VIROINIAJS NATURAL BRIDGE.
4 rr
Located in the Midst of a Beautiful
■ Country.
On the Shenandoah Valley railroad
40 miles from the thriving, industrial
cityjof Roanoke stands the little depot
calted Natural Bridge. But the bridge
itself, if one may trust the sign-boards,
is two and five-eighths miles distant
railway. A projected electric
roairjji it is still talked of and evl
dentfy exists in the Imagination of the
Meanwhile the sightseer
upon leaving the train gets into a
hack, and during the half-hour drive
through a noble amphitheatre of moun
tains is entertained with bits of in
foiflaation volunteered by the driver
and mountaineers who happen to be
fellow-passengers. They like to tell
the newcomer what foreigners and
notables of our own land have been
there recently, and this season are es
pecially proud of the fact that in May
the President and Mrs. McKinley
thought it worth while to visit the
wonderful structure located in their
midst. When, however, the distin
guished guests arrived at the small
railroad station a heavy dowmpour of
rain compelled the “first lady of the
land” to remain in the special car
which had brought them hither, and
the president was obliged to see the
“mighty monolith” alone. It is not
reported that McKinley carved his
nan's high up on the “unseamed
walls,” as did the “father of his coun
try” before him, but he remarked,
“The place has not been overrated,”
and it was enough. All were appar
ently satisfied that the chief executive
of the nation had not been indifferent
to the masonry of the Almighty nor
lacking in appreciation of the lofty
and sublime.
This summer more than 7,000 tour
ists have registered at the bridge, be
ing a gain of 2,000 over the average
each year. Probably not one of these
Visitors has gone under the majestic
arch without pausing at the entrance
■ to decipher the name George Washing
ton cut in the blue limestone 40 feet
or more from the roadbed generations
ago. Only the initials G. W. remain,
and many other letters have been
placed above these by the ambitious
youth of later years. Yet the Ameri
can citizen will continue to gaze with a
sort of reverential awe upon the half
obliterated characters formed by one
destined soon after to become for all
time the man “first in war, first in
peace and first in the hearts of his
countrymen.” It is very interesting
to observe also that the head of Wash
ington, perceived by a little stretch of
imagination far aloft on the darker
surface of the rock, appears part of a
great eagle which, with wings out
stretched, seems forever looking down
into the deep fissure and moaning
water of the canyon below.
Few persons are aware that the
“seventh wonder of the world” is pri
vate property, ow’ned at present by
Mrs. Colonel Parsons. At one time
James G. Blaine and Colonel Parsons
held the place in partnership, the lat
ter becoming at length its sole pos
sessor. And much further back
Thomas Jefferson could lay claim to
the Bridge “not made with hands.”
One of the “five round-topped moun
tains that tise boldly from the valley
of Virginia” is named Mount Jefferson.
Upon its summit stands an observa
tory, where is spread out before the be
hc.Ter a superb panorama—so mag
nificent, so grand. Near by the peaks
of the Alleghanies throw their enor
mous dark masses against the east
ern sky. while beyond them lies the
Blue Ridge, forest-covered and mist
crowned, extending more than a hun
dred miles to north and south. And,
still higher than their lovely crest,
tower the peaks of Otter, 4,399 feet
above the sea.
One does not know the story of the
Natural Bridge, whether it has been
formed by great convulsion or the
slower wearing of tvaters or gases, but
he who “passes under the awful hush
of its twilight” enters at once into the
conscious presence of the creator. And
when, leaving the bridge, he climbs the
lookout for a farewell view of the
matchess scenery around all that is
best within him rises up, and in the
exaltation of the moment he exclaims:
“Before the mountains were brought
forth, or even Thou hadst formed the
earth and the world, even from ever
lasting to everlasting Thou art God!”
CRIME IN THE ADIRONDACKS.
It Seems Safer to Kill a Man Than a
Deer 'fit of Season.
The true Adirondack woodsman —the
man born and bred in the mountains —
has little respect for the game laws.
While he may realize that the preser
vation of the deer and trout and the
consequent visits of the city sportsmen
with well-fllled purses are due to these
laws, and that in this sense they are
the goose responsible for his golden
egg, it is hard, in the winter months,
when the larder is redueed to the pork
barrel, to resist the temptation to
shoulder a gun and mak- an attempt
at knocking over some fresh meat. If
he is fortunate enough to do the trick,
not much time will elapse before the
horns, head and hide of the animal are
buried, the carcass cut up, and some
choice cuts of “mountain sheep” are
stowed away in the woodsman's cabin.
