People's Pilot, Volume 4, Number 5, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 20 July 1894 — ACROSS THE DEEP. [ARTICLE]

ACROSS THE DEEP.

The City of Acbille* and tlie Wooden Home. From our Special Correspondent. Berlin. May 27, 1*94. As a student of Latin, in the high school, at the rate of from 15 to 30 lines of Virgil per day, my immagination was not so vain, and my ambitions were not so presumptuous as to dare to think that I would ore day look upon the remains of the city ot the wooden horse, or the home of Priam and his sons who suffered so excrtciating a death in the folds of the sea serpent. That I should behold the vases that decorated the homes, and the golden ornaments which lent their beauty to adorn the person of the maid of Troy, or touch the goblets in which the wine of tier hillsides sparkled athe wines of the Rhine, pr evet see the skeletons of the ciiizcm of Troy, of Hoim-r, w.iuld haw been, a ; oat time, oi my midnight revels in trying to untan-

gle the >e of Virgil, a dream little b han the dream ol Virgil 1 -if as he pictured the flight of ‘»eas who was to bt instrum in founding Rome. The ; of the finding and uneartl the Troy of Homei and Vi to all who have *.oquait unselves with the story of heroes of the city as reeo l by these poets must h s; • than a passing interest i little tillage in an obs itry district of Germa >rn a boy by the name ( tan, tiie son of the Li , .'or of the village. . be expected the father a poor and the -s ni’s -nudy was cut. short *ssity of the fatlioi ice him to a trade. this was done he ini his teachers t te p oerior capacity am : study, especially i It was while a stu- Gymnasium that 1 great purpose • - • rather lie had t . < irposes—one of wh and which will j his name know ad the other fai of his, but beeau and formal castes zed society as we ; j >e. While even; i companion ol ~i‘Vi.s a bright eyed, • <: maid of wean . ...e ■■-. don. As is vei i i ider such circu >, mutual regai up -en them whic. , . wildest affeci v nip - e . But wher. in to so i for the hand > f i ymm ; n future marr parent 1 lied him the ] he had neith . o nor - . .al posi-

tion. 'J ;. :s w.rs th ct that led t< ' ■ii. ;i gr- v ; a pose of his lir and which wh- dthfully ao 1 ■ and allowed throu ;.( 1 ■ •< ”oa iw , i struggling a . r: . e resolutio ; i.i, 1., v, ffi gain weali m and a ;,Mtkm a d then claim ' ll ' •';! the npanion of ch 1100 l days. The second grea> u. rpo.se o" his life was madt '-a yo.-rlr ! i ouiise to this yonng girl in the ’ussence of hi: ' Unit ;ilc <:; t y they itoget'a ■'?<i’i id M.i-Hi tn the city of w| « Hoiraw sang and where Aohi. i wrf' i;;n<* d jv "aring deeds -j a. : • 1 • arrow .overt ■)j i io.. ih: ~ vis resolution s: cot? ?ii tnv an Amerse&n l >' natn's : Aer 1 >■* as finished V : i,S J , J> ‘ q jjg .■see h< : tie.-te reso! u It. j aped •the wJ. vw.awo of Ids A He iforso© ..< ,* j.rc.-v...the youthl .* i/j i-i i v in, - * first pos,session was too ihsp'TJit.ioa of his str igg'es and the' .stepping .<etfi>ne to the attainment of his second purpose * -inning hack to ino world li. * 'id >y iMoiner. tor rive years A- strug* jgled as a very ordinary ch. rk in at little . iage store in Germany .and we Americans can hardly

appreciate the true meaning of this, when with us opportunity is everywhere. The boy Schleiman. for at this age he had hardly passed the age of boyhood, thus struggled in the presence of poverty, but at the same time retained his interest in his linguistic studies. After serving five years at this place, he injured his chest by lifting a heavy weight so that he was no longer of any use to his employers and so was discharged. Without work and incapacitated for heavy labor from his injury, he drifted to Rotterdam and after many discouraging failures found employment in a wholesale merchant house as a clerk. Here he pursued his language studies so steadily that he was soou master of English, French, Spauish. Dutch, Italian and took up the study of Russian. His methods of studying a language

