Evening Republican, Volume 17, Number 39, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 14 February 1913 — Page 2

The CITY of MODAS

C""'l» Tis rumored that a Danish ~| ■7~~\ expedition is to be sent to jrj explore the wonderful v] group of rock-monuments w and sites in Central Asia 3 Minor which attests the y; short-lived splendor of the ™ Phrygian kingdom be-

tween, say, 800 and 650 B. C. That someone should do this with adequate funds and official support has long been desired devoutly. The extraordinary and enigmatic character of the monuments, the place which their makers hold In Greek story on the one hand, and, possibly, in Assyrian annals on the other —the significance of the position which they occupied on the great east-west roads of prePersian times —the mystery which obscures their origin and the uncertainty of their ultimate fate —all these considerations combine to make the "dScaviiHFn of fKe cenHlLr iirs, antra survey of its neighborhood, most important for archaeologists and historians. We know no ancient name for that central site —it sems to have been as nameless in the later Greek and the Rofnan times as now—and for want of a better, Ramsay, who has explored the district more thoroughly than anyone else, called it the Midas City. This name was suggested to him by the great tomb —If it be one—which is the principal monument of the place and of the district and. in its way. of all Asia Minor. I saw it twenty-five years ago, and still hold it without a rival of its kind. A cliff nearly one hundred feet high has been artificially scarped from top to bottom and cut back to a smooth face, an interlacing fret design being left standing out in relief over the whole vast expanse. At the foot is a small false door; at the top the rock haß been shaped into a noble pediment, like that of a Greek temple, and inscribed, in large Greek-looking Phrygian characters, with words among which stands out the name of Midas, son of Lavaltas. The boldness of the whole conception on that great scale, its faultless execution, and the rich simplicity of the decoration produce the most powerful impression. Standing before it, but far enough away to take in the general effect, one confesses it is not to be surpassed. And one can imagine the feelings of Martin Leake when, having arrived and camped in the valley after dark one night in 1800. allunconscious, like everybody else in Europe, that such a thing existed, he woke to see the tomb of Midas in the first light of morning. A tomb it should be on the analogy of lesser monuments in the district which have its facade, of something like it, in miniature; but no burial chamber of Midas has been detected. The lesser tombs often show reliefs of human figures, or of lions, or both —sometimes of the Phrygian Cybele guarded by her lions. After the Midas tamb. the most famous are the Lion tombs at Ayazinn. some distance to the south. One of these, now fallen in huge fragmens, has not only magnificent lions of very Asyrian appear ance on the sides (it was made out of a projecting bastion of rock), but a relief of two warriors in crested helmets attacking a strange Gorgon creature with their leveled spears; the other has two rampant lions guardnig its door, which have often been compared to the rampant beasts over the gate of the citadel at Mycenae. Borne, of the smaller tombs In

New Body as Pardon Plea.

Joseph Klrwln, sentenced *t Cleveland. 0.. In 1903 to life Imprisonment in Leavenworth (Kan.) prison for rob bery on the great lakes, has appealed for a pardon on the ground that a complete change In the tissues of the body which scientists say occurs every seven years, has cured him of a crime manta which caused him to commit the offense of which he was found guilty. While under the charge of robbery on the lakes, which Is akin to piracy, Klrwln was tried on a charge

the district also are well worth notice, especialy one in the wooden glen of Bakshish, which stands free, fashioned like a house. Altogether these make a singular group of monuments, as much in need of further exploration aB is the great citadel above the Midaß tomb, with its long ramp flanked by carved rock-faces and its inscribed rock-altars. We wish to learn many things ljrom this exploration. Of what race were these kings called Midas, who seemed to the Greeks of the west country so godlike, and. left such legends of their wealth? How much of the peninsula did they rule? Whence did they derive the art with which their tombs were made, and the letters with which they were inscribed? Were they the same as those kings called Mita, who, according to Assyrian annals, marshalled the people of the Muski against Sargon and Ashurbanipal? If they were, they must have been lords of no mean territory; for the Muski were undoubtedly the dominant race in Cappadocia too. They had once raided even to Mesopotamia, and brought out an Assyrian king, Tlglath Pileser 1., in fhll strength against them; and. when they retired across the Euphrates, they perhaps continued to hold its western bank with the great fortress of Carchemlsh. Had they spread also to Phrygia? Mita may be Midas, but it also may be the name of a merely Cappadocian king. It was of old standing in the Mesopotamian east, where had long dwelt the “people of Mita," the Mitanni. Moreover, the Muski seem to have adopted Hatti

