Evening Star Newspaper, July 9, 1922, Page 57

BY THEODORE EDWARDS. ORE than twenty years ago Camille Flammarion, the eminent French astronomer and psychic investigator, be- mer and psychic investikgator, be- gan collecting evidence on - the phenomenon of death from all pos- rible sources. He has recelved more than four thousand letters and docu- ments from people who have person- ally had what seem to be glimpses through the veil that divides the liv- ing from the “dead.” This data he h classified, tested, digested and assemb! with critical cdmments in a series of three volumes entitled “Death and Its Mystery.” In the first, called “Before Death,” Flam- marion confines himself to the realm of the living, attempting to prove the immortality of the soul; but In the second, "“At the Moment of Death,” he presses on over the line that divides the seen from the unseen world. It is a journey full of excitement, through the authenticated experiences of hundreds of individuals who have come in contact with bizarre hap- penings—strange visions, appari- tions and “ghosts” nolses and por- tents—that have accompanied the passage of the spirits into the be- yond. Flammarion presents his facts simply, as he received them, and for the most part lets them speak for themselves. Aslde from the light they throw on the riddle under in- vestigation, most of them are In themselves amazing little dramas of pathos, love and mystery. * ok x x 7THE point of departure is taken well on this side of the line, with a discussion of phantasms of the living. Here s one of the most interesting preliminary, documents. a letter received from Prague in 1902: “My Dear Astronomer: I am taking the liberty of telling you of an oc- currence worthy of your investiga- tions, the absolute truth of which I guarantee on my word of honor and on that of my friend who had the vision. “This friend’s name is Flora Kruby. We have no secrets from each other. The lady is married and is my truest friend. We see something of a gentle- man whom we know, who Is a physi- clan. For a certain period Mmo. Kruby was prevented from taking part in our meetings, and I had not seen her for several weeks, during which time she had no news of me or of the doctor. One day when I found myself, without Mme. Kruby, with this doctor and several other people in soclety I had a discussion with the physician; he is very good- hearted, but easily flies into a violent temper. I was so angry that I made a resolution to break with him and never again to speak to him. “That same day he was to under- take a long trip, to fill the place of a professor for several weeks. “The other day Mme. Kruby (who knew nothing of his departure) ar- rived at my home breathless, and told me, trembling all over, her face ~gitated, and with an air of conster- nation, what had happened to her during the night: ** ‘Mademoiselle, T had a vision last night! 1 had never believed in such things. On the contrary. when people came to tell me this sort of story I would burst out laughing. Hear me, then, listen. I had not yet gone to sleep; all the doors were locked. Sud- denly the door of my bedroom opened softly and some one came in! I thought,, of course, that it was my husband. For several days he had had a toothache, and I supposed he had come to look for a remedy. I asked: “Is that you? Are you suffering?’ No reply. But a shade approached my bed swiftly, leaned to- ward me,and said: ¥It is I, Doctor B— 1 have come to ask you something!" “Good heavens!” I cried. ‘“are you dead?” “No, I am alive; I am leaving on a trip of several weeks, and we are all mortal. one can't know. I can find no rest without addressing a prayer to you; I know you are a good friend of Mlle Lux and that you have a great influence over her; beg her to par- don me; I did not wish to offend her, for I love her without her suspecting it; but be discreet. 1 am saying this only to you: I have confidence in you; you are loyal; the others are not. So forgive my prayer.” *‘After these words he disappeared and went away, but my husband, who had heard the nolse of the door, woke up and asked me for an explanation. I did not have the courage to speak; I ‘was trembling and deeply agitated, and even yet, when I think of this vision, I tremble anew. ‘I saw the doctor distinctly, he spoke to me with animation, as usual; I felt his breath, for he spoke in a low voice, very near and bending over my bed.’ “Several weeks passed after this viston. Mme. Kruby and 1 kept it secret and, as for me, I could not help remaining skeptical. After the doctor's return I asked him, one day, how he had spent the night after our dispute and he answered: ‘In spite of my great irritation, I fell into a deep sleep in the train, thinking of you; I dreamed of you, the thought followed me and did not leave me until I lost ail consclousness in sleep.’ *“Dear master, in telling you of this occurrence, I am asking my friend to add her signature to mine, as a more complete guarantee for you. 