skeletons, but to them they were only bones, over seventeen hundred years old, and they searched no further. Hud they examined as eloseiy fl 1 did they would have found a written record of the house of Dio mcdea. on the four walls which sur rounded this dungeon-like room, he had cut in Ijitin characters an undy ing record of the principal events of his life. "I will pass over a long period which was recorded, not because it lacks interest, but for the reason th.it It has no connection with this matter. I will merely lake I lie last ti n years that the record was kept. This sir tion Is-gati by telling how his friend and kinsman Terent Ihis Acasiliu had gone wllh Titus to the Holy Land. Next came the sacking of Jerusalem with all the attendants horrors and triumphs. Then uHn Tereutilus Acasl lius' return to Home he sent to Dlom edes present of many goods and tlve slaves in coinmomoration of the event. Among these slaves was an old gray haired Jewish poller, who In skill ex ceeded any of the workmen iln-ii own ed by Dlomedes, For half a dozen years the potter worked well and faith fully for his msjiter and became a favorite beca:.M "f his art and Indus try. "At the end of thai I line word was brought to I liomedes that the Hebrew slave was 111, and the overseer who brought the lm go. said he feared the mini whs a icpcr. The master laughed at the mini's fears ami told him to bring the potter bef re him that he might judge fur himself. He was brought In and as lie stood before Dlomedes, the master's practiced eye told him at once that the slave driver was light. Tin' inin was a leper. Furious at having his household thus (x posed to the dreaded dicase he ordered the slave to he led away by his sponrsiuen and killiil. At the SPHANU TO HIS FKET. sentence of death the doomed man fell upon his knees and begged that ho might have time to make peace with his God. Dlomedes aneeriHl at the sup plication, and asked what sins a low bred Jew might have that could be forgiven. "'Only this,' answered the old slave, holding up a silver coin bearing the head of Tiberius Caesar, 'only the pus sion of this!' "(Mi!" exclaimed Dlomedes as he turned to his people, 'a Jewish dog cursed with money. He should have been a jester lllld not a potter. Hut go on, slave, mid tell us why the pos session of this bright piece of good Roman sliver Is a curse.' " 'Because,' answered the leper In faltering tones, 'it Is the lust of the thirty pieces of money which the Man of Keiioth, Judas Isearlot, accepted for the betrayal of Christ. I am Simon the potter of whom the priests of the temple bought the Held for the burial of the poor. I it in the man who un wittingly took the coins which were the price of blood, and took with them the curse which has followed and shall follow each and every piece until they lire no more. "'Proceed, slave.' commanded Dlo medes, 'the tale Interests me, though I mistake not, misfortune bus turned your brain.' " 'Not so, master,' Simon interrupt ed, 'never nt my poller's wheel hai. my brain been more clear than now.' ' 'I was but a poor man, ami knew nothing then of why the priests wish, id my land In exchange for their silver. I bargained gladly and rejoic ed at my fortune. Divided Into equal parts, I gave half the coins t my eldest son with the command to look well to thi-tn. and the remaining fifteen pieces I myself hid in a secret phtce. "'Unknowingly I (bus rained strife within my own house, for my younger fcon left aggrieved that he hail not been trusted with portion of the was among the missing pieees." treasure. In a dispute which followed. ' With these word Carrlngford sank Hie younger klew the elder and bik ' back iu hia chair exhausted, possesion of the pieces. He was then Aa for my own feelings, I will not condemned and executed, and shortly attempt a description. I only know afterward their tuo'.ber died of grief that be possessed the power of car at the hss of her suns. ' ryiug me along with his quiet, pathetic "According to an ancient rite of ( oraiory. imbued as it was with an people, the fifteen pieces which had 1 earnestness which of itself was ir- cost me the lives of those 1 loved. ; were dcsiroyed. ' 'For years I feared to touch the silver which yet remained, and the pieces lay undisturbed. Still, know ing as I did then the awful curse which followed tlum, my greed for gain at last overcame my fear and I took the fifteen pieces to my dwelling. H was here that they were discovered by a file of soldiers, who tried to take possesion of them. I cried aloud lu distress and my countrymen came to my assistance. For a time the Konutu t-pearsmen were beaten off. Then other soldiers came and more Jews, until the stTecls all alsiut