The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1902-08-31

''Swannanoal Nymph of beauty
would WOO thee with my rhyme,
Brightest gladdest. sunniest river
OF oue southern sunny clime."
Asheville, n. c., August 28.-6SpeciaL)
The very rhyme and cadence OF Gu
phony abide IN the soft, musical Chero-
kee names which still cling to the plash-
ing, purllrg cascades and streams of tho
odd North State'-each name interpre-
ting some mystic rite or dark vigil which
formed Sc g-eat part of the spiritual
life of the tribal peoples who first broke
the human silences on these mighty
peaks ana adown these soft wales. The
Indian legends and traditions are the
NEST weird and charming we have, and
within a radius of half a hundred miles
from this picturesque site, the highest
conception of aboriginal character in
America existed. It Is scarcely within
the range Of possible speculation that the
red men OF the American forests ever
heard whisper Of the Duncan Sybal, OF
the dark hymn of Orpheus, or of any of
the prete1natural practices CT the people
Of the Nile, or Of Greece, or of later Ro-
man signs and cabals; but in their very
names we f1nd volumes Of mystic teach
ing and meaning, showing that b. soma
unknown and unseen agency OF through
some weird vehicle of communication,
their spiritual existence was Influenced
ard directed in lines of analogy SO strik-
ing as to persuade US, almost, that one
of those peoples guiding star must have
interchanged oracles and signs with the
other The origin of the ancient myster-
les may, with the greatest probability,
be ascrihed TO the same purpose which
forms brotherhoods among ourselves.
Even down to the very beggars them
selves, all have their societies, their con-
fraternities, their mysteries, and their
particular jargon-of which l own a
small dictionary printed in the sixteenth
century. These mysteries being sacred,
In past ages it was considered a great
crime to reveal the secrets of these dark
forces.
The histories tell us that Diagores was
prescribed by the Athenians for having
mode the venerable secret hymn Of Or
pheus a subject OF common conversation,
and Aristotle informs us that Eschylus
was in danger Of being torn to pieces by
the people for having, In one Of his
dramas, given some idea Of those Or
phean mysteries. 1t appears that Alex
snder had small respect ror these rev.
erend focleries, for he revealed the Sc
cret to his mother Olympias, but adj
vised her to say nothing about 1t. With
the aboriginees of America as with the
Greeks and Romans, every mystery had
its peculiar ceremonies-all admitting of
wakes and vigils of which the youthful
votaries fully awaited themselves
1t was abuse Of this kind which finally
brought diseredit upon these nocturnal
ceremonies instituted for sanctifcation.
These ceremonies, thus perverted. once
caused a crime which Is probably the
most heirous In tho history of the Cher
okee Indlans-that of the murder Of the
noble chieftain, Heeowassee, who endeav-
ored to abate the sceEes of excessive de-
bauchsry on their festal days as highly
Injurious to public morals. He was
trapped In a most mysterious manner
and conveyed to the pit of kissing rat
tlesnakes, and there amidst the Wild
est midnight orgies, stung to death by
the reptiles. In Greece, these perverted
ceremonies persisted, think, in the time
of the Peloponnesiar war; at Rome they
fingered on in the time of Cicero's youth.
eighteen years before his consulship."
The Cherokess OF North Carolina still
adhere to primitive ceremonies and rites
said to be grossly revolving, but INDUCED
in only at their chief festivals, and with
much care that the law forces cannot
reach them-exclusive and rigid secrecy
from the whites. The running of the
gauntlet OF chastity by the Cherokee
msidens of the tribe is one of the severe
and often dangerous test, for the malg-
nant has the chance to wing his poisoned
arrow in the dark.
swannanoa is the name of a SOFTLY
with the racing French Broad at Ashe-
vile after. winding It's course through
the imperial domain of Mr.. Vanderbilt
its banks lined with thousands of shrubs
and flowers transplanted from remote
places of the earth. "Swannanoa" per-
petuates the weird sound of the multi
tudinous ravens wings, which once were
its music-makers for the red men of its
borders. "Tuckaseegee," the terraplns of
the ponds and valleys; ''Nantahala," the
glorious MONDAY sun; "Cullaasja," the
sweet water; "Tacheeosta," (Racin riv-
err, now known over the wide world as