'ANNE LUX, (Letter 1039) “FLORA KRUBY.” * % % x 66\ JE must note.” comments Flam- marion. “that by some means— unknown to him, moreover, and un- conscious, the doctor made himself visible to this lady, made himself heard, and charged her with & com- mission which she carried out Analyse the account in all its details and you will see how difficult it is to attribute the phénomenon to an hallucjnation, to an error: (1) the seeing and hearing of the doctor by the seer; (2) the noise of the door, heard by her husband; (3) the syn- chronism with the doctor’s obsession. It is a case of the tranamission of force to & distance, and indicates that we are surrounded by & psychic at- mosphere of which we know very dttle. Many similar cases prepare us for ® consideration of still stranger phenomena occurring in connedtion with the dexth of one or more of the persons concerned. Here follows a Jetter taken from a group classified as “momifestations other than appari- tions% “ry randfather was an or- gan buflder and had, as such, worked at his craft in differeny regions of Alsace when he undertook to install IS DEATH JUST “PASSING ON” MINENT French Psychic Investigator Exam- ines ‘Scientifically Those Spirit Manifesta- tions Which Other Generations Regarded as Miracles—Many Incidents of Alleged Communi- cation Between the Departed and Friends of Earth. “LORD DUFFER! BEARI A C SAW DISTINCTLY IN OFFIN O THE SHADOW BELOW A MAN HIS SHOULDER.” —_—m—o—m¥™~_ _—_—— f work. Before the instrument was quite completed (all that remained was the tuning) he fell desperately ill, and was borne, dying. to his na- tive land. His death was expected from one moment to another. Silent and sad, relatives and frlends sur- rounded the dying man's bed. Sud- denly the latter, who had for some time given no sign of life, and said in a clear, calm voice: ‘Nothing is the matter; everything is all right’ After this he fell back on the pillows and breathed his last. “No one, it goes without saying, understood these last words of the dying man; but light was soon shed to them. Two days later the relatives of the deceased received a letter from the pastor of the parish ‘in which the organ remained yncom- pleted telling them of an extraordi- nary thing which had taken place in his church on the preceding night. Sounds had been heard suddenly from the new organ, which had not, so far, been played; he and the schoolmaster had been awakened and had run to the church: but they found no one there, despite a lengthy search: the keyboard was locked even: it was inexplicable. What they had been able to hear distinctly was that the organ was being played wonderfully, though it was not tuned. The pastor then had an idea that there might be some connection be- tween the organ builder and this manifestation, and it was under this impression that he had written. ““This letter opened the eyes of those who had been present at the death of my great-grandfather and made them grasp the meaning of the dying man's mysterious words. g “Indeed, if such were the occurrence, we could not deny that we had In this case a most astonishing example of the uneasy spirit of the artist detaching itself from the body before death. traversing space, and going to convince itself of the perfection of the work left uncompleted! What an unfathomable mystery lles in an act of this sort! CH. HOFFMAN (Student of Philogo- phy, Finkmattstrasse, Strasburg).” (Letter 977) * % * ok THXS almost incredible account. added to many others, convinced the astronomer of the existence of a Ppsychie force which may separate itself from the body and function at a dis- tance. We pass on now in methodical pro- gression to the visioning of death scenes at a distance. “The observers whose testimony we are about to hear,” de- clares the scientist, ‘“have watched death scenes taking place far away, by telepathic transmission; there are no effects without causes, and the god Chance, to whom these occurrences are always attributed, has nothing to do with them.” In support of the latter statement he refers to the calculations made by M. Marrillier, who figured that the part played by chance is reduced for auditory hallucinations to one in twenty trillion and for visual hallucina- tions to one In forty trilllon—that is to say, in forty trilllon visual hallucina- tions there could be only one that could be explained by chance coincidence. Having anticipated the usual objections, he proceeds with the display of the evi- dence. Here is a typical letter, dated January 21, 1918: . ‘Madame D—, a young woman who at the time of mobilization had been marrled only a few months, agored her husband, who returned her lave. Sepa- ration had been cruel, in spite of the bravery of the young man, who seemed desirous of persuading his wife that he felt certain of his early return. “He had even begged her not to be- lieve any news of him which might reach her, whatever its nature. The days went by without letters from him. ‘Then came short health bulletins, and at last, on August 25, 1914, ghe received & long letter from the soldier. Happy and full of confidence, she regained a little gayety. The afternoon of that day there was a family reunion. She asked her younger sister to sit down at the plano and play & ballad of Cho- pin for her—one that she and her hus- band dearly loved. Her sister did so. Suddenly (it was 3 o'clock) the young woman rose, uttered a cry, a terrible cry, and fell to the floor senseless. When she came to herself they questioned her. Opening tened eyes she exclaimed: “ ‘What have seen is dreadful an organ in the Protestant village of | Dreadful!’ Ernoshelm; this was to be his last “The family, affected by, the mr sat up| woman's intense nervousness. did not dare to press her. It was only upon the second day following, when she seemed a little calmer, that she told them she had seen, abruptly un- |rolled before her eyes, a terrifying field of battle, horrible slaughter, and, in the midst of it all, her dear husband falling dead! “Some days afterward they learned that on August 25, at 3 o'clock, this soldler had been mortally wounded. “The young woman's mother and several members of her family fur- nished me confirmation of this dra- matic scene. The colncidence of the vision, and of what happened on the field of battle is beyond question.” . * % ¥ x ()NE of the most remarkable and suggestive chapters in Flam- marion’s book is headed “Warnings Announcing Death.” If one can bring himself to accept the implica- tions that follow the accumulation of occurrences here collected, he raust become convinced that we are living in a world in which every hap- pening Is controlled by mysterious beings or forces, hoth good and evil. whose unfathomable powers are only | occasionally revealed, and then attri- buted to the hand of Destiny or God or Satafl. Here, for instance, is a fantastic adventure related by the distinguished psychologist, de Mara- tray: “One night_ when Lord Dufferin had accepted, in Ireland, the hospitality of a friend, he awakened suddenly, preyed upon by an indefinable rest- lessness. He got up, went to the window, which was lighted by the moon, and saw distinctly in the shadow below a man bearing a large burden on his shoulder. This man was walking slowly. When he passed before the house it became manifest that he bore a coffin: he lifted his head; his face was so repulsive that Lord Dufferin was greatly struck. His gaze followed the apparition as it drew away and he went back to bed, where he had great difficulty in going to sleep again. i “The morning of the next day he questioned his host, but the latter could not enlighten him. He knew no one corresponding to the descrip- tion of the person cdrrying the cof- fin, and no burial was expected in the village. “Some years later Lord Dufferin was appointed ambassador to France, De- termined faithfully to discharge the day to a diplomatic reception that was to be held in the Grand Hotel, in Paris. His private secretary conducted him to a large lift before which there were several state officials standing respect- fully in line. Lord Dufferin, passing them, bowed, and was about to step into the lift when he gave an invol- untary start. The employe who op- erated the cable was ugly, surly look- ing and had precisely the features of the apparition of the Irish village “Moved by an instinctive impulse. the ambassador drew back; he re- traced his steps, uttexing some words of excuse, and on the pretext that hé had forgotten something ed them to take up those who had gone on be- fore without waiting for him; he then went to the hotel office to make inquiries as to the person who had caused his very natural emotion. But he did not have time. At that mo- ment a terrible crash was heard, min- gled with cries of =nguish. The lift, reaching a certain height, had drop- ped to the bottom of the shaft, crush- ing or mutilating those within it. “The accident is historic and ita precise date could be easily verified. The mysterious employe was killed, with those whom he was taking up. His origin could no! be traced. He wapg, it was said, an extra helper, & substitute, a vagrant, whom they h‘: temporarily engaged. Lord Duffer! never knew any more about it, and he vainly sought to explain by what sorcery the hand of destiny had saved Rim from death by lifting in so mys- terious & ‘way a corner of the veil duties of his high position, he went one | certain Mr. Brighten. He tells us that in 1861 one of his friends, Mr. James Clackburn, having acquired a steam- boat for river navigation, asked him to g0 on an excursion with him. They left Norwich, and after their first day’s trip on the river stopped for the night'at Yarmouth, & short distance from the mouth of the river: they attached the boat to a nearby vessel by means of cords fastened to the bow and stern. After that, about 9:30, they withdrew to their respec- tive cabins. Mr. Brighten .writes: ‘I may have slept for some hours when my dream began. I fancled that 1 opened my eyes and that I saw, through the ceiling of the cabin, two shadowy phantoms hovering in the alr near the fynnel! They seemed absorbed