The Red Cloud chief., 1882-03-02
fame for somebody-famc which may

fame" for somebody-famc which may
last a hundred years.
BONES. STONES MTMMIEs-
Other great room are full OF bones
and stones and supposed wisdom IN
bones and stones. Mummiicd animals
taken from Egyptian catacombs, "s-
pecially eats; scores and scores of glass
lars full of mummitied eats. or what
once were cats. now all fallen 10 pieces,
and bones of cats. skins OF cats, c.aws ot
ancient cats and cmbalming "aC> Of cats
feline skulls, ribs. ra%s and dust all IN
a tumble.
Other damp halls holding Egyptian
mummics, some quite perfect in their
painted eases. some dccaycd. with ~ke!"-
ton hands and great and little toe bones
turned up and sticking out of the burst
and tattcrcd ccrementS.
Some Of the halls abound plrntiful'y
i'm Egyptian stonc cOilin-. ran-ack"t!
from their grave and carried over the
sea Just as my noble English Lords
coffin NAV be 1000 wears hence hy >"m"
curious race whose readin" az English
I history NAV be condensed To a ri-r full
of dates. Some of these c"iiIn~ wcIgil
tons. II must have taken Il contractor
10 undertake an Egyptian funeral. |
suppose when the relatives took thcl
last look of the dear departed mummy,
they put mp the shears oycr the house,
took of the roof and let down Il thou
sand or so pounds of ton lid. Then
the gearing WAS made fast L" the three
ton stone box itself. and six or eight
woke Of oxen outside were put Ia III"
hosting apparatus, and very slowly. at
the rate of an inch a minute. th" sarco-
+ pharus went up out of The room before
III" ewes of the mourn"r-. At this rate
il must have taken Il wech 10 get IT 10
the cemetery. The funeral pace Of TO-
day i "A horse race 10 that of tn" ancient
E"yptian~. But what Il drlu>ion was
theirs 10 think they were holed for all
eternity. Here they are in Il land UNI
known in their time, and prcprd over
and into 10y Il mighty race. some Of
whose Representatives from Yorkshire ~
they twist their mcckS over the sides re-
mark: oh, say Bill. Wot a OF trough
this ere would make. ch?H Poor desc
Grated Egypt.
MU>EUM ATTENDANTS.
And this is the British Museum at
trndant. One guardian To each room.
Generally sits ON Il bench and sleeps.
Or wandcrS about brtwixt sleeping and
waking. Carries in his hand Il wand
like a billiard cue. symbol of authority to
poke trc~passcr> and di~iurbcrS. Seems
10 prop him up while sleeping on his
bench. Ditto while sleeping on his feet.
| don't mean To say that the poor man
sleeps Il healthy. legitimate sleep. His
eyes are generally open, and his other
senses about half awake. IL the on
dition 10 which his tircSome. tedious,
monotonouS employment reduces him.
He has nothing 10 do but to stay in these
great. damp halls and watch these dead
things. Bones and stones. All the days
of his life are 50 passed, save Sundays.
amid dead bones and stones, mummicS,
collins and dead and stuffed elephants,
lions. tigers, rhinoccrOScS, glratfcS, hye-
mas and all other beasts and all other
birds and homes of dead mammoths, and
all these dead things Ill his life long
staring at him out of their bOny eye
sockets, or worse. ont of glass eyes,
those sad limitations of natural optics.
This is bad enough. but il i not AL. MOI
the worst. Besides -hc dead beasts.
birds and mummieS, these hcllS of
stuffed and bony deafness are filled 10y
visitors hundreds of them. The Brit
iSh public from the country who must
do the Museum before they leave
town and die. Here they are. coming
and going. wandering hopcleSSly and
Il, spairingly about these great. gray,
damp halls. taking death-cold> and
. ,,.arin,r ~ tho .asn full .f ,lanl tlIn.r.
lions. tigers. eats. rats. munmicS and
empty Egyptian collins, and wondering
where the wisdom of it all is. and
where they get it out. and getting hour,
" more tired. cold, hungry, sleepy. de.
pressed and di>hcartcncd at the sight
of so much stuffed, staring. ~lifclcS5
deafness, and going round and round,
from n hall To another. and getting
lost and getting into the same room
again and staring into the same cases
full of stuffed deafness. which starcs
back at them. and wondering and long
inc how and where they're eve 10 get
ont of this vast and wonderful place.
and wishing they Were out. and getting
out AT last and away from 80 much stuff
inc. bones. dust and rot. and glad 10
get anywhere. especially into the near
est public house. and there Ia call for Il
two Gin hot 10 take the taste of all
this BritiSm-NiuScum deafness out of
their mouths and the damp out of their
bones.
But the guardian with the hilliard-cue
he must stay. He sees and feels all this
deafness and live misery about him land
il kills him. vet he lives on for years.
Prentice .NHtord, IN san Francisco
Chronicle.