The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1889-05-19

tattoo their DOOleS IrOm inc WdlSJ W DClON
the knees. Burmah is the land of the
tattooed man and even the artists of Puck
could learn lessons in the art of tattooing
here. In my visit to the great prison here,
which contains more than three thousand
men, l saw six thousand tattooed legs.
These pen and ink sketches on human can
vas peep out at you in every crowd you
enter. The origin of the custom ] have not
been able find out 1t is here the Burmese
sign of manhood and there is as much cere-
mOny about as there is about the ear-pierc-
ing Of the girls, which chronicles their
entrance upon womanhOod. There are
professional tattooers, who go about with
books of designs, and who will
PRICK A FLOWER OR BEAST UPON YOUR LEG
or arm for slight consideration. The in
strument used is a pricker about two feet
long with a heavy brass head. The point IS
split into four prongs and in these the ink IS
held. The tattooer first outlines his sketch
and then taking the skin up in his hand
pincheS it while he puts in the punctures
which are to discolOr it forever. The color
ing matter used is lamp black, which turns
purple with age and which, when
finished, makes the man look as though ne
was dressed in kid-Etting tights OF dark
blue. The tattooing is not all done at once,
but figure by figure as the boy Or man can
stand it. When finished there is a complete
mass of figures from the waist on line
with the navel to the knee cap, and you
often see in addition to this specimens Of
tattOOiug on other parts of the body. The
people are superstitious about it and GER
tain kinds of tattooing are supposed to
ward off disease. One kind wards off the
snake bite and another prevents man
from drowning. In 1881 a man so tattooed
tested the efficacy of his tattooing by allow
ing his hands and feet to be tied and him
self to be thrown into the river 1t is need
less to say that the current carried him
away, and neither tattoo nor man was
ever again seen. The only tattooing at
fectCd by women is that which
PRODUCES LOVE IN THE HEART
of the desired one of the other sex. This
is a triangle of peculiar color, which is put
on between the eyes, upon the lip, or upon
the tongue, as the tattOoer preScrlbes.
Its color is made of a mixture called by the
Burmese the drug of tenderness" and it
is a compound not much different from the
he'll broth brewed by the witches in Mac
beth Another kind Of tattooing is af-
fected by schoolboys. II prevents, it is
said, the boy from feeling the whip when
he is punished at school, and it IS univers-
ally affected by the bold bad boys of every
Burmese town. The Burmese are Budd-
hiSts and every Burmese man is supposed
ut some time in his life to be a priest. The
education of the children is by the priests,
and the bulk of the population get their
education in the mOnastic schools. You
find Buddhist mOnaSterles and buddhist
temples everywhere and there is here at
Rangoon the finest Buddhist monument in
the world II ranks with the Tai Mahal as
one of the great curiosities Of India, and it
is the oldest and finest place Of worship in
IndO-China. 1t is the Shway Dagohn
pagOda or the golden pagoda.
IMAGINE A MOUNTAIN OF GOLD
rising terrace after terrace from a mighty
platform and growing smaller as it goes
upward until it at last pierces the skies in
a golden spire the top of which is 80 feet
from the ground. Make the base so large
that it is a quarter of a mile around its
outer golden rim and let the slope of the
terraces go upward in bell-like stories to
the distance of 100 feet from the ground.
There is not q block in your city as large
as the base of this monument and its top
is higher than any building in America,
save the monument at Washington. Its
spire is taller than that of St. Pauls cathe
dral at London and the Whole ,glisters
under the blazing sunlight as though it
were solid gold. At its top there is now a
scaffolding for the great golden umbrella,
which the last king of Burnah before The
baw gave to it, is being restored to its pla
and the jewelers. are working upon this
in the sheds at its base This umbrella is
a great circular piece Of gold which is
studded with jewels, any one Of which
would be u fit wedding present for prin
cess 1t cost more than two hundred thOus-
and gold dollars when it was made eighteen
years ago. But not long since the winds
shook it from its moorings and jewels and
gold came down to the ground This
mighty pagoda has
COST MILLIONS OF DOLLARS.
1t is of brick and stucco covered with gold
leaf as fine as that ever pat into an Amer
lean tooth and dS costly as that which
covers the new gold frame which surrounds
Mrs. HAYES picture in one of the White
House parlors 1t has been regilded again
and again, and if It's tons Of material could
be put through one or the great quartz
mills of Denver ii would yield as much
rood ore as q California niue. The base
OF this pagoda is on hill overlooking the
city of Rangoon. II consists of two ter
races and the upper is paved with flags
of stone This is 1856 feet above the level
of the ground and it covers about fourteen
and a half acres. The great pyramid near
Cairo has base of thirteen acres, but the
base of this monument IS bigger. 1t is go
feet long by about seven hundred feet wide
and this fourteen acres is covered with
little temples with hundreds Of Blddhas
of all shapes and sizes, some OF which are
of gold and others of which have been
gilded again and again until the layers OF
gold upon them are in places as thick as
wedding rings. 1t is impossible TO estimate
the wealth that stands upon this platform.
The shrine has been Il noted one as far
back as
FIVE HUNDRED YEARS BEFORE CHRIST WAS
BORN.
and during twenty-three centuries the
Buddhists have been laying their offerings
upon it. They have added to it all these
wears until it has risen from twenty-Seven
feet 10 its present height. During the last
century one of the kings of Burmah vowed
be would give his own weight in gold to
this monument. He hoped upon the
imperial scales and pulled the beam at 10
pounds The VOW cost him S43.OOO worth
Of gold leaf and it all went into this monu
ment The III onument was regiided IN 1871
and it is now being again polished. 1t is
all told a mass of brick and mortar mixed
with gold. and its outside plated with gold.
It has no interior chambers and it is as
solid as a grave stone. Its surroundings
are those of worship and you may any day
see dozens of women clad in bright silk
gowns and white vests kneeling and bowling
before it. They bring offerings of rice
and flowers to it and the air is filled with
he perfume of the roses which lie at its
,ase. This base is surrounded by stone
figures of kneeling elephants, each of which
s the size of
THE BABY ELEPHANT IN THE CIRCUS.
These have fiat places upon their backs and
il is upon these that the offerings are often
aid. Here and there are little dove-cote-
ike shrines, before which incense always
burns and the roofs of which have been
turned by its aromatic smoke into SCOT. No
matter how hot the day these women and