With this done the danger of detection
Is past, and unless some ill-natured
neighbor has witnessed the shooting
and chooses to make It warm for the
hunter he is safe from the clutch** of
_ the law and the game protector.
I||^fUjoA.iirondack counties
'.as* *cn ye.-i--
.—......
The arrest of the fanatic Feodore
Kovaleff at Odessa for following the
strange doctrine of salvation by self
immolation, attracts attention anew to
the proneness of the Russian for re
ligious mysticism and martyrdom.
The new sect, of which Kovaleff is the
chief, would be considered a congre
gation of lunatics in any country but
Russia. The believers voluntarily per
mitted their priests to bury them in
specially excavated pits, where they
remained until death ended their suf
ferings. Their absolute faith in the
holiness of the doctrine was shown in
one case, where a father buried his
wife and nine children, all of the vic
tims being willing martyrs to the sac
rifice. Kovaleff immured his wife and
children, on different days, and the
bones of all have been recovered. It
is believed that in the vicinity of
Tirespol, the pivotal point of the sect,
the bones of hundreds of victims arc
lying in concealed pits.
The sect is known as the Raskolniki,
after the great dissenter of that name,
but it is only one branch of many
curious faiths, composed of the oppon
ents of the Established Church of Rus
sia. Not In all cases are these sects
made up of the Ignorant and peasant
classes. Members of the higher so
ciety of St. Petersburg, Moscow and
other large cities have in several In
stances become affected with artificial
religious ecstacy, and it is a notable
fact that the sects composed in part of
the educated and cultured have rites
of the most abhorrent form.
pened that punishment has followed
the latter offense more swiftly and
with greater proportionate severity
than the capital crime. A group of
mountaineers were discussing this
state of affairs in an Adirondack cabin
not along ago.
“I believe,” said the sage of the
party, “it’s safer to kill a man than a
deer in this country. If ye got to kill
somethin’, jest crack yer wife over the
head with a poker or shoot yer enemy
in the back. The jury’ll acquit ve on
the ground that ’twas aceidenta,. But
don’t kill a deer out o’ season, or ye’ll
find yerself behind the bars quicker’n
lightnin’.”
"I see they got ole Sam Judson
locked up down t’ the county seat,” re
marked one of the group.
“Yes, ine game warden was up this
way yesterday suposnain’ witnesses.
Feller named Smith ‘peached’ on Sam.
Smith went out into the clearin’ with
his gun ’fore breakfast an’ seen Judson
enttin’ the critter’s throat. Reckon
Smith was lookin’ for that same deer
hisself; that’s the reason he felt so
much righteous indignation at eeein’
Sam violatin’ the law.
“Judson’fl go to jail, sure pop. He
hain’t got nuthia’ to pay a fine with.
County’ll have to support his famly or
else they’ll starve. I reckon the county
can afTord to do it, for it’ll be a grand
warnin’ to other folk not to monkey
Lrjth the game laws. Ez I said, if
Wd only been Satisfied to shoot a
any human bein' he'd prob’lv
right.
I Such is the case with the Khlystov
stchina, founded during the reign of
Alexander I. These people are usually
called Khlysty, a corruption of the
word Christ. Ever since the incep
tion of the sect its followers have been
pursued with relentless energy by the
government. Its founder was burned
at the stake, at Moscow, and many
generations of its leading disciples
have suffered severe punishment. At
times its growth was alarmingly rapid,
particularly at the beginning of the
present century, when the Russian
court was dominated by perverted re
ligious fervor. Notwithstanding gov
ernmental obstructions of the most
stringent kind, the sect today numbers
about 70,000 believers.
The Khlysty doctrine is founded
I upon a legend that during the reign of
j Peter the Great a peasant serf named
j Danilo Philippovitch was God the
j Father and that he had a son by a 100-
year-old woman. The son was named
Ivan Timotheeovitch Sooslof. From
this father and son descended many
generations of Christs.
Marriage is regarded by the Khly
[ sty as impure and is, therefore, repu-
I dialed. They are ascetics, and insist
on the celibacy of their members, with
the exception of one family, the de
scendants of Sooslof, who must marry
to perpetuate the blood of “the living
God.” Others are elected Christs and
mothers of God.
Seemingly the Khlysty sect is not so
terribly harmful, but the fact that all
restrictions to the gratification of the
an’ Brown up at Saranac. Brown'd
been out guidin’ an’ had considerable
money. Ho went up into Berkeley’s
hotel to get his load up. He made a
fairly successful job of it, an’ after
he’d most of his cash Berkeley
fired him out. That sorter hurt
Brown’s feelin’s. He went away an'
got his rifle an’ a box of cartridges.
