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1E DAILY fftlMJKE. SApk GnUR&EAU. MISSOURI. FRibAY, DECEMBER 2t, 1M4.
A Great Mystic Story by Harold McGrath
SYNOPSIS.
7udora is left an orphan at an early
age. Her father is killed In a gold mine.
Zudora and the fortune from the mine,
which grows to be worth $20,000,000. ar
left In the ruardianshlp of Frank Kcene.
Zudora's mother's brother. Zudora. giv
ing promise of great beauty, reaches ihz
age of eighteen. The uncle, who has set
himself up as a Hindu mystic and is
known as Hassam All, decides that Zu
dora roust die before she can have a
chance to come into possession ot her
money, so that it may be left to him. the
next of kin. Hassam All sees an obstacle
to bis scheme in the person of John
Sfirm, a young lawyer, for whom Zu
doja has taken a fancy, and he com
mands the girl to put the man out of her
rain. Zudora insists that if she cannot
marry Storm she will marry no one.
"Well, well," says Hassam All, " if you
take such a stand I'll compromise. Solve
my next twenty cases and you can marry
him; fail in a single case and you must
renounce him."
Zudora. using the knowledge gained
from years of association with her uncle,
unravels a baffling mystery and wins her
first case a case in which John Sterm is
saved from being convicted of a murder
instigated by Hassam All himself.
CHAPTER II.
The Sleeping House Mystery.
TIIE clearing of John Storra was
a nine days wonder. In court
Ilassani All testified that
Burns bad leen seeking some
facts regarding tbe past and that
Le, Hassam All, had succeeded in
aiding him to a certain extent I'm
the name of Bienreith had never been
mentioned during, those seances. He
could not"i"iaguie why Burns had coin
inltted the crime. There was no evi
dence to be found that the two men
Iiad ever exchanged a word. He was
rather confounded at the turn of event!.
The broken phrase "but pother"
was as much a mystery to him as to
the court. It was inexplicable. Ilas
snm All received a good deal of con
temptuous grilling from the district at
torney, but the witness answered every
question calmly and in detail. He ad
mitted that he was a disciple of the i
Hindu cult; admitted that he had the j
gift of second sight at times. There j
were many who could testify to this, i
Hassam All finally , left the witness
chai wilhjionors in his favor. t :
A " subsequeErluvestljiatiou by "(he '
police revealed nothing tt his dis red
it so far as the law was concerned. ;
His past, from the circus d;iys to the j
present day. was as an open book. In j
deed, Hassam All was himself the ii: j
stigator of this research. He wanted '
it definitely understood that, while his j
cult was not looked upon favorably by '
the police, he was not the object of ;
any justifiable suspicion. His grave j
air, his unfailing patience under the !
gibes of tb interrogator, his frank j
iiess. all won him at least the respect i
of his detractors. j
The man Burns was bnried at tbe j
expense of the city, and what was
known as the Bienreith rase went into i
the public archives as one more uu j
solvable mystery. j
It was remarked, however, anions j
his associates that John Storm lost a
deal of his impetuosity and that in his
subsequent cases he was no longer
brilliant and erratic, but calm and
steady, always extremely well fortified
within his facts.
New York city has without doubt the
most conglomerate population of any
city in the world. The only alien face
which does not find habitat in New
York is tbe Aztec, and that-is merely
because the- Aztec is extinct And
each race has quietly formed a city of
its own within the greater city. There
are Little Italy, the Ghetto. China
town and heaven knows how many
others, all familiar to sightseers. Bur
there is a lot going on in New York
among these aliens that even the po
lice never hear about except by purest
cident Who can say he knows the
ltrt of Chinatown unless he actively
! ougs to it?
i i certain night two weeks after
Bienreith case, recorded in the pre-
.ding chapter. Zudora beard the clock
.time the i'-- of 9. She went up
stairs to her i vi. and threw up the
shade for a final gwuce at th heavens
and paused in amazement Coming
toward the house was the strangest
procession she had ever seen. Tur
bans, flowing robes ami white panta
lets here in this Workaday city of
New York! She rubbed her eyes as if
striving to awake. She looked again.
