The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1900-12-23

defeated the foes Of his brother the I'm
ueror in a series OF civil war. ana aiitI
wards routed the heathens Of the norm
A curious statue L. that Of the i1rate "oN'
or Col Of Thieves. Up to the present ecu
tur, the plrnte was an honorable genile-
man in the Middle Kingdom, just a. the
bucauesr was IN the days % Coed queen
Bess The Pirate God is said 20 be inc
dedication Of a famous sea rover w.o
swept tno China coast about l.u" b 'r
and who. according to legends, went Hr
far west a. the land Of the pyrainlls.
How FAR his Journeys are true or mythical
cannot be- determined.
Korean and African Idols
Korean IDIOTS are sparse IN New fork
and % little artistic value. one or Two
however. are Of considerable interest. 'n'
In this city is the stone pile which WIS
erected upon hills and mountain peak
and even h0usctops. 20 frighten away lh-
visible beings These spiritual heac'na
are very common la the Hermit Kingdom
ana the one which il now here has PROV
ably been prayed over By nuu1feas -
thousands OF supcrstitious brown mon.
Rather com.caI Is the Korean rog-toN.
This Is a hollow construction shaped llkn
a tortoise. ln which are three small coins.
when prayed over by priest of q deFout
believer 10 possesses remarkable power
against evil things, and also b. supposch
10 bring good luck 20 the owner. rms
numbsr-throe-is sacred four coins or
two coins having no power whatever.
Africa Is fairly well represented 100 New
York by structures tn stone wood, ana
ivory. al Of them are low in ihe scale
OF art SYMBOLISM aud religious concep-
HN.. H.Fn Dr.
20. the God OF Thunder orc. the God OK
the Night wind and storm Ogun. the
War God: Ashu the God Of kv.l. and
ETA. the God Of Secrets. The iost-named
deity is the Only one treated pocticaiy-
Il ls generally symbolized ny bltd
apparently q dove-alth0ugh what hir.
has 20 do with keeping secrets Is pro
found mystery. IL is evident mat IN
Africa they aave no saying correspoudihs
20 our childhood clause. "A little BIRD
told Il 20 me" This African exhibit
though excellent as Tar a. sc goes. d not
as complete as that which Bishop turner
brought from the Dark Continent ana eA-
hbiiyd some years ago.
our own continent supplies very neat
display. The Redskins proper make tho
poorest showing The Chiuooke, Aleuis.
and other Alaskan tribes are Gar better
represented while the ancient races Or
Mexico aud Central America lead them
all The figures confirm the present be-
lief OF ethnologists that this part Of the
continent wac at one time peopled bv q
number Of tribes or races possessing ga 20
its own religion and civilization. Tner"
were the Mayas. Aztecs. Toltccs. kiches
/ Kichekns. Gutuhils. and Guatema'ans.
our knowledge respecting their religion
e very slight. ana 81 Is difficult 20 idtuii-
| IS the various figures which we possess
| The workmanship OF these idols Is rather
poor. They do not compare with those
OF Asia. aud are scarcely much better
I than the African figures II art is true
| criterion OF civilization the Central Amer
/ lean races had not attained high de-
yelopment AZ the time the Idols were
I made. The isles Of the South Sea are
/ fairly represented. The idols are evident
/ iy OF the same general origin. and iudi-
cate that the various groups of islands.
such as Hawaii Samoa. Tahiti. FIJI. and
/ Marquesas. were peopled by the same
race They an had a god OF the sea. VINO
/ nshed up isnnds with a hook ana line
/ from the bottom OF the ocean. His name
| Ia az least eight archipelagoes is Maui.
/ In those islands where there are active
| volcanoes there was a fire goddess Prlc.
| Iono the Rain Col Ku. the Evil Spirit.
| and Tame the Creator Of Man. were three
| ether prominent members OF their pan
J theou.
! The chief feature OF the Judson Memo
/ rial collection IS a well-seleoIed assortment
I OF Burmese divinitics. These are mani
/ testify the result OF the iuterpenetratiou
I Of Hindu and Chinese schools Of Thought
| The Buddha OF Burmah Is essentially
Monaghan while the elephant god Is clear
~ a survival % the Hindu Gancsh. The
Burmese appear 20 have had considerable
skill IN carving. but their workmanship is
that OF The artisan and not the artist
They reyelled In detail work. hut were
inefficient in design and proportion. Like
the Chinese they have a barbaric love for
gold and gilded almost every object which
they employed in connection with their
temples Later Burmese work indicates
a marked retrogresSion over early spoci-
mems and indicates that the country hai
gone steadily downwards.
The collections show that all the great
religions OF the world have resortei 20
the ben either FOR calling the faithful 20
prayer or frightening away evil spirits.
Most OF the religions nave employed The
war-drum or the tom-tom for the same
purpose. All OF them have used incense.
/ and all have cultivated sacrihces Of some
sort. The oldest IDOLS OF Asia, the pres
/ ent ones Of Africa. and those OF Next a
| demanded human sacrifices. the same az
| did the Babylonians in the days OF Abra-
/ ham Only two OF the older religions seem
/ 10 have had no idols. Those are the faiths
| OF Israel and Of Islam