were a mighty battle ground and the earth was rul with the blood of lsith. Fol lowing upon this It was that the mighty Vespasian commanded Titus to destrov Jerusalem as a lesson to my revolting countrymen. ' 'Need I tell you of the days of pillage and fire and murder which fol lowed? I am here a slave condemn ed to death as an unclean thing far away from my own land and people It is enough! "As Simon ceased speaking he cast the coin, which he held in a hand white with the marks of leprosy, at the feet ' Dlomedes; then he con tinued: it Is tho last of the accursed money. The rest perished with tiie city. It has wreaked Its venegeance upon me and upon my land and my people. Beware, for all is not over with it yet. Misfortune, ruin, devasta tion, and death shall follow In Its p?th so long as It exists.' 'Having uttered these parting words, Simon, with trembling limbs and bowed head, was led away. "For a time Diomedes gazed at the silver piece as it I.iy glittering upon the stones lit Ills feet. "'An uncanny talc' lie muttered; 'surely disease and misfortune have caused the old Jew's mind to wander. But t lis story fascinates me strange ly. 1 will preserve the piece, and the tale I will t ell at the feasts. In proof of the i-oiu 1 will have it marked ac cording to the Jew's slory. "'Take the coin,' lie said to an at tendant. 'Have The Price of Blood cut deep iimui Its face and the marking laid In with copper.' "This was done according to Dlome des' orders, and the coin bearing the Ijitin letters P. S. Pretlum Sanguinis was placed In his strong box. "The stone panels then went on to tell how Dlomtrdes related the story of the old Hebrew slave to his friends, how the wine and then the co'n was passed from one to nmrther as they sat about the board, anil how the host, sitting at the head of his table, told with that old Komau taste for rhetoric and elocution, the story, word for word as Simon has done. "Next, the Inscription told of a rich feast which Dlomedes was preparing for his friends. It was In commem oration of a great Unman victory, and as this old Pompeiian was as much a politician as he was a plutocrat, the entertainment was to be worthy of both guests and host. Couriers bear ing messages of welcome were dis patched, and guests came, until a dozen of the eminent men of the day were gathered at Dlomedes' villa. "Here the written record ceases not, however, the narrative, for there was much more to write. What Dlo medes failed to do was left for others; left for those who lived eighteen hun dred years later, for the day of the great feast was the twenty-fourth of August, A. D 79. It was on this day that Vesuvius awakened from a leth argy of centuries to bury Pompeii. "In the gorgeous banquet hall of Dlomedes the feast went on. Twelve men reclined about the table. They dined as they never had before and never would again. As the wine Jars were passed again and again the story was aked for, and the coin was passed with the wine. "When pick and shovel brought tols hall to light, there were lhe twelve Bkeietons. At the head of the tabic was the host, and In his bony fingers was lightly clasped the Judas coin. There it lay gleaming as brightly ns It did when Simon cast. It at Dioniodes' feet centuries before. "My work was over. The reward of years of patient study was before me. I hnd but to unclasp that skideton hand, and the most precious relic thi world contained was mine. As It was, I stood there for a time, powerless to move. Mine had been a triumph over time, but could I also triumph over the coin's fateful history which Diome des had recorded so well? "I dreaded to touch It and yet could not resist. The power which had urg ed me forward through the years of my work, now held me ns if Iu a vise. The Instincts of a belter nature and of ft better self bade me destroy .It, but I was powerless to heed the warn ing. "It was thus that for time the coin became mine. "There Is liitle more to tell. I took the piece to my lodgings and resolved that within the week I would leave Pompeii. The night following, I was robbed by a trusted workman who had been In iny employ, and a lining other valuables tho coin was taken. Ho, poor devil, knew nothing of lis history, lis value, nor its curse. A few days later his body was found stiff and cold on the seashore a few miles from my lodgings. He had been stabbed to death with a dagger which still lay sheathed in bis cold flesh. He in hhs turn bad been robbed, and the coin resistible. For many minutes Carriugford was silent. I attempted to Kpeak, but it seemed impossible for me to break iu upon his chain of thought In sheer desperation I at last pressed the elec tric button and the porter opened the