They were trooping silently up the
6teps. She next heard the thunder- of
the knocker, which nobody used In
these days of electric buttons. She
ten became alive to the fact that this
was reality. She reached the head of
the stairs just as her uncle's Hindu
servant Auied. opened the door. He
bowed deeply and ceremoniously. He
was dressed a good deal like his
strange visitors.
Zudora came down the stairs unde
cided as to whether she was frightened
or merely upset "Tbe man who was
evidently the Reader of this strange
caravan advanced toward Zudora.
I wish," he said in broken English,
no see him who is called Hassam All.
the giver of light" -
Oh. you ''wish to see my" uncle?' said
Zudora. greatly relieved.
-And thou art his dnoghter?"
"His rdece. Twill call him r
Copyright, 1914, by Harold McGrath
She lefTtTie balTway'antr sought the
mystic room, where she found Hassam
All crouched over his globe. He look--d
up impatiently.
Well?"
"Some Hindus to see you, uncle."
"Hindus, at this time of night? Why
didn't you send Amed to me? It low
ers you in his opinion to take ujKn
yourself to do bis work. Hindus
what can they want I wonder?"
"I'm sure I don't know nor care" a
bit angry at being rebuffed by her un
ele. When Hassam Ali stood before bis
guests there was some time wasted In
genu flex Ions.
"You are Hassam All, the man who
3ees?"
"I 3JU" . '
"Your servant here recouiniendfcd
you to us. Sahib, we are in the midst
of a strange mystery. In our abode
the god of sleep comes suddenly and
unawares. Our own god seems to
have forgotten us. This dread thing
comes almost instantly, and we are
taken in sleep no matter what pose we
are in. That we are here tonight and
not under the evil god's influence is
due to the fact that we waited outside
the octagonal room."
"The octagonal room." repeated Has
sam All thoughtfully.
"You are known to us as a great
yogi, a seer into the future. Will you
aid us to find out what causes this
dreaded sleep? Oiu-feligious ceremo
nies are being interfered with."
All this wasiu an English that was
only fairly understandable. Here and
there Hassam All's man interpolated
the right word.
"You will accompany us, HuzoorV"
Hassam Ali smiled and nodded. Here
5is an adventure that rather appealed
to him. More than that. It would ban
isli from his mind, at least temporarily,
certain psychological agen'-Jos which
were making their power felt more and
more strongly as the days went by.
"I must go. too. uncle." said Zudora.
"Hurry, then. I should like, to see
these people before they come out of
their trance."
They went away to get their' wraps.
Before going downstairs again Zudora
A
"Tell me where she has gone or I will
- kill you!"
fondled for a moment the carrier pi
geon which Storm had given her re
cently. John had one for himself.
The birds carried messages. Aside
from its practicality it was very ro
mantic and obviated the necessity of
trusting one's secrets to the telephone
Sirls. And Zudora was not always
sure that some one in the bouse was
not listening when she telephoned. As
Hassam Ali never entered this room of
hers she was quite confident that he
knew nothing ofMhe pigeons.
When they returned to the visitors
they were greatly astonished to learn
that they were. to go blindfolded, garb
ed in oriental costume. Hassam Ali
objected. Very well, then; the Hin
dus declared that they would go else
where for aid. They made this deci
sion unemotionally. Hassam All bent
his head to signify that if they took
that attitude .he was ready' to submit
- "Presently the procession filed out
Into the street They lurried . along
for several blocks; then came a long
automobile ride. Hassam Al counted
tbe turns and 'felt quite assured in the
end that they were being driven 1u
circles and that the house of mystery
was not so far away, as it seemed.
When the bandages were finally taken
off Zudora found .herself in a room
which might .easily nave been . taken
bodily out of the "Arabian NJghts." It
was, indeed, like some fabulous fairy
landthe idols, the sleeping people,' the
strange, sweet odor' which Seemed td
permeate everything. She was not
sure that she bad not been transported
by some magic carpet to .the heart of
the aBCjent city of Bagdad. ,
She became childishly, inquisitive.;
She moved about the recumbent figJ'
ures. ' and ' suddenly she came upon
wJiatiooked.foxjajtLtbPworld Uke'tie
1
M
sleeping beaufy or the fairy fal& The
sleeping woman was ' beautiful jr tbe
accepted sense of the Caucasian race
Her skin was as light as Zudora's
own, which generally wore a slight
tan, due to her out of door habits.
