The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1909-09-02

tower an containin' stone slab in
scribed on both sides These slabs
together contain all oy the writings
ov Buddha. Talk erbout patience
an zeal-these blasted heather hev
hit or they could not put up the
wonderful temples an things found
In this part ov the world.
About six miles from Mandalay.
near the Irawaddy. stands the foun-
dation ov a pagoda which. IL finished.
would be the largest in the world
Hit wuz started In 1890 by King Bo-
dopaya. Burma an Siam had bin at
war an Siam whipped Burma II IL
thought that the Burmese King
hoped to acquire merit" az the
heather say. an started the wonder
full pagoda with that In view. But
from some cause the buildin' wuZ not
finished. The structure begins with
four galleries. the first bein' five hun
dred feet square an each fifty feet
less In diameter. On this foundation
the base ov the pagoda proper wuz
laid, the first story bein' $50 feet
square an risin' ter. height ov one
hundred an sixty feet. Those who
have taken the trouble ter measure
an estimate the plans ov the founda-
ton say that the buildin' would hev
bin 500 feet high had hit bin finish
ed. Hit liz sed that the people COM
planned an the King abandoned the
costly pagoda after vast amount ov
labor an money had bin expended.
In fact. the buildin' ov the pagoda
first described In this article nearly
broke Burma an gave rise ter the
proverb: THE pagoda is finished
an the country is ruined"
To match this pagoda a bell wuz
cast 1t IL called the Mingoon bell"
an IL the largest sound bell in the
world. The great bell ov Moscow.
Russia, IL larger, but wuz cracked be-
fore hit wuz finished. This Burmese
bell IL 81 feet high, IS feet in diam
eter at the bottom, feet in diameter
at the top. But az the pagoda wuz
not completed, the bell hez never bin
used. This bell weighs ninety tons.
In Burma there air fifty-seven
thousand priests. seven thousand ov
whom live at Mandalay. They awl
stand fer Buddhism. The term
"priest-ridden" certainly applies ter
Burma with a vengeance. They air
awl mendicants-that IL, they air
pledged ter live by begging. If you
will visit any ov the towns or cities
in Burma you will see these priests
goin' from door to door carryin' their
rice bowls. They cannot ask fer food
in words. but the holding Of the rice
bowl speaks loud enough an the Gus
tom IL old. If food liz refused at one
house they move silently on and stop
at the next door where the same
not permit the owning Of property by
the priesth God. If the church does
not furnish a home they must live
under the shade ov a tree. The only
property the priests can own liz a
robe, a rice bowl. a leather mat to
sleep on, If no one invites them to
spend the night in their homes,
razor, needle, ran and hitter
cup. When not ION the road" fer
they remind me more Of the Ameri-
can tramp than anythin' else, they
air supposed to be in the "monas-
teries," which air erbout on par with
the smallest cabins you see In some
sections ov North Carolina.
Buddhism IL sed ter be reformed"
Hinduism. Anvil you hev ter do IL
ter jine an stick to hit It'll Hades
freezes over; you don't have to be
religious; zeal IL the whole thing.
An az a matter ov course, thar air
lots ov people in the real denomina-
lions in the United States who act az
II they had taken lessons in Budd-
hism, fer If they hev ever "experi-
enced" religion their closest Majors