The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-12-02

printer, and the editors and contributors
work for the good of the cause.
! The most remarkable development, how
ever, is unquestjonaoly the little toy tenn
pie at III Nassau street. Here, if the stor-
les of the initiates are to be believed, cer-
tain marvels are to be witnessed, Unbap-
PLY for the interests of the newspaper
readers these marvels are not performed to
order, and | was unable to persuade the
mild-eyed heather priest who was in
charge, to do any miracles for me, though
he was willing enough to let me inspect tho
place and its fittings.
1t is a little room. Fortunately, the
Theosophists, like Mr.. Dick, care nothing
for the swinging Of cats, and are not OBJ
| liged to rent superfluous space. You get
into the rooms by the prosaic means of
gong up the slowest elevator in town, enter
ing business office, and getting permits
sior there Gf you CAM, to go through a side
| door into the sanctuary. 1t is tergiversa-
ton, but it pays.
After opening the door. epriest pulls
curtain aside, and if you look closely you
will find the curtains is Persian fabric of
great beauty. Being lifted, it discloses
| curious scene. Opposite the doorway sits
Buddna. The god is small, and as ugly as
conventionality demands, and be sits cross
legged in little niche, bordering the mex
plicable secrets of nature, as imperturbably
|
cave. In front of him pot of incense is
kept continually burning, and the smoke
arises in wavy wreaths that load the air
with sitting perfume. On the floor in
front of tho image lies Ceylonese grass
mat, brought to New York by William .
Judge
Buddha, although apparently the presid-
ing deity of the place, does not seem to have
! full sway, fer on the wall at one end of
I ba zipoy n hn
cupies the place of honor. Over it is pic
| tured in Illuminated letters, the motto: mo
J religion higher than truth" Around the
other walls are displayed some twenty-five
shields, one for each of the branches of the
society that have been established all over
the United States. "All over' is not quite ac-
curate, but there are branch societies in New
York Pennsylvania, Ohio, Iowa, Missouri
and California. These branches have each
| a distinctive name borrowed from the cas-
tern religions, among them, Ishwara, We'd
| anita, Isis, Dharma and Nirwana. This last
is located In Nebraska. and may be sup
posed by the irreverent, to stand for the
principal desire or longing of the citizens
of that state.
A heavy Turkish rug covers the floor,
and plain, ordinary, everyday furniture
store chairs and a table stand around for
furniture, but on the table as well as on the
walls are various objects of interest.
| Among them are representations of the
| TheoSophical convent ion in India, and of
the society buildings in Bombay. Another
S enc is the picture of an Egyptian initia-
ton painted in magic colors, the pigments
for which were dug by Nine. Blavatsky's
fair fingers out of an ancient stone wall in
Teheran. Those who doubt this statement,
are at liberty to go to Teheran and see the
wall, which is still there. Mr.. Judge has
carried this picture nearly all over the
world, and it is accordingly priced highly
by the faithful Underneath the picture is
a bracket on which are certain occult
things whose use the priest would not ex'
plain. They are square and pyramid OF
crystal, and a sphere of polished steel. II
they are of any service beyond being orna-
mental, the initiates only are allowed &c
| know it.
Half dozen emblems of religions other
than Buddhism are displayed on the walls.
Among them is a drawing, said to be a re-
presentation of an ancient Indian statue
of virgin and child guarded by Celes
tial shadowy beings. The priest also des
cribed a bronze, which is shortly to be
added to the queer collection, and which
is copy of an obelisk standing in the rock
cut cities of India. deserted some 8, 600 OF
1000 years ago. This obelisk, he says, alsC
bears the culptured images of virgin ant
child. How tire virginia. character of thes,
undoubtedly ancient representations is es
tablished, | could not learn. The priest
said it would be necessary for me to study
many volumes Of unimpeachable history
before being convinced.
On the table lies a huge album contain
ing photographs of famous theosophists anC
some not famous from all over the world
1t also contains a picture of some Ma
hatma, which the picture) is said to win
its eyes at long intervals. 1t did not winl
while | was looking, but | saw the picture.
Copies in English and Sanscrit of tn,
Bhagavad-Gita lie also on the table; the
latter eight times as large as the former, Il
say nothing of its being really harder tc
understand. There is, moreover, a visitors
book, in which found alleged names il
what is said to be Hebrew and Sanscrit
They were certainly not written ia Italian
script or Roman letters, but looked very
much like a lot of parentheses and excla
nation points Other names wereJ. Rails
ton Skinner, of Cincinnati, o.; Prof. PiaZz
Smythe, sarah Fisher Ames, H. B. Foulke
of Philadelphia, and many equally known
to fame
The most remarkable thing in the room
is a huge misshapen mass of rock crystal
with what looks like a large natural faucet
This side is blazingly brilliant, or was wher
| saw it, 1t is SAID to vary in brilliancy Al
times, and to be a veritable magic crvsta
in which the spiritual sighted can see Wis
ions. mostly relating to theosophical mat
tiers. The officers consult it at Ger.
tain times of the month to learn the
condition of the branches of tn,
society, aud they claim that wher
the members of the inner circle only are
present, queer sights are seen, and invisible
bells are heard to ring.
The rooms are open to visitors daily
though the Hindoo priest is not alw ayt
there. He was very reserved when ques
toned him about himself, though he wal
willing enough to talk fiuently about the
temple and the aims Of the society. His ap.
pearance was sufficiently striking to attract
attention even in this cosmopolitan city il
he bad been met anywhere else except in
this toy temple. He was rather taller thar
the average Hindoo, and UNNECESSARILY
more emaciated than anyother human
being outside of dime museum has righi
to be. He had the strongly marked feat
ures and full black beard that belong BY
right to the religious recluse of the cas-
and was CARRIED in a compromise between
his native costume and the clothing best
adapted to the American climate. Ovel
what looked like a ready made suit from q
| Broadway cIothier's establishment he wore
a long blue coat of no particular pattern
Just a coat, and on his head was perched
one Of those marvellous triumpbs OF human
ingenuity known as a Poona turban. This
is alleged to be wonderfully twisted up out
thirty-fonr or thirty five yards of snowy
cotton cloth, and the most expert native;
are said to take two hours to do tn twist
| mo Whan il ia done il is n WraDnQr for