Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1882-09-27
A Marvellous Palm.


The town of Neliore, india, aud It's vic
unity are at Pre- sent under great excitciaent
in consequence of an extraordinary phe-
nomenon observed in q mil lldate tree.
Pteaix Sylvestris. Of the natural order of
Palmacea a, known IN Tsmil By the name
..Eenchoo,' snd in Telugu "Eeta-" The
Mohammedans call il ''Seyndie, IN Hin
dustani. The tree is situated IN the VII
lage ci Pedur, within eight miles oil the
Collectors headquarters. Recently the
children of Paraichery, who plncked some
fruits from the tree at about . O'Clock In
the evening. found them-unlike other
dates-very delicious even before ripen'Dg
ana flocked to it early next morning to
gather more. To their surprise, the crops
which on the previous evening almost
touched the g,ound, were far above their
heads They ran to their parents with the
singular story that date tree which they
saw the first day lying Oh the ground was
then standing. This circumstance drew
the attention of the parents 10 the tree,
and they observed that the tree had been
changing its position every morning and
evening. Ihe news spread i'll all direc-
tions like lightning, and people from The
neighborhood fiocked to the spot to witness
the marvel with their own eyes. The re-
rort gained strength daily, and every
observer corrobo-sted the statements OF his
predecessor. Deifcauon SION followed,
and ceremonies Of worship have already
begus 10 small degree. Although, says
q writer, Was exceedingly anxious to
observe the phenomenon personally, was
still somewhat skeptical, and requested
the Huzur Surishtsdar and the assistant
surgeon TO depute an sstute and intelligent
observer to the place to determine the
truth. & Brahmin of considerable expert
ence, who has travelled much, and who
cannot be easily imposed upon, was accor-
dinghy selected and sent, who returned
and assured me that the dlurnal fall aud
nocturnal rise of the date were facts be-
yond doubt.
The above mentioned gentlemen and
myself, together with the Brahmln hrst
sent, went there on Saturday afternocB,
the 18th of July, and reached the spot ex-
actly at 8 80 +. NJ. The place Was crowd
ed. and found there the District Munsif
of Nellore, the Head Master of the Hindoo
High School, and other educated gentle
men who had gone early In the morning
for the same purpose as ourselves The
District Munsiff had tied string to the
top of the tree, where the leaves begin to
shoot or rather the stems Of the lower
leaves begin to spread out, and fastened
It tight 10 another tree, in order TO sscer-
tain how loose the string hangs at the
maximum rise of the tree. The tree is
eleven feet high, excluding the leaves and
stems, and has grown in q curve from the
middle with twist round east At so
the tree was almost lying towards the
west. The leaves were not wIthered, but
fresh anu green, touching the ground.
Inc foot of tie tree was at an angle OF five
to seven degrees with the ground, and We
were gwen to understand that it had
already ccnmenced to rise from four
O'Clock. A handkerchief which had been
tied by the District Munsiff to one of the
leaves, so that ats other end might Just
touch the ground, bad risen six incnes,
and the string also began to slacken. We
took three measurements from the ground
root. another about four feet, and the thin
halfway betweee the twisting point AMI
the tep. Besides these three there were the
string and the kerchief to denote the rise
of the top and the leaves. AT 2. VI. the
kerchief was eighteen inches from the
ground, and the string when drawn tight
left fold hanging four inches double, or
eight inches on the whole. The rise at
the first measurement was one-elghth OF
an inch, at the second, one inch and at the
third twelve inches. The measurements
at three 4. VI. were as follOws:-kerchlef
nine feet, strlng fold twenty incnes, The
rise at the first measurement two inches,
at the second four, and at the third eigb
teen inches. The stem of the tree made
there an angle Of fifteen TO twenty degrees
with the ground. Our measurements al
) \. II. exactly cOrresponded with these
al 3, and We were not sure whether the
tree kept the same position all throughout
from to . 4. m, or kept rising further
TIL 4, and thereafter began ID fall. AS,
however, the tree commenced rising at
p. NJ, it is very probable that the down
ward movement also began al 4 A NJ,
and that the upward movement continued
from 8 to l. We observed al D A. III. the
twist little turned 10 the left, and the
curve towards the top of the tree straight
ened 10 some extent, so that the rise is
much greater near the top OF the tree than
near the foot. The turning of the twist
toward the left was apparently evident, as
the kerchief which was west by north
when fastened ct 1 p. NJ, was north north
west al ) \. n.