Decatur Democrat, Volume 38, Number 1, Decatur, Adams County, 23 March 1894 — Page 2

SIMPLE CREMATION. | Orthodox Hindoos Burn Their Dekd in the Open Air. Strange and Sanitary Mode of Biapoalng of Bodie* Which Dial Been In Vogue In India for Thousand* of Tears. Although we are beginning to believe more and more every year in cremation, and think ourselves accordingly advanced, the Hindoos have practiced it for thousands of years. The funeral. pile of a rajah sometimes costs lacs of j rupees; a Hindoo body is sometimes j burned when three rupees cover the; entire expenses. The rich Hindooinay j be somewhat exclusive. The Hindoo masses do everything simply and open-, ly._ They bathe out of doors, they I pray out of doors, they cook out of ; doors, they die out of doors, and —their bodies are burned out of doors. There are three burning ghats in Calcutta. A writer to the I'all Mall Budget tells very entertainingly of a visit she made to one of the cheapest and most primitive of theSe three. Just as she entered into the inclosure i where a burning ghat was in full opera-' tion. there was a crack—a sharp retort ■ like a pistol. The heat had just I broken through a dead man's skull, j It was the last human part to protest j BgaiiKt the extinguishment of death. | The funeral pile of a poor Hindoo looks like an ordinary kitchen yard woodpile. But if you go up close to it, you discover something- very like a \suman form—a glowing, charred mass, distinguished from every other shape, animate or inanimate. For the Hindoos literally purify their dead by fire. The body is burned until absolutely nothing remains but a handful of ashes • —ashes wholly free from \ny unclean or poisonous matter. As. the writer was closely observing the glowing pile, a new body was brought in and the rite begun. Two coolies carried the body upon a rude litter, woven from coarse grasses, and held together by, outlines of bamboo. Two of the dead man s brothers followed, chatting pleasantly. Four stout sticks of wood were driven upright into the ground, at the corners of an imaginary parallelogram about six feet by two. Between these four A HINDOO BUBNING GHAT posts were loosely laid sticks of dry, cheap wood. When the pile was a little more than three feet high the body was laid upon it. A dirty piece of crash, of the quality the coolies wear about their loins, partly wrapped the dead. One of the brothers stepped up and poured about four ounces of oil over the body. This insured a quicker cremation, but was something of a luxury, and not a universal practice. The oil must have cost about three pice. The other brother paid the coolies, who shouldered the light empty litter, and rharehed gayly out. More wood was piled upon the dead. A thin stick was lighted at the other funeral pile, which was now flaming finely, the second pile was lighted, and the cremation of the newcomer was begun. The two brothers appeared very interested in the igniting, rand decidedly pleased when it was ac- ' complished. They squatted down upon the ground, just so far from the pile that they might feel that their scant, filthy garments were fairly safe from the sparks, but near enough to watch all the changing phases of the cremation, and to see easily when it was consummated. They untied a dirty rag from about a small bundle one of them had brought with them. They took out a small earthen bowl. It was clean and shining, and so was the brass chattee each ’ifted from his filthy .turbaned head. The chattees held water. The bowl Sield curry and rice. They fell to eating with great gusto. And, pray, why Sot? They were eating to live. Their brother was burning to live—to live in Hindoo paradise. From the Hindoo point of view this state was far more blessed The cremation which was in full blast when the writer arrived was . .finally Completed. Two distinct kinds of ashes were left. The human ashes were carefully gathered into an old chattee. The authorities do not allow those ashes to be thrown into the river, and they are never thrown there in the presence of Europeans. The ashes of the wood were swept swiftly away. The bits of wood not quite burned re frtigtiUy collected to be utili?.’. the,next pile. I It., Apology and All. T;:.- wing genuine “bull” story . by a New York merchant: ; town customer to. whom & . s’Fad been shipped discov-. • tlro:ight.. a the b ' : rgijig him to .'a eonSder- : jt !!.<• wrote to the iner- (.!>'. be diy without delay and the ■- .-as rtrfly -received- It dwelt ~ t Ito - on •. :.reicssnesS in general,'.id particularly in the case of this bill. tvaxing indignant over the fool? h nih take and demanding a correct Idii a.t once. At . the foot of the 1 letter was a hastily-written postscript to this eii’eot: “Since writing the abovfe I have reexamined your bill aud find ft correct alter all.” A