Near the young woman lay the figure
of a fine looking native. Zudora sur
mised that these sleeping people -had
been in the midst of some solemn cere
mony, possibly a wedding, when over
taken. The ensemble resembled noth-
lng so much as a prearranged tableau
such as she had often played at school.
"Who is this beautiful woman?" ask
ed Hassam AH. as keenly Interested as
Zudora.
'She is our ruler, our princess. Air
he murmured, darting toward Zudora.
who was now stooping over the sleep
ing beauty. "The memsahlb must nut
touch:" -
"But" began Zudora.
"The memsahib's touch would defile
her," said the man stoically.
Meantime an Idea had come to Has
sam Ali. 11$ was beginning to sense a
peculiar heaviness about his eyes, and
he realized with alarm that this mys
terious sleep was overtaking him.
Quietly and unobserved he slipjed from
the room and managed after some diffi
culty and some explanations to reach
the street Zudora was there alone. If
she was clever enough she might ex
tricate herself: If not well, that was
Hassam All's idea.
Zudora weut on with her visual in
fentigations. quite oblivious to tbe fact
that her uncle bad deserted her. The
strange idols fascinated her, especial
ly the heroic one before which were
grouped the sleepers. It was a mon
ster, a man's body with an elephant's
head. As she gazed up at its sinister
little eyes she began to see things as
through a film of rain. It seemed as
if some invisible hands were forcing
her down, down. There was no feeling
of alarm, no sense of danger; just a
grateful, dreamy sensation, not unlike
that of going to bed after some strenu
ous physical exertion. The oddest part
of It was hat she was conscious of
making no effort to fight off this sleep.
As she fell she clutched, in ber hand
a little ivory figure, a. 4mhll elephant
which had evidently escaped the fiu
gers of the princess when she suc
cumbed. Now there had grown in John
Storm's hpart an orientalism, doubtless
engendered by Jiis frequency at the
bouse of Hassam AIL It consisted of
a potgnant sense of danger to Zudora
nt those moments when she really was
in danger. He could not have analyzed
this sensation, but he immediately sur
rendered to it He was this night In
the act of retiring when this sense
came to him. He at once went to his
desk and wrote a note, which he at
tached to the carrier pigeon. In less
than a quarter of an hour the bird
returned. The message had not been
received. Storm got into his topcoat
and hat and hurried over to tbe Keeue
place. Amed answered his ring, but
hesitated to admit the man his master
had forbidden the house.
"Where is your mistress?" demanded
Storm.
"She is out, sahib."
"Where?"
"I cannot tell you," said the serrant,
gradually closing the door.
But Storm was in no mood for par
leying. He resolutelyushed his way
in. In his hand there was an automa
tic. ,
"You will tell me where she has gone
or I'll kill your he said, making no ef
fort to lower his voice.
"Sahib. Hassam Ali will kill me if I
tell you!" wailed Amed. N
"I don't care what he'll do, but I
know 'what I'll do If you don't answer
me. Where has she gone?"
The curtains stirred a little, but nei
ther Storm nor the servant noticed
this. Hassam Ali peered forth cau
tiously. The servant saw In Storm's eyes a
species of madness, and be was quite
certain that Sahib Storm would shoot
him. as be said. Rapidly he recounted
what had taken place. !
"Yon can take me there just as soon
as you can." '
"Very well, sahib. But It will be the
death of us both in the end."
he curtains fell back gently. Has
sam Ali returned to his globe smiling.
Both of them! .
Storm was greatly astonished when
the Hindu told htm that be mast be
blindfolded. He refused emphatically.
"Very, well, sahib. Shoot I cannot
take you where the memsahib is with
out blindfolding you. "
Storm saw that tbe man was in ear
nest so. after much "grumbling and
warning, he submitted to be blindfold
ed. .. Half an hour later the - bandage
was taken from, his eyes. .
; "Where is she?" he .whispered to his
guide.,
That sahib, is' for you to find out"
and. with that Amed turned away
quickly. - - ' ,
torm resolutely moved forward, un
til he came upon the form o.f the sleep
ing rrincess.. He was rather awed lu
spite of - his democratic assurance.
