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ADVENTURERS’ CLUB
HEADLINES FROM THE LIVES
OF PEOPLE LIKE YOURSELFI
“Her Husbands Funeral Pyre"
Hello everybody:
India! Land of mystery and—“Suttee!" Suttee, as you
know, is the quaint little Indian custom of burning the widow on
the funeral pyre of her dead husband. It is a Hindu practice of
long standing and from this gruesome sacrifice the soul of the
immolated widow is supposed to receive a special blessing and
follow her husband’s spirit into that land of greater mystery—
the hereafter!
The British government has prohibited Suttee for many years
but it is suspected that many secret cremations still claim their
living victims.
Mrs. Miriam Richardson of Caldwell, N. J., makes the page
today with a tale of Suttee and she knows her stuff.
Miriam’s parents were missionaries in India for a great
many years. Their grass and mud bungalow was situated
in a no-man’s-land of trees, underbrush and jungle grass in
the Central Provinces, which was in the heart of a vast
jungle district. The jungles were infested with wild animals. For 20
years of her life she was lulled to sleep by the gruff, coughing roars of
man-eating tigers, the weird yowling of cowardly jackals and the insane
laughs of hyenas!
Late one night, Miriam says, there came a frantic knocking on the
bungalow door with calls of “Memsahib, Memsahib!” Her mother hastily
opened the door, thinking that perhaps one of the Christian natives had
His hand was to light the fire! The fire that would consume his living
mother and dead father!
been fatally mauled by a tiger. An old native woman stood there wringing
her hands. Her daughter—whose husband had just died—was about to
commit Suttee and the woman wanted the help of Miriam’s father and
mother, to save her.
Miriam’s Mother Starts on Mercy Errand.
They started at once, a chokadar—night watchman—being
left to guard over Miriam. Her father grabbed a lantern and the
distracted native woman led the way through a wild jungle path.
Soon the beating of tom-toms throbbed all around them and they
eame to a clearing lit by hand torches.
In the center of the clearing, Miriam says, was a funeral pyre—a
prepared bonfire of dried wood on which reposed the body of the dead
man. Around it, at respectful distances, thronged the native crowd.
Through the crowd and near the pyre wandered Hindu priests, their faces
bearing the painted ghastly gray ashen marks of their calling.
“The native woman pulled my mother to the women’s quarters,”
Miriam writes, “here no man was allowed. My father remained with
the men in an effort to dissuade them. In the center of a wailing group of
women sat the young widow. She swayed to and fro, moaning and
beating her breast with her fists. From the dull gleam of her eyes,
mother knew that she had been drugged and hardly realized the frightful
fate that was in store for her.
“Mother went straight to her and putting an arm around the
girl started a fight against time. She wanted to delay matters long
enough for the effects of the drug to wear off so that she could
reason with the distracted girl. Once a little boy—his naked body
covered with ashes and paint—interrupted her. The boy was the
widow’s son. He carried a lighted torch in his little hands and he
had been sent, he said, by the priests to get his mother. His hand
was to light the fire!—the fire that would consume his living
mother and dead father!”
Can you imagine how that kind of a proposition would appeal to an
American mother? An innocent youngster being hoodwinked into thinking
he was performing a holy act by actually burning his mother alive!
WITH HIS OWN HAND!
Responsibility Shifted to a Child.
It looks to me ‘ as if the Hindu priests wished to shift the responsibility
of the whole fanatical sacrifice to a child.
Well, anyway, the sight of the little child with the torch made Mir
iam’s mother redouble her efforts to stop the whole thing. She switched
the conversation to the mystical side of Christianity. She sang hymns
translated into the native tongue and the widow showed some signs of
losing the effects of the drug. A painted priest appeared in the doorway.
His eyes flashed in fanatical anger. “Come, it is time,” he said.
But the determined American mother drove him away, too.
She knew that priests are forbidden the sanctity of the women’s
quarters. He left muttering threats as she spoke to his victim of
the God he hated. The widow was crying quietly now and listening.
Meanwhile, Miriam’s father was doing his part. He was going from
group to group—pleading with some—threatening others. A few native
Christians appeared and helped him. The priests raged but all feared
the heavy hand of British law and soon the missionary had his way. The
torch was applied to the funeral pyre WITHOUT ITS LIVING VICTIM.
Body of Husband Burned Alone.
The fire crackled and roared, Miriam says. Scorched human flesh
Smelt heavy on the oppressive jungle air—priests sulked—but the body
burned alone.
It was not until the last ember had fallen and the last tom-tom had
Cpased its savage strain that her mother and father started back through
the jungle over which the first signs of dawn were creeping. The native
mother and daughter went with them and cried out their gratitude at
•very step. They promised to become converts to a faith that could win
against the power of the Hindu priests.
“But,” Mrs. Richardson ends, “the arm of the Hindu priests
in that superstition-ridden land, is long. Thwarted once, it clutched
I at its victims again. The women were spirited away later and
when last heard of were living as ‘temple women’ in the power
of the priest whom they feared more than the God of the
Christians!”
. Mrs. Richardson lives in New Jersey now—far from the sounds of
Ithe jungle of India—but I’ll bet she still hears in her sleep the mysterious
[throbbing of the Hindu tom-toms. Don’t you?
(Released by Western Newspaper Union.)
