Barre evening telegram. (Barre, Vt.) 1898-19??, 1899-08-22
A PRICELESS RELIC.
TIE FAMOUS BLACK STONE OF TILE
TEMPLE OF MECCA.


TEMPLE OF MECCA
nv" ans Treasure OF ISLAM Aunpurs
''' 'hr Present Day and the Various
theories OF its Origin--Gunrd.dh Inv
Mohnmlneduns,
80 carefully Is the blach stone OF the
temple OF Mecca guarded, even to this
Gay mat the accounts given by different
writer's rs to the nature and appearaDce
or the black stone exhibit some copsid
cradle variations, for orthodox Mussul-
mans cannot be prevailed upon to give
"a straightforward scliption Of il. and
more adventures, like the several Eu-
ropean hadJis (Burckhardt, Burton and
the others) could only crafty their in
tciIiSent curiosity by stoalthy investi-
cations. Detection in the act of pursu-
ing such investigation would have cost
the travellers their lives, in pursuance
(as Mohannedans SUPPOSE of the law
OF the prophet Your faithful Mussul-
man cannot understand that any other
motive than worship should lead any
cro to visit Mecca
The Mohammcdans believe that this
f&nouS stone was brought down from
heaven by angels. 1t is set in the wall
! OF the Caaba, which stands within the
great cOlOnnade. The stone is four feet
nine inches from the ground and is
kissed and touched with great veneer
alton by every pilgrim to Mecca
Mr. Bate mentions what intelligent
travellers have recorded concerning the
nature of the black stone. One Of them
tells rs that it is undoubtedly a large
aerolite-an opinion which scarcely
harnlOnlzca with its reputCd quality of
floating III water, since aerolites usually
contain large percentage of heavy
metallic matter such as iron pyrites
Another traveller reports that it looks
like piece of lava, containing small
eXtraneous particles of some white and
yellowish substance.
Still another of these authorities
af1irms that it is fragment of volcanic
basalt, sprinkled throughout its surface
with small, pointed, colored crystals and
varied with felspar upon dark ground,
like coal, excepting one Of its protuber,
ances, which happens to be little red.
dish
Others, again, claiming an equal title
to exact knowledge, give it as their
opinion that it is nothing else than an
ordinary piece Of stone from quarrie5 i'll
which the Meccan territory ahounds
These last mentioned travellers, how
ever, appear to overlook the circum
stance that this opinion of theirs does
not take due cognizHnce of that proper
ty of the stone to which we have just |
alluded and also the circumstance that |
the only kind Of stone yielded by the |
Meccan Quarries is a sort Of gray gran |
ite
Not SO difficult is it to form an idea |
as to M3 siZ4 and present appearance
In form it is an irregular Oval, the in.
equality of Its two longer sides impart |
ing to it somewhat semicircuIar APP |
pearance. 1t measures about inches /
in height and in breadth, the dialue |
ter on its lower ana wider side being
So inches The surface is l.lo{uberant |
and somewhat knobby on undulating |
and has the appearance Of being COM
posed Of a number Of smaller stones OF !
different sizes and shapes, securely fit /
ted together with cement and perfectly |
smooth
Its appearance IS as though the orig |
inal piece OF stone had been broken to
pieces by violent blow and then re- /
paired AMI as a matter Of fact, this |
appears to he the true explanation OF |
this irll sularity of the surface, for it is
recorded by the Arabian historians of /
the Caaba that in the year 4l3 OF the
Haiira an cMissary Of Il certain Egyp' |
tian khalifa known as 1.-THE Mao klHll
fla HakiIn. shattered it to pieces by "a
stroke of a club, and they relate that
after this event the pieces and even the
dust also were carefully restored and
the fragments cemented together
The prutnberances mentioned are ~
or > in number and are such as to iln
part to the surface Of the stone mus
cular on peboly appearance. Near tho
middle there il a hollow which reacAes
to about a. much as two inches below
the outer edge of the stone and IS of
kind to suggest to the visitor the sur
mise that one Of the prOtubolanceS may
have been removed.
The color Of the surface Of the relic is
at the present time deep 1,Gnlsh
brown, OF, as some have described IT, +" (
metallic black, and, nOtWithStaud'h4 i
the polished appearance impaired 10 Ii
bv the constant touching OF unnuWber-
ed myriads OF devotees, it yet bears Oh
its undulating surface what appear to
he evident marks Of volcanic origin
These muscular protuberances, how
ever. are attributed by the Mosien an
tborities to the incessant osculatluhs
and rubbings of the faithful Ehe
smoothness may perhaps be attributable
TO this cause, but the obviously trac-
tured and pebbly appearance is not "f-
counted for in this way. -Aslatlc guar
terly
women and Their Cats.
Louis Vain the famous cat painter,
nrofesses to believe that cat owned ny
y woman is the mirror Of its mistress
temperanent He says that Ii cav
thAt has been constantly VILE sts ms