Evening Republican, Volume 14, Number 308, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 28 December 1910 — QUEER old jap relic [ARTICLE]

QUEER old jap relic

CARVING said to be one thouSAND YEARS OLD. Wonjjrou, Engraved on Piece of Sandalwood Deplete Combat at Be «—Confiscated by a British Soldier. Nearly one thousand years ago a Jap. crafty with such knives and tools as existed at that time, carved a wondrous scene from a solid piece of sandalwood four feet long and a foot square. Today that carving stands in the office of Albert V. Huth, county |tax assessor. It belongs to Ernest Fellle. A history, written in quaint Japanese characters, twisted topsy-turvy on a sheet of equally curious rice paper, goes with the carving. This sheet is still In possession of the party frbm whom young Fellle bought the antique. ;Even if it were In his possession, a illnguist would be needed to translate it. This, however, is going to be done in the near future, when the real history of the old carving will be known. Many have puzzled to say exactly what is sought to be-shown. There is a sight of a turbulent sea, with waves mountain high, two high prowed .sampans locked together and the crews fighting in grim style. A man is overboard, but the combatants are paying no heed. One sampan is almost rail deep In the sea, but the sturdy defenders are fighting as though on terra Anna. Traditional history says the carving was done in the year 954. During the 'Boxer uprising, when the strong arm of Britain was needed to subjugate malcontents bent on destructionof life and property, the quaint old relic saved a human life. A British soldier, isent on a mission whose end was death to anyone he found within a certain house, entered, but found all absent except one. This one he placed under arrest, but in the act of putting onjhe irons his attention was caught iby the old carving. Stopping for a moment to examine It, he' was surprised upon turning toward his captive - I*o discover that he had flown. Had (the man been taken to headquarters lhe would have been shot. The soldier confiscated the relic and carried it with him. Later he presented it to a commanding officer and the latter sent it to a friend in the American army at Manila. JThen it ■was finally brought to the United States when the Philippine insurrection was subdued. It went from San Francisco to New York and then drifted south, reaching San Antonio several years ago as the property ,of an American officer. Recently there was Ban auction of old things and this went fwlth the balance. —San Antonio Light iand Gazette.