Democratic Sentinel, Volume 16, Number 46, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 2 December 1892 — AT HIS MOTHER'S GRAVE. [ARTICLE]

AT HIS MOTHER'S GRAVE.

A Chinaman Vows to Keep a Three Yeard Vigil Over the Spot. A correspondent writing from Shanghi, China, tells of a singular sight, not often seen in China, which he has witnessed. This is a man who has taken a vow to.watch three years at his mother’s grave. The lady died at the end of last year and was buried, as usual, on the side of a neighboring hill in the family burying place. When the remains had been consigned to the earth the son declared that he would not leave the grave for three years, and so far he has been true to hie word. The neighbors took upon themselves to provide for his wants, and a subscription list was started, 133 pounds of rice being contributed by his relatives and those who knew him. Families take turns in preparing his food and bringing it to him. Others brought straw and poles and made a rude hut for him large enough to contain himself and the grave of his mother. The writer saw him when he had already been at his self-appointed task nearly seven months and says he will not soon forget the sight and smell. Around the hut there were three wellkept graves, those of his father, brother and wife, and inside, that of his mother. During the three years of his vigil he does not wash himself, the straw upon which he lies is not removed, he does not change his clothes until the time has expired, he does not oome out of the little place for any cause whatever, he speaks to none, except perhaps, occasionally, and then only briefly, to his nearest relatives. He spends the time muttering prayers and burning incense at the head of the tomb, along the length of which he is stretched. The hut is not high enough to allow him to stand upright and is only a few feet longer than himself. “One can faintly Imagine,” the writer says, “the foulness of such a den and the cond.tion of such an unshorn human being after such an existence; what he will be like at the end of the summer I cannot conceive. It does not seem possible that a man should be able to live through three years of such horrors —none but a Chinaman could do it. ’’ If he survives the three years he will be highly honored, the officials will go in state and receive him and report the matter to the throne, and he will receive from the Emperor's hand a board containing four characters lauding his virtue. He may also receive some small official preferment, and will thus be provided for. The natives say that although he is alone on the hillside among the graves, no ghosts or devils will interfere with him and poisonous snakes will not come near him.

Oklahoma’s Progress. Gov. A. B. Seay, of Oklahoma Territory, has made his annual report to the Secretary of the Interior, and it is a most interesting document The approximate population of the Territory is 138,100, an inereast of 77,674 over 1890. This does not include the Indians, who still maintain their tribal relations. Of this population 85 per cent, are white, 10 per cent, are colored, and 5 per cent, are Indians. School lands and Indian allotments deducted, the report gives us a conservative estimate of the property, real and personal, In the Territory as $40,000,000. There are five national, four incorporated, and fourteen private banks in the Territory, and all are doing a good business. The total school population is 31,926, against 21,337 In 1891, being an increase of over 10,000 in a single year. Public schools and a State University are being erected. Settlements of lands for homesteads have been made rapidly and, Oklahoma is fast being converted Into an agricultural country. The first Legislature, the report says, was not a success. There were towns and localities contesting for the capital, and for the most part enlisted enough of the working members of both houses in their various capital-removal schemes to leave but a few whose mind could be concentrated on the work of making a systematic set of laws. The result is that the statutes are incongruous and in some cases conflicting and wrong and need amendment and revision. The last year is said to have been one of general prosperity for the farmer. The soil of Oklahoma has demonstrated its capability of producing large crops ■x all the staple cereals, vegetables and uit. The Governor estimates that the o-acre farms in the Territory will verage fifty acres each in cultivation.

A Scheme That Didn’t Work. A client I once had, said a wellknown attorney the other day, had stolen a horse, and the feeling against him in the county .in which the crime had been committed was so strong that I feared a verdict from those who were familiar with the circumstances. The only hope for him was to have the case tried in another county. When the hour came for me to address the court I had arranged to have a conspicuous and well-known figure around the town to cry out, ‘Hang him! Hang him!’ as so< n as my client’s name was mentioned. My was to show in this way that there was prejudice against my client and thus secure a change of venue. The court-room was crowded when the prisoner was brought in. He took his seat opposite the Judge and then turned around and viewed the threaten-ing-looking throng that surrounded him. “ Hang him! Hang him! He’s a horse thief!” rang out in the court room. It was shouted in such a cruel way that I was satisfied that I would have no trouble in securing the change of venue. “Hang him, I say: he’s a horse thief!” echoed again through the court house, and before the officers or anyone else could interfere I’ll be blamed if they didn’t hang him. They Devour Their Loving Maminas. One of the most unnatural things in nature, if the expression is allowable, is the manner in which the young of the common wolf spider, found everywhere in this country, treat their mother. After the little creature has laid her eggs, she envelops them in a silken covering so as to make a ball about the size of a pea, and this she carries about With her wherever she goes and will defend it with her life. When the young are hatched they climb on her back, giving her a monstrous appearance, and ride about until nearly half grown, and as soon as they discover their strength they fall to and devour their mother. As a rule the maternal relation is recognized in tffie animal and insect world only so long as the necessity for protection exists, but instances of the young actually devouring a parent by' main force and common consent are extremely rare.