Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1891-12-24
NOTES AND COMMENTS.

the burbarous Comanches, they have
many noble traits of character not the
least of which is their dignitied courtesy.
| The tribe used to be established in
| Texas, and Old Castro, their chief, was a
| fine specimen of manly dignity. AT
ball in Houston lady said that she
would give him her portrait if she had
one, and the old chief replied at makes
no difference; have your picture
stamped on my brain"
Nor more than half mile from Port
Penn, Delaware, in sheltered copse be-
tween two tidewater streams flowing into
Delaware Bay, there are within an area
OF five acres more than fifty dugouts, or
rude earthen houses, used by the Indians
OF the region more than century ago.
The mounds are fast disappearing, but
the earth thereabouts abounds in arrow
heads, tomahawks, and other Indian rel
les, while the bones of many savages lie
buried hard by. Some of the neighbor-
ing farmers hold the land that was grant
ed to them in the earliest colonial days,
and one of the oldest inhabited houses in
the United States, u substantial brick
structure, is still standing near Port Penn
and in good repair. Probably three
fourths of the white inhabitants are de-
scendants Of colonial settlers.
DAKOTA, which claims everything so
large that it appeals to the imagination
of the discoverer as well as that of the
man who is told all about it, now an
nounces that it has the most wonderful
artesian well in the world. The water is
said to spout from it distance of 100
feet in the air, and tho supply is 10000
gallons minute. The pressure is 200
pounds to the square inch. A land-boom-
er calculates that this well, which is at
Huron, would furnish to each man, wom-
an and child in North Dakota four gal
Ions of water every hour.
AMONG the exhibits to be made at the
Worlds Fair by Paris jewelry estab-
lishment will be the extraordinary "blue
diamond" " which is almost uniqse in tho
world of precious stones, and two of the
Mazarin diamonds. There were originally
seven of the Mazarin diamonds, and they
were bcqueathed by the cardinal of that
name to Louis XIV, who made of them
the nucleus of the afterwards famous
crown Jewels. AT the sale of the roval
collection two or three years ago the
other five passed into the hands of private
purchasers.
THE fact brought out at the late Prison
Congress that crime has increased relu-
lively in the United States and decreased
elsewhere has naturally caused unfavor-
able comment, and encouraged inquiry
into the cause of this unpleasant show
ing. The statement is based on the
great decrease shown in tho number of
prisoners in Europe and their increase
here. In twenty years the prisoners con-
fined in England and Wales have fallen
from 1898 to 1909, although there has
been large increase in population.
Whereas in the United States in ten years
our prison population has grown from
1851 to 1888.
The southern part of Washington
County, ILL.,, is said to be peculiarly rich
in Indian relics, which may be found on
almost every farm. The banks of the
Elkhorn, Locust, Beaucoup, and Mud
Creeks, which flow through the region,
were once fayorite camping places of the
red men. Among the relics which have
been recently ploughed up are battle
axe of hard flint, pink in color and
weighing iX pounds, which is now in
the possession of Mr.. George Martin, of
Nashville, ILL.,. a pipe-stem, embellshed
with raised scroll work, great variety of
arrow and spear-heads, and an axe-head
of green spne. More interesting than
the remains of the Indian tribes is an
oddly SHAPED piece of stone which son
of Farmer lHtlbert ploughed up on the
bank of Ipcust Creek about a month
ago. Observing some faint lettering
upon the 5on9, he carried it home, and
when it wts washed, the inscription stood
out: I'D. Ioone, 1885" Above the in
scription, which seemed to have been
made withIa knife or some other sharp
instrument was the faint outline of u
rude attempt at picturing an arrow, and
above thishn indentation the size of
large bean Il appears to be bona-fide
relic of tie great hunter, Boone, who
made seveal hunting trips to southern
Illinois, aid passed through the country
when he lpved west from kentucky.
Ir seems that Christmas, as the ami
versary ofChrists birth, was observed
as far bacl as the fourth century. But
we have f!w details of the observance,
and it is lot until we come to tho era
whose cuspms are preserved to us in
song and ,allad that we can discover
many details of the festivities attendant
upon the tine. We learn that the good
King Arthur and his Knights of the
Round Tale made merry at the Christ
mas seasol, feasting being their princi-
pal mcthodof observing the day, as be-
came sucha body of worthless. William
the Conquror duly observed Christmas,
and since is time the more or less formal
observancoof the day has been uninter-
rupted. Ii the olden times, before the
Christian "a, the innumerable gods and
goddesses i mythology had played i'm
portant parts in the festivals of their
believers. When the belief in their ex-
istence anl influence ON human affairs
was swept away, popular fancy trans
formed tlsm into legendary witches,
elves, and good spirits, and in the earlier
masks or lays, which became part OF
the Christnas observances, we find these
mythical bings curiously interviewer.
As early as he twelfth century spectacu-
lar plays w,re presented ut Christmas
time, and follhalf dozen centuries they
and their successors held sway in Eng
unl. In Germany some form of page
ant, sre:tnce, or play has been common
in cnnnrctirn with the festivities for
hundreds of years.