Evening Star Newspaper, March 11, 1923, Page 71

| John Sharp Williams, Master of English, Brilliant Debate BY ARTHUR JAMES. I voluntary retirement frorg political life of Joan Shagp ‘Williams of Yasoo City, “Sgar route” Miss, is one that de- prives the nation of a wman 4vhe, without the ald of press agents, made a name for himeelf in the Hguse of Tiepresentatives and the Unitedl States Senate that will live for ma gy years 2 name that will live in tye history af his native state, thig will be <poken of with awe and rverence by tne generations that folldw when tie statesman of Yazoo shafl have passed from this vale of tears, it is not often in, this world of nurry and bustle thygt there appears before the public a,'man whe is con- Tent to let his ligigt be hidden under bushel, but Jahn Sharp Willlams ared naught fuyr the glitter of the enter of the ytage. Ile fought for what he thought was the right. and once he buckled on intagonists, gfter the smoke of bat- le had cleaped away, as a rule were io Be found prone in the arena. "The man, who has just retired was A many-siled person, a statesman of parts, amw idealist, 3 man who could wn e occaslon demanded searoh 10 tha very marrow of a quesiion to | #d w practical solution of what ap- /oeared to be a problem of vexatious nroportigns. He was a child in his njoyment of the things that he iked, a forgiving fighter, und We despised anvthing that ¢ham. He loved boo when the duties of the duy were such that he could be spared from the leg- slative halls you could find hrowsing around the library or ing by a window ing, reading, sometime: ghter at timas that ure seldom road but Ly student of literature. vein oth, works IS boyivod Gavs were Spent studying. and thosc ‘wh im a8 a youth still tallg of iant mind that yeung - John Eharp” ad as a boy. He ‘QRtended private schools before entesdig the Keniucky Military Institute, and upon Jeaving hat seat of leurigng cutered Tni- ty of the Sguth, going from taere o the Univergity of Virginla. After cruduating from that institution he went abroidl and watriculated wt the T'niversity of Heldelberg, Germany. Tt was Bt this place that gave uch Ame to the study of the clas- sics. ‘He studigd with care the writ- i8S of the greatest minds of old world und took upo dery the task of puttin, coyrse what usually took t for others to master Upon his graduation he took up the study of law under Profs, Southall at the ver ginta, and upon completing this Qurse entered the office of iarris, McKisick & Turiey. After being ad- nitted to practice, in 1877, he moved 0 Tazoo City and took up the p; ice of his profession. At the time he supervised the run: cotton plantmtion. Tt was not long before the people of that, mection of the state began to ialk ghout the brilliant voung lawyer hat Avas winning case after case, and .when the old-time political war- harses of the state were gunning around for a bright young man to be one of the delegates to the con vention that nominated Cleveiand and Stevenson. one who would ca honor upon the delegation, they se iccted the Young lawver. This was really the beginning of his political career. Tn 1904 he was made temporary ehairman of the democratic national convention, and then came the be- ¥ zioning of & long term of service in the halls of Congress. ed to the Fifty-third to Fifty-ninth Congresses, and.upon re-election to ine Bixtieth received every te that was casi. In tie Fifiy-eigth, Fifty- ninth and St 1 Congresses he was <hosen by ir candidate ror Speaker—lionored thrice, u record of which any man in public life might well be proud. Tn 1807 he was chosen by the dem- ' ocratic party to make the race for the seat that had been held by Sena- tor Hernando D. Money, and was elect- ~d to that office. He was renominated when his term expired. and re-elected to the Senate for the term beginning ame g of a March 4, 1817, this time again with- | out opposition. He was a delegats to the Baltimore convention that * riominated Woodrow Wilson. * & % “ym:x the sage of Yazoo City first came to Congress he used to it u his seat and watch the perform: ance as a spectgtor. He was not asleep; e was merely gettiug the hang of how they did things not been there many months when he #rose to make a speech for something that was for the benefit of the con- ¢ sressional district that he represent- | °d. A republican. noticing tne slen- der young man w a southern draw! and lons, curl would have so member and procceded to give him a #ood-natured hazing. {| Williams listened 10 his adversa With polite attention, and then he u Ilmbered. and inside of ten minutes ihe had the House in a voar of laugi- 16F at the one who had baited him. {Hie took, figuratively. the hide off of | ithe republican and stood him up t 1he unfeeling gaze of the members of | with & | g | rhle House. He flayed him Abw of language that was noth | Byt the purest of English: tied him i knots, bowknots and double bow- fnots, and when he took his seat the | bputation of John Sharp Willlams as Tt was! 