The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1895-01-11

cACCpS III the tOlnD DtSlue Tue queen
although he intended to build palace
as black as this was white on the op
posite side of the river for himself to
sleep in. Indeed, the foundation of
such a metropolis of black marble is
still there, and from the white to the
black temple of the dead bridge was
to cross; but the son dethroned him
and imprisoned him, and it is wonder
full that the king had any place at all
in which to be buried.
We had heard of the wonderful reso-
nance of this Tai, and so tried it.
suppose there are more sleeping echoes
in that building waiting to be awak-
ened by the human voice than in any
building ever constructed / uttered one
word, and there seemed descending in
visible choirs in full chant. and there
was a reverberation that kept on long
after one would have expected it to
cease. When a line of a hymn was
sung there were replying, rolling, ris-
ing, falling, Intervening sounds that
seemed mOdulated by beings seraphic.
There were aerial sopranos and bassos,
commingling. 1t was like an anti
phonal of Heaven. But there are four
or five Tai Mahals. 1t has one
appearance at sunrise, another at
noon, another at sunset, and an
other by moonlight. Indeed, the
silver trowel of the moon, and the
golden trowel of the sunlight. and the
leaden trowel of the storm build and
rebuild the glory, so that it never
seems twice alike. 1t has all moods. all
compilations, all grandeurs. From the
top of the Tai, which is $50 feet high,
springs a spire so feet higher, and that
is enameled gold. What an anthem in
eternal rhythmi | shall see nothing to
equal it until l see the Great White
Throne, and on it Him from whose face
the earth and heavens flee away. The
Tai is the pride of India, and especially
of Northumberland.
But | thought while looking at that
palace for the dead, all this construct
ed to cover handful of dust. but even
that handful has probably gone from
the mausoleum. How much better it
would have been to expend $50, 600, 900,
which the Tai Mahal cost, for the liv-
ing. What asylums it might have built
for the sick, what houses for the home
less! By all possible means let us keep
the memory OF departed loved ones
fresh in mind, and let there be an APP
propriate head stone or monument in
the cemetery, but there is a dividing
line between reasonable commemora-
ton and wicked extravaganza. The
Tai Mahal has its uses as an archi-
tectural achievement, eclipsing all
other architecture, but as memorial of
a departed wife and mother it ex-
presses no more than the plainest slab
in many a country graveyard. The
best monument we can any of us have
built for us when we are gone is in the
of those whose sorrows we
have alleviated, in the wounds we
have healed, in the kindnesses we have
done, in the ignorance we have enlight-
ened, in the recreant we have re-
claimed, in the souls we have saved.
But promised to show you not only a
tomb of India, but a unique heather
temple, and it is temple underground.
With miners candle we had seen some
thing of the under side of Australia, as
at Gimpie; and with guides torch we
had seen at different times something
Of the underside of America, as in
cave; but we are now to en-
ter one of the sacred cellars of India,
called the Elephanta caves.
We had it all to ourselves. the steam
yacht that was to take us about fifteen
miles over the harbor of Bombay, and
between enchanted islands, and along
shores whose curves and gulches
and pictured rocks gradually pre-
pared the mind for appreciation
Of the most unique spectacle in
India. After an hours cutting through
the water we came to the long pier
from the island called Ele-
Dhanta. 1t is an island small of girth,
but 600 feet high. 1t declines into the
of mangrove. But the whole
sland is one tangle of foliage and
7erdure. We stepped out of the boat
lmid enough natives to afford all the |
lelp we needed for landing and guild |
lnce. You can be carried by coolies in |
IN easy chair, or you can walk, if you |
Ire blessed with two stout limbs, which |
he Psalmist evidently lacked, or he |
would not have so deprecated them,
when he said: 1.-THE Lord taketh no |
,leasuse in the legs of a man." We |
passed up some stone steps, and be-
ween the walls we saw awaiting US a |
.obra, one of those snakes which greet |
he traveller oftimes in India. Two of |
he guides left the cobra dead on the
vayside. They must have been Mo-
for Hindoos never kill |
hat sacred reptile.
And now we come near the famous
emple hewn from one rock of porphyry
t least 500 years ago. On either side
f the chief temple is a chapel, these
ut out of the same stone. So vast was
he undertaking, and to the Hindoo was
o great the human impossibility that
hey say the gods scooped out this
tructure from the rock, and carved the
illars, and hewed its shape into gil
antic idols and dedicated it to all the
randeurs. We climb many stone steps
efore we get to the gateways. The
ntrance to this temple has sculptured
leaning on sculptured
evils. How strange! But have seen
of churches and auditori-
ms who seemed to be leaning on the
emons of bad ventilation and asphxyia.
'oorkeepers ought to be leaning on
ne angels of health, and comfort, and
fe. All the sections and janitOrs of
lie earth who have spoiled sermons
nd lectures, and poisoned the lungs of I
audiences by inefficiency ought to visit {
MS cave of Elephanta and beware of {