Okolona messenger., May 13, 1920, Image 3

About Okolona messenger. (Okolona, Miss.) 1900-current

Image provided by: Mississippi Department of Archives and History

                
OKOLONA MESSENGER, OKOLONA, MISSISSIPPI.
CONDENSED
CLASSICS
THE LAST DAYS
OF POMPEII
By KDWA.XD BULWEK LYTTON
CtnUmatiMi J Pnf. WOHm ftnmdt Him
Umtrl AW
V-'Y: vS
TY-vyvVWVVWVVVVVVTVKI
Edward George
Earle Lytton Bul
wer more famil
iarly known to
novel readers as
B u 1 wer - Lytton,
was born In Lon
don. May 25, 1S03.
He was more of a
prodigy in his
youth and had a
much more public
career than most
men who have
achieved fame as
novelists. At the
age of IS, he dis
tinguished himself
by publishing a
volume of poems
and by falling so
violently in love
that he became
highly morbid
when Ms proposal of marriage was not
taken seriously by the father of the
girl he loved. She died a few years
later and Bulwer said that the disap
pointment embittered his whole life.
At Cambridge,-he won a medal for the
excellence of a poem and published
another book of verse
In 1827, he had sufficiently recovered
from his premature love affair to
marry, acrainst his mother's wishes, a
brilliant beauty of society. The match
was fore-doomed to be unhappy, for
both Bulwer and his wife were too
unrestrained to live together. They
quarreled, were legally separated and
continued to quarrel in print for years.
Bulwer was rapidly winning renown.
His first novels 'were successes but It
was not until "The Last Days of Pom
peii" (1834) that his fame was assured.
Nine years later appeared "The Last
of the Barons," which many good
Judges have considered his best work.
He wrote numerous other stories,
novels of society, of crime, of mys
teries, of family life. He was the most
successful dramatist of his time. He
dabbled in Journalism. For 10 years
he was a member of parliament, was
later secretary for the colonies, and in
1868 was raised to the peerage as
Baron Lytton. He died on January 18,
1873.
"'G
LAUCUS the Athenian,
thy time has come,' said
a loud and clear voice;
the Hons await thee.
" 'I am ready,' said the Athenian. He
had bent his limbs so as to give him
self the firmest posture at the expect
d rash of the lion, with his small and
shining weapons raised on high, in the
faint hope that one well-directed
thrust might penetrate through the eye
to the brain of his grim foe.
"But to the unutterable astonish
ment of ail, the beast seemed not even
aware of the presence ot the crim
inal. At the first moment of its re
lease It halted abruptly in the arena,
raised itself half on end, snuffing the
upward air with impatient sighs ; then
suddenly It sprang forward, but not
on the Athenian. At half-speed it
circled round and round the space,
turning its vast head from side to side
with an anxious and perturbed gaze,
as if seeking only some avenue of es
cape; once or twice it endeavored to
leap up the parapet that divided it
from the audience, and, on failing, ut
tered rather a baffled howl than its
leep-toned and kingly roar. It evinced
no sign either of wrath or hunger; its
tail drooped along the sand, Instead of
lashing its gaunt sides; and its eye,
though it wandered at times to Glau-
cus, rolled again listlessly from him,
At length, as if tired of attempting to
escape, It crept with a moan into its
cage and once more laid itself down
to rest. . ,
"The first surprise of the assembly
at the apathy of the Hon soon grew
Into resentment at Its cowardice; and
the populace already merged their
pity for the fate of Glaucus into angry
compassion for their own disappoint
ment. The manager called to the
keeper:
"How is this? Take a goad, and
prick him forth, and then close the
door of the den.?
."As the keeper, with some fear,
but more astonishment, was preparing
to obey, a loud cry was heard at one
of the entrances of the arena; there
was a confusion, a bustle, voices of
remonstrance suddenly breaking forth,
and sudden silence at the reply. All
eyes turned In wonder toward the
quarter of the disturbance; the crowd
gave way, and suddenly Sallust ap
peared on the senatorial benches, his
hair disheveled, breathless, heated,
half exhausted. He cast his eyes has
tily around the ring. "Remove the
Athenian,' he cried; 'haste, he is In
nocent! Arrest Arbaces the Egyp
tian ; he Is the murderer of Apae
cldes!'
