Staunton spectator and vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1896-1916, 1904-07-01
REMNANTS OF LOST
TRIBE OF ISRAEL ?

. tf ~ ~ .Oob
TRIBE OF ISRAEL
PECULIAR RACE OF PFornE LIVING
| UNDERGROUND IN GENITAL AMER
ICA-HAS EVIDENCES OF LUXURY
AND UNDERSTAND THE RITUAL OF
; FREE MASONRY.
The Chicago Chronicle says:
Col. }. G. Tucker, formed United
States Minister at Martinique, relates
stranger story of race of people liv.
ing in an underground city in Central
America. Col. Tucker some time ago
received information about race who
live in cities cut out of the rocks in the
mountains of Central America, III an
;out of the-way place, very difficult to
.reach. and which no stranger had visit
ed before him and returned alive. He
decided to Investigate. After reaching
a certain point Col. Tucker had to
travel 500 miles through wild jungles,
carrying his provisions on pack mule
and enduring many hardships on the
way. AS he neared the city his every
movement was watched and reported
; to the hlgh.priest of the tribe dwelling
Ethere, but no harm was offered him.
When he shot a pair of lions in the lun-
giles, which had been killing the ma
tives, he did an act that turned out to
be the very thing that gave him their
friendship and protection.
He was welcomed by the high priest,
who spoke good English, and was
shown through their wonderful CITY,
hewn out of the solid granite rocks in
the mountain side. To the uninitiated
the surface of the mountain gave no
clue to the city concealed within it. 1t
was entered by secret passenges, cum
ningly concealed by natures handi-
work, and which led to large, commodi-
Gus rooms, handsomely furnished, most
ly in old mahogany. Passages led to
hundreds of other rooms and to large
hall, in which the strange people met
and held meetings, while smaller open-
ings for ventilation went upward, end
ing among the rocks and jungles
above, so arranged that the rain could
not enter.
The tradition among these curious
people was that they originally came
from a country far away, and that
their mission was to Outwit their
enemies, which, in the beginning,
pursued them. At all entrances there
were side rooms. from which at mo-
ment's notice deadly gases could be let
loose upon any hostile invaders who |
might enter, and which would kill |
them instantly, while by sliding doors
of stone the gas would be kept from |
entering the city.
The light of the sun, moon or stars |
never enters their underground city, |
except through certain openings, by |
which they study the mysteries of the |
night skies, but they use electricity for |
lighting purposes. science they have |
learned bV keeping in touch with the |
outer world through their young men.
The Colonel says he was an attendant |
at their meetings and was surprised to |
find they were going through Masonic |
rituals, which he. being a Mason of |
high degree, understood This was an |
Inheritance of theirs from their ances- |
tors of the unknown past.
Col. Tucker has written many chap.
ters about these people and their city.
He has done so because be wishes to |
preserve the knowledge. He freely |
shows them to his friends, and has as
yet made no effort to publish them. The |
proprietor of well known Eastern
magazine, who visited the City of |
Mexico, and who was given the privi |
lege of reading the manuscripts, with
the prOvis0 that be would not publish
the contents, offered Col. Tucker first
$4,000 and then doubled that amount
if the Colonel would pilot him to the
city in the rocks. And he may yet do
SO.
Col. Tucker believes these people are
part of the lost tribe of Israel. He ha s
many old parchments they gave him,
which he has been unable to find any.
one to decipher for him, but which he
hopes to have read by some one of the
great scholars of the world, when the
mysteries they contain in their time
stained hieroglyphics will be made
plain, thus revealing to the world, per-
haps, the strangest story that evet link
ed the dim past with the living present.