The county record. [volume] (Kingstree, S.C.) 1885-1975, 1904-03-31


lily the lily of the valley. the stately
calla, or the wonderful PARRISH. or
Easter lily. these are only three
varieties of Il very great FAMILY
members of which are found Ill
all quarters OF the earth. Everywhere
the lily has been honored and held
sacred flower. whether by the Dahks
of the storied Nile or Ganges. where,
as the lotus. it received honorS little
short of those accorded to delH. or III
heather Greece where it was conSe-
Grated 10 Juno. the "potleSS Yet lmper-
iouS Queen of olympus: or later Ill
Christian countries. where the hover
w,s dedicated To the Virgin Mary. NO
great artist. when he painted the HoI!
Notber, ever forgot 10 place near Her
tho flower that WAS the symbol OF her
heavenly rank. 1t is also i'll ART the
>vmhS of saints. martyrs and an
gels.
The Easter lily is Il native of the
c,st Those now cultivated III Berlilu-
da, and popularly known as the Der,
mrd, Iilv were originally imported
there from Japan for commrrchil our-
poses. The lily played an important
mart in Chinese history 1850 years aSo'
II barornrd that the FloWcry Ming
dom WAS ruled hy the Emperor 'ho"'
;, mouarcl. universally feared ana nat
ed No one could depend on ms ialor'
;.ud at last his best friend. the iriln'
Minister Ii Chung. began to reMDie
for his life.
Knowing wei! the b!oodthirSty ha-
,,.,o. ,, thr Emprror. Ii Chung devised
i clever scheme to csCap" from HIS
power.
One da. when he fancied that the
runeror WAS in favorable mood. ne
hynached the plan. II was iilit loo OF
,h,. strongest young men ana 100 oi
the mos; beautiful maid"nS should DF
srnt with him on board slip Ia an isl
and in the SOL. which he said had been
revealed 10 him in Il dream ny me
Gods. There. for the welfare o1 emma
taud lis condition could not have been
much w0rScI these people were 10 o'
sacrificed 10 the ,iriri"S for the b"neht
of tEei- native country. There was
4 sau.llinary touch about the plan
tha, particularly recommended II 20
;hr blooGthrSty mind of wicked OLD
Chow. and lie immediately gave cheer
ful assent 10 the project. even showed
.hr.uinp royal
prince and princess or two as special!
tidbitS for the CORY banquet of the
gods.
The ship in which Ii Chung and his
lundrrd yuun- men and maidens
sailed was the very finest that China
afforded. The lardcr was filled with
daiutieS and every provision was made
that the victims should be kept III first.
class condition until the time for the
sacrifice. The first tom tom musicians
i'm the Kingdom We're loaned for the
VOYAGE to charm the ears OF the pas
SanuerS with sweet sounds. But i'll
vain the artists tried their most pleas
irs compositions: nobody would sing
or dance. while the prevalence Of red
eyes indicated that Il good deal OF
weeping WAS going on.
When they were far from China.
however. Ii Chung took the paSSei-
ccrs into his confidence. He had not
intended to kill them II all; instead
they were goin" to the most beautiful
island i'm the world. where they would
settle and where they would live hap
pily ever after. far from the power OF
the wicked Chow.
This island was Japan. and here they
did settle. But they had brought with
them great quantiticslof lily bulbs as
! food. Nobody had been able To eat
much on Shipboard. and quantities of
these bulbs were left over. They were
planted, and in the balmy climate of