are.very iu:cresting and instructive but can not be touched here. The firm with which he was connected had business interests at St. Petersburg which needed the attention of an agent, and Schlieman, because of his proficiency in the Russian language was selected for this mission. This opened a new field and soon enabled him to begin business for himself which he did and with such success that in a few years he was a rich man and had acquired the social position for which he struggled and his next step was to present his claims for the hand of the companion of his youth, but the news came back that she had been married some two months previous. This was more than he could bear, and the frame

that had sustained his weary efforts, when robbed of the hope which was ever an inspiration for him, gave way and for many months a ravaging fever fed itself upon his body. Following this came also financial ruin in the crash of 1837. He first set himself about to recover his lost fortune, and success again soon crowned his efforts, and the only purpose for which he now lived was the regaining of Troy. In the meantime he had made several trips to America, and was in California in 1849 when by act of Congress all persons within her limits at the time of admission became American citizens without further process of naturalization. The fact that he was an American citizen was a great source of pride to him, but he never left Germany for residence in America. In 1866 with an ample fortune, as a result of favorable speculation during our Civil War and also war in Europe he began seriously to direct his efforts toward

Troy. This necessitated a thorough knowledge of Greek and Latin which he soon acquired and says himself that he could speak and write Greek with the same fluency that lie could any language. The first question that must be answered was: Where was Troy? This was a disputed question and I shall not trace the long processes by which he at last collected all the available material to enable him to decide. It is needless to add that in fixing upon the place many eminent scholars must suffer and others be vindicated. By thoroughly comparing Homer with modern investigation he at lasi fixed upon the spot which seemed to satisfy him as the most probable view of all the opinions compared, and in 1871 began his excavations, whicli were continued at intervals till 1882. Aside from the severe winds bearing their sands and | the ill feeling of the natives, he | also had much difficulty in get | ting, consent of the Turkish 1 government to continue the work and was only allowed to do so on condition that three-fourths of , all relics found should become j the possession of the Turkish government and they sent an Qfficer on the ground to put ov [erything under key tjli divided.

It was only through the American ambassador to Turkey, who was at that time Wayne McVeagh, now minister to Italy, and the British ambassador, that he was enaoled to get as favorable terms as these. It may be interesting to add that much of the cite selected as the place of Troy was owned by an American who permitted the ground to be used by Schleiman in his excavations. He employed on an average about 80 uieu per day at his own expense, but as he had acquired a competency which yielded him an income of #50,000, he was able to push his work unhindered by need of funds. It was not long until his directions began to yield the remains of a city which had been buried beneath the sands. But this city was too modern in the type of its architecture to be the city of Achilles, so he began preparations for deeper investigation, and each time meeting the remains of a new city until he had discovered and unearthed seven cities, one built upon the other without any apparent apprehension on the part of the latest builders that they had built upon the remains of a former city. We will begin with the bottom city and call it the first as it was fiist in time. The base of this city rests upon virgin soil 52 feet below the soil of the present day. The inhabitants of this period were apparently very simple in their tastes and evidently had few wants. The remains preserved, besides the buildings which must be destroyed, were plain vases of burnt clay with some decorations; we find also needles of bone and bronze.

The second city is most interesting as being identified with the Troy of Homer. This city was larger than the first and a large wall of stone was discovered and pierced by three doors. Only a few large buildings were found on the hill, while the city extended in the valley below. There were discovered many stone weapons, daggers, broken columns, and some gold ornaments and many marble idols. The third city was not so carefully built and seemed not to be so important as her predecesors. The third city was net completely destroyed as many houses were found in partial preservation at the base of tiie fourth city. The relics found in the fourth and fifth cities are very similar in structure and purpose.