SWINBURNE CLOSE TO DEATH

Great English Poet Thought of Unfinished Work When He Was About Drowned. Tae poet’s emotions in the face of death ought not to be unworthy of record when that poet happens to be one of the greatest of his time, if not of all time. Swinburne nearly lost his life in the summer of 1868 while bathing. The timely appearance of a fishing smack prevented the premature silencing of the voice that was presently to entrance the world with the “Songs Before Sunrise." I asked him what he thought about in that dreadful contingency, and he replied that he had no experience of what people often profess to witness, the concentrated panorama of' past life hurrying across the memory. He did not reflect on the past at all. He was filled with annoyance that he had not finished his “Songs Before Sunrise,” and then with satisfaction that so much of it was ready for the press, and that Mazxini would be pleased with him. “I reflected with resignation that I was exactly the Bame age as Shelley was when he was drowned,” he said. This, however, was not the case. Swinburne had reached that age in March, 18$7; but this was part of a curious delusion of Swinburne’s that he was younger by two or three years than his real age. Then he began to be, I suppose, a little benumbed by the water, his thoughts fixed on the clothes he had left on the beach, and he worried his

of smothering to death a young woman found dead in Cleveland.

Beware of the Empty Wagon.

Because half a dozen grasshoppers under a fern make the field ring with their Importunate chink, whilst thousands of cattle, reposed beneath the shadows of the British oak, chew the cud and are silent, pray do not Imag-. Ine that those who make the noise are the only Inhabitants of the field; that of course they are many In number; or that, after all, they are other than

civilization, art, and leters, while he monuments of Phrygian kings and people are, except in two or three instances, not of Aatti character but oi anoher, which looks western, and sup pors the Greek story that the Phrygians iad come out of Europe. On the other hand, inscriptions in the same alphabe and language as those cut on the tomb of Midas have been found (though rarely) in Cappadocia; and one cannot but ask, if Mita of the Muski was not Midas of Phrygia, how comes it that the latter, who was ruler of a people great enough to make such monuments, has passed unmentioned in the annals of those Assyrian kings who concerned themselves with Asia Minor Just at the epoch to which, on all grounds, thePhrygian kingdom is to be assigned? To nil such questions, and, especially to that important one—whence did the Phrygians get their alphabet?— some sort of answjer may be expected from excavations 'at the Midas City. On the flat top of the cliff-ringed acropolis, an extraordinary fortress of immense strength, there seemed, when I saw it, to be not much earth! but one never knows until one tries, and there is certainly plenty round the foot of the cliffs where, presumably, the bulk of the city lay. There are other walled fortresses near by, and any number of tombs, and thickly wooded labyrinthine valleys which may well conceal any number more. I know few districts more likely to repay exploration, and none more likely to delight the explorer, and keep him in the best of health.

clouded brain about some unfinished verses in the pocket of his coat. —Edmund Gosße, in Cornhill Magazine. Great Painter's Last Days Pathetic. The philosopher may ruminate profitably over the fact that a picture by Degas has just been sold in Paris for $85,000, while Degas himself, old and nearly blind, is living in misery in a fifth-floor attic practically without furniture. Degas is eighty-four years old and without resources. A correspondent of the London Express visited his room and found him out He had gone to the sale of his picture, from curiosity, for he had no interest in it When he came in he said: ‘‘Yes, I went to the Bale. The figure was a high one. I heard people talk of the life in the dancers on my canvas. For me all the canvases, all the faces, all the eyes around me were dancing. I was a painter, was I not? I am nothing but a blind old' man now.” Perhaps there was something in Whistler’s contention that a painter should always have some proprietary rights over his creations. At least the idea contains a sentiment that should be respected, a sentiment, let us hope, not altogether without its appeal to the man who had just received $85,000 for the work of an artist who actually lacked bread to eat.

Superlative.

“Always boasting, eh?” “Yes; everything connected with him 1b always in the superlative. Even when he had a cataract in his eye It was a regular Niagara.”

the little shriveled, meager, hopping though loud and troublesome Insects of the hour. —Edmund Burke.

Painting Found In Cellar.

“The Holy Family," attributed to Oluglio Cesare Procacclno and dated 1610, was recently discovered In a dusty wide cellar on West Broadway According to American Art News It Is now the property of Atlllo Graflgnla a wine merchant, who has loaned It for exhibition to Avery hall, Columbia university.

HEROINE OF THE ROAD

THRILLING RACE WITH DEATH THAT RIVALB FICTION. / ■ ~ •:» - Fifteen-Year-Old Girl Makes Daring and Successful Ride in Effort to Bave Life of Injured Laborer. From the “front” of the new Grand Trunk Pacific railway comes a tale of

