The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1909-04-10
SOME ANCIENT CUSTOMS.
Religious Celebrations That Are Cor
eeous and Costly.


seous and Costly.
Tue beautiful flower which Is now
in evidence on every hand, the Easter
lily. is The result Of a development
which might almost be called an eyolu
ton. Records Of the existence OF tbs
plant which is now known as Iht
Easter lily go back to 1000 b. c. Al
that time the emperor Of China wa
Chow, about the most cruel ruler Ia,
Celestial empire has ever had Hi.
prime minister was Ii Chung. a reail
good man, who hinied TO the despD
that his restless people could be pa,
fed by inaugurating a series Of IL
forms. The cruel ruler became ia.
censed, and, as be had an unpleasant
habit Of ordering OF few heads each
day, Ii Chung concluded that IL was
about time for him to think OF getting
away 10 a place Of safety. For some
time he watched bis master. aud when
he became convinced that the danger
point had been reached he asked for
a private audience. This was granted.
The good though crafty Ii Chung in.
formed the emperor that he had had 9
vision In which he was commanded by
the gods to make a sacrifice OF 100
sturdy young men and 1J0 beautiful
young women But-and here was the
unusual portion Of the demand Of the
gOds-it was required that the sacrifices
be made upon an island far out in the
sea, TO which the commander OF the
expedition would be directed by super
natural aid. 1t was further command
ed that u period of elaborate feastins
should precede the sacrifices.
The superstitious emperor listened
carefully and was manifestIy pleased.
He was relieved to find that he could
so easily extrlcate himself from his
difficulties. The willy Ii Chung doubt
less noticed that his story was making
an impression and elaborated upon his
original fiction accordingly. At any
rate, Ii Chung. as he had anticipated.
was appointed to the command of the
finest ship In the royal navy and was
charged with the important duty of
seeing that the wishes Of the gods
were carried out TO the letter.
Chung selected the young men and
women and loaded his vessel with the
choicest delicacies the Kingdom afford
ed. Among them were the lilies, which
were highly esteemed as an article Of
food.
OF course Chung's ship never came
back. Instead but two sailors months
afterward returned in a craft which
they had themselves built. They relat-
ed that the ship has been lost in
storm and that all but themselves had
persisted. This was fiction. Ii Chung
knew of the existence of the islands to
which he had alluded, and It was there
that he had sailed after informing the
young men and women that they were
not 10 be sacrificed. but were to live
peaceably under his rule In a new land
where oppression should be unknown
The islands which Ii Chung thus set
tied now comprise the empire Of ia
pan.
Owing to the difference In the nature
of the soil and the fact that the lily
was not cultivated as In China, the
plant soon lost much Of its root and
gained correspondingly above ground
In time 1t lost its value as an article
Of diet. but 1t gained In beauty and
was admiringly spoken of by travellers
IN Japan. Still IT was not transplanted
to the western hemisphere until 1873.
when an American named Harris in
trOduced II into Bermuda. which &C.
counts for its scientific name Of LII
ium harrisii. which 1t still retains,
though It is more generally known as
the trumpet lily, Bermuda lily and
Easter lily because of its extensive use
at the Easter season.