door. I gave an order in a low tone, at the same time placing a bill In bis hands. When he had left the com partment upon my errand and the room was once more silent, Carriug ford said in a low tone, more to him self than to me: j "I was years ago that that poor fellow was murdered In Pompeii though It seems but yesterday. For all these years that coin had been I know not where. No one knowing its history. u ouc will destroy it. Up and down the world It will go, here, there, and everywhere, spreading un told misery as it moves from place to place and from land to land." As this juncture the porter entered with a tTay containing my order and the change, and retired. Carrlngford, not heeding the interruption, continu ed: "And to think that nil this crime, destruction, and I know not what, has been caused through" He never finished tho sentence. With a wild cry he sprang to his feet. "There, there," he almost shout ed as he pointed his long, thin fingers at the tray. Before I could speak or even move he had jumped lorward and graspi-d tho silver which had lain there unnoticed by me until then. Carringford's face was as white as his hair, and his big gray eyes seem ed to jump from their sockets. As he stood there more like a spectre than a man he hold high above his head a piece of the money which he had taken from the tray. With the other hand he pointed at It muttering: ''See, see, the Judas coin! Look at the marking! There are the letters -'Tho Price of Blood.' " He was holding up a coin the like of which I hail never soon. A.tross the face won1 strange letters which shone like gold. As I stared, dumb with astonishment, tho piece seemed to take on color. It was blue, then red, and then yellow and whhe. As he held it there It gave out strange fluorescing lights, subdued, yet pene trating, and changing color so quickly that the eye could scarcely follow. With a wild laugh which was almost a shriek, Carrlngford sprang to the door. I made an effort to follow, but could not. A rush of wind on my damp fore head told me that the outer door of the car was open. There was a clank ing of the wheels and a whirring of the. wind in the darkness. Above it all I heard Carringford's voice. It was more like a wail than anything else, but I caught the words: "The Judas coin, the Price of Blood." Then the voice was still. We were whirling along beside the Frasor Canon when Carringford disap peared. Whether he still lies in those impenetrable depths, clasping in his hand that coin, I do uot know. The truth of his statements I did not chal lenge then and do not now. It may all have been the hallucination of a diseased mind or It may have been the simple truth. Some other man rauat say. Peterson's Magazine. A Ijar(r Fee- A young couple wi;h matrimonial In tent fresh from the green fields of their rural homes, went recently to the parsonage of a clergy In Maryland. Tho nuptial knot was tied. In the pause which followed the newly-made Benedict looked embarrassed as he Ash ed about In his trousers pockets ns if looking for something. "What's the price?" he finally blurt ed out. "The State allows me a dollar," Raid the clergyman, "but " and paused. Some pauses nre more eloquent than words. Evidently tills was not. "Well," finally remarked the groom as he handed the astonished divine a quarter, "if the State allows you n dollar, take this mid the job will have netted you a dollar and n quarter. Good day." Always an Fyc to llusiness. A merry-go-round man at La Crosse, Knn got his leg onught In the cable of his machine. The crowd could hoar the leg crack, as It was broken in sev eral places. The machine was clogged and slopped. Women fainted and men paled. The unfortunate man smncd wearily, wiggled around and un strapped a wooden leg, and then an nounced cheerfully: "Get your tickets for the next ride." ('bunged Her Hind. "And aren't you married yet?" "No." "Well, well. I thought yon wore en gaged to a certain young lady in Ger iiiiintown?" "No. I was engaged to tin uncertain young lady in Gonnanlown, nnd that's why I'm not married." Philadelphia Tress. Vast Power of Uailluin. A small fraction of at) ounce of radium, properly employed, would pro vide a good light sulllclent for several rooms nnd would not require renewal during the present century. Many a man Is so cool In the hour of danger that he actually shivers. fervent ion Cremation makes slow progress, ami Sir l.airy Thompson give the num ber of lodie disposed of in 19"2 in th crematoria of the world as 5.520. j A Kentucky woman has discovered i a new ue for the telephone. Wish I ing to visit a neighbor, she pulled the 1 baby's crib up iu front of the tele i phone, opened the receiver, and told cential