Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1899-09-06
SOME STRANGE TOWNS
QUEER PLACES WHERE HU-
 VANITY CONcREGATEs.
Ono Bunt on the Ocean. Another oa Ice and Another as womanlsss-On "ths Mountain of fhs sTopks'.AEvsa to the Animals.

The marine village or Tupuselei, in New Guinea, would take lot Of beat ing on the score Of sfngularity. Here the houses are all supported on piles and stand right out in the ocean. soma considerable distance from the shore The object Of this strange position is
 9 protect the inhabitants against sud
 ' ittacks Of the dreaded head-hunt-
 Aao are always on the lookout for
 tins. Other villages ia this happy
 nd are perched ID iu all but inac-
 zssibie trees. for tie same weighty reason.
 Another curious place is town without 3 name on one oS the arms Of Lake Huron This consists of some 800 wooden hnts During the summer these little dwellings are hidden away in a clearing on shore. and the town contains not single inhabitant. But on the arrival of winter, when the lake is frozen over with thick coating Of ice. the owners Of the huts arrive and proceed to move their houses out onto the surface Of ths lake The floor Of the huts is taken up and a hole cut through the ice Through these holes the residents ash. carrying on their operations until the spring releases the lake from it's icy bonds when this ex- traordtnary town is once more broken up. the shanties go back to their rest ing place and the fishermen scatter over the country This place even boasts a curing factory and q church. not to mention several saloons-alI on the ice
 AthOs, town situated on promon tory on the coast Of Macedonia, well deserves the title Of the most curious town in the universe. The peninsula is known as The Mountain of the Monks" from the fact that a score or so of monasteries are dotted about the rough hillsides or the valleys In these establishments dwell 8 numerous body of aacetics. kind and hospitable to wanderers. but full Of superstition and believing In the doctrine of separation to 3 wonderful degree
 The actual town. as distinct from it's monastic enEirons. fs called Caryes. and supplies the simple wants of the monks. Here are to be found streets of shops, crowded bazafs. fiourlshiug trades and all the hustle and energy of 8 modern town. But one thing soon strikes the visitor as strange. There is not a female to be seen anywhere. for the gentler sex is vigorously ban ished from the place Even the small Turkish garrison. from the command ant down to the priYates. consists of bachelors.
 This extraordinary law is carried out even among the domestic animals. Only the wild birds egads it. and then only when free. for no female bird .s ever brought to table; the fowl one has for dinner is sure to be a cockeret. For this unparalleled state of affairs there Is only legend to account. AL though to our practical minds dimsy to a degree. it is implicitly believed in by the inhabitants. IL appears that in one of the chief monasteries on the prom ontory there s 3 miraculous icon. which is a picture or Image sacred to members of the Russo-Greek church. This particular picture is a representa- tion of the Virgin and the legend says that one day as the Empress Pulcheria. who had literally endowed the church. as well as beantiied and restored It, was engaged in her deYotions. the Vir- gin spoke, asking what she, a woman. was doing In the church The piOus lady, no doubt amazed, did not reply, wnereupon the voice commanded her to leave, saying that the feet of woman should never again tread the floor. The empress, probably surprised at the seeming ingratituds of the speech as well as awe-struck. left the place. which no female has since en- tered How the prohibition thus ar bitrarily established came to compre- bend the length and breadth of the promontory is not very clear As a residence for bashful bachelors wa should imagine Athos would De hard to surpass.
 Increase lR Minor Crimes
 The British home office report for 1897 shows that while serious crimes