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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 25, 1912)
ft The Qmaha Sunday Bee Magazine Page' Copyright 1912, by American-Examiner. Great BrlUIn Rlghti Reserved, forTloodoox . ; . t THE British arietocraey and wealthy classes hav been driven by terror or supersti tion to confide many seemingly haunted heirlooms and valuable ob jects of art to tii pubHo museumk. There must b some Amerksni la a similar predicament Mrs. Charles Gilpin, the noted society beauty ol Philadelphia, Is the pos sessor ot a singularly beautiful emerald which she says has brought her domestlo misfortune and per sistent ill luck. So afraid is 'she ot the emerald that she never wears it, ana noons can ana oat what has become ot It She night get rid of her (roubles In the British way by turning her . emerald over to some respectable museum. She has not the superstition-defying courage of Jin. Ed ward McLean, who has bought, and Is wearing, toe beautiful Hope diamond which has the nioit a ma, lug history of tragedy and Ill-luck ever associated with a lifeless ob ject , Very strange behavior on the part of idols and Images In the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, lias called attention to the ' practice among the British aristocracy ot "backing their boodoos" in a mu seum. Watchmen left to guard the mu seum at night have heard blood curdling groans, unearthly cries, noises suggeslite of the pattering - Madame Catullo Mendes'a Buddha that sways her life. had obtained it in Lower Bunnell. The captain took the object by "strategy" from a Buddhist temple and being Interrupted by the priest killed the poor fellow. After that the Image brought Ill luck to every white man who came In contact with it When the ship carrying it was near Uverpol a fire broke out on board. The crew, who attributed all their troubles to tho Buddha, threw It overboard, and after that they reached port safely. By a rather strange accident the Buddha was washed ashore in Wales and the captain claimed It and obtained it with mach difficulty and expense. Boon afterward he died. His daughter kept the Buddha In her hoiwe for several years, during which it gave rise to continual trouble. The servants refuted to stsy In the house. They declared that the image wandered about the house at night and that its eyes were constantly upon them. Then a young daughter of the owner, who bad been observed gat ing fixedly at the Image, died. This final misfortune made Mrs. Evens decide to get rid ot the ill-omened Image. She presented it to the Victoria and inert Museum, where It has been the reputed cause of many mysterious disturbances. It Is In this museum that a large part of Plerpont Morgan's collection baa hitherto been housed. Report sitting Ancient Flemish ewer in Pierpont ;....:iini collection' said to have unearthly noises. of ghostly feet Many of the keep ers having certain antiquities In their care have suffered serious Ni nes and other misfortunes, investigation has shown that Ui ere are really in the museum many objects- which hsve had a tragle and Ill-omened history. . Among them Is a carved teak wood Image of Buddha, which be longed, until recently,, to a Mrs. Evans, whose father, a sea captain. Mrs. Charles Gilpin, of Phila Jclphia, who is afraid to wear her splendid "hoodoo", enter--ild. , says that a curious sixteenth cen tury Plemlah copper ewer In the form of a human head, belonging to Mr. Morgan, has been heard utter ing unearthly groans at night. Not all antique Idols and images are credited with bringing misfor tune. Msdame Catullo Mendea, the noted Parisian novelist, posses a strange little ivory Buddha which she consults before embarking In any new undertaking. She says that when she is acting according I to the Buddha's direction she never falls to enjoy good fortune. Scientific psychologists tell us that there may be a basis of fact In the yarns associated with these Idols and Images. The inanimate objects themselves can have no power over human beings or events, but it is possible that superstitious persons, believing In the super natural powers attributed to the objects, may bring upon themselves the troubles whk-h they fear. This theory would account for some of the tragedies associated with the Hope diamond. ' ' Another prominent British hoodoo Is the mummy cie of the Egyptian high priest Nes-Amsu, which be longed to the wealthy and eccentric Lady Meux. The original disco v- erer of the artist Whistler, the widow of a wealthy .baronet, she Very Odd "Behavior" of Idols rand Images in the British Mu seum Re veals the Fact That Superstitious Aristocrats Turn Their "Haunted Heirlooms Over to the Public Care garrison at Ladysmlth during the Boer War by taking hla naval guns lata the besieged town at the criti