Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1921-01-28
FlBS OF HISTORY
Some Writers of By-gone Days Got
Their Facts a Little Mixed.
(To be Contlnued).

OOIlG "TIttIS VI 0y-S NdJo SSf
Their Facts a Little Mixed.
Dearborn Independent.
- Sapho did not throw herself from
the Leucadian Cliff for love Of Phaon;
the story of her life is false, as her
respectability and purity have been
established. She was 4 matron of the
highest character, the mother of a
large family.
= Hannibal Gid not make his way
through the Alps by splitting the rocks
with vinegar, as science has proved
this was impossible.
Richard III was not hunchback,
but a soldier Of fine form with some
.pretensions to good looks and great
personal strength and courage.
- The pass of Thermopylea was de-
Tended, not by three hundred, but at
least seven thousand Greeks, or, ac-
cording to some writers, twelve thou
sand.
The siege Of Troy was largely q
myth, and even according to Homers
own account Helen must have been
sixty years old when Paris fell in love
with her.
= Witches were. never burned at Sa-
lem. Massachusetts. In the outbreak
of the anti-witch fanaticism of 1881
1892, nineteen persons were hanged.
but not one was burned.
Louis XVI was not the pink of dig.
nified propriety at his execution as
portrayed by the historian. He
screamed for help, struggling with the
executioner and beseeching mercy.
-Diogenes never, lived in q tub.
The story that he did so has no bet
ter origin than comment by a bio
grapher that n man SO grabbed ought
to have lived in a tub, like dog"
= The Swiss confederation was not
founded by William Tell, he did not
shoot an apple from the head. of his
son, and even his name cannot be
found in the archives Of the cantons.
= Alexander the Great did not weep
for other worlds to conquer. There
is reason to believe that his army
met with serious reverse in India
that induced him to retrace his steps.
The round tower at Newport,
Rhode Island, claimed to be associated
with the vikings-a view in which
Longfellow concurred-had no such
association; is but an ordinary prosaic
windmill of no historic Importance.
- Constantine was not quite the
saint history terms him, for he mur-
dercd his wife, one or two of his sons
and a goodly number of his relatives.
A Christian only in name, he knew
little or nothing of the religion he
professed.
- Columbus did not make an egg
stand on end 10 confute his opponents.
The test was performed by Brunneu-
eschi, the architect, to silence critics
who asked him how he was going to
support the dome of the cathedral of
Florence.
THE blood of Rizzio, Marie
Steuart's favorite, cannot be seen on
the floor where he was murdered by
Darnlcy and the other consplrators.
What is visible is q, daub of red paint,
annually renewed for the delect9tion
Of gaping tourists.
Philip III Of Spain was not roasted
to death by fire. because the red tape
of royal etiquette forbade any one to
touch the royal person. He died a
natural death. This is q stock story
saddled, with variations, on many
sticklers for court ceremony.
Philip vi, flying from the battle
field of Crecy, when challenged late at
night before the gate of the castle OF
Blois. did not cry out defiantly: 1T is
the fortune of France" but he did say
beseechingly: "Open, open, it is the
unfortunate king Of France"
-Abbie Edgeworth never made the
famous invocation to Louis NVI on
the scaffold, "Son Of st. Louis, ascend
to heaven" He acknowledged to Lord
Holland that the speech was made for
him on the evening of the execution
by the editor of Il newspaper