The morning news., 1894-06-17
SOME ORIENTAL MYSTERIES
Strange Powers Of Communication
Possessed BY Eastern Peoples.

Have the orientals Used Electrical
Forces P-The Secret of Dwarfng
Trees.
Ex-Attache, in the New York Tribune.
Considering the enlightenment and the
spirit of scientific research which dis
tinguish the CIVILIZED Occident of the
present day, it is astonishing that so very
little should have been accomplished
toward the unravelling of the mysteries
of the Orient The ignorance of the west
in this respect is brought home TO us lust
now with peculiar force by the total in
ability of the British authorities of India
TO account for the daublng of the mango
trees throughout vast portion of Hin
dostan, with patches ofclay mingled with
COW or buffalo hair. Notwiths landing all
the eLorts that have been made, it. has
been found impossible to disco yer the per-
petrators of this species of plastering,
which has been effected with the most as
founding secrecy and rapidity. Mango
trees extending over an area of hundreds
of square miles have been thus marked
during the course of a single night
That 1t constitutes some secret sig
udl VI COuNSyo sOul6 DluuOn mes
sage even the mos erudite 6 udents of
Indian lore and history are prepared to
oelieve. The I'm Elish recall, not without
shudder, that the terri ble naive revolt
of 1891 which literally deluged the Deccan
in sea OF blood, was Immediately pre-
oeded by the equally mysterious dis ri
button of little unleavened cakes -chu-
patthies they were called among the peo-
pie of India They were passed around
nv, ,fyV,- l,s lg i
go, eminent has been unable to obta4 n
any clew as to who baked and who dis
seminated them. Equa ~ at sea are the
authorities as TO the precise message
which they were intended TO on ey, al
Chough the sim ultanGous outbreak OF the
insurrectIon Immediately afUerward in
various parts of InIia far distant from
one another has led TO the belief that they
constituted some kind of prearranged
signal for the great rising.
oes the tree-smearlng embody some
similar signal for warfare and bioodshedl
4hat is question which is now agiuating
the mind of the IAaiser-i-Hind tthe natl.
rendering of Queen Victoria S title of km-
press of lndiaJ, of her special advisers
anu OF her people at large. While the
public press and sentiment of the United
AlngdOm snow reluctance to regard the
marking of The mango trees in the light
Belshaz1ar, yet il is significant that the
rlnghsn press in India AMI all those wno
are now living in Hln1os Tan or who have
resided there in the past, are disposed TO
accord thereto a most ominous interpre-
tatlOn. Better tnan any one else
they know the untorgiviug and re-
vengeful spirit of the Oriental char
acter, and the utter futility Of imagining
that the memory of the sanguinary sup
Df tFe4
years ago can ever be effaced from the
minus of their Indian fellow sub .ects of
Queen Victoria. There are few of them
VINO are not i'm bued with the conviction
that the population of India is merely
Didlng its time to cast OF the British
yoke, now more than ever oppressive
since the increase Of taxation and the in
.erfereuce of the government with the
opium trade. Had the English in 1867
lontented themselves with merely hang
ing or shooting number of the rebels by
way OF salutary example, the feeling of
bitterness of the natives against the Brit
lsh would not be nearly so sGrong as IL is
life is not esteemed highly in Asia
where lex talionis is the principle of all
justice and Legislation. But what the in
habitantS OF India do resent was the
course of the English troops in blowing
the rebels from the guns, thus debarring
all chances of life hereafter. / cannot do
better than to quote few lines from a.
book which has Just appeared in London.
1t consists Of the diary and "reminiscences
of one of the English officers employed in
suppressing the rising. The extract re-
laGeS TO one of these blowing from the gun
episodes, and the general mentioned is no
other than that Sir Henry Haveiock who
was famed as being the most SANITY and
hos RIA rI- -h1-kaI 2 .f
the English army. The olhcer writes:
The nrst man led out was tine-looking
young Seloy, with good features ana
Oold, resolute expression. He begged
that he might not be bound, but this could
not be allowed and | had his wrists tied
tightly each to the upper part of wheel
of the gun. Then | depressed the muA1le
until it pointed to the pit OF the stomach,
Just below the sternum. We put no shot
in and l had only one gunner, myself,
standing about ten feet 10 the left rear
The young Sepoy looked undauntedly at
US during the whole process of piuioning
indeed he never tinched for a moment.
Then / ordered the porL-fire to be lighted
and gave the word, tireW There was a
considerable recoi from the gun and
thick cloud of smoke hung over us. AS
this cleared away we saw two legs lying
in front of the gun, but no other sign of
brave man. AT this moment, perhaps
from six to eight seconds after the ex-
plosion land the same thing happened on
the following occasion), down fell the
mans head among us, slightly blackened,
but otherwise scarcely changed.
| went over TO Haveloek to tell him that
l had carried out his orders AS | Jumped
across the ditch j be anne aware that |
was covered from head to foot, aJ leasG in
front, with minute Dlackened particles of
the mans 1esn some of it sticking in my
ears and hair. My white silk coat, pug
gree, belt, etc, were also spotted in this
sickening manner. AS | announced the
execution to Havelock / called his atten-
zion TO the state | was in. He anne
Jh ough his lent door, and, striking a
sort OF ,ragic attitude of horror, said in
stage voice, improving on Shake
speare:
T. en- such man. in such plight
Drew Priam's Curtains In the dead Of night
And told him that man was slain.
Always ready-witted was the old gen
eral
Nor is it only in India that such secret
means of comm nication exist between
people of diverse race ana language.
Throughout Asia there exists sort of
sign Voldpuk which is unders lood by all
natives en- 5aged in trade. BY means of it
they are enabled to conduct heir COM
mercial negotiations and transactions
even though one Of the parties may hail
from the north of China and the Other
from the souJhernmos. portion of Araoia.
No white man pUals Haay, yna,r,ft4ol -