What in heaven's name was going on
fcere?,7WJbeasJber; Inigtodustaoj.
fiTtne middle ofT Qad"dreamT Sud
deely.' even as he gazed, the wotnarf
on the rug1 before the idol stirred and
sighed. Her dark, slbelike eyes open
ed. Storm stooped and raised her to
her feet
"Is Zudora here?" he asked.
Zudora lay almost at his feet but he
bad not recognized ber, doe to tbe out
Iandish costume.
The princess looked at him bewilder
ingly. shaking her head. Presently
7-
it
n
He Was Overcome and Taken Away
From the Octagonal Room.
she spoke softly, but so far as hit'
knowing the intent of the liquid word:
it might as well have been the wine
moving through the treetops.
The handsome native who had b'
lying at the side of the princess
opened his eyes, saw the strange w
man talking or trying to talk to
princess. The stupor left him almot
instantly. He sprang to bis feet,
Vicious looking knife in his band.
1 Teringhir be shouted. Which means
a foreigner.
Others came to life at the same mo
ment and John Storm found himself
in a predicament little to his liking.
He was strong and sturdy, but he wass
no match for the dozen or so lithe
East Indians. Hewas overcome and
taken away from the octagonal room
He was cast into a steel dungeon in
the basement of the house.
The sleeping mystery of this housa
bad its ebb and flow evidently.. Zudora
awoke without any abnormal effect for
her short sleep, and hue men who had
gone to Hassam All's house also awoke.
Nabok Shan demanded' of them who
this white -siriwprrWcDB- tby: bc.
traying hiro? Thjey should die like
dogs in that case. .They groveled and
hastily explained that she was the
niece of -the celebrated Hassam Ali
and that she might be able to break
the power of the sudden sleep by dis
covering bow it was accomplished.
"Where is " this man Hassam Ali.
then?" demanded Nabok Shan, who
had grown very suspicious.
"Huzoor, . we know not Mayhap
overcome as we , were, by the sleep
But this memsahb is clever and may
help us."
"Who was this man I just sent to
the dungeon?" - - . '
"We know not."
"Well, you speak the accursed Eng
lish tongue. Question "her and learn
what she has to say. And on jour
heads be it if there is any sign of
treachery."
"It is just" said the leader of the
men who had brought Zudora.
They then proceeded to squat down
upon the rug, and Zudora plied her
questions and culled a story which ran
somewhat as follows
It began in southern India. A cer
tain native prince had in his extreme
j-outh. as is eustomary in India, be
come betrothed to the little princess
of a neighboring state. There were
great festivities, not to say extrava
gant ones, in honor of the event. When
the girl became a young woman and
the boy a young man the marriage cer
emony was brought about, but not con
summated, for the simple fact that a
prince of still another principality had
seen the princess and had determined
to make ber Bis own regardless of the
possibility of throwing the three states
Into a tribal war. The British raj
ntfght interfere, but not until a good
deal of damage was wrought The
rival prince was Nabok Shan, a-brave,
hardy and none too scrupulous chief
taiu. He succeeded in carryiug off the
princess, but be "was beset by so many
trials that be fled from India to Amer
ica with the bulk of his treasure and
the purloined princess. The house
with its oriental .trappings had been
the property ofjan uncle, who iud
chosen America because bis neck had
been in danger.
"But the mystery is this, memsahib:
It is written that the marriage cere
mony shall take place before our god.,
the elephant beaded, and always when
we begia-the ceremony we are thus
strangely-, overcome by sleep. Solte
this riddle for us .and my master wiH
pay you well." The spokesman ad
dressed a few words to Nabok Shan. '
The prince smiled' and dangled a rope
of superb jtearls .before the girl, inti
mating that in the event of her. suc
cess they would become hers. .
Now, Zudora did not seek monetary
reward! but she was' wise beyoud her
years in understanding the oriental
mind, due to tne atrSit Tears that her
uncle' had employed -Hindus as serv
ants.. If. she signified that she asked
for no reward these. dark -eyed men
would instantly begin to suspect her.
and pnce theysuectetf herjber. jf e
"4.
a
would not be worfIT a shap" Zt tue or
gers. Besides, it wonld not be such ft
very bard ordeal to accept such a mag
nificent gift. So she told the leader to
say to Nabok Shan that she hoped to
solve tht mystery for the sake of the
pearls, being a normal woman. But
she nj'.Nt have free run of the house.
