The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1903-11-19
CURIOUS LAWSUIT IN cEYLON.
BASED Upon Property Rights Acquired
In Singular Manner Five
Centuries Ago.


lars once hung on the life Of a bull
frog. The frog died five centuries ago,
and the story might have died with it,
except for a lawsuit which has now
stirred up the whole island Of Ceylon.
In one report of this lawsuit, as pub
lished in the Times, of Ceylon, the sad
nature of the frogs death Is portrayed,
and still sadder facts are also made
public which show how the fortune
went the way of the frog, says the
New York Tribune.
The claimants to the fortune assert
that they have an ancestor who was
yeritable Nimrod On one occasion,
they say. King Parakrama Bahu VI,
who ruled over Ceylon in the middle of
the fifteenth century, held a great ath-
letic tournament, and invited all the
archers to contest for prize. OF these
who entered the contest there we're two
whose skill seemed to be equal. There
was no target which they could not hit.
The king was at loss to decide how to
bestow the prize. when bullfrog
croaked loud and deep In a nearby
pond. At the sound the monarch
leaped from his throne and shouted:
There, there! The man who can
kill that frog shall win the prize"
The two contesting archers looked
at the pond. but saw no frog. The
Willy reptile was lurking beneath the
water.
You must shoot by the sound"
said the king. Your eyes are equally
keen. This is contest of the ears"
The first archer drew his string and
at the next stroke he sped his arrow.
1t disappeared beneath the water, but
few moments later there came an
other croak. The arrow had missed.
Then the second archer bent his bow,
ing in his ears he shot at the invisible
target. The arrow plunged into the
water, but soon reappeared floating
upon the surface, transfixed in the
body of the frog. The reptile had
croaked its last.
Moved by his admiration for such
6 marksman, the king presented him
with a tract of $4,000 acres. including
several villages, and gave him as title
to the estate "sannas," or copper
plate, on which were inscribed the
terms of the gift
For some reason or other, so the
present claimants to this vast fortune
say, the copper plate was lost, and in
order to substantiate their claim they
had two school teachers at Gale
make another. This they showed at
court as identical with the "sannas"
which King Parakrama Bahu vi. gave
to the peerless frog killer.
AS this whole territory is now crown
land, G. M. Fernando, who appeared
for the crown, took shot at the claim
ants much as their distinguished an
cestor took shot at the frog Accord
ing to his arguments, the frog was
killed all right and the land was grant,
ed by the king to the archer. The for
tune might have peacefully descended
from father to son in the family of
the famous frog killer had not one Of
them turned traitor and been beheaded
for favoring the British. AS the result
of his untimely end the land escheated
to the crown, the "sannas" was taken
back and the fortune was lost.
According to the dispatches from
Ceylon, the judges who heard the case
have not yet rendered their decision
The two school teachers, however,
have been sentenced to five years at
hard labor for forgery.