"Art thou mad, O Sallust!' said th
praetor, rising from his seat 'What
means this raving Y
" "Remove the Athenian ! Quick ! or
his blood be on your head. Praetor,
delay, and you answer with your own
life to the emperor! I bring with me
the eye-witness to the death of the
priest Apaecldes. Room there! stand
fcack ! Give way ! People of Pompeii,
fix every eye upon Arbaces; there he
alts. Room there for the priest Cale
nus! "Pale, haggard, fresh from the jaws
of famine and of death, his face fallen,
his eyes dull as a vulture's, his broad
frame gaunt as a skeleton, Calenua waa
supported Into tie very row la which
Arbitees sat His releasers aad
given him sparingly of food: but the
chief sustenance that nerved his feeble
limbs was revenge!
"The priest Calenus! Calenus!'
cried the mob. 'Is It he! No, it Is a
dead mun !'
-'It is the priest Calenus,' said the
praetor, bravely. 'What hast thou to
sayt
'Arbaces of Egypt is the murderer
of Apaecldes, the priest of Isls;
these eyes saw him deal the blow.
It is from the dungeon into which
he plunged me, It Is from the
darkness and horror of a death
by famine, that the gods have raised
me to proclaim his crime! Release
the Athenian he is innocent !'
"It is for this, then, that the lion
spared hi in. A miracle! a miracle I'
cried Pansa.
"'A miracle! a miracle!' shouted the
people; 'remove the Athenian
Arbaces to the lion !'
"The power of the praetor was as a
reed beneath the whirlwind; still, at
his word the guards had drawn them
selves along the lower benches, on
which the upper classes sat separate
from the vulgar. They made but a
feeble barrier; the waves of the hu
man sea halted for a moment, to en
able Arbaces to count the exact mo
ment of his doom ! In despair, and in
a terror which boat down even pride,
he glanced his tyes over the rolling
and rushing crowd, when, right above
them, through the wide chnsm which
had been left In the velaria, he beheld
a strange and awful apparition; he
beheld, and his craft restored his cour
age !
"He stretched his hand on high;
over his lofty brow and royal features
there came an expression of unutter
able solemnity and command.
"'Behold!' he shouted with a voice
of thunder which stilled the roar of
the crowd ; 'behold how the gods pro
tect, the guiltless ! The fires of the
avenging Orcus burst forth against
the false witness of my accusers !' "
The fires of the "avenging Orcus"
were those of the great eruption of
Vesuvius in 79 A. D. Toward such a
melodramatic climax, furnished him
by, Nature, the author had been spin
ning the lives of his characters in the
little city which nestled under the
shadow of the volcano.
The converging threads of the story
are many, giving in the final weaving
a complete picture of the life of Pom
pell Its shops, tiny palaces, baths,
forum, theater, circus, and all that
daily took place In the energetic life
of this toy copj of Rome at the begin
ning of the Christian era. The story
centers around Glaucus the Athenian,
brilliant gay, witty, descendant of a
nobler race frivolling himself away
amid the coarser pleasures of the Ro
mans, until finally all that was fine
in him was brought' forth by his love
for lone of Naples, who, like himself,
was a child of Greece. And alongside
this tale of love rrjsthe pathetic
stccy tt JVydia, the blind slave girl,
who centers all her hopes of happi
ness in winning the affection of Glau
cus. To this end she gains possession
of a love potion which the opulent
Julia has had prepared in the belief
that it will bring to her the much-desired
Glaucus. In reality the potion
Is a poison which will drive the un
fortunate drinker mad. It is designed
by the sinister Egyptian Arbaces to
clear his path to lone from his rival
Glaucus. In his raving, Glaucus comes
upon Arbaces just as the latter has
killed Ione's brother Apaecldes, a
young priest of Isis, who, much to the
annoyance of Arbaces, has embraced
the new Christian faith. Arbaces
throws the guilt upon poor Glaucus
with apparent success. But the priest
Calenus was a hidden witness, with
the final result shown in the great epi
sode of the book. As the crowd in the
circus turned their eyes toward .Vesu
vius, they beheld "a fire that shifted
and wavered in Its hues with every
moment, now fiery luminous, now of
a dull and dying red, that again blazed
terrifically forth with intolerable
glare. Then there arose on high the
universal shrieks of women ; the men
stared at each other, but were dumb.