This was agreed, but under no circum
stance must she leave without being
blindfolded, and. moreover, she must
remain that night
Zudora accepted the conditions phil
osophically. She never wore Nabok
Shan's rope of pearls, however.
She would have liked very much,
though, to acquaint her lover with her
whereabouts. Her uncle's disappear
ance puzzled her. But perhaps he had
already begun his Investigations. The
night passed uneventfully. Those who
slept did so naturally. Zudora. how
ever, wandered in and out among the
curious alcoves and quaint balconies.
She peered behind the grotesque stat
ues Into the fountain. Whenever the
ceremony began sleep came. This fact
kept ringing through her mind. She
just must solve it - It would be anoth.
er step toward her lover and happi
ness. One thing she ascertained for fu
ture use and this was the exit more r-r
less carelessly guarded. She might
have to take to her heels. ,
And all the while, in the steel dun
geon below. Storm saw the walls slow
ly and relentlesslj- contract. He had
beaten upon the unfeeling steel until
his knuckles bled. He had shouted un
til his lungs hurt, and smaller and
smaller grew his prison. He recalled
a certain tale by Toe aiid touched the
metal from time to time to see if it
were growing hot. But it was evident
that h was to be crushed only, not in
rinerated. Morning came. The feast of the
night !efore was resumed. Nautcli
girls danced; musicians played the sad
and wailing music of the east. Zudorn
had quietly wet her handkerchief in
the basin of the fountain and at the
moment the ceremony begun held the
wet eainbric to her nose. She showed
her foresight in this, for shortly after
the music "began the people in the or
tn zonal room fell to nodding and fnn?
Voc'dinK into peaceful sleep Even witj
(he nidycf the dampened handkerchief
Zudora" could not wholly escape the
subtle and ' amazing narcotic. Shu
struggled Mindly toward the exit How
she managed to reach the street was
something she could never remember.
She w:is mighty glad to get back to
New Y'ork agrun, for she had been 13.
CtK) miles away in spirit if not in fact.
Still, she determined to return and
solve the riddle. She bnd already
formed a campaign. What simple fools
these orientals were in some respects!
Hassam All concealed his astonish
ment. Yet something deep down in
Storm Saw the Walls Slowly and Re
lentlessly Contract.
his soul told him that she would re
turn unhurt
"But how did you escape, uucle?"
"They wanted you.' ho said glibly.
"They blindfolded me again and sent
me ti bout my business. What did you
learn?"
"Enough to determine me to see what
I can do. Of course it is a colossal
trick of some sort, but it would not be
wise to suggest that It must be
proved." '
"My child, this is altogether a strange
business. These orientals are quick
to distrust If they find you gone
when they wake up it is" quite likely
they will try to kill you."
"I've made up my mind."
Then she ran upstairs. 3he was anx
ious to send a message to Storm by the
carrier pigeon. She wrote a short note
explaining the situation and liberated
the bird. Storm's housekeeper received
the bird and naturally read the mes
sage. She scribbled on the back of
this message and iufprmed her mas
ter's sweetheart that be had left the
bouse in haste the night before and
bad not yet returned. The return of
tbe pigeon left Zudora in a fair state
of excitement She immediately set
out for Storm's apartments, but the
housekeeper could add nothing further
than that Mr. Storm bad sent a pigeon
to her and it bad come back with the
note.
Zudora returned home and quizzed
ber uncle: but of course, he piously
denied having seen Storm. Surrepti
tiously she plied tbe Hindu servant
This man secretly worshiped the young
memsahib, and by and by she got the
facts from him. So! She bad not only
to solve the mystery of the sleeping
house, but to save her lover also.- He
would be without a mission -in that
fantastic house, and it was quite likely
that he would be made to suffer for his
audacity.
Bravely she set out for the house of
Njlk. SUaii ffnd boldly'shede.manded
-
I A A fS h v " ivo
1 1 t ' ' " X f 1 S
&
admittance.- Tue servant at" the" "door
recognized her. but it took a bribe to
open the door wide enough for her to
slip through.