ness of the night over a wild and mountainously rough road the man owes his life. One of the laborers working upon the grade had been injured slightly in .he arm by a flying piece of wood. Carelessness in the handling of this avidently trivial wound caused blood poisoning, and before it was realized, che man was almost at death’s door, md only the quick attendance of a ioctor could save him. The only animal in the whole camp that was in any way serviceable was a medium weight horse used for hauling the dump cart on the rock cut. There was no saddle and the only person in camp that was of sufficient light weight to be carried by die animal for any distance to make iny speed was fifteen-year-old Mary Fowler. The nearest doctor was at the main camp, 22 mileß down the line, and the country between was of the wildest nature, only a thin, half blazed trail winding in and out and a swollen ruining mountain stream also in the pathway between the two camps. But little Mary was game, and aßtride the clumsy workhorse, with only a tightly strapped on blanket for a saddle, the girl started out over the mountain trail on a 22-mile dash with death? Darkness falls quickly these early winter days, and-though she started at four in the afternoon it was almost black dark before she had covered quarter the distance. The horse, too, tired with the day’s work on the grade, was slow and unsure of foot, and made but poor time in spite of the ffantic urging of its rider. A little over ten miles from the camp, where the injured iqan lay dying a swollen mountain stream crosses the trail, and though the stream at this point is not more than 50 feet across, it is deep enough to force an animal to swim. A rough bridge had been built for the crossing of foot passengers, but no accommodation had been made for animals. And the horse absolutely balked at going into the water. Crying and frantic, the girl beat the animal and at last induced It to take to the water. The first few feet from the shore the water is fairly shallow, but when the old dump horse felt the water creeping up around its belly, It wheeled sharply around and plunged ’ back to the bank. Not vanquished, the girl leaped from the animal’s back and leaving it behind, started on foot to do the remaining twelve miles that lay between her and the doctor. In a little more than three hours after she had left her home camp she arrived at the headquarters, and the doctor was on his return journey. This over a country, wild and rocky, with only the barest semblance of a trial and for the most part through the darkness. The man’s life was saved, and it is to little Mary Fowler and her fearless dash and long walk through the darkness of the night that the laborer owes tt. Twenty-two miles through mountain fastnesses, half on foot and the rest on the back of a slow-moving animal that was little better than a truck horse, twenty-two miles in a little over three hours is some record, and the girl’s name is worthy to go down in history as “The heroine of the •front.' ”

Putting Him Wise.

A small boy was seated in the parlor with his sister’s young man. - Being of an Inquiring mind, he asked Mr. Gaysmith, "Do you weigh very much?" “About 150 pounds, my little man," the hopeful lover responded. “Do you think sister could lift you?" the boy continued. “Oh. goodness, no,” said the young man, blushing at the mere thought, “but why do you ask?” “I don't believe she can, either, but I heard her tell ma this morning that she was going to throw you over as soon as she could.” —Weekly Telegraph.

Made Her Somewhat Ancient.

When Rev. Anna Shaw’s little grandniece, eight years of age, confessed to her mother that she could not be a suffragist because the other children made fun of her, her sister, aged six years, fiercely exclaimed. “1 wouldn't be a coward; they’ve been making fun of Aunt Anna for hundreds of yean."

a thrilling race with death that rivals the fiction writer’s imagination. Little Mary Fowler, aged fifteen, the daughter of a camp cook, a few nights ago made one of the most daring and successful horseback rides in an effort to save the life of an injured laborer, and in her desperate ride through the dark-

KEEPING TRACK OF THE CARS

How the Car Accountant Records -the Movements -of Each Car In Service. When a car passes the road owning it, the conductor handling the car on the last division of the home road reports to the car accountant that the car was delivered to such a foreign road at such a place. This road then becomes responsible for the car until it has been hauled to the end of its line and turned over to another roodT when what is known as an “interchange card” is forwarded to the owner of the car informing him that the car has passed off his road and has been delivered to the connecting line, which then' becomes responsible for vious road, until the owner of the car can be notified that it has been delivered to some other company. ■The car accountant, on receiving the conductor’s train sheetß, first checks them against the reports which are sent him by the checkers at the different division points. The car numbers are then entered in a record book, against the proper stations at which the cars are reported. The stations along the road, instead of being known by their .•• correct names, are designated by numbers, and these numbers represent not only the stations, but the number of mileß these stations are from the terminal. Thus, thq number "125” would represent a station of a certain name which is 125 miles from the terminal of the road. At the end of the month, when tlyef mileage is figured, these numbers facilitate the work greatly, as when an item occurs of ten ears moved from the terminal of the road to station 126, the mileage is readily seen to be 125 miles.

TO CURB THE DIRIGIBLES

German Invention That Is Considered . by Military Men to Be of lm- ' mense Importance.

The German paper Schuss and Waffe describes a bullet named for its inventor, Lentz, for which great things are claimed in the way of destroying dirigible balloons, which will undoubtedly appear in the next war between nations of the first rank. Instead of being a shell fired from a howitzer, like other projectiles of this Bort, this bullet can be made up into cartridges for the ordinary rifle. Two prongs are held in slots in the bullet while it is in the barrel of the rifle, but fly out when it is in the air. When. It p.ntftra a balloon the strain on these prongs releases a spring, which explodes a primer, setting the gas on fire. While a dirigible might escape the few shellß fired at it by a cannon, it would hardly hope to pass unhit through the hail of bullets fired by a regiment; and one such bullet exploding within its envelope would destroy the balloon, as the unfortunate Wellman balloon exploded last year.