in lively conversation, and pointed nmow to the mouth of the river, now to the ropes which held .the vesscl. At length they separated, gesticulating and winking as though they had agreed upon a plan of action. Still suspended in the air, one of them went to the bow and the other to the stern, both holding their forefingers extended, with which they touched the ropes simultaneously; these flamed as though they had been touched by hot irons. The vessel, un- attached, was borne along, drifting; it glided beneath the suspension bridge and then the other iron bridge, passed by Eralden, the Yar- mouth bridge, and the long line of boats which had cast anchor In this sbot. All this time the two phan- toms, still hovering in the air above the boat, emitted strange musical sounds. In a short time 1 saw that the boat was beginning to sink. The musical sounds emitted by the two phantoms changed to terrifying howls of triumph. The water reach- ed my chin; there was a rattling in my throat; 1 was drowning. ~ “‘] leaped from my bunk and went toward the door, which I broke down with one blow. I found myself awake, in my night clothes, beneath a serene, moonlit might sky. Instinct- ively I looked toward the rope at the stern and saw Wwith terror that just at that ‘moment it had broken. I turned toward the hook on the near- by ship, close to our bow, and saw beslde me my ocmpanion, who had come running at the sound of the shattered door, and was telling me of the other rope, which was gone. We both clurg desperately to the hooks and called for help. Men from the nearby vessel came without delay, in time to get new ropes for us. On the following morning. in thinking calm- 1y of what had happened, I was able to convince myself that if, at the mo- ment when the ropes had parted, we had, continued to sleep, the drama of my dream would have been Inexora- bly realized in all its detalls.’ " “Invisible forces,” comments Flam- marion, “and even invisible beings, are ubout us * ¢ * Do we mnot note from time to time, in the course of human events, certain events, at once unforeseen and logical, which would seem to indicate the existence of an inherent justice? Is it forbid- en to admit the influence of invisible eings who direct affairs? The ant does not see the foot that crushes it.” Squirrels as Workers For the Government N conducting its extensive experi- ments to discover the best way to reforest waste lands or burnt-over ' forest lands the forest service has need of large quantities of forest- tree seeds, especially of the cone-bear- ing varieties. Since these trees do not bear evenly every year, it is necessary for economical reasons to ascertain In advance what species will furnish good seed crops each vear. as well as to undertake the gathering operations in regions where the cones are likely to be most abundant. For these reasons in- formation is collected as to the bear- ing and conditions of the trees in different parts of the national forests, sometimes as much as two or three years in advance. This is possible because many of the species of pines take from two to three years to ripen their cones. ‘When lumbering is proceeding at the time of seed-ripening. it is & compar- atively simple matter to gather the cones from the felled trees. But when the trees are to remain stand- ing it is sometimes a rather dif- ficult task to get the cones without climbing the trees. A great deal can be accomplished with hooks or knives attached to long poles; but the forest rangérs have learned to make use of nature's own seed-collectors for their purposes. Plenty of cones are found in the seed-stores of the squirrels. This seems to be a very economical way for Uncle Sam to obtain his forest seeds. Not only Is this method convenient, but it has the further advantage of furnishing the best seeds. The squirrels apparently place In their hoards only high-grade cones. More- over, the squirrels put their supplies away 50 early that it is possible for the foresters to come back to the squirrels’ reserves after the cones still on the trees have opened up and scattered their seeds. The red squirrel is the best collector; in many of the holes of this species it is possible to find from eight to ten bushels of cones of good quality.. The average quantity found in a single cache is about two bushels. Other animals also store away seeds and cones, es- pecially chipmunks and wild mice. Copper and Health. HE use of copper sulphate for the disinfection of reservoirs and the destruction of algae and noxious germs in water has led to much di: 'cuulon of the old idea that copper ‘ll dangerous to health. An official of the Department of Agriculture maintains that a change has come over scientific opinion on this sub- ject. Stragnge as it may seem, he says, there {s not an authentic case that is over that part of eternity | of copper poisoning on record, elther which we call the future.” n{zo—htnr 4238) ¥ EE (July 18, | in this. country or abroad, and he adds that toxicologists and physiolo- gists who have sufficiently studied