The persistent ceremony was being
started again. To Zudora It would
have been laughable but for the new
tragedy underneath. The man who had
brought ber to the bouse originally
finally disclosed to ber what bad been
done to Storm. His death had been
decided on.
As Zudora gazed wildly about the
room she saw a. man in a garb quite
different from that worn by those in
the octagonal room. She stole up to
where he stood and covertly watched
him and became suddenly conscious of
the desire to sleep. She breathed
through her handkerchief, never let
ting her glance waver from the hidden
man. He turned, smiling ironically,
and she saw him raise a stone in the
flooring. -He disappeared into a pit
letting the stone fall carefully into
place.
Sleep had again attacked those de
termined upon the ceremony. One
would think that they would have at
least given her some chance to investi
gate before proceeding again in an en
deavor which had so many times prov
ed a failure. This very sleep, how
ever, gave her freedom of action. She
stole from the octagonal room, found
the stone, raised it and discovered a
tunnel. It was not the safest tunnel
in the world, but with John's life hang
ing in the balance she accepted her
chances. The tunnel led to a room
ouder the cellar. This room bewilder
ed her far more than the octagonal
one. There was a large vat. which
had the appearance cf a distillation
vat with many little pipes leading up
from it. The men gathered about thi?
strange contrivance weie evidently of
n different caste from those in the up
per room. A tall, graceful young man
seemed to be directing the others. One
of them, however, saw the shadow by
the door, drew his knife and stole
quietly "P to the girl. She was caught;
Beady witted. she asked. "Do you
speak Enzlish?"
The man paused. lie nodded grimly.
"I am a friend. 1 would save your
princess. 1 would defeat Nabob Shan.
My lover is hidden somewhere in this
house. Save him, and I will save the
princess."
The man turned to see if his com
rades had observed him. They were
all busy with the vat
"I wiil go with the menisabib. If
j she h;ss lk?d she shall die."
I agree to that"
Once home she ran upstairs for her
automatic. When she came down
again the stranger bad vanished.
Amed refused to speak and Hassam
All did not know what she was talking
about
"He came in behind me," she de
clared. "Then he took to his heels the mo
' ment your back .was turned," Over
her shoulder to Amed Hassam Ali sent
a terrible glance, and Amed knew that
death awaited him if he opened his
lips. He was still breathing heavily
from the struggle.
Zudora left the house more deeply
puzzled than ever.
Two hours later she had cleared up
the mystery of the sleeping house and
rescued Storm from his dreadful
prison.
The fact that the ceremony could
take place only before the elephant
headed god made it a simple game to
j the enemies of Nabok Shan. Zudora
did not go to the octagonal room, but
I proceeded directly to the secret clnim-
ber. For one brief moment death
stared her in the eyes, but she spoke
bravely. In return for the liberation
of her lover she declared that with tbe
aid of one man she would bring the
princess down to them. The young
prince struck his forehead in rage. He
had never thought of such a thing.
His one aim had been to force Nabok
Shan from the house and then to seize
his betrothed.
When the princess awoke the next
time she found her true lover gazing
down into ber eyes. Then they started
out in search of Storm, and they were
just in time. The steel chamber bad
become .1 box. coffin shaped, three feet
square and eigh feet high. Storm
was in bad shape, but food and water
and an hour or so iu the outer air re
vived him.
"Will you be good hereafter?" he
said to Zudora.
"Yes."
"You promise never to go anywhere
without first sending the pigeon?"
Yes."
"And now what the dickens made
those chaps go o sleep?"
She explained. The vat was a brew
of an oriental narcotic, the vapor of
Jw
if'
1.
Ft
4
if
She Found th Stone, Raised It and
Discovered a Tunnel. .
t
wit i rr r -
i f
which superinduced sleep. It was
quite transitory and harmless. Th
pipes led to nil the elephant trunks,
and each time tae ceremony began the
vapor was liberated at a signal from '
the watcher above.
"That' the '.oriental mind. John.
They cannot go at anything In a
straightforward way. It must be all
mystery and trickery."