if the baby began to cry t call her up at the neighbor's. After studying and photographing more than forty thousand pairs of tar of persons. Including those of two thou sand Insane and eight hundred crimi nals and those of three hundred ani mals, an Knglish c-rimin logist is forced to conclude that the ear givps no clew to personal trails. A section of cable iu Ihe Caribbean Sea was recently raised from l.Ao feet of water, where It had lain for thirty years. Tests showed Its core to tie in perfect electrical condition ami lhe rubber insula. or uninjured. A f ar that sulphur from the rublnr might injure the oopior wire had no founda tion. There are about 50 spivles of rish known to icssess eL-eliioal organs capable of imparting a shock. A (-pedal study of some of them bas re cently been made by Professor Mc Keiidri.k, V. It. 8.. of Glasgow Uni versity, with the pun ose of ascertain ing the source of their peculiar power. He lin.ls that the electricity is gener ated in specialized organs, which are either modified muscles or modified glands, Ktructines which in all animals manifest electric properties. In econ omy of pridtictlon these electric organs far surpass anything yet contrived by man, just as the light of the glow worm excels in a similar sense our bout efforts to produce cheap illumination. In each case there Is a secret yet to be discovered. That taste is a reliable gu'd to our food m-edis is the theory of P. T. Bor issow, a Hussifin physician. Such cu riosities of tasle as lhe craving for chalk, coal, acids, etc.. result from real necessities, and children often eat earth, wall plaster and the like at an age when the growth of the bone is most energetic and an extra supply of mineral matter Is demanded. The strong appetite of children for sweets and farinnceaus foods is explained by the requirement of carbonhydrates dur ing work and the production of ani mal heat. To verify his theory, the author experimented on chickens, and found that roosters, which lay no eggs, have less craving for mineral sub stances than hens, and are indifferent to plaster, egg-shell and small stones. The lime foods, moreover, are songht by the hen periodically during her lay ing season. IRELAND'S ANIMALS. Tbe Wildcat, Potct and Weael Ar Not Found In Ireland. It is not correct to say that there are no frogs or toads in Ireland, though It Is very remarkable that the common toad la not found there, says the Lon don Spectator. The natterjack toad Is a native of Kerry, though It does not appear to be found elsewhere. R Is an example of the mania whica some people have for meddling with nature that a Dr. Guithers in 1CSW took the trouble to procure frogs' spawn from England, since which time they have multiplied in Ireland. But th common lizard Is found In many parts of the island. The slowworm is not Though the common toad, and till re cent times the frog, was not fonud ii Ireland, it is worth remembering that the English reptiles and barrachlnns are very local In their distribution. The natterjack toad is only found 1 certain counties. The edible frog w formerly only found in Foulmlre Ken. in Cambridgeshire, and the sand Ihtard is most capricious in the choice of a home. The "beautiful green lacertae" which Gilbert White saw on the sunny banks near Farnham are to be found there still, the males being of the green color; and also near Bournemouth, and In Dorsetshire beyond Poole Harbor. Yet there are many suitable place where none, are seen, and then they reappear again ou some sand. hills on lhe coast, of Lancashire, near South port. On the other hand, the absence of many species In Ireland which are, w. were, commonly found In the larger island can only be explained on the supposition that they never reached the country. Among these nre ths wildcat, lhe polecat and the weaseL Yet tho marten was always plentiful on tho other side of St. George's Chan- ued, and stoats abound in the west Five of the foilirteen species of bat found In England have not boon taken In Ireland, neither Is the common shrew, or the mole, though the last Is found In Anglesey. Only six of the fifteen British ro dents nre found In Ireland, and of liiese, one, the squirrel, was probably Introduced. Neither Is the roe deer in digenous. In support of the general theory that the Immigration of ths English fauna was difficult In ths oniiier periods, and subsequently checked altogether, may be cited the analogous Instance of the Isle of Man. There, as in Ireland, there are no moles, no snakes and no toads. That was a mean woman who re fused to pay the doctor after h had nvido her husband's life Insurance pol icy worth real money. Of nil games of chance matrimony to the most hazardous. ,