Daily press. [volume] (Newport News, Va.) 1896-current, 1905-10-01
OLD TIME MYSTERIES
SOME RIDDLES in LIFE THAT HAVE
/ NEVER BEEN SOLVED.

Lands and Peoples Tint Are snppos-
ca TO Have DiHnppenred-The Leg
end of the Lost Atlantis-The An.
cient Pygmies of Tennessee.
The public appetite Graves nothing
SO much as riddle, secret to guess,
but nowadays every mans life is SO
bare, SO exploited, and we live SO much
out of doors from the cradle to the
grave that very few facts or fancies
Gun be kept hidden. There were, how
ever, certain mysteries which during
the last century the American public
pondered and worried over which nre
yet unsolvcd and, except by a few old
people. nrc almost forgotten.
One Of these, perhaps the Oldest, is
the question whether benenth the At
lantic not fa1'- from the Bahamas there
is sunken continent known to the
Greeks rs the lost Atlantis. 1t was
still talked Of Familiarity in the first
half of the last century. Seafnring
men declared that when the water was
calm and clear they had caught
glimpses of ancient cities beneath. with
their glitterlng roofs and spires, and
that In certain conditions OF the atlnos.
phere the tolling Of the bells could be
distinctly heard. Trcatises were writ
ten by learned professors to prove the
probability OF the legend, and other
treatises, as learned and vehement, TO
fout and jeer mt It rs an idle fable.
Certain Gotsnm and jetsam, which
was washed ashore after heavy storms
tla nf Il ~
logs Of strange woods unknown to this
generation. coins, bits OF carved marble
and beaten brnss-was ascribcd to the
long dead workmen OF Atlantis.
The lost colony Is now known only
as the subject of an ancient fable, but
years ago It WIS by most educated
people believed to be an actunl fnct.
Another much discussed mystery
then was what had become Of the col
ony Of civilized people who ut the time
Of the settlement or the country lived
on the western coast OF Greenland.
That country is, as you will see by a
glance at the map, shaped something
like the half Of nn egg, cut lengthwise,
the fiat side upon the earth, the point
to the SOUTH The rounded center Is Il
heap Of impenetrablc ice mountains
AS the centuries go by enormous
bodies of Ice slip from It 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 hahitnblc land
which edges Greenland OH this side.
|sEzfsessnst1on says, once dwclt civilized
aSf8sSj}ft who both In knowledge and the
dot life, were far in advance of
sss linown to the early
He&saEES who made frequent
fsFsS fs & their logs and re-
yet unanswered Is.
~ Tradition among
PORTS that the whole
s. 81 fcnt,irles ago emigrated In
~ eastern coast OF Green
& attempting to cross the hitherto
aae mpenetr0blc masses OF Ice i'm the cen
ter No tidings ever have come back
from them. Some Of the scientific men
who accompanied tho Hayes cxpedi-
ton made this question n, matter Of
special study. They reported that Il
doubt could hardly exist TINT these
people did once inhnbit that part of the
coast and that they now had utterly
vanished. If they had been swept
away by pestirnce their household
belongings at least would be left to tell
of them, but not shard OF pottery,
not single grave, remains 10 show
that they ever lived. 1t WAS supposed
by the Danish missionaries that they
had persisted in the ranges of Ice
mountains, but among the I.aplandcrs
there were traditions that they lind
safely reached the western coast and
settled there, now forming a civilized
community. wholly isoluted from the
rest OF the world. One of Nnnsen's
voyages was, In fact, directed to that
coast In the hope Of finding this col
ony. He was not able to rench the
northern part of the const, and the
mystery is therefore yet unsolved.
Another problem which pcrplexcd the
Elnst generation was the long extinct
( pygmy race which centuries ago un-
doubtedly inhabited the Tennessee
lnountains. Legends among the III
dams told of such Il tribe OF dwarfs,
who were supposed to be Of more in
telligence than the red men. But these
legends were very hazy. a burying
ground, however. actually was tliscov-
cred i'll the cnrly part OF the Inst cen
tury 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
j Quify has ever been directed to this