'hi fighter had been made. miany a day before any member of the opposition had the temerity to iEaekle him in debate. i Ennnt the days when the republi liins were introducing the system | imt their opponents called the “steam Poller” method Willlams caused said }pmachine to st heavily upon more than one occasion, and the writer remembers that once, when the cum- bersome mchine had run afoul of the AMississippi representative the party leaders sent post haste for Speaker Reed. When they explained the situ- ation to him he exclaimed: “Don’t you know any better than to leave an opening like that for Willlams to drive his chariet through?” Reed and Willlams respected each other's ability, and it was not often that they engaged in a controversy. Despite the fact that Willlams was ' a demecrat, he often went 1o the res- ue of some hapless republican who ) vas being badgered by a democrat— hat {8, it he believed that the mem- her of the opposing party had a good, clean.. case—and ‘this :characteristic his armor his | He was elect- | He had | hafr. thought that he | e fun with the new | Statesman of Yazoo City, Miss., Has Had Congressional Career Marked by Ability as Leader and Capacity in Tackling Vital Prob- lems—Lover of Books., Flowers and Home savored of | und often | him ) sit- in lis oflice. read- | the things of | the, veal | JOHN SHARP WILLIAMS OF MIS: THE SENATE MARCH 4. SIPPL. WHO RETIRED FROM Copyright by Underwood & Lnderwood. love of fair play won for him many { triends on the republican side of the chamber. | “Tnele Joe" Cannon and Williams had a great deal of respect for each other. and posterity has lost a wou derful collection of aneccdotes by not | having an expert stemographer pres- ent when the two warriors sat and | told stories. h has said of the! ! other that he was the best story teller that was ever in Congress, and the men who have heard them spin their | yarns say that their fund of stories | was seemingly inexhaustibl indced, a rare treat to he: to outdo the other, and many a wave of laughter has floated cut onto the | | House floor when thesc two were en- ;gugod in a story-telling duel. “vn,m.\.\(s was never a man of the 1 kind that invited warm friend- ships from a great many people. It was not becausc he fellow man. but by difident. and only the £00d fortune to know realized how really wus. Per derful gift of tuking of the xafls of thing to do with this. but no young | member went John Sharp | Wiltiams for aid or counsel without | i devoted friend and p o became that had nature he was e who hud the him intimately Apx, 100, his won- : the wind out eve to | your fricnd you felt lifetime champion, When Williams came to the he did not break into the 1 vou melight Foreward. ALT)I(’L‘U” Bill 5 mous evange ha: self slightly bac late, he i8 still strenuousiy ! on his revival meetings—just now Tennessee. When “Ma” Sunday, as he callx h | wife. approached him for an inter- | view he showed all his old fire in at- | tacking the low standards of pres- ent day society. He accused the mod- ern girl of borrowing the methods of courtesans, saving that her modesty. | | honesty and loyalty appear to be lost | in the cruving of the senses. Among his poignant statements were: “You can't legilate men and women out of vice. Soclety cannot be pur fled without purifying the individua Attacking social service workers, to answer ft.” “Well, suppx question this was you think society | diti dividua 3 | and | the fu- hiim- of Sunday, kept round we approach = 1 suggested in the s s ax they ave today. or ndas began pacing room. mervously throwing the tuble “By all means the individual. and to & large extent the modern woman. No mation can rise to with a low standard of womanhood. The spiritualitv of the modern girl |is nearly gone. Her modesty, hon- from d Jumped uy down vicking up ticles 3 he passed the You can't bathe any one into