THI! strange account, inexplicabla|the subject agree that copper, in the by any known laws of natur must be supplemented by the really amount used for purification of wa- ter, is harmless. On account of the extraordinary story which 'follows. many defects in, the practical use of It 1s again & symbolic, supernormal | flitration plants, he regards warning of an accident, in the form of a dreani related by M. Bozsano: mnoblmtndumwrwuaumaflmq- i X % purifica- tion of water supplies by copper a preferable method, or, at least, a8 A C, JULY 9, 1922 IAMERICAN EXCAVATORS UNEARTHING | THE ANCIENT WEALTH OF CROESUS | T SARDIS They Have Found Coins From the Hoard of Antiquity’s Richest Monarch, Whose Misfortunes, Culminating in a Miraculous Escape From a Blazing Pyre, Present a Series of _PART 4. Unmatched Dramatic "“Thrillers"—Latest Reports From the Scene of Operations. BY ERNEST BRENNECKE. 1) Sardis, the scene of some of A the most thrilling events in ancient history, a party of American excavators has just unearthed from an old tomb a price- treasure—a clay pot, containing thirty gold coins dating back to the year 546 ‘B. C. The coins, called “staters,” are specimens of the first gold pleces ever minted, and repre- sent part of the wealth of the ancient King Croesus of Lydia. Fifteen of them are on their way to the Metro- politan Museum of Art, New York. News of the great find has just been brought to the United States by Dr. T. Lesiie Shear of Columbia Univer- sity, who was present at the dis- covery. The American expecition, which now hopes to unearth many even more valuable relics of a glamorous past civilization, is headed by Prof. Howard Crosby Butler of Princeton University, who s at this moment in Constantinople, completing his ar- rangements with the Greek and Turk- ish governments before following the main body of excavators to the mass of steep hills, barren mounds and jumbled ruins that mark the place Where several citles of mystery and anclent romance lie buried many feet under ground. Here, at Bardis. in the midst of the red clay mountains of Asia Minor, where Dr. Butler and his companions began In 1909 to dig up a barley fleld above which projected two colossal Ionic temple columns and where work was interrupted by the outbreak of the war, lies buried the actual palace of King Croesus, wealthlest monarch of anclent times and last of the princes who held court at the brilliant capital of Lydia. * % % % (CROESUS came to the throne at the age of thirty-five, and soon won a tremendous reputation for pride and wealth. Tribute from neighboring kingdoms which he conquered swelled his treasure houses, already bursting with the bullion dredged from ‘the gold-bearing sands of the Pactolus river, which flowed near his city. cavalry, famous for its speed and dashing courage, easlly vanquished the armies of all the nations he set out to conquer. “As rich as Croesus” became a proverblal designation which has lasted to the present day. His court, by all accounts, presented to visitors from all over the anclent world visions of oriental splendor. Among the visitors to Lydia was the aged Solon, law-giver of Athens and one of the “seven sages” of Greece. “On his arrival” relates Herodotus, “he was hospitably enter- tained by Croesus, who conducted him round the treasury and showed him all the grand and costly contents. When he had seen and examined everything Croesus asked him: ‘My Athenian guest, who is the most happy man you have ever seen? He asked this question because he thought himself the most happy of men. “But Solon, speaking the truth freely, without any flattery, answered, ‘Tellus the Athenian' Croesus, as- tonished at his answer, asked him, ‘On what account do you deem Tellus the happiest? “He replied, ‘Tellus, in the first place, lived in a well-governed com- monweslth, had sons who were vir- tuous and good, and he saw children born to them all and all surviving. In the next place, when he had lived happily as the condition of human {affairs will permit he ended his life in a most glorious manner. For, coming to the assistance of the Athe- nians in battle, he put his enemy to flight and died nobly." ““Then Croesus, being enraged, said, My Athenian friend, is my happines: then, so slighted by you that you do not think me of as much value as a humble private citizen? Whereupon the philosopher answered, ‘Oh, Croe- sus, you appear to me to be master of immense treasures and king of many nations, but as relates to what you inquire of me I cannot say until I hear that you have ended your life |happily. For the richest of men is inot more happy than he who has a suficiency for the day, unless good fortune attend him to the grave, so that he ends his life in happines: For the gods, having shown a glimpse of happiness to many, have afterward utterly overthrown them.’ “When he spoke thus Croesus dis- missed him, since he considered him a very ignorant man, because he over- looked present prosperity and bade men look to the end of everything. * K X ¥ NAF‘J'ER the departure of Solon,” sconcludes the ancient historian, “the indignation of the gods fell heavy upon Croesus, probably be- cause he thought himself the most happy of men.” Misfortune, indeed, soon began to crowd in upon the unfortunate mon- arch, He had two sons, about both of whom the oracles had indigated com- ing disasters, The elder of the two { had already’been aficted with dumb- ness, and the only consolation that the gods would grant was the decla- ration that he would regain his speech on an evil day for the king. Of the other, Atys, who surpassed all the youths of his age in strength and intelligence, they declared tbat he would die from a wound. nflicted by an iron weapon. Croesus there- fore forbade him to go to battle with his company of Lydian cavalry and sought to curb his eager spirit by providing a wife and domestic cares for him. At the wedding feast, however, in the midst of the riotous merrymak- ing/and wassailing, suddenly appeared as}an unbidden guest, a haggard, wild- eyed-intruder. - Approaching the king, the stranger explained that he was'a His | member of the royal house of Phry- gla,* Adratus by name, grandson of the famous King Midas of the Golden Touch, a harassed fugitive seeking refuge, having unwittingly killed his own brother. According to the laws of hospitality, Croesus could not deny him shelter. It happened at this time also that an enormous wild boar came down from the mountains of Mysia and rav- aged the country, killing many of the inhabitants. A hunt was accordingly organized in the royal palace. Prince Atys was very naturally eager to go, and begged his father to give him leave. When Croesus demurred he answered: “Would you have me a coward? What kind of man would you have me appear to my fellow- citizens, to my newly hmarried twife? Besides, the oracle declared I am to that the “mighty empire” was to be his own. Croesus showered gifts of gold and silver on the temple of the god and immediately took the field with his famous cavalry. * x ¥ ¥ RBUT Cyrus, meeting him outside the walls of Sardis, used a remark- able stratagem. Before the Persian horses he drew up a line of mounted camels and ordered them to charge, knowing that a horse is afraid of a camel and cannot endure either to see its form or to scent its smell. Ac- - o S~ | - = the fire bhut unable to get the better of it, shouted aloud, invoking Apollo, and besought him to protect and de- liver him from the present danger. On a sudden clouds were seen gath- ering in the air, which before wai serene, and a violent storm burst forth and vehement rain fell and ex- tinguished the flames, by which Cy- rus perceived that Croesus was be- loved by the gods and a good man g die by the point of an iron weapon, | not by a boar's tusk.” The unhappy | king was won over and consented. sending Adratus along as the youth's special guardian. * ¥ ¥ ¥ THE hunt was successful i was brought to bay and sur-| rounded and Adratus hurled his iron javelin at the beast. It missed its mark, however, and struck the son of Croesus, killing him and fulfilling the | prophecy of the gods. Bitter sorrow | welled up In the heart of the proud king when he saw the corpse of his | son borne back on a litter, followed | by the miserable Adratus. The lat- ter, walking up to Croesus, stretched forth his hands and begged for in- stant death, declaring himself to be the most miserable of men. Croesus, although his own affliction was great. | was fllled with pity, and said: “You have made me full satisfaction by | condemging yourself to dle. But you | are not the author of this misfortune | except as far as you were the invol- untary agent; but that god, whoever he was, that long since foreshadowed | what was Jo happen.” The son was | buried with due solemnity, but Adras- tus, “son of Gordlus, son of Midas, who had been the murderer of his own brother and the murderer of his purifier, when all was silent round the tomb, judging himself the most heavily afflicted of all men, kilied himself on the tomb. But Croesus, bereaved of his son, continued dis- consolste for two years.™ The king’s mourning was interrupted finally by the growing menace' of Cyrus, King of Persia, with whomt a conflict was inevitable. Rousing him- eelf, Croesus began to prepare to at- tack the great empire of the east. Having now acquired a tremendous respect for the Greclan oracles, he rosolved to consult them, first making trial of them in the following unique manner: Ha sent messengers to the principal religlous shrines with in- structions to ask what the Kipg of Lydia was doing on a certain day. the boar | From Delphi came this answer: “The savor of the hard-shelled tortoise boiled in brass with the flesh of the lamb strikes on my senses.” It wasa remarkable response, for on that day he had actually cut up a tortoise and & lamb and bolled them together in a brazon caldron, thinking that such a strange operation could not be guessed or anticipated. 