Idaho semi-weekly world. [volume] (Idaho City, Idaho Territory) 1875-1908, 1893-04-25
10 BE SEEN In EGYPT.
IMMORTAL SIGNATURES UNDER rAs
sPHINxs LEFT EAR.
Colonel Mason. Of Chicago, Find. .,o
Names Of Napoleon. Wellington. Dig
raeli, Grant and Host of Others. Tan.
ped by an Iilustrious Americana.

- ~ hAtubtriOu8 hmeriCanfH.
MY sojourn in Europe" says Colonel
EuWarn u Mason, president Of the Chicago
historical society, was wholly delightful
Inc climate Ia saAbrious. the scenery IL
oewilderingly novel, ard the natives are
politely attentive. When | went To that
part OF the world my health was falling
FOR several years had worked hard. and
my nerves had suffered n PARTICULARLY 90.
we're strain In that famous debate In which
as president Of the Historical society was
compelled to engage with Hiram Atwater.
OF kaskaskia, relative to the exnct location
OF Pierre Menard's barn prior to the june
rise IN the Mississippi In 1874. | had been
IN Cairo but a week when | felt fully re-
stored, IN corpore ct in mente return In
lineage splendidly equipped to graphic
with the brilliant sophstries of Norton the
artiul heresies Of Head, the cold pessimism
OF Mac Veagh, and such other specious per
suasions as that talented coterie with
wnlcn am wont to associate NAV choose
TO bring to bear upon me-
mat object in all Egygt which most en-
gagged my attention was the sphinx. Wis
'ted u number OF times, and each time
regarded It with absorbing interest. NV
companion at such times was the veneer
abe snelk, Enthusiastically, a man of pro
iound learning, and never wearied Of the
"reminiscences with which he beguiled the
tedlum OF the journey to and from the
pyramids.
snail never forget my first visit to the
SPHINX Starting from Cairo before day
ight, we reached our destination Just as
the solar orb issuing from the glowing east
cast upon that mighty stretch of sand the
rosy hood OF his gracious benediction. The
sullen head and massive shoulders OF the
beast woman doomed up threateningly be-
lore us, the pitilessness of forty centuries of
oesoiate loneliness lay like shadow on the
ruthless lace and over the cruel eyes: here
al last l found the master expression Of
utter hopelessness Observing my unwont-
ed serlonsness-for | was indeed awed by
tne solemnlty, the grandeur, and the awful
ness OF this spectacle-the good sheik
sought to dissipate the gathering clouds Of
SADNESS by relating certain entertaining
bits of historical information.
TALKING WITH A sHEIK
Here, light of the western world,
quoth he. for he always employed the or
nate metaphors of the orient when he ad
dressed me; here the years meet and sneak
with one another. Monarchs of all ages
mighty monument to the genius of the
dead; hither come artisans to wonder at
the work of an art they know not of, and
hither repair the sage, the poet and the
philosopher to ruminate in the shadow of
this pile upon the awful mysteries of hu.
man life.'
YES said |, the spot is pregnant OF
the most solemn associations 1t was here
that, as | remember to have read in nv
geography, Bonaparte encouraged his sol.
diery to battle by reminding them that
from yonder pyramids forty centuries
looked down upon Them
Napoleon inscribed his name upon the
sphinx at that time said the good sheik.
Take your spyglass and you will see the
name cut upon the neck of the sphinx, Just
below the ear there. Below it appears. in
Turkish, the name of the great sultan, Alb
dull Hamed, while to the right, upon the
cheek, you will see the name Of Button.
the naturalist
The head and face OF the sphinx seems
to be covered with names said T. contem-
plating the mammoth through my glass
1t Is even so, pearl of the prairies, said
he. For many years the great men OF all
nations and tribes have delighted to cut
their names into this deathless monument;
even your people come hither to do that
honorable Office, as you shall see if you
sweep your glass to the left and right and
up and down the surface of that SCARED
face.'
Il did as the good sheik suggested, and
a thousand noble names were presented to
my enraptured vision by the aid of nv
glass. Among my own countrymen Bay
ard Taylor, Franklin, Burr, Prescott,
Beecher, Grant, Longfellow, Emerson
yes, and hundred others, representing
our craftsmanship, our theology, our lit
erature, our arts and our sciences, had en-
graved their proud names upon this his
toric. this solemn, this imperishable tablet.
CLEAR ABOVE THEM ALL
And the great geniuses of other nations
had been there too. | beheld with un-
feigned delight the immortal names of
Wellington, of Cuvier, of Goethe, of Ca
YOUR, of Kossuth, of Dumas of Disraeli, of
of Heine, OF Byron, of Scott,
Of Burton, of Browning, and of other noble
masters. The sight inspired me with in
describable feelings, my bosom heaved
with conflicting emotions, and seemed to
commune with the invisible spirits of those
who in this human life had borne those
names.
"'Would the star of the west choose to
set himself amid that galaxy inquired
the sheik, Kamir-el- Abdul, interrupting
my delicious reverie, 4 have brought with
me chisel and maui, and yonder Arabs
will provide us with rope ladder, where
by the summit of the sphinx can easily be
reached
81 thanked the good sheik for the sug
gestion. With what pride should | return
IN lind nd
that my name was high in this
roster of immortalsl With what feelings
Of delight should posterity gather on these
blistering sands and rivet their eyes upon
the imperishable name of E. G. Mason in
big capital lettersl Kamir-el- Abdul sig
nailed to the Arabs, and they approached
was eager for action. My whole frame
luivered with excitement.
but stay quoth |. Another moment,
pray, until decipher that name which
stands boldly out high above the rest.
Some transcendent genius has with CON
valor braved the perils of the en-
1eavor and set his mark where no less no
Ole hand may reach
81 scanned that name eagerly. A solemn
'tillness-fitting in its reverential ALSO
ali around. | saw and
-ead there, high above the rest, triumph
ng over the names aud titles of emperors,
Kings, princes, warriors, statesmen and
,he rest, blazed, as it were the polar star
vet in the highest point of the heavens, the
proud, the pre-emiuent, the imperishable
lame of "A. c. Arson, First Basel "-Eu-
gene Field in Chicago News.
A Bottomless Spring.
The great settler spring at Saratoga, N.