The Greenville journal. [volume] (Greenville, Ohio) 1850-1918, 1907-06-27

out to the left between the church and
the rivers brink, there stands a cir
cular mound, between 70 and 80 feet
tation and trees of many centuries
growth. About the circumference of
this mound a clearly defined path
winds its way gently upward from the
base to, the summit, whence the view
OF the surrounding country would be
superb were it not for the great alti-
tude of the intervening trees.
Passing the house and following the
crest of the height for some little dis
tance to the left, you find IL mounds
smaller dimensions. Many had been
the discussions in regard to the ORR
gin of these elevations, until finally
after some little entreaty, my friends
had consented to allow Investigations
to be made. Two of the mounds had
in consequence been opened. In the
first had been discovered the we'll
conserved skeleton of a man, while in
the second lay that of young and
evidently most beautiful woman in a
head was perfect in shape; the teeth,
Of which not one was missing, were
like two rows of evenly matched
pearls. and, strange to say, the hair
stfll lay in two great braided coils
upon either side of the temples, CIV
ing SO lifelike an appearance to the
corpse that my hostess had positively
declined to allow another one of the
silent denizens of these ancient burial
places to be disturbed. Through the
heavy braids that still adorned what
once had been the. earthly habitation
of a God-sent soul we're thrust long
pins of strangely wrought metal and
about the neck was string of curious
ly cut Siberian stones, with ear
rings to match. There were, further
more, numerous bracelets, but unfor-
tunately I saw none of these things,
as the finder, renowned scientist,
had requested permission to take them
to Moscow, there to have them exam
IhCu Win a FLCW " uCICl upOl
the period as to which they belonged.
Although no further Investigations
were made! it was conclusively proved
that these were burial grounds, dating
many centuries back. The largest
one near the church is generally con-
sidered to be that of some great chief
of former ages.
A strange ceremony the like Of
which could be witnessed in no coun-
try other than Russia took place one
Sunday. AS we were leaving the
church directly after the morning
service, servant met us, informing
our host that the people were on their
way to his residence, bringing with
them greatly revered image from a
far-distant church.
These images are from time to time
borne with great pomp and solemnity
about the country and are supposed
to confer especial blessings upon any
household whose portals they may
enter.
We found the maids and servants
already busily preparing the spacious
hall for the reception Of the image.
A table covered with a spotless linen
cloth had been placed in the center,
facing the double glass doors that
opened from the wide porch or ter
race Upon 1t stood two high silver
candlesticks and a silver basin for
holy water, while all the furniture had
been removed from the hall in order
to make space for the image and Its
accompanying throng.
From the terrace we could see, in
the far distance, dark, waving line
making its way along beneath the