."Do: you know, Zodora?" he said
ruminatively. '
"Know wbatT" ,
That Tve an idea well be married
before the year Is xuitf
tc be costisued.
RICH AND POOR WILL
FRATERNIZE AROUND
X-I3AS TREE TO-NIGHT
(Continued from page I.)
Lodge to be applied in defraying the
expense of the Municipal Christmas
Tree. Mr. Oliver who- acted as custo- -dian
of the collections, in turning the
funds over to Mrs. Gramling, gave
the following list of contributors from
whom tlw money was received:
R. C. Hill, Geo. S. Summers, W. A.
Timbs, A. C. Vasterling, J. H. Him
meiberger, VV. H. Harrison, J. F. Lil
ly, W. Palmer Oliver, J. W. Phillips,
E. Massengill, F. W. Schadc Henry
Haman, Jack Hobbs, Al Jaynes, J. H.
McPherson, Casper Sanders, Will
Bergman n, M. Bohnsack, J. P. Meyers,
N. Shepherd, C. W. Boutin, R. E. L.
Lamkin, J. V. Braham, E. O. Clifton,
G. H C-hi'V A. Freeman, C. M. Frec
r.:zv.t Gu3 H-nny, L. Icrhc, John Lind,
D. 2. L'xlth.. L. L. Tuck, N. S. Wciler,
F. Y. M?rri:o7, Jchn Morrison, Ui B.
Houck, W. A. Schlueter, John J. Craig,
G. W. Blackford, G. C. Roberson, B.
W. Willis, John Bogard, F. D. Rhode?
C. II. Overstolz, L. G. Hussier, 7
KImmel, W. A. Cantrell, A. Kiirurf
R. Ruehmann, A...3I. "I inslejY! O
Reynolds, L. L. KernS, F. Graves
Goodwin, H. L. Machen, C. W. Stj
E. G. Gramling, A. C? Bowman', R.
Dcarmont, E. R. Harris, H. L. Cc
man, M. Whymack, L. E. Comer, .
W. Harrison, J. G. Miller. T. F. Lan- .
W. O. O'Brien, A. P. Stewart, W.
Shivelbine, W. H. Leyhe, G. W. Car
roll, Geo. White, E. L. McClintovk, W
E. Yount, Harry Leuer.
The Christmas Tree donations offer
cdiJiy: the guests at the Aquamsi Ho
tel were turned in last evening," and '
amounted to $2.25.
The collections already received wilt
total about $600 and it is believed that
contributions from lodges and t)ther
sources will bring the amount up to
an additional $100.
The baskets of supplies have-been
prepared and the work of delivering
them will doubtless begin today.
The decorations are all completed,
the stockings are filled, the toys have
been purchased, and everything tend
ing to the success of the Christmas
tree exercises tonight has been given
the required attention.
Accommodations have been prepar
ed for hundreds of children, and noth
ing has been overlooked that could
work to the successful outcome of the
undertaking. The tree will be beauti
fully decorated with hundreds of man'
colored lights, and yards and yards of
sparkling decorations. A great star
adorns the top, and the hundreds of
lights dotting its surface, give bril
liant illumination to the entire scene.
ORIGIN OF THE TREE
The first definite mention of a
Christmas tree was at Strassburg
in 1603. It was introduced into
England as late as 1840 by the
prince consort and into France
about the same time by the I'ri:
cess Helena of Mecklenburg.
But although its advent into
Christendom is so comparatively
recent there are many traditions of
the antiquity of the tree in connec
tion with various ceremonials.
Scandinavian myth tells of a "serv
ice tree" sprung from the blood
drenched'soil where two lovers had
been killed by violence. At certain
nights in the Christmas season
lights which no wind could extin
guish were seen moving in its
branches. ,
Martin Luther is said to have
brought in a snowy fir tree and put
lights on its branches in his efforts
to explain, the beauty of a snow
forest under a brilliant starry sky
to his wife and children. '
There was also an ancient Egyp
tian practice of decking houses at
the time of the winter solstice with
branches of the date palm "the
symbol of life triumphant over
death and therefore of perennial
life in the renewal of each boun
teous year." - The date palm was
not only the emblem of imoriality,
ut of the starlit firmament. This
many therefore have suggested the
use of greens at Christmas time.