cal moment. He is considered one of the bravest men la the British navy. But he was not brave enough to keep the mummy case of the Egyptian high priest and he turned It over to the museum. Another object In the museum seemingly - possessed of super natural qualities Is a bambino, or holy child, lying on a miniature four-post bed hung with Neapolitan and Burmese charms. It originally belonged to Lady .Nevill, whose sons complained that . a constant series of misfortunes pursued them. They therefore turned the hand some and valuable relic over to the museum. Presumably In this case the .misfortunes must have hao- pened because a holy relic had been removed from Its proper resting place In a church. , Even before the recent alleged activity ot the haunted objects In the Victoria and Albert Museum all England was excited by the strange , behavior of the mummy case ot the priestess of Amen-Ra. This priestess, Hetare by nsme, belonged to the royal family ot Egypt. In early life she was or daioed a prteitesa of Amen-Ra, but on the accession of her brother aa Pharaoh Amen-hotep IV., she fol lowed the new religion to which he belonged and left the temple of Amen-Ra. Thus she may have In curred the wrath ot the ancient gods. A party ot four young English men secured her mummy In Its case some thirty yeara ago. Before they left Egypt the mummy was stolen and subsequent misfortunes fol lowed the case. One of the young men was crippled In Egypt and an other was shot shortly after reach ing England. A third died suddenly and the fourth followed him after losing his large fortune. The sister ot the last hastily pre sented the mummy case to the mu- possessed one of tho most valuable collection of art an tiquities In the coun try. Among them was the mummy case of Nes ' Amen, a magnificent re presentation ot the dead priest, whose body It once contained, in red, green, hlack and gold upon wood. It was presented to Lady Meux y Walter Ingram, a noted trai ler. He waa killed In an ele int hunt shortly after making the gift The case bears an In scription stating that a curse will fall upon him who removes It from its resting place. Lady Meux, who was a vigorous character, defied the curse, and cer tainly It did not prevent her from living to an advanced age. But aha became estranged from all her friends. She quarrelled violently with Whltler. She quarrelled as savagely with her husband's relatives. She had no children and thus she had the bitterness of knowing that her, treasures must go to her husband's hated relatives or pass into the hands of strangers. She left the bulk of her property. Including the mummy case of Nes Amsu. to Admiral Sir Hod worth Lambton, a brother of the Earl of Durham. The Admiral is distin guished for having saved the British 1 . l?M 1 tr;:rh 1 ,;W;Vv2 1 ml: ' J.v s?j - M Mummy cam with extraordh narily tragic history, that he-, longed to the late Lady Meux seum. The man who drove It there died within a week, while one who helped to carry it into the building soon afterward had both legs cut off in a railroad accident The first man who attempted to photograph the mummy case fell,' smashed his camera and cut his face severely. The first journalist who described the tragedies accom panying the object died soon after ward. The daughter of the Marchioness ot Salisbury, who went to look at the notorious object, fell and sprained her ankle. Other more serious accidents followed and finally the authorities withdrew the case from public view on ac count ot the reign ot terror and ex citement It had created. Pigflol Thai SKppf s Stupefying Gas s ' If: tl ' ''j, at with Here Is the Secret Service's Newest Weapon Against the Evil-Doer The New Gas Pistol, Actual Size. Its Vapor-Filled Cartridge Enables You to Put a Burglar Out of Commission Without Killing him T:iK buI!etIH gua has at las: made Its appearance. It Is . a Or man luventlon and. In- 'stead of ballets, It shoots a gas which temporarily blinds and chokes ; the victim. . The cartridge ased contains sev eral ingredient which, when ex " p'odcJ. combine to form a vapor of a pecn'iar character. The gna Itself d;flr my little In appearance aad mechanism from the or dinary . double-action re volver. It holds live cartridges. The action ot the va por may beat be Imag ined by considering the position of the person shot at The appearance of the weapon, the re port and the furs' ot the powder combine to convince the victim that be ha been shot aa ordinary firearm. His eyes . aad mouth opea la surprise and the gases generated by the combination of the chemicals en velop his bead completely, pene trating his eyes and affecting his iigbt. For several minutes be Is practi cally blind. Simultaneously the me cass membrane ot the nose and throat are Irritated aad the victim soeese aad chokes. 