Okolona messenger., 1903-03-18
FALE OF - ANcnNT ~
TAa ora Aooouat o. Its Founaiag a.
tn'It Was RslAted ~ King
nIaHua

Trom the year B. Q. $50 20 TIE gsas
4 D. 1901 u . long stretch, yet both
years have an event IN cOmmOn-an
event, too, that deals with elaborata
and wsI-thOught-out sxperiments Of
. science that the a.7o0 yeaTs have aOt
succeeded IN bringing 70 perfection
that Of aerial navigation, writes Hars
old Hamel Smith, In Literary
Thoughts. King Bladud, By tradition
at least, 10 said 10 have been the dis
ooverer and founder Of the ancient oitg
Of Bath. lake NJ santos-Dumont, he
stroVs 70 solve the difaculty OF -aeriAi
fight II was only by q miracle that
the plucky Brazilian engineer In hia
last trial at Paris did not share the
same fate as Bladud. who, We ere told,
met his death through trying 10 hy
By means of wings, andin one Of which
attempts he fell and broke his neck.
This Bladud was the son Of Lord
Hudibras, king OF Britain, by whom he
was banished from court, owing TO his
having contracted leprosy. Thequeens
hts mother, on his departure gave him
q ring, so that when he was cured
which the poor woman believed to be
imposdble-hs could return and make
htmaelf known and be retnStAted n
that rank and dignity that was HE
right by birth. Bladud therefore sea
forth, not knowing where to go. Meet
ing With . gWineherd on the oppoEta
bank Of the Avoz to where Bath now
stands, he offered his services as an
assistant, which, being accepted, he
took . portion Of the herd under his
care. Noticing after . time that the
pigs IKE himself, had become c0ntam-
mated With the dreaded disease, and
fearful lest the Swineherd should no.
tiOS 50, he drove them over TO the op.
posite bank, under the pretext that the
aoornH were finer on that side, but IN
reality to give himself time TO oon'
sider what he should DO. While thus
he pondered the pigs wallowed In tbs
mud, warmed by the then unknown hot
mineral springs that abOunded about
that spot, and Bladud noticed that
after repeating the performance fOa
two or three days the Affected pigs
land especially one old sow got cured
Of their leprosy. The idea ct once
seized him TO try 10 cure himself. So,
stripping himself, he, like the pigs,
rolled in the healing mud until. TO his
delight, he, too, discovered himself
quit OF his enemy. On finding this out
he drove back his herd, and, leaving his
employer without more edo, present.
cd himself ct King Lud'S court, and
by means Of the ring his mother gave
him was recognized and relnStated &c
the son and heir to the kingdom. After
this his father sent him on q Journey
70 Athens 10 study the sciences. end
it was there that he first conceived tha
idea that man by means Of wings
could hy through the AFR the same Ga
the birds. On the death Of HE fathea
he succeeded to the throne, and one Of
his first acts was 10 erect, IN the yoaR
b. Q. 56S, q palace near the spot whore
he and his herd Of swine had been cured
20 that others affected with lsproSy
could come and battle IN the healing
liquid.
This idea Of the founding q Bath
prevailed until the eighteenth century.
In 1899 q statue to Bladud was erected
IN the hng's bathroom, where It Still
remains. Modern research, however, is
Inclined to disbelieva this account and
70 date the foundation of Bath to the
redgn of the Roman Emperor Claudiua
IN the first century, when the City Of
Aquae Soils (''Waters Of the SUM- wac
built. After the Romans Bath re-
mained in the possession Of the Brit
ons for over 9 century, during which
period King Arthur is said TO have sue
qessfully repulsed attacks Of Aelia and
Cerdic, the Saxon kings. In SIT, how
ever, after the death of Arthur, the
Saxons proved victorious, and, gaining
an entry into the city, destroyed not
only the hns buildings erected by the
Romans. but also the massive walls &c
wen.