THROW PRAYERS AT IDOL.

Bruce Herald, Volume XXXX, Issue 98, 20 December 1904, Page 2

THROW PRAYERS AT IDOL.

If They Stl«k the Petitions of the Japan— Worshiper Will Be Answered. ' One of the most curious phases of idolatry exists in Japan, where on the sacred road to Nikko is located an idol about which centers one of the most i peculiar worships in the world. Upon 1 the surface of the statue are seen little pieces of what appears to be dried paper. If you stand by the idol for awhile and wait for a worshiper to come along, you will see what these bits of paper are. The devotee halts in front of the image, then scribbles a prayer on a bit of paper. The wad he then chews up into a ball and hurls at the god. If it hits thp face and sticks the prayer is sure to b.. answered, and the pious pilgrim goes away happy. If the ball sticks to some portion of the body the omen is not quite so propitious and if it falls to the ground there is absolutely no hope. Such a mode of prayer is even more curious than the praying wheels of the Buddhists, who set the wheel revolving and reel off prayers by machinery. As John L. Stoddard, the lecturer, says: "One sees, of course, numberless strange rites connected with religion tn traveling about the- world, but Japan is the only land I have ever visited where deities serve as targets for masticated prayers." Russian Naval Actions. Russia can point to only two occasions in modern history when her ships were in action. One was the destruction of the Turkish squadron at Sinope. when the number of vessei3 was equal, though the latter were greatly inferior in size and armament. The other occasion w-as in the Crimean war, when the Black sea fleet did Rus- > sia excellent service, but hardly of the kind usually demanded of the ships of an imperial navy, when she sank ier finest ships like coal barges to block J the entrance to Sebastopol. The Monroe Doctrine. At a recent examination of young men in England, three of the answers to the question. "What is the Monroe doctrine?" were: "The religion of; America taught by. Dr. Monroe on the \ transmigration of souls." "The doc- . trine that people may foe married aev- ■ 1 eral times." "One that has to do with \ vaccination and smallpox; it waa \ brought out by Prof. Monroe." . Aricient Artificial Eyes. Artificial eyes were first used by the ' Egyptians long before the Christian era. ' Mummies have been found with artificial J eyes. They were fashioned of gold, sil- '\ .y>r,cojjsper/w:jvor/. r ■' — j