( DONE BY LEVERAGE. How Soma of Gaza’s Wonderful Feats Are Performed. T. H. Briggs. th* Englishman. Explain* the Helentlfle Basis of Many Trick* of Strength — Easily Puahe* Two Huge Firemen Backward. T. H. Briggs, the Englishman who recently fliado an expose of some of I the-phenomenal feats performed by Gaza, the female Sandow, showing ; that they were easily explained on the scientific principle of the lever, j recently gave an interesting illustraI tion of the .same principle when applied to draft horses. | Mr. Briggs performed some feats I of strength that would be thought incredible outside a theater or a circus, but ho explained them all on scientific principles. He called out two of the largest and strongest firemen present. They. I both grasped a pitchfork handle i about eight feet long. ‘Mr. Briggs, ] who weighs less than one hundred apd ! sixty pounds and is undersized at I that, stood opposite. He balanced i himself on-ojie foot and then, taking | hold of the handle, told them to ! push. He easily pushed them backward, merely requiring that they push downward while he pushed upward, thereby getting the benefit of their weight. He next grasped the hand of the biggest fireman and told him to pull. The giant jerked him half way across the room. He had a spectator mount his back and then tried the pull. This time he pulled the fireman over with comparative ease. All this was interesting as an exhibition, but seemed like jugglery or sleight, of hand. Mr. Briggs’ purpose was, however, to illustrate the principle and law of the lever. He explained that it was weight, not strength, that counted in the push or pull. He next brought out a number of models of draft horses and carts attached and showed how the same principle helped or impeded a draft horse while pulling a load. If the* traces were inclined so that the wagon end was lower than the horse’s collar the horse gained additional weight and could pull more, and vice versa. This increased weight of the horse, he explained, was an advantage only when starting a heavy load, after that it would only fatigue the animal sooner. The object, then, was obviously an arrangement that) enabled the horse to have weight when starting a heavy load and only its natural weight or less when moving along with it. When he had made this clear to his hearers Mr. Briggs invited them outside to see a vehicle equipped with an automatic arrangement of the shafts and trace, attachments that accomplished what was wanted. He showed how the horse hitched to this could start a heavier load than with ordinary traces and how the attachment then adjusted itself so that the horse could travel without increasing its weight by a pull on the traces. The vehicle was placed on an inclined plane, but none present could start it by pulling on the shafts. By taking hold of the adjustment invented by Mr. Briggs, which extended along the shaft but joined the vehicle at a low'fer point, this was easily done. It was soon clear to those present that pulling the vehicle by Mr. Briggs’ appliance was vastly easier than by the ordinary method—the shafts.—Chicago Times. GREENLAND DOVES. The Little Auks of the North Pole Neighborhood. A few weeks ago a very odd-look-ing bird was seen on the ocean beach at Stonington', Conn. It is a pity that it could not have been caught, instead of being shot as it was, for a local ornithologist discovered it to be a little auk that had. Strayed away from its home within the arctic circle. The man who shot it had it piounted, and set it up in his home.. It is as big aS a full-blown ‘‘snowball” ilossom, plump as a pullet, with little, short wings. About its head, neck and shouldersis a cape of black, glossy feathers, while its breast is as white as snow. Its dark wings are tipped with white patches, and its bill is as black as coal. It is web-footed, and, from the tip of its bill to the end of its tail feathers, it is eight inches long. Mariners who sail in Arctic waters calk-the little aul. the’Greenland ■dove. It especially loves the snowy regional)vested by the arctic circle, and ornithologists say that if the north pole should ever be discovered flocks of these Utile birds will be found in the neighborhood. 'fn spite of its short wings the little auk travels through the air like a rifle shot; !t dlyes expertly and erm swim 'vrffler water* It is perfeeoy at home whether afloat Os ashore. and when weary Ot Bear faring tin-its hoa# under its Wing and goes to sleep, “rocked In |he cradle of the deep. ” It subsists on fish and small crabs and lays one egg of a pale greenish blue,' likfc the sea.—Golden Days. ■