So, in the first five cities we find much the same architecture and ornamentation, all bespeaking a very similar mode of life of their inhabitants. In these five are found no iron and no lamps. In the sixth city we find some advancement in the culture of the people. The seventh and last city in time is the Illion of the time of the Empire of Rome and in later Grecian times, and bears a much more advanced stage in culture, Alexander the Great caused the temple of this city to he built over and we find of the taste of decoration of the Greek in broken columns and remains.

The above is the story of what the efforts of one man has done to bring to us the past which has lain buried in the sands of Asia Minor these long and many centuries.

When one takes up the poems of Homer and wonders as many have wondered whether Homer ever bved and whether the city of which he sang, and which he peopled with the heroes of a warlike race ever had any existance save in the traditions and imaginations of generations lost in the visions of the past, one thing may be certain, that though we cannot prove that the poet Homer ever existed, that there might have been many Ho.ners, but w r e are certain the city where his heroes

had their being did exist. It corresponds so exactly with the city he described and, indeed, located, in a degree, by the aid of his poems, and the second city, some forty feet under ground, when laid bare, only strengthened the faithfullness of his description of city and plain around. So a visit to Berlin, without seeing thoroughly this wonderful collection of the relics of a life of the past so rich and noble iu poetic and imaginative feeling would be like going to Rome and failing to see St. Peter’s Cathedral. So my struggles with Virgil’s Latin description of Troy is easily forgotten in the interest which is aroused by the relics of the city and Homer’s verse breathes with new life as I see, per chance, the weapons of Achilles and Hector. I hope that those who have had the sfime Latin experiences, that I have had may be able to extract from this meager description a new interest and deeper appreciation of their Virgil and Homer.

Last June, Dick Crawford brought his twelve months old child, suffering from infantile diarrhoea, to me. It had been weened at four months old and being sickly everything ran through it like water through a sieve. I gave it the usual treatment in such cases but without benefit. The child kept growing thinner until it weighed but little more than when born, or perhaps ten pounds. I then started to giving Chamberlain’s Colic, Cholera and Diarrhoea Remedy. Before one bottle of 25 cent size had been used, a marked improvement was seen and its continued use cured the child. Its weakness and puny constitution disappeared and its father and myself believe the child’s life was saved by this Remedy. J. T. Marlow, M. D., Tamaroa, 111. For sale by F. B. Meyer Druggist.

Yesterday morning when the early moyning passenger train goingnorth arrived at Earl Park the conductor put off a tramp and warned him to stay off. The tramp to get even put on the air brakes and . caused the train to be delayed about 30 minutes. When the train men had every thing righted and were starting again they discovered the tramp trying to do the same thing again when one of their number shot him in the back. He was taken to Sheldon on the train and sent to Indianapolis on the next train going that way.— Fowler Review.

I have just completed my elevator and am better equipped than ever for handling grain. The driveway to dump is not steep, and no engine to scare horses. Would be pleased to see all my old customers and many new ones, and will always pay the highest market price for all grain. Thanking you for past patronage, I remain your’s respectfully, C. W. Coen. For instance, Mrs. Chas. Rogers, of Bay City, Mich., accidentally spilled scalding water over her little boy. She promptly applied De Witt’s Witch Hazel Salvo, giving instant relief, Its a wonderfully good salve for burns, bruises, sores, and a sure cure for Piles.

Next Saturday night Prof DeVore, Phrenologist, while blind-folded, will tell Catholics from Methodists, in the Opera House. Monday night he tells Republicans from Democrats. Admission 10 cents. It is rumored that the Model ball club wish to play the Lowell Seniors for SIOO. The Rensselaers can name any day, as the Seniors are prepared to play them at any time.—Lowell Tribune. Odell Norton and Minnie Lidtke have been granted license to marry. This is the first marriage license issued since June 29th.

