Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1895-01-07

SOC, GOO, 900 OF our American money. Soms
OF the jewels have been picked out Of the
wall by ioonoclasts or oonquerors, and sub
stitutes OF less value have taken their
places, but the vines, the traceries, the
arabesquos, tho spandrelS, the entablnturos
are SO wondrous that you feel like dating
tho rest Of your life from tho day you first
baw them. In letters OF black marble the
whole Of the Koran Is spelled out In and
on this august pile The king sleeps in
tho tomb beside tho queen, although ho
intended to build n palace as black as this
was white on the opposite side OF tho river
for himself TO sleep In. Indeed the foun-
dation Of such metropolis Of black mar
bic is still there. aud from the white to
the black temple of tho dead bridge was
to cross, but the son 1ethroned him and
imprisoned him, and it is wonderful that
the king had any place at all in which to
be buried. Instead of windows to let in
the light upon the two tombs there is a
trcllls work of mnrble-marble cot so del
icntely thin that tho sun shines through
1t as ensily.a as through glass. Look tho
world overland find so much translucency-
canopies, tracerles, lacework, cmbroideries
Of stone. q
More of Its Wonders.
We had heard of tho wonderful reson-
anoo of this Tai. and so tried it. / sup
pose there nre moro sleeping echoes in that
building waiting TO be Weakened by tho
human voice than in any building ever
constructed. l uttered one word, and
there seemed descending invisible choirs
in full chant, and there was reverhura-
tion that kept on long after ono could
have expected II to cease. When a line OF
a hymn was sung, there woro replying,
rolling, rising, falling, Interviewing
sounds that seemed modulnted by beings
scrnphic. There were aerial sopranos and
bassos-soft, high deep, tTemuluus, emo
tional, commingllng. II was like an an
tiphonal of heaven. But there are four or
five Tnj MHhals. II has one appearance
at sunrise, another at noon, another at
sunset and another by moonlight. Indeed
the silver trowol OF the moon, and the
golden trowol of the sunlight, and the
leaden trowel of the storm build and re-
build the glory, so that it never seems
twice alike. 1t has all moods, all com
plexions, all grandeurs From tho top Of
the TAI, which is $50 feet high, springs
spiro 80 feet higher, and that is onumoled
gold. What IN anthem in eternal rhythml
Lyrics and olegies in marble. sculptured
hosannal Masonry MS OF supernatural
handsl Mighty doxology In stonel
shall sec nothing to equal 1t till l sec the
great white throne and Oh It him from
whose face tho earth and heavens Zee
away.
The Tai is the pride of India ard espe.
clally Of Mohammedanism. An English
officer at the fortress told us that whom,
during the general mutiny in 1867, tho
MohammedRns proposed Instruction at
Agra the English government aimed the
guns Of the fort at the Tai and said, "You
make Instruction, and that same day We
will blow your Tai to atoms, and that
threat onded tho disposition for mutiny at
Agra.
All to Cover Handful of Dust.
But thought while looking at that
palnce OF the duad, IAN this constructed
to cover a handful Of dust, but even that
handful has probably gone from the mau-
soloum." How much better 1t would have
been to expeDd $50. 600, 900, which the Tai
Mahal cost, for tho living. What asylums
it might have built for the sick, what
houses for the homeessl What improve
mont our century has made upon other
centuries In lifting in honor of the depart
cd memorial churches, memorial hospitals,
memorial reading rooms, memorial obscrv-
atorics. BY all possible means let us
keep the memory of departed loved ones
fresh in mind, and let there be an appro-
PIRATE hendstone or monument in the com-
etery, but there is dividing line between
reasonable commomora ton and wicked
extravaganza. The Tai Mnhal has its
uses MS an architectural achievement,
eclipsinR all other architecture but as
memorial OF a departed wife and mother
1t expresses no more than the plainest slab
In many a country graveyard. The best
monument We cnn any Of US have built
for when we are gone is In the memory
of these whose sorrows We have nlleviated,
in tho wounds We have healed, in tho
kndnesses wo have done, Ia the Ignorance
VIC have enlightened, I'm tho rcuroant wo
hayo reclaimed, in the souls wo have
saved. Such a monument Is built out Of
material more lasting chan marble or
bronze and will stand amid tho eternal
splGndors long after the TAI Mahal of In
dia shall have gone down in tho ruins OF
world Of which 1t was the costliest adorn-
ment. But l promised to show you not
only tomb OF India, but unique heath
en- temple, md it is q templeunderground
Elephanta Island.
with miners candle we hnd seen some.
thing of tho undorsIde of Australia, as Mt
Gimpie, and with guides torch we had
heen AT Inherent times something OF tho
undersidc of America, rs in Mammoth
cayo, but we arc now to enter one of the
sacred collars of India commonly called
the Elephanta caves. We had 1t all to
oursclves--the steam yacht that was to
tako us about 10 miles over the harbor of
Bombay and between enchanted islands
and along shores whose curves und gulchus
and pictured rocks gradually prepared the
mind for appreciation OF tho most unique
spectacle in India The morning had boon
fullof thunder and lightning and deluRe, |
but the atmospheric agltstions had ceased,
and tho cloudy ruins OF tho storm were
piled up in the heavens, huge enough and |
dnrkly purple enough to make the skies
us grandly picturesque as the earthly !
scenery amid which we moved After an
hours cutting through the waters we camo |
to tho long pier reaching from the island |
called Elephants. 1t is an island small |
Of girth, but 600 feet high. 1t declines |
into the marshes OF mangroye. But the |
whole island is one tangle OF foliage |
and verduro--oonvolvu creeping tho |
ground, MOSES climbing the rocks, vines /
sleevlng the long arms Of tho trees, rcd |
flowers here and thore in the woods like |
ineendiary's torch trying to set the groves
on fire, cactus and acacia wing as TO |
trI,t ,h 81 . I,b