t 1 PENMANSHIP OF TELEGRAPHERS A Curious Instance of the Revelations of Handwriting. “An expert telegrapher can always be told by his writing,” said an operator the other day. “No 1 matter how different the writing of expert operators may be, there is a similarity that can always be distinguished by a fellow manipulator of the keys. It seems that there are certain muscles of the hand capable pf quicker motion than the others. A telegrapher who is compelled to take down thirty to fifty words a minute develops these muscles and makes them do most .of the work. So the writing of expert operators has a peculiar resemblance, which is particularly noticeable to persons who follow the business. A telegrapher is compelled to adopt a ■ different style of writing from that usually taught in schools. In the latter beauty is what is most desired; in the cusd of the telegrapher, he must have speed, and groat spend,' too, or he will be thrown aside. The other day a fellow operator and myself saw a postal card. I had only glanced at it when I remarked that it was the writing of a man who had once been a telegraph operator. My companion agreed, and further suggested that he had received his education in a railroad office, inasmuch as he dated his postal in the right-hand corner, whereas a commercial operator always writes the date in the left-hand corner, as the blanks are made in that form. Yes, and he has been a bookkeeper; for, although the figures in the table given were written hastily, they were written on perfect lines, added my friend. This all came from our noticing the class distinction in the writing of a telegrapher# As there was no name signed to the postal, it merely giving a list of shipments, we were anxious to find out whether our judgment was correct. We asked the man who received it who had written it. He gave the name of a now prominent business man who began life as a messenger in a railroad office, then became a telegrapher, next was given a position of trust where bookkeeping was one of his duties, finally launching put for himself in a line entirely foreign to railroading or bookkeeping. The characteristics that had crept into his writing during his early training were still visible. We had guessed the history of the man from his writing. ’’—Pittsburgh Dispatch. _ DECEITFUL AND DEADLY. A Harmless But Fatal Weapon Used in Mexico. Harry Armitage, an old Mexican traveler, was in St. Louis the other day on his way to New York, and as he passed up and down the platform of the Union station he chatted with a Republic reporter. Naturally the conversation turned upon the unsettled condition of that, country and the guerrilla warfare that is being waged against the administration by the mountain people. During this conversation he suddenly drew from his pocket an object that to all outward appearance was nothing more than an ordinary match box. As he passed it’over to the’ reporter for inspection, he said: “Do you know that you have in your hands the most \ J H I SBW: |S? THE BOX. THE TUSK. villainous weapon I have ever seen in 1 all my travels. Tftat little silver box contains enough poison to cause the death of a thousand men. If you will touch that little spring just below the lid —Ah! You have it. “No.w, notice that protrusion. That is the tusk of the great diamond-baA: rattlesnake, one of the family of venomous reptiles so common in the mountains of western United States and Mexico. “If you will glance at its point you will find that it is slit and that an amberlike matter exudes from it. “That amber-colored matter is the venom of the reptile, taken from its venom sack, and the Mexicans set these tusks in those handsomely carved silver boxes, and the Mexican ladies carry them as a* means of defense against anyone who dares to insult or molest them. One scratch from the point of that terrible tusk meanp an inoculation of the most deadly virus known to man. The person so inoculated Will die a horrible death within seven or eight hours after receiving the wound and not know what Jias caused his death, for to all appearances it is just the.scratch of a pin or needle. “In the-hands of an unscrupulbiis person it would be. productive of more evil than a whole battery of guns, I purchased it from an old Mexican hag in Durango, and I suppose she had Stolen it from f oine. lady <>f caste, but X never have se< ■ . '' tiling to equal it JUB a death-deal i> ... i . truinent.”—“What's” your son Josiar doin’?” said a • neighbor to Farmer Begosh. “Wallv was the reply, “he thinks he’s diggin’ bait, but he’s makin’ garden.”-* Washington Star.