Caters for Elephants.

Strange traffic originates on the railways of the Malay states, as shown in a recently published schedule of freight rateß, among which such items aB these appear: Elephants, 20 cents per mile each; alligators, bears, hyenas, panthers, tigers and similar animals, 10 cents per mile each; monkeys, one-half cent per mile each; snakes in baskets, parcels rate. From a further perusal of the volume one finds that; It is better to send an elephant to a friend than a corpse in a coffin, sor v the latter will cost you 60 cents each per mile, with a minimum charge of five dollars. Tom-toms go at 1% cents per pikul per mile. It is obvious that people who send snakes or tom-toms by rail might want to have a procession. Therefore it is enacted that a license for every religious or other procession of over 500 people, for 12 hours or less, with music, costs $25, or, without music, $lO.

Pension for an Old Engineer.

Peter Tellin, the oldest engineer of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe railroad, has been retired on a pension. Tellin has been employed by the Santa Fe 44 years and was the engine driver for the construction train when the road was being constructed west of Florence. He fought Indians who opposed the coming of the railroad and was held up often by buffalo crossing the tracks. For many years Tellin has been driving the engine on fast passenger tralnß between Hutchinson and Kinsley.

His Imagination Too Vivid.

Tom, five years old, sat looking at a plate of cold tongue. “What’s that?” he asked at last. “Cold tongue,” was the answer. “Are we going to eat It?” “Certainly." “Well, have we ever had any before?” “Yes.” “Did I eat It?" “Of coune you did.” “Well, what do you think of that? And after It had been In a cow’s mouth! ’’—lndianapolis News.

Longest Straight Railroad.

The longest stretch of railway in the world without a curve Is In New Zealand, where there Is a line of railway a part of which stretches for a distance of 136 miles In a perfectly straight line. This fact Is remarkable when it is taken Into consideration that New Zealand Is one of the most difficult countries In the world for railway construction, as It Is very mountainous, necessitating sharp curves and very heavy grades.—The -w.

The ONLOOKER

by S. E. KISER

’WHEN PA "WAS WAGE

When pa was my age he was glad To do just as they told him; He never made his parents sad, They never had to scold him; He never, never disobeyed, Nor punched his little brother, And day and night he always made Things pleasant for his mother. When pa was my age he would clean His shoes when they were muddy; He never thought his folks were mean Because they made him study; He always tried his best to be For goodness celebrated, And he was praiset by all—but, geel How pa’s degenerated!

PASSING THOUGHTS

The giver is always cheerful when there is a crowd. A doctor never is ill and a lawyei never sues anybody. Most of us will believe a lie and insist on proof of the truth. A reformer always seems to be dieBefore you begin worrying about something today remember what you worried about yesterday.. Some folks have a skeleton in the closet, but have judgment enough to use it for a clothes hanger. The man who raises bantam chickens would question your sanity if you raised a herd of pet elephants. As soon as a man begins to make money he commences to talk about the advancement of civilization. Think of an egg staying in cold storage for years and years wonder ing if it will finish as an omelette or a custard. When a henpecked man goes to heaven he must be always worrying about the day when his wife will arrive on the scene. An optimist is a man who tells you how much worse luck you might have had; a pessimist is a man who tells you how much worse luck he has. For little boys a lie is a “story," for older people it is a “falsehood,” for politicians it is a “roorback,” and for dignified folk it is a “misapplication of the facts” —but it 1b just as big a lie all the time.

Winter Sonnet.

A stream is rippling through a valley where It rippled twenty thousand years ago, And probably when it began to flow Some pebbles it is washing now were there, And doubtless, as the stream ran past/ the fair Green stretches to the greatei stream below It gladdened some one who, with cheeks aglow, Sat by itß shore, a stranger te all care. But what care I if others by the stream Once listened to the tinkling tune it made, Or gladly sat and saw the pebbles gleam, Or watched the shadows that across it played? I sit in easy comfort, warmed by steam, And dictate to a girl who is a dream.

His Trouble.

“Cholly Lallypop has been In very poor health recently, I hear." “Indeed? What has been the mat ter with him?” “He says the doctors tell him he has too much add In his system.” “Oh. I suppose that is one of th< results of the large supply of lemons that are handed to him.”

Particulars.

“Yes,” said the clerk, as ha dipped hts pen In the Ink and prepared to fill out the blank. “Your name, please.” “Amelia Whlppleton.” “Nationality?" “American.” “Married or unmarried?” i “Both—twice.” r V A- .»