the kingdom of God. The road into the | kingdom is not via the bath tub, uui- versity, ) but by the| coes of Christ.” THE INTERVIEW. BY MRS, “BILLY” SUNDAY. WAS breaking the unwritten law | of our household by approuch- iug Mr. Sunday for an inter- view on the particular day that |1 chose. It was his rest day. Once i each week he shuts his door to all outsiders so that he can “catch up with himself.”” and on that day it} would take “all the king's horses and all the king's men” to gain entrance for a newspaper reporter. But 1 knew it would be next to im- | possible to get him to sit still long | enough for aun interv W any o the other six days. Kvery minute of his time is crowded with duties— | every ounce of energy Lent to trying to meet the thousunds of demands upon his time. So 1 decided to take advantage of my position as his wife and culled him into the library. He appeared almost immediately, walk- ing with his characteristic quick. nervous step. But when I asked him | it he was available for an interview he almost turned a right-about-face. “No, no, 1 can't give an interview— not today. This is my day off, Ma Sunday.” He always calls me that. “But I'm mot Ma Sunday just now. I'm the interviewer,” 1 explained, putting a detaining hand on his arm. “Ma Bunday asked me to say it would be a special favor to her if you'd give me just ten minutes.” The nervous, worried look faded s his face broke into a smile. “Anything that Ma Sunday wants she can have. 1'd give up the whole day, If she asked it j He flung himself into a chair op posite me. “Well, what shall I talk about? {" “Why is the world so out of har- mony with itself just now, Mr. Sun- dav? That" soc service, on MR. AND MRS. BILLY SUNDA’ esty und lovalty appear to be lost in the vagrant desire and craving of the menees. Worship of material things seemns to be at fever heat. She has borrowed clothes and methods of courtesans so that the lure of her charms may be more potent. She permits liberites which ten vears ago were akin to im- morality. Today they pass as clever. She is constantly edge of indecency, edge of thin ice.” * ¥ X x H bookcase, took down a periodi- cal and returned to the chair beside me. ““There’'s an article in this Brown Jug, published by the students of Brown University, one of the best things on this sub- Ject 1 have seen. Copy it down' care- skating' on the | a..tremendous . question. '# | ¥ e e e R not Jike his | valuable his friendship | opponent had some- | cnate | the | credit “Do | but i at fault for con- - | his chair | and | great things teetering on the E ehot like a streak over to & that T oconsider rsakes Public Life j, With the force that many of his ad- mirers expected he would. Here, as in the House, in his early legislative days he was getting onto the ropes, but it was not long before he made .| his presence felt, and his was recog- nized as one of the keenest minds in the upper branch of Congrees. While his party was in power he |was given important duties to per- form, many of them of such a char- acter as to take up most of his work- ing hours. As a result he did not have the time to devote to his fam- fly that he thought was due them. That, in part, is the resson that he decided. despite the supplication of thousands in his state, to retire to private life. He felt that he was en- titled to spend the balance of his years with those who were of his family. He recognized that he owed a duty to them and to himself, and that is the principal reason why he decided to forego any further homors at the hands of the electorate of Mississipp!. We have read of his love for chil- dren and books, but there is another eide of his character that has not been dwelt upon to any great extent. 1t is his love for flowers. * % k % O day. shor nounced to tihe writer that he did not propose to 1un again, we were riding up to the Capitol. The con- versation In the earlier part of the ride had been on the subject of Fu- part of the world would come to a vealizution that prosperity wuld fol- ‘law only when prejudites were cast aside and when the former warring nations settled down to work, As we neared the pension office grounds he turned and said: “Just look at the wonderful flowers that God has given us! Look at the beauty of each. Think what they mean. What Is their message? Look ak the exquisite coloring. 