Postponed Marriages Are Dangerous to Society
Working wives are a menace to
society, but postponed marriages
are an even greater danger, accord
ing to real life observations by pas
tors of 166 churches in 160 Ameri
can cities. Two out of three pas
tors consulted feel, from observa
tion, that marital happiness and
Stability are doubtful when the wife
works. The same proportion—lo 6
out of the 166 ministers—agree that
the accumulation of postponed mar
riages in recent years offers one of
the gravest social problems today.
Os the 166 pastors, 76 advised early
marriage even though the bride
must help with her earnings. An
other 37 qualified their answers, ad
vising against postponement if the
girl is over 26, or for longer than
18 months, or warned that the
bride’s employment should not be
continued for more than a year
after marriage. But 52 ministers
definitely advised waiting until the
husband can fully support the house
hold; apiong these the most em
hold; among these 52 ministers the
most emphatic were the outspoken
opponents of birth control practices.
OUR COMIC SECTION
HE KNEW HER
x ■7r J
•‘That was my wife we just
passed?'
“Are you sure?"
“Oh, yes; that chap she is with is
never seen with aryone else."
BAKER COUNTY NEWS
Events in the Lives of Little Men
Old Fashioned
A big husky from the neighboring
lumber camp was watching the un
packing.
“What’s them things?" he asked,
pointing to a package.
“Pajamas,” replied the clerk.
“Pajamas? What are pajamas?”
“Night clothes. Want to buy a
suit?”
“Heck no!” said the lumberjack.
“I ain’t no social rounder. When
night comes I go to bed.”
AN OLD OFFENDER
’Ui
Bug Citizen — There’s that cor
asleep on his beat again!
AROUND
THE HOUSE
Cleaning Bronze.—Don’t wash
bronze ornaments with soap and
water. Dust thoroughly, using a
fairly stiff brush for the crevices.
Any very obstinate spots or stains
can generally be removed by rub
bing with a piece of cut lemon
dipped in salt. Polish with a
chamois leather.
• • *
For Grease on Carpet.—Rub in
powdered bathbrick with a piece
of soft cloth; leave overnight, and
brush out with a stiff brush.
• • •
Garnished Platters.—Cold meat
platters have twice the appeal
when garnished attractively.
• • •
Before Refrigerating.—Rinse in
cold water or wipe off with a
damp cloth all your meats, vege
tables, and fruits as soon as possi
ble after they are delivered.
Canned goods and bottles of milk
should be wiped off before they
are stored in the refrigerator or
cupboard.
HOTWEATHER ~
BJUOySNESS
Have you noticed that In hot
Weather your digestion and elimina
tion seem to become torpid or lazy?
Your food sours, forms gas, causes
belching, heartburn, and a feeling
of restlessness and irritability. Your
tongue may be coated, your com
plexion bilious, and your bowel
action sluggish or Insufficient.
These are some of the symptoms
of biliousness or so-called “Torpid
Liver,” so prevalent In hot climates.
They call for calomel, or better still,
Calotabs, the nausealess calomel
compound tablets that make calo
mel-taking a pleasure.
Calotabs give you the effects of
calomel and salts combined, helping
Nature to expel the sour, stagnant
bile and washing it out of the
system. One or two Calotabs at bed
time with a glass of water,—that’s
all. Next morning your system feels
clean and refreshed, your head is
clear, your spirit bright, and you are
feeling fine with a hearty appetite
for breakfast Eat what you wish
and go about your work or pleasure.
Genuine Calotabs are sold only In
checker-board (black and white) pack
ages bearing the trade mark "Cafotabs.”
Refuse Imitations. Trial package only
ten cents; family package twenty-five
cents, at your dealer’s (Adv.)
In Review
Recollect, every day, the things,
teen, heard, or read, which make
any addition to your understand-'
tag.—Dr. I. Watts.
MUI EIMII
run MALARIA
CHILLS AND
■ ILm ■ ■' .A' 1
Take This Recognized
Medicine!
When you’ve got Malarial chills
and fever, you want real and ready
relief. You don’t want to go through
the usual old misery.
Grove’s Tasteless Chill Tonic is
what you want to take for Malaria.
This is no new-fangled or untried
preparation, but a medicine of
recognized merit
Grove’s Tasteless Chill Tonic con
tains tasteless quinidine: and iron. It
quickly relieves the chills and fever
due to Malaria and also tends to
build you up. That’s the double
effect you want
The very next time you have an
attack of Malarial chills and fever,
get Grove’s Tasteless Chill Tonic
and start taking it at once. All drug
stores sell Grove’s Tasteless Chiu
Tonic. Buy the large size—gives you
much more for your money.
Stars Are There
There will always be stars
through the window bars—if we
look to see them shine.—Mabel W.
Clapp.
Soothing, cooling relief
for tired, burning, ir
rltated feet Stainless,
HHaaMMR snow-white. Try it
PENETRO
Habits to Cultivate
Cultivate only the habits that
you are willing should master you.
—Elbert Hubbard.
WA wonderful aid for boil*
where a drawing agent to
indicated. Soothing and
comforting. Fine for chil
dren and grown-upe. Prac
tical. Economical.
—
There are still people who think
the earth is flat. They’ve never
tried to make a lawn in a new
garden.
KILL ALL FLIES"!
I I
consent I —’cannot’ aplU^ I
Ura I
WNU—7 25-39
Good Mekhmdise
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