Clarke courier. [volume] (Berryville, Va.) 1869-1997, 1905-10-25
OLD TIME MYSTERIES
SOME RIDDLES IN LIFE THAT HAVE
NEVER BEEN SOLVED.

Lands and Peoples That Ar. sup,,.-
ed 90 Have Disapseared-The L-x-
enc OF the Lost Attsstf.-The An
Client Pygmies OF Tennessee.
The public appetite Graves nothing
30 much as a riddle, n secret to guess
but nowadays every mans life f. 40
bare. SO exploited. and we live SO much
out OF doors from the cradle TO the
grave that very few facts or fancies
can be kept hidden. There were. how
ever. certain mysteries which during
the last century the American public
pondered and worried over which are
yet unsolved and. except by n few old
people, are almost forgotten.
One OF these. perhaps the oldest. ia
the question whether beneath the At
iantic not far from the Bahamas there
Is a sunken continent known IN tho
Greeks as the lost Atlantis. II was
still talked OF familiarly IN the first
hah OF the last century. Scattering
men declared that when the water vvos
CAIN and clear they had caught
ghmpses OF ancient cities beneath. with
their glittering roofs and spires. and
that in certain conditions OF the atrnos-
phere the tolling OF the bells could ha
distinctly heard. Treatises were writ
ten by learned professors to prove the
probability Of the legend. and other
treatises. as learned and vehement TO
hout and jeer at IL as an idle fable.
certain hotsam and jetsam. which
was washed ashore after heavy storms
on the coasts OF Georgia and Florida
logs OF strange woods unknown TO this
generation. coins. bits OF carved marble
and beaten brass-was ascribed to the
long dead worlmen OF Atlantis.
The lost colony is now known only
as the subject OF an ancient fable. but
years ago Il was 10y most educated
people believed TO be an actual fact.
Another much discussed mystery
then was what had become Of the col
ony OF civilized people who at the time
OF the settlement OF the country lived
on the western coast OF Greenland.
That country is. Us you will see bv n
glance at the map. shaped something
like the half OF an egg. cut lengthwise
the fiat side upon the earth. the point
10 the south. The rounded center is n
heap Of impenctrable ice mountains.
As the centuries 90 by enormous
bodies OF fee slip from il into the sea
and, breaking Off. drift slowly down
along our coasts. These are the ice
bergs OF the Atlantic ocean. Now.
along the narrow slip OF habitable land
which edges Greenland on this side.
tradition says. once dwelt n civilized
people who. both i'm knowledge and the
habits OF hfe were far in advance OF
the Laplanders.
They were we'll known TO the early
Danish navigatOrs. who made frequent
mention OF them in their logs aud re-
ports. The question yet unanswered is.
Where are they now2 Tradition among
the Laplanders reports that the whole
colony two centuries ago emigrated In
a body 10 the eastern coast OF Green
land. attempting 70 cross the hitherto
impcnctrahlc masses Of ice in the cen
ter. No tdings ever have come back
from them. Some OF the scientific men
who accompanied the Hayes expedl-
ton made this question matter OF
special study. They reported that a
doubt could hardly exist that these
people did once inhabit that part OF the
coast and that they now had utterly
vanished. II they had been swept
away 10y n pcstilence their household
belongings at least would be left 10 tell
of them. but not n shard OF pottery,
not single grave. remains To show
that they ever lived. II was supposed
by the Danish missionaries that they
had pcrlShed in the ranges OF ice
mountains, but among the Laplanders
there were traditions that they had
safely reached the western coast and
settled there. now forming n civilized
community. wholly isolated from the
rest of the world. one OF Nansen's
voyages was. in fact, directed 10 that
coast I'm the hope Of finding this col
ony. He was not able to reach the
northern part OF the coast, and the
mystery is therefore yet unsolved.
Another problem which perpleXed the
last generation was the long extinct
pygmy race which centuries ago IN
dOubtedly Inhabited the Tennessee
mountains. Legends among the In
dams told OF such tribe Of dwarfs.
who We're supposed 10 be OF more in
telligence than the red men. But these
legends were very hazy. \ burying
ground, however. actually was discov-
cred in the early part OF the last cen
fury in which all OF the skeletons were
OF pygmy proportions. Some OF them
were carried away TO college museums.
But as far as / know no scientific in
Quiry has ever been directed TO this
question.
Another curious matter which caused
much speculation in the early part OF
the last century was the fate Of the
colony of French emigreS who fed TO
this country in the eighteenth century
and took refuge in the northern part
OF Alabama. Like those Freedmen
who found safety in Delaware. they
were for the most part of noble blood.
Marquises and counts earned their liv-
ing in Wilmington as dancing masters
and even chefs. and their descendants
live there still.
But the poor gentlefolk who went
pennileSs TO Alabama to escape the
guillotine penetrated the wilderness
and made up a colony of vine growers,
farmers. etc. They worked helplessly
awhile, starved and then melted away
mysteriously. Whether they returned
to ungrateful France or died in their
exile nobody knows. 1t was ro-
mantle, tragical question which much
interested the last generation and Is
now forgotten. But il i; still I'M