1 am leav- | ing Congress. as I told you some time {ago. I feel that T have done my part, 11 owe it to my them. I feel that T owe it to myself. {T want to go down to tie place t | T have been away from so much, place that T call home. [ want iread the hooks that help one, to mt {on the gallery and listen to the birds, and T want to see the flowers in ail their splendor. 1 want to spend the | remaincer o fe among the peo- | ple that have been tmost kind to me. {1 want to go to the state I love so | 1—Mississippi.” With @ mentaiity as vigorous as of & soul untarnished by the ma- terial things of life, with a sense of humor that has not been lessened by e flight of time, John Sh liams, one of the most br statesmen that have come to Wash- ington f many & day, carrics with { him the respect and adiniration of all those who knew himm HMe will sit on the gallery of his home in the sunny south and read his books; will have wafted to him the bewitching odors of the flowers he loves so well; will hear the soft cries of the coo! doves: will listen to the sweet notes of the birds of early morn, and will sit in the company of |those who love him ro well; but | methinks thers will be times when, like a charger retired from active service, he will sniff the smoke of | battie un it is wafted to him in his | svlvan retreat and will yearn for just one more joust in the halls of Con- gress ' 1'm afraid it would take a whole book | fully, Ma Sunday, and make it plain {to your newspaper readers that the for it dosen’t belong to me. to certaln fino young men at wn't Marking the section read | “The | young | for me, he ! | | age of girls and intensely immoral. Immoral with the pressure of cir- |cumstances. There seems to be & ! tolerant and apologetio viewpoint to- | ward all things unclean. {Will trv to blame the other. Both are eauully at fault. Each is equally { immoral. The character of the so- |modern dances are disgusting—the modern men is cial relations iy lamentable. The Copyright by Underwood & Underwood. toddle, the shimmy, shiver, cheek-to- cheek and camel walk, with their bragen pandering to lust. There sesms to be but one idea prominent in the dances of today. Not alone in dancing does this immorality appear, but many of our modern soclal buds drink, smoke, swear, tell dirty stories and dress in a manner that appeals to vile thoughts.” “Do you think the way women dress is responsible for the low standard of morals today? I asked. “There is no doudt that indecent apperel has & great deal to do with morals. If you don’t believe it, go hear the stories told by the fallen to the police matrons and social work- ers. Soms women ssem to think it is all right to appear at social func- tions with very littls on. They in- vite the staring gaze of lecherous men. Don't you think for a_minute after he had an.| ropean conditions and how soon that | children to be with | Bach sex | J Whete Did St. Patrick Find Those Snakes BY WILL P. KENNEDY. OLOMON, who stands as the champion wise man, confessed that one thing he could not un- derstand was snakes, and the mystery still remains—especlally as regards these serpents in Ireland— thereby enhancinz Solomon’s claim on paramount sapience. For science and tradition, natural history and legend are, after centuries, still in contro- versy over whether St Patrick actu- ally did drive the snakes out of Ire- 1and, as has been the Celtic boast from father to son, grandson and great-grandson through hundreds of years. Let us call upon Dr. Leonhard Stej- neger, Uncle Sam’s snake expert, to testify. Dr. Stejneger is a herpetolo- gist, which means a man who studies creeping things. including snakes, 1izards frogs and toads. e is cu- rator of the division of reptiles and batrachians in the National Museum. where he has been employed for more than thirty-five years. Yle has studied enakes in various parts of the world and has been a large contributor to {the sum total of human knowledge | about snakes. one of his most noted works being on the herpatology of Japan and adjacent territors. Dr. Stejneger states positively that ‘wnakes never were Indigenous te Ireland.” His attention has just been called to a published article which quoted him as eaying the had caught rome snakes in Ireland that St. Pat- rick missed and had brought them |home in bottles. Denying this most | emphutically, Dr. Stefneger vaid: | “I have never been ashore in Ire- land, because I never have been able lto learn that therc ever were wnv | snakes there. I never collected snakes | there und never said that I