At that moment they felt the earth
shake beneath their feet; the walls
of the theater trembled, and beyond In
the distance they beard the crash
of falling roofs; an instant more and
the mountain-cloud seemed to roll to
wards them, dark and rapid, like
a torrent; at the same time it cast
forth from Its bosom a shower of
ashes mixed with vast fragments of
burning stone! Over the crashing
vines, over the desolate streets, over
the amphitheater Itself, far and wide,
with many a mighty splash In the agi
tated sea, fell that awful shower! No
longer thought the crowd of justice or
of Arbaces; safety for themselves
was their sole thought Each turned
to fly each dashing, pressing, crash
ing, against the other."
It was save himself who could In
that night of horrors. Of the many
episodes seen In the flashes of light wan
that of blind Nydla guiding Glaucus to
lone, and then leading both to safety,
she the only one at home In the dark
ness In which she had always lived.
And then, when they had gained a .
ship and put to sea and all but Nydia
had fallen Into exhausted slumber,
"May the gods bless you, Athenian P -she
murmured, "may you be happy
with your beloved one ; may you soma
times remember Nydia I"
A sailor, half dozing on the deck,
heard a slight splash on the waters.
Drowsily be looked up, and believed,
as the vessel merrily bounded on, he
fancied he saw something whit abovw
the waves . ,
Copyright. IMA by the Post Publtahlns Co.
(The Bottom Post). All rtgbU Nttrwi
CHILD GIVEN UNIQUE NAME
American Girl to Go Through Life
With YWCA at One of Her
Appellation.
"We've named her T. W. C. A.!"
said a proud young mother as she dis
played her two-months-old baby to a
group of girls at one of the many
Y. W. C. A. branches in New York city
recently. So "Alice YWCA Stambou
llites" Is a real child, the possessor of
a unique name which will always be
a reminder of her mother's first days
in a strange country. When Mrs.
Lulu Stamboulldes, a pretty Rouma
nian girl, first came to the United
States nearly two years ago her young
Greek husband, whom she had come
here to marry, took her immediately
to the Harlem branch of the Y. W.
C. A. in New York city to learn the
American language, customs and
Ideals. He himself had found this
training at the Y. M. C. A. Mrs. Stam
boulldes entered English, art, cooking
and sewing classes and soon became
one of the most popular members, of
the branch. Then when little Alice
arrived the father insisted that her
middle name should be "Y. W. C. A."
and so It is and Alice Stamboulides
can hold her own with Mary Armistice
Smiths and John Pershing Joneses of
the day.
Shellac.
Shellac Is the joint product of In
sects and plants and comes from In
dia. The lac Insects are about 1.2-r of
nn Inch long, a bright red In color.
They suck' the juices of pli.nts, digest
them and exude them In the form of
resin, which soon encases the whole
Insect. When the young Insects have
swarmed out, the resin is scraped
from the branches, ground, washed,
mixed with colophony and orpiment
cooked slowly and drawn out into the
thin sheets we know as shellac.
SB's aroma creates an anticipation m
'1,1 . f . f1 S ?- -
jnur omy iw uavor can Tisry
rn 5 111) o OC
Tl is i a- xi i n t 4 V ' i
r i ovwm u mm urc urtp-i I f
5 4k
Charles Darwin's Boyhood.
Doctor Hutler, the headmaster at
Shrewsbury school, had often to call
Charles ' Darwin (the most famous
naturalist of the nineteenth century)
to task for Inattention and laziness
during his studies. The only thing
that seemed to interest him was the
collecting of caterpillars, worms, and
all sorts of creeping things, and the
risking of his own and his brother's
life by dangerous chemical experiments.
I001. PURE
iiiii
r
Starkville. The consolidated school ( Marks. The Sunflower Baptist As
at Self creek, in this county, was de-: sociation closed a most interesting and
molished by the cyclone a few days
ago, and the people of that community
are preparing to rebuild on the same
site.
successful Sunday school convention
here. Delegates from Tunica, Coaho
ma, Tallahatchie and Sunflower coun
ties were present.
Sturgis. The greatest agricultural
rally in the history of Oktibbeha coun
ty was held here, when between 3,000
and 4,000 people gathered for an all
day conisderation of topics of com
munity development.
?
i
Big
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-
lor Sale In OMona By Oholona Hardware Company