The daily morning journal and courier., 1907-11-27

holes. At places along the mountain side are cave-ins where the fire has eaten so close to the surface that the weight has crushed down the supports and the top has fallen in. At other places where the vein outcropped the fire ate its greedy way to the surface, 1 leaving sullen gaping mouths wide open for more fuel.
 With the reclaiming of the mine employment will be given to one i thousand men and boys and around the base of the mountain will spring 1 up a mining village, while to the prop critics of the Lehigh Coal & Naviga- tion company will be added one that is still worth in excess of a million dollars.
 There are other mine fires in the anthracite region, The Baltimore, the Empire and the Jersey mines, near Wilkesbarre, have been burning for twenty-fire years, but one of them or perhaps all three combined are not of the dimension of the big fire that has ragged in the Greenwood colliery A similar fire has burned nearly ten years in Southern Russia. Tn 1897 an underground conflagration took place in coal mine in the Donets district All attempts to extinguish it proved fruitless, and there is an unbearable heat suffused over a wide district round about the working from the un- derground blaze.
 In various parts of the world there are fires, smaller in dimensions, that have been long burning. At Slapstones, near Osmotherly, village on the Yorkshire moor, in England, is an un- pretentious inn called the Chequers, which despite it's commonplace name and appearance, boasts of the possess sion of a fire than never goes out The inn has been in tEe occupation of the same family for moro than one hun dred years, and throughout that long term the fire in the Kitchen has never been extinguished The only British rival to the fire at Slapstones comes a long way behind. A Donegal publican, named Halloran, has fire which has not been extinguished for twenty years.
 But fires that have lasted for hun dreds of years are comparatively com mon in other parts of the world. The ancient fire worshipers of Persia kept fires alive for centuries, and the prac- tice is kept up by the Parsees, their modern descendants
 It is an article of faith with some of the seni-savage tribes of Portu- guese East Africa never to let fires go out The local superstition is that ev- cry time a fire is extinguished hu- man being goes to death. A man who lights fire and deliberately lets it go out is set upon by the tribe and killed His death expiates the crime and is supposed to prevent the death of some of his comrades.
 Sicilian vendettas sometimes lead tc the keeping up of a fire for years. The wronged individual solemnly lights 6 fire and swears that it will not be ex- tinguished until his desire for ven. geance is satisfied. When he leaves his home intent on murder he exhorts his wife to keep up the fire, otherwise his enterprises will fail When he has ob- tained vengeance he returns home tttNC ch lANC COul HUH LIlC BIdlGt SlflR6s his beard or mustache and tramps or the fire until 1t has gone out, At 6 trial which took place in Palermo about twelve years ago 1t was stated in evidence that the accused, who had just murdered an enemy, had kept his kitchen fire alight for four years.
 The shamanist tribes of Western Siberia regard fire with such rever- ence that they dread it's extinction When as many fires have gone out on earth as there are stars in the sky the world, they believe, will come to an end In cold country where fires are needed more than half the year this belief is, of course the cause of much inconvenience. A little casuistry, how ever, enables them to get over the diff f1culty. One fire, lighted with finder or matches, is always kept alive, tive tribesmen being constantly on the watch Fires for domestic use are lighted by taking brand from this chief fire. The Shamanist logic is that these latter are not real fires, not hay. r ing been kindled by artificial means They are merely parts of the great fire; their extinction causes no harm.
 In 1906 Bradford (England) mar kept his study fire burning for sever months because of a dream. In his dream he saw his fire suddenly go out and the next moment he imagined he was bankrupt and starving Beine somewhat superstitious, he insisted that the fire be kept up Failing heil to a large fortune at the end of the . year, he is now engaged in spending it, having seemingly forgotten the dream
 Near Bebreezin, in Hungary, is { fire which has lasted for thirty-sever years It is kept up in consonance witt an old custom existing in the famil, of M Avyari, a local landed proprie i tor. When M. Avyarl was born, thirty lseven years ago, the fire was lighted 5 It will not be extinguished until hi death. In the same house exists an other fire, eight years old, lighted ol the eldest sons birthday This, in turn will be kept alive until the sons death and when an heir shall be born to hin a third fire will be lighted In the eigh teenth century four fires were goinl at the same time, the eldest being tha of the eat-grandfather, the young est that of his great-grandson. In Siam is fire which not onl lasts for years but has "lineal descend ' ants" In a Buddhist temple at Bang 0 l1ok the priests every fourth Nev
 Year light a fresh fire in big brazier
 This fire is kept alive for four year land extinguished after supplying Ibrand to light it's successor The nrac