Rensselaer Union, Volume 8, Number 7, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 4 November 1875 — The Troubles of a Heathen Deity. [ARTICLE]

The Troubles of a Heathen Deity.

Juggernaut seems to be in a bad way in India, owing to the dilapidation of his pagoda at Pooree. An immense block of stone fell the other day from the central dome of the temple. It is fortunate that no one was killed, for the stone, it is statetl, is ten fleet long, five broad, and four in depth, and belongs 'to the inner cornice of the temple. The damage is imperceptible to the eye, owing to the intense darkness in the interior of the edifice, but the fall of the stone is a serious matter for Juggernaut for this reason: There is, it seems, a pfophecy that when the first stone is unfastened the temple shall not stand. The repairs, it is estimated by the Oriaks, will take at least fourteen years to complete, and during all this time no public worship or festival in Pooree is allowable. It is, however, not surprising that tlfo temple is a little out of repair, for it was built by Rajah zknangabhima Deva, of Orissa, in the middle cf the twelfth century, before the days of “scamping” contracts, and during -the last 700 vears not a trowel has been laid upon it for the purpose of repair. The dome is composed of immense blocks of stone, not kept together by cement or mortar of any kind, but made fast by an elaborate process of dove-tailing, the slabs being arranged in horizontal layers narrowed toward the end, covered by a huge head-piece carved and ornamented.— Pall Mail Gazette. Stephen Upton, of Peabody, Mass., is the oldest Deputv-Sheriff in the State. He is eighty years old, was commissioned in 1832" and"has held office continuously ever since. .4. - . .