collected ! srakes there, and 1 never saw any | snakes that any onec else said he col- {lected there.” ! * ' SARDING the legend. popular particularly among the emi- grants from Erin, that 8:. Patrick ! had banished the enakes from Treland !in much the same way that the Pied ~ Consulted—Many T DD DO DD’ VDT> Piper of Hamelln baniched the rats, Dr. Stejneger say There never were any snakes there | for St Patrick to chase out, accord- | !ing to the best study on the subject | Then he reaches for a book by R. F. Scarff. Ph. D, B. S¢., who, he tells | vou, s director of the Natioual Mu- |seum of Natural History in Dublin, |and shows you that it says: “No !snakes have ever been found in Jre- land.” This book ison “European Ani- | mals. ThelrGeological History and Geo- { graphical Distribution,” and Dr.Stejne- | ger comments: “There is a book by an Irishman, | taking pertonal investigution, and he | makes no more prominent mention ot | snales | Next Da Stejneger hauls down ! from the shelves the latest catalogue of snakes in the British museum, describing many thousand specimens. This is the biggest snake collection in the world and it never has con- tained a snake from Ireland. as it surely would {f it were possible to find any. He takes vou on a tour of mounted specimens of various kinds of snakes in the national mu- seum and points out the Tropidono- tus Natrix. which {s the cort of | men can gaze upon them without lascivious thoughts. for they can't.” He struck the table to emphasize his statements, which were pouring forth in the rapid fire manner that he uses when he is preaching. In ! fact, he was throwing himself into |the interview with all the intensity dressing a large gathering. gesticu- lating. pacing back and forth, faster and faster. occasionally stopping to drive home an earnestly at me. “It vile thoughts fill your mind you become an easy prey to wrong,” he went on. “The devil has a way of making all approaches to sin look beautiful. Vice is deadly, no matter how harmless it may look.” “That is absolutely right, Mr. Sun- day,” 1 agreed, making my voice as calm as possible, for T saw he was getting nervously wrought up, and I could not smother my wifely instinct to quiet him, even though 1 was for ! the time being a reporter. “Do you think legislation can do away with some of these wrongs?” Again his fist struck the table. “That's just where we make a big mistake. women out of vice. society without purifying the individ- ual. 1f the deeds of men and women are black, it is because their hearts are first black. We are trying all sorts of remedies, but they are bound lto fail.” * ok ok Ok GEYXTHAT do you thiuk is the right remedy, Mr. Sundav?” “1 firmly belie environment has a sreat effect upon the development {of character. Environment, though, is only part of the story of life. T can take a poisonous seed and plant it in the most wholesome soil with the best surroundings and it wiil pro- duce a poisonous plant. Hence the remedy for all this trend of the times is to be found only in the religion of Jesus Christ. I place religion and morals gbove education and art. The aim of education and art should be the development of morals. The trend of the times seems to be to sterilize religion by taking Christ out of Christianity. You might as well cut the heart out of & man and ex- pect him to live. Hence, I blame & good many of the preachers of today for the bunk and junk which they are preaching, which takes away the authority of the Bible and the neces- sity of repentance and faith in Christ for salvation. If we have the sins of Babylon we shall have the judg- ment of Babylon, even if we do stamp our money, ‘In God we trust. “The thousand and one makeshifts that people are now using in the place of religion are all well and good in their place. But their place is not here. You can’t Bathe anybody into the kingdom of God. You can't give people a cookie apd cracker simply, who I8 a recognized wuu-| | thority, written after long and pains- | that envelops him when he is ad- ! idex by’ pointing | You can’t legislate men and | You can't purity | uted to Patron Saint of Hibernian ' Science Once More Lays Heavy Hand on One of Romantic Tales From Olden Days in Emerald Isle—United States Government Expert on Reptiles | 2 9 i t § Miracles Attrib- ¢ ¢ ¢ T. PATRICK JOURNEYING TO TAR. cnake supposed to have been ban- ved from Ireland. He explains thut the common grass snake i founi in bLoth Scotland