'The answers from the other oracles being unsatisfactory, he again sent to Delphi to find what the god Apollo had to say concerning his attack on Cyrus. The answer came back: “If Croesus makes war on the Persians he will destroy a mighty empire.” EFN: pleased and little guessing T cordingly, wien battle was joined the | Lydian cavalry was completely routed | and the hopes of Croesus were ut-| terly destroved. Sardis was captured, | burned and plundered. As the Persians burst into the royal palace and as a soldier was about to | dispatch the Lydian king, the dumb | son of Croesus suddenly found his voice and cried aloud: “Man, Kill not | Croesus!” Then was the king re- minded of the prophecy which had declared: “Oh. Lydiah born, king of many, very foolish Croesus, wish not to bear the longed-for voice of thy son speaking within thy palace. It were better for thee that this should be far off, for he will speak in an unhappy da: “Then,” says Herodotus. “the Per- sians, having taken Croesus, conduct- ed him to Cyrus, and he, having heaped up a great pile, placed Croe- sus upon it and with him fourteen voung Lydians, designing either to offer this sacrifice to some god, or perhaps, having heard that Croesus was a religious person, he placed him on the pile for the purpose of dis: covering whether any deity would save him from being burnt alive. Now when Croesus stood upon the pile, notwithstanding the weight of his misfortunes, the words of Solon recurred to him, that *no living man could justly be called happy.”" After a long silence he uttered a groan and thrice pronounced the name of Solon. When Cyrus heard him he commanded his interpreters to ask Croesus who it was he called upon. They drew near and asked him, but! Croesus for some time kept silénce. When they persisted in their inquir- fes he at length told them that Solon, an Athenlan, formerly *visited him, and having viewed all his treasures made no account of, them, telling, in a word, how everything had befallen him, as Solon had warned him, though his discourse related to all mankind as much as to himself, and especially to those who imagine themselvess happy. The pile being now kindled, the outer parts began to burn; and Cyrus, informed by the interpreters of what Croesus had |or the ruins of it, said, relented, and considering that being but a man he was yet going to burn another man alive who had been in no way inferior to himself An prosperity, and, moreover, fearing retribution and reflecting that noth- ing human is constant, commanded the fire to be instantly extinguished and Croesus with those who were about him to be taken down. \ * kK k «UT they with all thelr endeavors were unable to master the fire. Crdesus, perceiving that Cyrus had altered his resolution, when: he saw évery man efideavoring to put out and had him taken down from the pile.” Thus ended the career of the great- est and last of the native Lydian kings. The rest of Croesus' life was spent in servitude at the court of Cyrus at Susa, and for the next 200 vears Sardis remained under Per- sian dominion, governed by a satrap. But the palace of this pathetic figure, still exists, and every day brings the axes of the ex- cavators nearer to its buried walls. By 1914 Dr. Butler had already un- covered a gigantic temple of Artemis, in which was found a letter written in Greek by the Roman Emperor Augustus, containing the welcome information that a temple of Zeus stood nearby, directly over the re- mains of the ancient Lydian palace. Here were found the ancient coins of Croesus. The hands of American ex- plorers are thus almost within reach of precious relics of a great and thrilling historical episode. Timing Bananas. IT is generally known that bananas are shipped while yet green and un- ripe, but few persons are aware of the careful and elaborate time calculations required in setting out the plants and cutting off the fruit in order to insure the arrival of the bananas in proper condition at their destination. When a plantation is begun the young plants are set out at certain periods so that they will produce at regular pre- fixed times during the year. A certain number of days before the arrival of @ steamer the green fruit Is cut and a close calculation of the time that will be consumed in the vovage must al- ways be made, else the bananas will be spolled. Fruit steamers carry steams heating apparatus to Insure a uniform temperature throughout the Vvoyage: | The ripening 1s calculated to occur only after the fruit has reached the retail dealer. Length of the Meter. IF. as one authority states with an . expression of astonishment, many authors of scientific books are igno- rant of the fact that the re!lflon‘ between the meter and the yard Is, in the United States, fixed by law, then it 1s probable that many other per< sons are similarly ignorant. The legal length of the meter In this country is 39.37 inches. In England it is 39.370113 inches. our lawmakers thought that a ten- thousandth of an Inch was too in-. significant ta bother with, especialls . when followed by a 'hundred-thou; sandth, and even another figure repe resenting millionths. Apparently