The spirit of democracy. [volume] (Woodsfield, Ohio) 1844-1994, 1864-01-20

we hurried nome, for we saw plainl
that the storm would be upon us in fe,
minutes. The appearance of this driyin,
cloud from our verandah was grand in tn
extreme. We we're now convinced that
sand storm, and that of no ordinary kind
was about to burst upon us in all its fury
tor the cloud, now that we came to lool
at it. evidently held no rain in its luri
depths. The dark shades of it were o
the deepest purple, and at the edges, as
came boiling up from the westward, wer
tinted with glorious gold. Every in
slant, as the light played over tic surface
we beheld colors varying from brillian
orange to the deep. dark, sombre tints o
red and purple. Birds of all descrip ipfions
screaming wildly, were endeavoring-
some by rapid flight, some by soarin.
high into the yet clear vault of heaven
to avoid the ssnd-lajeu atmosphere tha
was surging towards us in way that wa
wondrous TO behold In less than fifteer
minutes from the time we first observee
1t, the fiery breath of the storm was upor
US. First came the moan of mighty
rushing wind, as it swept augrily by
There were few trees in the garden be
low. Their sturpy leaves were for an in.
stant strangely agitated; the next the,
were torn away with a crash, and then
hurried along t, the leeward as are the
hight leaves of beech before an autumn
breeze. The stout trees themselves
swayed to and fro, then bent down and
bowed humbly before the wrath Of the
gale. a few seconds more and the town
was plunged into an utter darkness as OF
midnight. Though two OF us were stand
ing within yard Of each other, out in
the veran dah, it was impossible even to
trace the outline of the figure, so impen
etrable was the gloom. ne
There was feeling that some kind of
hne sand was pcrvading every sense of
the body. There was peculiar taste in
the atmosphere, and the eyes suddenly
became painfully sore. After the one fu-
rious gust of wind had passed Oh, there
was great stiffness in the air and imme
diately rs the darkness set in, the buzz
ana hum OF tho baZaars were co,npletely
hushed. Our servants thought the last
day had come, and as we heard afterwards.
this was the general opinion throu ghout
the town; for even the oldest inha bitants
had never seen any dust storm resembling
this In about five minutes tue darkness
began to clear. And soon we found our
selves and everything belonging to US
covered with u f-Ie inpalpable dust, of
reGlsh color. There il no sand of the
color in any OF these deserts: so that the
opinion was that the dust-laden cloud was
a traveller straight from the Egyptian
desert As the darkness fed. q tall red.
luminous glare (the most imposing part
OF the storm. thought steeped all sur
rounding objects. a hum from the ba-
zaars suddenly arose, and soon swelled
into prolonged shout, in which it seem
ed that every breathing soul of the town,
that came streaming through the windows,
bathing cverythingaround, was gradually
lost IN the darkness OF night. By ten
O'Clock that night, as we smoked our
evening pipe in the open verandah, we
looked up at stars shining forth bright
and brilliant, but in vain did We look for
any trace of the evening storm in the dark
vault of heaven.
THE TOWER OF BABEL
After ride Of about eight miles. we
were at the foot of the Bier Nimrood.-
Our horses feet were trampling mon the
of bricks, which showed here
and there through the accumulated dust
and rubbish of ages Before our eyes
uprose great mound of earth. barren
and bare. This was the Bier Nimrood.
the ruins Of the Tower of Babel. by which
the first builders of the earth had hoped
to scale high heaven. Here also it was
that Nehuchadnezzar built built-for
brick bearing his name mad been found in
the ruins. At the top of the mound n
great mass of brick work piarces the ac-
cumulated soil. With your finger YOU
can touch the very bricks, large, square
shaped and massive, that were thoroughly
burned, the very mortar-the slime now
hard granite-handlc4 more than four
thousand years ago by e1 rth's impious
people. From the summit. OF the mound
far away over the plain we could sec glis-
tening, brillianta as star, the golden dome
OF mosque, that caught and reflected
the bright rays of the morning sun. The
giitterin5 speck was the tomb of the holy
Ally. To pray before this at some period
of his lifc-to kiss the sacred dust of the
earth around-thcrc at some tine or 9th
er to bend his body and count his beads
is 'he daily desire of every devout Ma
hammedan.