and England and that the viper is also found in large numbers in England. This Tro- donotus. he points out. is a good swimner and could swim from Eng- | 1and to Ireland or easily be washed | across without drowning. ‘| The absence of snakes in Ireland, {he save. t= wuch a trifiing incident | that suthoritative, teohnical works on national history mention it only as a curious Illustration of how some- | times the whole order of animals is absent from some big area, Ire- lund. wien they are common only a few miles away. Dr. Stejnezer also will take you, it vou show interest, into fircproof cells in the basement of the national museum where there are 7 1000 ccimens of snakes bottled some Worship of Material Things at Fever Heat, Says Billy Sunda 15y changing their sanitation. T | no quarre! with rocfal service, | eational and institutional work, pro- viding such work is not offered as a substitute for religion. It is an en- tirely good und Christian thing to give a down-and-outer a bed, bath and a job. It is an entirely good and Christian thing to maintain and establish schools and universities and social work. but the road into the | kingdom of God is mnot via bathtub, university, social service or gy nasium. but by the Cross of Chris He sank back into the armchair, physically exhausted, but his eves still reflecting the intensity of his feeling. His collar, immaculate when he entered, showed signs of wilting. . “Thank you. Mr. Sunday.” 1 said, jotting down the last few notes be- fore elipping off the role of reporter for that of wife again. “rou've given me more than the ten minutes asked for. And in return I promise you | that Tl not let another reporter get in at you toda: (Copyright. 1023, U. §. and Canad Britaln and South America, by Released Exclusively Through North American Newspaper Alliance, Al Rights Reserved.) have adu- Coming and Going. “Be always pleasant at your enter- ing and your leaving.” are words found in the Talmud, showing that the Hebrews of old were concerned with the subject of courtesy as we are today. There are some people who seem to forget this, however. When we open the door to let them in they show no special emotion of pleasure at seeing us; they shake hands languidly, and if they inquire for us and those dear to us they do it in a manner that seems to say: “T ¢ asking because it is the po- g to do. T really am ot espe- nterested. Strangly enough. it is with mem- bers of our family that we are most apt to forget to show enthusiasm when coming and going. A married son goes to see his mother, whom he has not perhaps seen for u week, and instead of going to her with pleasure written on his face, kissing her and sitting down beside her for a special chat with her, he merely nods when he sees her. possibly walks into the next room, and the only remark he addresses to her in particular is an inquiry whether she “knows any- thing new.” Perhaps in his heart he is devoted to her. He takes in at a glance that she is well and cheerful. He knows her so well that he does not think it is necessary for him to express his affection or to show any partioular interest. Husbands and wives sometimes get into queer little habits of coming and soing, with little effort to act eape- clally pleasant about it. It seems so unnecessary. “I always g0 to work 2t the same time. She knows I am going,” explains the man who never says good to his wife in the morning. “S0 why waste wordg tell- ing her about it?" Yet this same man would spend many words greeting or taking leave of & new customer or business associate. , it is simply 2 matter of —and courtesy is the lubri t makes the wheels of every- day life go aronnd smoothly, in| 41773, preserving fluid, and no snake from Ireland in the lot. And yet—with all ecientific testimony smakes to the contrary—probably the most popular of Irish legends, rivaled |only by the story of the shamrock, |18 that which gives St. Patrick credit | for banishing all the snakes. Buc- | ceseive generations of inimitable | story-tellers and incomparable bards | have popularized this tale. Listen | to one Irish minstrel: There's not a mile in Trel dirty vermin muste ‘Where'sr he put bis dear forefoot he mur- dered them in clusters. The toads went hep, the frogs went fi splash dash into the water, | Apd the beasts committed suicide to save | themseives from slaughter. this weight of d's isle where the Nive hundred thousand vipers bive be charmed With sweet