Come back to the hotel, where Berke
ley was settin’ on the porch. Brown
up with his gun an’ shot him dead.
He cleared out right away an’ hain’t
been heard of sense. Different ones
claim to have seen him, but he ain’t
been brought to trial, anyhow.
"Then there was the feller up south
who shot his v/lfe with a pistol. He
was drunk at the time an’ she lived
long enough to swear 'twas an acci
dent. He got off with a few months ini
jail. At the same term o’ court they
gave a feller five years for stealing a
few pounds of butter. I suppose but
ter was high at the time.
"I c’d recollect other cases, but you
know ’em ez well’s I do. When ye
shoot a deer out of season, on the other
hand, you’re a darned scoundrel an’
ain’t entitled to any pity. The jury’ll
soak ye the limit every time.”
These sentiments are shared pretty
generally by the Adirondack w6ods
[ men. They are by no means lawless
men, but the lax enforcement of some
statutes tends to lessen thpir respect
for the whole fabric of the Maw. Per
haps this explains in part why many
deer are killed and fish are caught out
of season which the game warden
! never hears about.—New York Sun.
ilesh are removed during their reli
gious exercises makes of these latter
nothing more than wild debaucheries
and orgies.
Their meetings are called radenias,
and, of course, are held secretly. Ttn-y
work themselves Into a wild frenzy by
dances, whippings and movements of
the body similar to the dervishes. To
bring about religious intoxication is
one of their aims, and the most com
mon method is to keep whirling around
until attacked by mental vertigo.
Some hypnotize themselves by gazing
steadily at bright objects. Then their
minds wander and they utter absurd
things, which are regarded as prophe
cies.
In one instance the police broke into
a radenia and found all the worship
pers lying huddled on the floor in the
deep sleep following mental and physi
cal collapse. It is unnecessary *o
mention the vile feature of these gath -
erings and the mischief they work to
the social fabric of the community.
The Jumpers are a branch of the
Khlysty, and they are considered not
so much as religous fanatics as de
bauchees, who employ mystical ex
altation a cloak to hide their real vil
lainy. Grave -crimes are credited to
them. They are accused of drinking
the blood of infants. The woman be
came fairly insane in the intoxicating
excitement of their religious dances.
Their hair flows free and their drapery
drops partially from their person In
the mad swirl.
CAUSES OF HOMESICKNESS.
Considerations Which Operate to the
Promotion of Nostalgia.
There is a malady which boasts of a
learned appellation compounded of two
Greek words, but which is better
known by a homelier and far more ex
pressive name in the vernacular, and
yet, although this binominal disorder
is described in the dictionaries as “a
vehement desire • • * affecting
the physical health,” it has not been
assigned a place in the “Nomenclature
of Diseases,” for which the Royal Col
lege of Physicians of London is re
sponsible. The fact, too, that home
sickness, if impervious to drugs, is
nevertheless in the highest degree
amenable to treatment, might credibly
seem to still further justify its in
clusion in the official glossary of the
1,053 natural shocks that flesh is hei* -
to. W’ith regard to the etiology of this
unqualified complaint there still re
main several points requiring elucida
tion, albeit in its genesis no bacillus is
concerned, nor for its adequate diag
nosis is there any need of either micro
scope or test tube.
Shortly stated, the essential factor
in the production of nostalgia is an
environment differing from that amid
which the affected persons passed his
or her early days. When this is the
case some intangible Influence Is gen
erated which reacts upon the victim,
but, just as happens In many official
.maladies, there must beinnatereceptlv-
I Ity preparedness of soil on the part
of the individual who succumbs. This
receptive state is favored by at least
three separate things—race, education
and temperament. But of these pro
disposing causes the last possesses less
powter than either of the other. Cae
teris paribus, phlegmatic subjects are
more likely to experience homesick
ness than their sanguine compeers. A
tendency to despond without sufficient
cause undoubtedly subserves toward
nostalgia, but ardent, enthusiastic peo
ple who continually look forward—
who never are, but always to be—have
the advantage, if advantage it be, of
remaining immune.