We have seen a number of watch chains ornamented with a pretty charm in the shape of a watch case opener, which obviates the use of a knife or fingernail to open the watch. They are sent free on request by the Keystone Watch Case Company, of Philadelphia, Pa. Your jeweler may have one for you; if not, send to Philadelphia. The Keystone Watch Case Company is the largest concern of its kind in the world. Its capacity is 2,500 w 7 atch cases per day. It manufactures every description of case, but its great specialty is that most popular of all watch cases, the Jas. Boss gold filled. These are equai in beauty and wear to solid gold—while they cost only about onehalf as much. Boss and other Keystone cases are the only cases that have the famous no i pull-out bow or ring, which saves the watch from theft and accident. The Keystone Com- j pany does not retail, but our local jewelers handle the cases and swear by the thief-proof qualities of the ring.

The report being industriously circulated by interested parties at this place that J, D. Rich is not eligible to the office of prosecuting attorney by reason of his holding the office of justice of the peace, which office expires with the coming election, will not redound to the credit of those circulating the report. Mr. Rich informs us that he has counseled with as astute attorneys as Messrs. Annable and Babcock, and they inform him that he is eligible. We hope to see the democrats endorse the candidacy of Mr. Rich, and believe he will go in with colors flying. The people of this vicinity remember his opponent as attorney for the Chicago & “Great Suffering” railroad, and will pay him their respects at the polls this fall. “Cast thy bread upon the waters and it shall return to thee after many days,” etc. —Goodland Cor. Remington Press.

The publishing of a newspaper differs from all other lines of business in one particular respect—the expenses cannot be reduced during dull times. It requires just as much paper and ink and employes during the seasons of adversity as in the days of prosperity. If we do not receive a dollar a day on subscription the subscribers must be supplied with the paper all the same. In view of this fact we hope each and every delinquent who possesses the least sympathy for the poverty of the printer will consider it his religious duty to pay up at his earliest opportunity. The foregoing is from an exchange, but it suits our case so well that we appropriate it without a credit. A most distressing death occured at Otterbein, Tuesday evening, Satella, the seven-year-old daughter of Thomas Allen, died from the effect of a snake bite. The child was bitten by a snake last Sunday morning, and although everything was done that medical skill could suggest, the deadly poison had fastened itself in her veins and all aid and efforts to save her life were unavailing.—Lafayette Courier.

The ladies of the Christian church will give a “shingle social,” next Wednesday evening, July 25, at the home of Mrs. C. C. Sigler. Everybody invited. Small in size, great in results: De Witt’s Little Early Risers. Best pill for Constipation, best for Sick Headache, best for Sour Stomach. Arthur Snodgrass, night operator on the Monon at Hammond. visited his mother, Mrs. Fishel, last Sunday. The canning factories throughout the country are just beginning operations. Tom Sigler has been on the sick list for several days.

The Indianapolis News give® •■Rensselaer Wilkes,” owned bJ the Stock Farm, a great sen 9 off. We quote the following® ■•The 2:25' trot developed a grea® horse in ••Rensselaer W’lkes.® Judged by his breeding, h® ought to be a good horse. H<® is by Alcantara, a son of Geoi**« Wilkes, and the great mare Aim tM Mater, and his dam was Nut® wood, another son of the grea® George Wilkes. He has speed and bottom that denote* both branches of the Wilke* family which he represents® ‘•Rensselaer Wilkes” reduce<® his record front 2:2*, made this track, to 2:18*. He showecl ability to trot better than 2:15® and he was excellently byPadgitt.” I “Heads and Faces.” Lee® Lives on Phrenology will be de® ■ vered by Prof. S. F. DeVore® •»f New York, in the Operfi® i louse, Thursday. Friday, Satur® «ay and Monday nights, July® 19, 20, 21 and 23. 300 portraits® and skulls exhibited. Very® amusing- and instructive. Free® first night. Subject “Matrimony and how to be oi® good terms with your Mother-in® law. ’ Private examinations at® Makeever House. ®