discourses. Ang dined oo tiem at Kiliaioo i soups and secoud courses. When Windworms. erawliog oo the grass, dis- gusted all the pation, He gave them a rise and opened their eyes to a sense of the situstion, { The Wicklow Hills are very high, and so the Hill of Houth. sir; But there’s er than them both, | “Twas on the top of this high hill St ! viek preached his sarmint | That drove the frogs into the bogs and both- | ered 4l the varmin | i 1 Pat. | A CCORDING to the popular funtasy i St. Patrick, the patron saint of | Erin, was preceded by a drum wherever he went—and maybe it was in imitation of this that the Salva- | tion Army started its modern method of attracting attention. Whether he had & drummer or pounded away on that instrument himeself the bards fail to make clear, but, according to the legend, on that particular occa- sion when he was about to climb the high hill and preach the sermon which was to send all the snakes and other “vermin” skeedaddling, the | drumhead gave way to the enthus- fasm of the drummer. The banishing of the snakes seems to have been well press agented, for a large crowd is said to have encir- cled the hill. The bursting of the drum caused aqonsternation, because it was thought that a great deal of St. Patrick's potency came through the drum. Then, 'tis related, an angel came, patched up the drum, the ser- mon was preached and the snakes disappeared miraculously and have never been seen since by any Irish- man in his sober senses. But we have still more reputable bidliography on this subject. Consult Boswell's “Life of Johnson™ and you will read how the doctor and his blographer made merry over the natural history of Iceland by Nicholas Horrebow, one chapter of which is | about snakes and says: “No snakes of | #ny Kind are to be met with through- out the whole of the island.” It is said that a printer’s error first led to the application of this phrase to ITreland, about 1758. Venomous reptiles are unknown even by name “throughout our blessed Erin” according to John O'Keete in his “Recollections.” Sir Thomas Browne contributes this: “Ireland hath this wonderful quality, that it nourisheth no venomous creatures, and Irish wood kills them. It is said they dic by the touch of a native, and that any wood stroaked by a native doth the same. But of this I want to be further sat- isfled.” Back we go again to Uncle Sam’s snake expert, Dr, Stejneger, and he says that according to the best of his reading and recollection, the story goes that some English lord who had estates in Ireland, in order to spite his Irish tenants, transported some grass snakes from England and planted them in his grounds. But curiously enough, they do not seem to have taken foothold—probably be- cause the good Trish peasants killed them off. Tn an old English publication. dated is found an attack on “the | Journ | feems that some five years earlier a: and of bottled| That Legend Says He Drove From Iteland? famous Dr. Guithers,” who undertook to propagate frogs in Ireland, and upon another gentleman who lived north of Dublin, whe was charged Wwith having carried over boxes full of poisonous vipers, “which he sent at large to breed in his gardens.” Other stories are found of “gentlemen” who had vipers shipped from England inta Wexford, about 1797, and another who in the summer of 1831 brought a few pairs of the common gras: =nake from Scotiand, and placed them in a plantation at Milecross, me: Newtownards. The Marquis of Wate:- ford. noted for his freakish escapade- #%tempted the same experiment on his estate withous success. Oldtimers recall that nearly twe:x ty-five yvears ago cable message: epread the alarming news that Ire. land had Jost its time-honored im- munity to snakes, and that people in the neighborhood of Amraugh and Castleraine had suffered from loss of poultry and pigs. Finally the editor of the Freemana effected a denouement. 