Education, or. rather, the want of it,
is more potent than temperament, the
trend of civilization, which is equival
ent to education, being distinctly in
the direction of cosmopolitanism. The
deeper the ignorance, the ruder the
conditions of life under which human
being exists, the greater the probabil
ity when exposed to its influence of his
acquiring nostalgia. If an Islander
from Tierra del Fuego, for instance,
were to be transported to the compara
tive paradise of the uilbert Islands, !n
the Pacific Ocean, which have been de
scribed as a cluster of pearls hung up
on the equator,” he would very likely
bewail his hard lot and pine for his
own inclement and inhospitable
wilderness: and if, in like manner, a
Pacific Gilbertian were to be promoted
to, say, Pall Mall —which, without
wishing to speak disrespectfully of the
equator, we maintain to be the more
desirable abode of the two—he al3o
would no doubt soon break bis heart
longing for the delights of his swel
tering hut in Micronesia.
But of the tnree predisponents race
it is which is the strongest and most
inconsequential. Anglo-Saxons and
their Celtic brethern vary their man
ners and customs while abroad to a
less extent probably than people if
any other nationality’, and yet in spite
of this they make the best colonists.
There is no human being in existence
who can appreciate the charm of a
home more exquisitely than the Celtic
Anglo-Saxon, and yet he is to be met
with in every corner of the world.
He loves ids own native place beyond
words, but he can endure enforced ex
patriation without giving in to nostal
gia. The fact is he recognizes th<
futility of kicking ugalnst the pricks,
and so makes his mind up to sacrifice
a portion of his life, or even, if the
worst comes to the worst, the whole *'
it. For nostalgics we must turn *o
some other trioe. When all is saul
they remain a narrow-minded crew,
whose mental processes run in grooves
They may call their fai,.ng by the
high-sounding name of patriotism, but
such it is not.
Nostalgia is the cat's complaint, a
purely selfish disorder, whereas love (f
country can flourish anywhere and
takes no account of self. And so after
all, our masters in medicine are per
fectly right. Nostalgia is righteously
excluded from a list of shocks that
Anglo-Saxon flesh is heir to. —lancet.
SOME NEW POINTS OF LAW.
That the plan of international arbi
tration is not anew one is evidenced
by the fact that Grotius wrote at the
beginning of the Seventeenth century:
"it is almost n°epv,oary that certain
congresses of Ciuistian powers should
be held, in which the controversies
which arise among some of them may
be decided by others who are not in
terested, and in which measures may
be taken to compel the parties to ac
cept. peace on equitable terms.”
According to the constitution of
South Carolina, "in all cases of lynch
ing, when death ensues, the county
where such lynching tf.kes place shall
without regard to the conduct of the
officers, be liable in exemplary dam
ages of not loss than $2,000, to the
legal representatives of the person
lynched: provided, further, that any
county against which a Judgment has
been obtained for damages in any case
of lynching, shall have the right to
recover the amount of said judgment
frccu the parties engaged in said
lynching in anv court of competent
jurisdiction.”
Judge Minor of the law and equity
court of Richmond, Va., has forbidden
the clerks of the court to give the
newspaper reporters any information
in regard to any divorce case.
Beside the United States, the fol
lowing countries have bankruptcy
laws: Germany, Great Britain, Aus
tria-Hungary, Russia, France, Bel
gium, the Netherlands, Italy, Norway-
Sweden, Turkey Spain Portugal,
Mexico, Brazil. According to the
Russian system, a single creditor is
able to keep the bankrupt in jail un
til the debt is satisfied.
An English doctor who was recently
arrested for riding a bicycle on a side
walk, was acquitted because of an
old law giving to doctors the right to
take the shortest routs when going
to attend an urgent case.
James C. Carter of the New York
bar thus defies law: "Law Is that
body of rules for the regulation of hu
man conduct which is enforced by the
stace, and which embodies as much of
the attribute of Justice as each par
ticular society of men is able to com
prehend and willing to apply to hu
man affairs.”
It le sald,lhal£ the Judges of the su
preme ana ctperlor courts of the state
of Connecticut trill adopt the Judicial
rohos. The sheriffs and deputies are
also to wear uniforms while on duty.
Ik has lately been held that Inter
lineation in a note does not raise a
presumption of fraudulent or unau
thorized alteration.
As the appointment of “a clerical
high sheriff” of the county of Here
ford, in the person of Rev. A. W. Fos
ter, has created much interest in the
columns of the lay press, it may be
worthy of note that there is nothing
abnormal In the discharge by cleric
of the duties of the office of sheriff.