NEW SPRING CLOTHING - 02/AT.SD ' - Pete Holthouse & Co. ■aFswMMWKg a niw are coming • is complete iiKlaily in every respect, in spite HATS and CAPS °f the in various hard times. different sty fee Wehavo 7 ''J l| "“- a larger stock to select from. CLOTHINGS than any time before with prices to suit the & / “Times.” ' ] We carry an immense ece Goods CMfirmation Sulls! |WpP The most attractive line ' *' Patterns in the city to select your . and Styles. Boys Confirming Suits from. ggW At remarkable Come in Low Prices. se i % - BtSF’Gall and see them. eaily. WE HOLTHOUSE & Co>

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THE best investment in real estate is to keep buildings well painted. Paint protects the house and saves repairs. You want to sell—many a“* good house has remained unsold for want of paint. The rule should be, though, “the best paint or none.” That means Strictly Pure White Dead You cannot afford to use cheap paints. To be sure of getting Strictly Pure White Lead, look at the brand; any of these are safe: “ A nch nr.’ ’ * ‘ Southern,’ ’ “Eckstein,” “Red Seal,” “ Kentucky,” “ Collier.” For Colors. —National Lead Co.’s Pure White Lead Tinting Colors. These colors are sold in one-pound cans, each can being sufficient to tint 25 pounds of Strictly . Pure White Lead the desir’d shade; they, are m no sense ready-mixed paints, but a combination of perfectly pure colors in the handiest form to tint Strictly Pure White Lead. A good many thousand dollars have been caved property-owners by having our book on painting and color-card. Send us a postal card and get both free. NATIONAL LEAD CO., New York. ; Cincinnati Branch, Seventh and Freeman Avenue, Cincinnati. The Human Electrical Forces! How They Control the Organs t of the Body. The electrical force of the human body, as the nerve fluid may be termed, 13 an especially attractive department of science, as it exerts so marked an influence on the healfn of the organs of the body. Nerve force is produced by the brain and conveyed by means of the nerves to the various organs of the body, thus supplying the latter with the vitality necessary to insure their health. The & pneumogastric nerve, as shown here, may be said to.be the most important jf the ent ire nerve sys- V&MgMKgEw tern, as it supplies the heart lungs, stomach, bowels, etc., with the ' . nerve force necessary to keep them active and healthy. As will bo seen by tlie cut the long nerve descending from tli o base of the brain and terminating in the bowels istlie pneumogastric, while the numerous lit tie branch.‘, supply t ,< : — heart, lungs ami aeh with necessary vi-gfflHMHB'-tnlity. When the brain qßWWtffiW becomes in any way dis- sMMEgHKnnjnHHH ordered l>y irritability MW' or exhaustion, the nerve force which it, supplies is lessened, and the ortans receiving tlio di- MSaWbg-mtgHH| - >. minished supply are conaeuuently weakened. Physicians generally fall to recognize, the importance of this fact, but treat the, organ itself instead of the cause of the trouble The noted specialist, Franklin Miles, M. D., LL. B„ has given the greater part ot his life to the study of this subject, and t he principal discoveries concerning It are due to his e (Torts. Dr. Milos’ Restorative Nervine, the unrivaled brain and nerve food, is prepared on the principle that all nervous and many other difficulties originate from disorders of the nerve centers. Its wonderful success In curing these disorders is testified toby thousaucE in every part of the land. Restorative Nervine cures sleeplessness, nervous prostratiqgwlizziness, ual debllity, St. JO,. Jgß *