The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1894-09-15

rte Aneient customs. Its Government. sna
Its TniIiess Cats.


DoUGI.Aa. Isie 81 Man. Aug. ~. The fsie of
Man is only thirty-thfrc miles long ana twelve
wide. 80 that IL Ia not great labor To get over ii,
and, a. two railroads ran one north to south,
and the other east to west=yOu Uan see how con-.
venient y is 70 tic visitor. Douglas, Port Erin
The Tslco Man. while Belonging tothe British
Crown. Is neither English, scotch, Irish. nor
Welsh. but Il n separate country. With q homo.
rule Government, and a language Of its own.
but yet with great loyalty totheimp rial Govern.
ment and devotion to Queen Victoria, for every.
where you 20 you see pictures Of the royal fam.
n.y. The government l. known as the House
elected every seven years but no person has a
vote unless he possesses real estate Of the vaiue
OF gao, or occnpation on 10, SHins % goo yer
Court Of Tynwald. presided over by the Licut"n-
ant-tioverf,or, is composed Of the Council, which
Judges, the CLERK Of the Rolls. Water Rali,f
and the vicar.General This Council and tho
House, Of Keys are the active Government OF the
There is one feature OF special interest in ref.
passed by the House OF Keys are sent FOR tSss
royal assent, and when that has been secured
then the law must be formally read n The Eng.
open air, where the Council and the Keys united
form a Tynwald court, before they become laws.
been sohttinued ever since. The 5th day "fJafiSs
The laws passed by the House OF Keys. "
The coat OF arms OF this isle Is three legs OF q
"Whithersoever thrown. I shall stand" Ths
Manxmen apparently rather enjoy the three
legged crest, for everywhere you turn your
face, whether at a steamboat, a railroad, a
coach, a flag, or on the windows OF the stores,
there you see the three legs.
I had read of the Manx cats without tails, and
thought IL q Joke; but, sure enough, the cats
here are without tails, and | saw several without
that graceful member. Some ladies OF our party,
who had not seen the Manx cat. were rather
Of the truth Of our report, and we had
to compan them to the house, where the cat
lived, and after a close examination came away
believers In the tailleAs cat. j don't think pussy
In improved by the absence Of the tail. Some
people say this strange act Of nature extends to
the dogs also.
The Manx language. like the ancient LAM
guage of Ireland. is fast passing away, and in
a generation IL will be one Of the dead Lam
guages, enjoyed only by scholars. met an
old woman on the side OF a mountain selling
milk, cakes, and ginger ale, and after asking
some questions about the locality, | learned
from her that the children were not learning
the Manx language, and that only the middle-
aged and old people spoke 1t. She said her
children only spoke the English. l was
al xious. to get q book In Manx, but could
not find one, in the stores. The old woman
to showed me an old Bible in Manx,
which I tried to buy. but she said mo money
could buy her Bible. IL had belonged to her
father. was sorry, but ! also admired the old
love for her old Bible, and I was glad
10 see that money could not tempt her. though
she was quite poor. and q few shilhngs would
have been a large sum for her purse.