Morris tribune. [volume] (Morris, Minn.) 1880-2000, 1896-11-18
THE HORSE.
How an. Equine Friend Was Regarded
and Treated In Ancient Times.

and Treated In Ancient Times.
1t is perhaps small matter for
wonder that the nations who first
tanned the horse for riding attached
high honor to the creature, seated on
whose back they secured with such
swiftness. The exhilaration of rid
ing is one which custom does not
stale and which affects the civil
1ized rider of today, if he be of an
emotional nature, probably almost
as keenly as it did the ancient Soyth-
ian, German or Slav. In addition
to this, neighboring races who had
not this art looked upon those who
had it with kind of superstitious
wonder, weaving strange stories
about them. The horsemen of Thes-
sally appeared to the other Greeks
through a mist of fables as oentaurs,
half man, half brute, but wholly di-
vine And in the frank fashion of all
primitive people the horseman gave
back to the horse the glory that he
received reflected from it and made
of his oomrade in war and chase a
kind of deity.
The ancient Germans took oraoles
from white horses, just as the Egyp-
tians did from their sacred oxen.
The animals we're kept in groves
and gave augury by neighing.
Among the Slavs the sword com.
bined with the horse to foretell fu-
ture events. The weapons we're
planted in the ground, and the
horses led among them. By the
movements of the beasts the attend.
ing priests judged the will of the
gods. Among the Norsemen the sac
rifice of horse and the eating of it's
flesh was a token of sacramental al
legiance to Odin.
Among the ancient Irish, when a
king was crowned in Ulster, it was
customary to Stay white mare and
boil it in vat. Into this vat the
newly made king descended and
there sat, drinking the broth and
tasting small portions of the meat.
The eating of horsefesh was so we'll
recognized as a heather rite that the
early Christian saints forbade it to
their converts. Among the Scyth-
ians the horse was deemed sacred to
the sun, and it's worship crossed the
Himalayas and was early establish
cd among the Rajput kings.
Next to human being, who prob
ably was, as a matter of fact, never
sacrificed in ancient India, the horse
was the most acceptable Offering to
the gods. It is laid down in the Pu-
ranas that the sacrifcer of 100 horses
GUSTS Indra, the king of the gods,
from his throne and reigns in para
disc (swarga) in his stead. There is
no record, however, of any one hav-
ing earned this surprising felicity.
Kings, on attaining the throne, usu-
ally sacrificed horse their tribu-
tary princes performing the more
mental duties connected with the
aswamedha (horse sacrifce). In
deed, ever the Office of porter in
this solemn rite could only be as
sumed by one of royal blood. One
of the books of the great Hindoo epic,
the Mahabharata, contains an ao-
count of the 'ashwamedha held by
Yudhisthira, king of the Pandus,
when he had, by the defeat of the
Karavas, firmly established his rule
over northern India. The sacred
horse was turned loose to wander
VIII erever it listed for year, while
the loyal army followed it every
were at respectful distance. Other
tribes whose pastures it crossed we're
given the option of either turning
out in force to join the triumph Of
the horse Or of accepting wager of
battle. At the end of the year the
horse was led back to the palace and
there sacrificed. London Standard. |
AIumina.
Announcement is made of proc
ess invented by Heibling, says the
London Chemist, for producing alu-
nina from clay in form absolutely
free from silica and readily con-
vertible into sulDhate and other aIu-