The Wheeling intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1903-1961, 1919-05-10
Among the stranges. stories and Incl

Among the strangest stories and Incl
dents Of tho-Great War. is the experience
OF a British soldterhn Egypt His COM
manding officer with headquarters on
the Nile, sent th1styoung lieutenant with
several men out INTO the desert to sec II
no could obtain any information about
the movements the enemy. AT the
foot Of q long-ridge Of rocks he FOUND
the fragments. Of an old village. few
palm trees and some natives clustered
around little we'll Of water The ma
tives were cooking their simple meal,
but strangely enough they were feeding
the fire with some leaves, apparently Of
some ancient books. Following one or
| tho men the officer won't into an excava-
! ton and found that the natives had
opened up a long buried Egyptian house.
probably Of q priest. and that they had
torn out and burned up decorations. rolls
! Of papyr, canvasses. old cloth long pre-
| served in an alright chamber. and also
! certain carved images. Strangest Of all
they were boiling their coffee having set
FIRE to part. Of an Egyptian mummy. No
one knows what imneasu rablc treasures
these ignorant natives may have de-
! stroyed. Think OF it! Sticks Of wood.
grass. stubbie twisted. are food enough
for boiltng|the water In a coffee pot. yet
thesesEgxptian natives burned treasures
OF art-
Some years ago Mr.. Charles Freer Of
Detroit. travelling in Egypt found sorne
EGptans lingering about his tent. They
were a thousand miles up the river Nile.
Out IN the desert they had uncovered n
big stone Jar. That jar had been sealed
! for fifteen hundred years. When 1t was
opened II was found to contain several
! hundred sheets Of calf skin. with the
skins Of antelope and goats The skins
had been most carefully prepared and
polished. The ink of black and blue and
crimson was still clear and brilliant. Tho
air had brought no injury through long
time Carefully examined these sheets
proved to be early copies Of the four Cos
pels- Before the air could do its work,
| photographs were taken and sent to
some twenty OF the great universities
| Of the world This precious manuscript
IS to be presented to the United States
government by Mr. Freer. whose gcncr-
ostty has made the whole world his
, debtor. A literary treasure like this
! belongs to tho civilization OF the world,
! and to Tho human race
At best OUTS IS q vandn world. Those
! natives in Egypt may have burned a
\ manuscript no less precious than this
Washington manuscript They may
have burned a roll containing the lost
book of Aristotle, or the lost poems OF
Sappho and the lost plays OF Sorhocles.
What would man not give today to havo
the lost sheets from the Book of Acts.
| The story by Luke, Paurs companion.
| leaves the hero living in his own hired
| house at Rome. We know at that time
he had friends who were members OF
| Caesars household and palace. What
! happened to Paul after that" Many an old
school reader Is only fragment. The
! last few pages have been torn away and
| lost. Our copy Of Lakes Life OF Paul
has lost several pages. The very thought
Of these Egyptians burning treasures OF
biography. poetry. dramatic art. philoso-
ply. spreads cloud over the face OF the