Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-09-24
MUMMY HooDoU.
Preserved Corpse of Egyptian Princess
Brought Bad Luck With It.
London Cor. Chicago Inter Ocean.

London Cor. Chicago Inter Ocean
In a corner of the first Egyptian room at
the British Museum, behind the crouching
body of the prehistoric chief who lived be-
fore there were Pharaohs in Egypt or
pyramids on the Nile. stands a woman
nodded from some ancient form Of card
board. She Is merely a shell, the cover Of
mummy case. Her hands are crossed
upon her breast and her dark eyes stare
forward into vacancy. e.,
According to the catalogue, she Is No.
22,542, a problematical royal parsonage and
a priestesS In the mighty city of Thebes
some 1000 years before Christ.
And about this same coffin cover there
hangs as terrible story as ever an Edgar
Allan Poe or a Balzac or Kipling produced
from a gloomy imagination.
If you question the attendants in the
first Egyptian room they will shake their
heads and say nothing. But there is ia
nous professor in the museum who knows
the facts. though whether they be a coinci-
dence or manifestation of supernatural
power it would be hard to say. There is
second professor of the more exact sci
enceS and traveller of distinction who are
equally well informed.
About the middle of the COS a party of
five friends took ship in a dahabia for a
trip up the Nile. They travelled to Luxor
on their way to the Second Cataract, and
stayed there to explore the ruins of the
great and wonderful city of Thebes with
Its avenues of sphinxes and rams its vast
hall of columns. and it's temple to Amen
IA, which Is unequaled on earth in the
sublimtty of its ruined magnifcence
Lady Duff Gordon entertained the party
at dinner, while the consul Mtistapha
Aga, held strange dance of the Gaivazi
ladies' or Luxor. There were salutes and
iiluminations to mark the arrival of the
guests.
One night an Arab sent by Mustapha Aga
came to one of their number. Mr. D., as we
may call him, saying that he had just found
a mummy case of unusual beauty What
became of the mummy the man did not ex-
plain. The next morning Mr. D. bought
tne case Both he and his companions
Were impressed by its remarkable beauty
and by the curious face Of the woman por-
trayed. a face that was filed with a cold
witness.
They had agreed that. being all interested
In Psychology. they should apportion their
nnds by lot. and so, though Mr. D. had
been the cause Of It's discovery, he lost the
mummy cover which passed to friend
whom we will call Mr.. w.
1t was on their return journey that the
series of misfortunes commenced Mr. DIS
servant was handing him gum when with
out visible cause it exploded. the charge
lodging in his arm, which had to be ampu-
tated; second died in poverty within the
year; third was shot; while Mr.. w, the
owner of the mummy case, discovered on
his arrival in Cairo that he had lost a large
ward. The priestess of Amen Ra had sig
nified her displeasure in a very convincing
manner.
From the date 1t was shipped on board the
steamer Mr.. D. lost sight of the mummy
case for several years. He did not at the
time in any way associate the misfortunes
that had occurred to the party with it's dis
covery, but when he next heard of it and
had full information of the disasters which
had been subsequently associated with its
possession he began to suspect that 1t was
not merely chance, not merely coincidence
that had brought so sinister fate on all
who had dealings with the priestess of
Amen Ra.
On the arrival of the case in England 1t
was given by its owner. Mr.. w, to mar
rfed sister living near London. From the
day the case entered the house mistor-
tune followed misfortune. The family
suffered large losses. and the end came
with painful troubles which need not be
specified
The lady while In possession of the
case. received one day a visit from Nine
Blavatsky. The great theosophist be-
came much disturbed on entering the
room, and after a few minutes conversa-
ton told her hostess that there was
something in her house possessed of
most malignant influence. She asked to
be allowed to search the house. and, on
discovering the coffin lid, appealed to her
hostess to send away an object which she
described as of the utmost danger Her
hostess however, refused laughing at
what she imagined to be an example of
foolish superstition.