1t animal showman, named Wilson, from the United States had been making a tour of Ireland. At the town of Am- raugh, in Tipperary. he became @runk | and had a quarrel with the constabu- v, during which he turned all his animals loose. After about a week of frenzy, the wild animals were cap- tured or killed but a den of snakes waeé miseing. The report runs that through a militant union of church and state the progeny of Wilson's snakes was suppressed * % HE common British snake or ring snake (Tropidonotus Nat- rix), which is the epecics that St. Patrick drove out of Ireland, according to naturalists, if he did drive out any snakes, is extremely common all over Europe, except in the northern parts, and belongs to a genus extremely rich in species which are spread over Europe, Asia, India, Australia and North America. : Snakes that are poisonous can quickly kill a man or any animal. A man who has been riddled by bullets or is euffering with a serious jllness can be cured by & physiclan, but one #harp Dbite from a poisonous serpent may defeat the skill of a physician The serpent does not sting. The poisonous snake bites, squirting poi- #son through holes in his fangs into the wound which these fange cause. Besides those snakes that kill by poison are others that kill by crush- ing with their sinuous bodics. The epinal column of a enake ie @ | chain of bones which fit into cach other on the ball and socket plan, and there are 300 to 400 bones in the back of a big snake. The most won- derful feat of a snake is tree climb- ing. Herpetologists have been vexed by so-called “popular’ writc-ups about snakes which say that the backbone of a snake is a mcchanical marvel, with each vertebra so articulated that it moves freely in any direction. They point out that while these bonce move with wonderful easc and 8up- pleness, they can move only from side to side. If the backbone could twist in all directions there would be no safety for the spinal column of the snake. The snake can twist from left to right, and can raise the frent portion of it bodyv, not easily but surely, into an upright position. Aleo, it must have & rough surface over which to glide. Though natural history students belittle the legend of St. Patrick |driving out the snakes, the people |of Ireland und the immigrants to this country have the most implictt faith {in many miracles attributed to their !patron saint and belleve as gospel the legends concerning him. For centuries the miracles of St. Patrick have been the theme of many writers, [but in his own writings not the | slightest reference to anv miracles of his own performance can be found. i { | =% x s is recoru.. ..at when Patrick was contending with the magi- cians of King Loegaire (or Leary) at Tara, he raised Daire's horse to life after it had perished becauss of his trespass on the ground given by Daire to Patrick at Armagh for religious purposes; that a dead man in his grave spoke to Patrick; that an angel appeared to Patrick as to Moses in the burning bush: that when water flooded his mother's floor, fire dropped from his fingers and every drop of {the water was dried up; that when his mother wanted some firewood the boy Patrick brought ice in his arms and kindled a roustag fire with it; that his sister, LwgMa, fell and brulsed her forehemd, and Patrick healed the wound in an instant; that when Patrick was herding his father's sheep. 2 wolf came and stole one of the finest lambs; that his father rc- proved him and Patrick prayed all night and in the morning the roguish wolf brought the lumb back, laying it unharmed at Patrick’s feet: that Patrick pressed through closed doors; that when the cruel Lord of Dumbri- ton ordered Patrick's aunt to clean his fortress and stables, Patrick, then a mere youth, by a miracle made | riddance of the trash for all time; {that he could convert flesh into fish: |that ravenous beasts became tame and gentle at his approach; that once when his horse was lost, Patrick raised up his hand and his five fingers became as lamps, guiding him to his horse. The “Holy Stone” of Ireland is at Ardmore, in County Waterford. The legend asserts that this stone floated over the ocean from Rome to St. Patrick, bringing him his sacred vest- ments, a bell for his ¢hurch and a 1ighted candle for the mass. It is aow held sacred to the memory of St. Patrick, is on the seashore, weighs about five tons and is much visited during pilgrimages. Cocoanut-Eating Crabs. IN the Dutch East Indies lives & species of crabs which are ac- customed to climb mangroves and palm trees for the purpose, it is be- leved, of feeding upon the fruit. An American scientist who has made a study of the fauna of that region avers that he has seen these crabs climb to the top of trees fully sixty feet in height. Although he could not plainly see what they were bout. he believes, from the behavior of captive specimens. that they opened young cocoanuts and devoured their contents. It is doubtful if ther can break the shell of a ripe cocoanut. {vT