1'or a minute ot two the victim finds it almost ira poMible to breathe. It is obvious that no Individual, even If he were as strong aa Her cules, would be in a position to put up much of a fight while in suck a condition. The ahotlesa gun I intended prin cipally for the protection of tourists, commercial travelers, doctors, cy dlsts, automoblllst. bank officials, mall carriers, watchmen and police men. No one wants to kill a crimi nal unleoa It la absolutely necessary for one's own preservation, and this Invention Is intended to mske such a course unnecessary. . Chief William J. Flynn, ot the United States Secret Service, ess de- -elded te adopt this wespoa for use la the service. Ia rounding np bands ot counterfeiters and other offenders sgalnst the Federal laws, tlie Chief believe tbe chemical gun will. prove lust as effective and. at the same time, more bumsne than tbe ordinary weapon, which fre quently Inflict serious injury and sometimes kills the prisoner. Over . powered by the fumes of this new gun, any criminal, however dangerous, may be readily capturvd and by tbe time the effect of tbe vapor have worn off the prisoner la safely manacled. ' At the laboralorte of Bendlner ' A- Schlealnger. at Third avenne and Tenth street. New York, one ot the cartridge used with the chemical pin waa thoroughly analysed. It was found to comprise a pasteboard holder wish a fulminating cap atone end similar to that used la tbe ordi nary bullet cartridge. Immediately next to the cap waa a small charge of coarse-grain gunpowder. Thea fol- - lowed a large charge of capsicum, or red pepper, mixed with lycopodlum. an Inflammable yellow powder con sisting of tbe spores ot club-mosa, and a slight trwte of saltpetre. The remainder of the bolder waa filled with lycopodlum. With the pulling of the trigger. the cap explode the gunpowder and the force of the explosion nnltea the red pepper and lycopodlum and pro-' duces the blinding, suffocating vapor upon which the principle of the weapon depends. To test the effect of this cartridge, Mr. Scbiesinger procured a guinea pig front his laboratory and dis charged it at tbe animal at a range ot some three feet The guinea-pig seemed to suffer no pain, but was nnable to open its eyes for the spare of a minute and seemed to hsve some difficulty ia breathing as the fumes penetrated ita nose and throat. The text, however, hardly did jus tice to the weapon, for, naturally enough, the gaisea-pig was not ta the least alarmed at the. sudden sight ot the gua ss a human feeing would be and kept hia month shut 1 - Lj and his eyes nearly so. With a human being, of course, the surprise and shock would operate to open the victim eyes, and mouth and give the fumes a better chance to work. "Several time in my experience," said Chief Klyon. "I have wished for just such a weapon aa this chemical gua. In dealing with Black Handera, counterfeiters and other criminals who usually, operate in bands. It Is almost always necessary to roaod them up at the point of a gua. "The raiding officers are then ia a position where for tbe preserva tion of their own live they most show that they are determined to shoot and to shoot to kill at tbe first show of resistance. The first sus picious movement upon the part ot the .prisoners la the signal for the officers to fire, and yet they are naturally loath to take human lite unless It I absolutely necessary. 'This chemical ' gua, I believe. - ' y 2- - - - . , 1 -v-''"V . - . ' . , S solves the difficulty. If a prisoner shows fight, he finds himself sud denly confronted with what be Im agine is a loaded revolver. Ia nine cases out of ten. it is sufficient to take .all the fight out of him, he throws np hia hand and give la. In the tenth case, perhaps, be is either too frightened to think of bis dsnger or too desperate not te take a chance and be springs at the officer right ia the muzale of tbe 'sua. , . "Thea, of course, there ia only one thing tor tbe officer to do. He m( shoot, or the criminal may possibly get the best of him. Armed with a real gun, such a situation would usually mesa the death of the crimi nal, bat with the chemical gun, the overpowering fume released with the explosion of tbe cartridge right in the face of tbe advancing crook would place him entirely at the mercy of the officer, who would then pat the handcuffs on him and march him off. -For this reason, after I have given the new gun a thorough test, I shall Insist upon alt ot my mea carrying it when engaged in work not apt to require a regular re volver. For the ordinary policeman, however. I hardly think that the gna " would be sufficient, tor In the ma jority of cases in which the police officer Is called upon to nse a gua at all, he shoots to bring down a fugi tive, and. obviously, tbe chemical gna would aot do that"