Thus so late as last year a clergyman,
Rev. Sir Charles Ralph Fetherston, a
Dorsetshire vicar, was high sheriff of
the county of Longford, in which his
property is situated. “No one,” writes
Blackstone, “can be exempt from this
office except by act of parliament or
letters patent, though on the other
hand, there are several causes of dis
ability, such as outlawry or the like
(Stephen’s Blackstone, ii., p. 666). The
office of high sheriff may indeed be
executed by a woman. Thus Anne,
Countess of Pembroke, actually ex
ercised the office in person, and at the
assizes at Appleby sat with the judge
on the bench.—Law Times (London).
Robb & Steele is the firm name of
two Indiana lawyers.
The Chicago Law Journal is author
ity for the statement that a jury re
cently returned this verdict: “That the
deceased came to his death by trying
to light his pipe with an electric light,
which can's be done successfully.”
Lord Chief Justice Russell has been
elected president of the Society of
Comparative Legislation and has ac
cepted the office.
General Brooke ltas refused permis
sion for American iaywers to practice
iaw in Havana unless they have ob
tained degrees from the University of
Havana, according to law.
The law of street cars and the rights
of pedestrians was touched upon in a
recent New York case in which the
court said: “It must be admitted that
the rights of ears in their tracks upon
the street are superior to the rights of
anybody going along the street or
crossing It elsewhere than at a cross
ing, but this does not mean that they
have the sole or exclusive right to the
use of that portion of the street upon
which their tracks are laid.”
The New York court of appeals has
lately decided that any stockholder of
a eoiporation has a right to examine
the books. It makes no difference
whether he owns a large or small
number of shares.
A statute which imposes anew pun
ishment, but not a more severe one
than was imposed by the old statute,
not ex post facto.
The longest English state trial was
that of Warren Hastings • for corrupt
practices while governor of India.
This trial lasted more than seven
years.
According to the latest decision, it
is iwu-fectly lawful for a resident of
South Carolina to go over into North
Carolina or Georgia and there buy
whisky for his personal use and re
turn again to South Carolina with the
whisky.
In Florida there is anew revenue
bill which imposes a tax on every one
except newspaper correspondents.
Stillman K. Wightman of New York
city, who recently died at the age of
97, continued the practice of law until
a few months before his death. It is
said that he was the oldest practicing
lawyer In the country. He began his
professional career in Connecticut, and
it was through his instrumentality
that the law abolishing imprisonment
for debt was passed in that state.,
ASSASSINATION OF ALEXAN
DER 11.
A bomb was thrown under th > Czar's
Iron-clad carriage, to stop It, says
Prince Kropotkin in the Atlantic.
Several Circassians of the escort were
wounded; Rysakoff, who flung the
bomb, was arrested on the spot. Then,
although the coachman of the Czar
earnestly advised him not to get out,
saying that lie could drive him still In
the slightly damaged carriage, he
stepped out. He felt that his military
dignity required him to see the wound
ed Circassians, to condole with them is
he had done with the wounded during
the Turkish war, when a mail"storming
of Plevna, doomed to end in a terrible
disaster, was made on the day of his
fete. He approached HysakolT and
asked him something, and as he passed
close by another young man, Grinevet
sky, the latter threw his bomb at ,heir
feet, between himself and Alexander
11., so that birth of them should be
killed by the terrible engine. They
lived but a few hours. There Alexan
der 11. lay upon the snow, profusely
bleeding, abandoned by every one of
his followers! All had olsappeared.
It was cadets, returning from the pa
rade, who lifted the bleeding czar from
the :now, and put him in a sledge, cov
ering his shivering laxly with a cadet
mantle and his bare head with a cadet
cap. And It was one of the Terrorists,
Emelianoff, with a bomb wrapped in a
paper under his arm, who, at the risk
of being arrested on the spot and
hanged, rushed with the cadets to the
help of the wounded man. Human
nature is hill of these contrasts. Thus
ended the tragedy of Alexander ll.'a
life. People could not understand how
It was possible that a czar who had
done so much for Russia should have
met his death at the hands of revolu
tionists. To me, who had the chance
of witnessing the first reactionary
steps of Alexander 11, and his gradual
deterioration, who had caught a
glimpse of his complex personality.—
that of a lorn autocrat whose violence
was hut partially mitigated by educa
tion, of a man possessed of military
gallantry, but devoid of the courage of
the statesman, of a man of strong pas
sions and weak will,—lt seemed that
the tragedy developed with the un
avoidable fatality of one of Shakes
peare’s plays. Its last act was already
written for me on the day when I
heard him address us, the promoted
officers, on June 13, 1862, Immediately
after the first executions In Poland.
M. Andre lUffet, political agent of
the Duke of Orleans, declined to an
swer questions at his preliminary ex
amination In on the charge of
conspiracy.