Show PROFESSOR THOMAS RADCLIFFE but few people to in this city if any are aware that there is a mom ing romance con elected with the early history of professor wor thomas radcliffe great organist and musician such la is the case nevertheless but it to la not the purpose of this article to deal directly with that subject but rather with the entertaining story ol of the experiences of a long lost son eon whose arrival in this city and warm welcome by a fond father who kne knew w not for years whether he be was dead or alive will remind the reader of the prodigal prodigals prod igals Is return and the rejoicing and festivities which follo followed wod suffice it to say that professor radcliffe Raa oliffe dues does not claim to be an englishman by birth he admits however that he was born upon the island of malta in 10 the godit fanean sea over which her majesty queen victorias Victoria 19 laws law bear sway in early youth the pro fessor gave wonderful wonder tul promises of be coming a great org organist aulet and enuch of his time was spent iu u Bui european fuoti in developing the talents wh which iab nature had bad so lavishly bestowed upon him in the course ot of time he married and the son the subject of thin thill sketch elf was as ad he be grew up placed in an english institution of learning where he was given a liberal education edu edua atlon tion as attested by his bis conversation with a reporter at his athers home no eat east temple street tc professor radcliffe Bad cliffe married again and in 1878 left england fur americ america cw 0 for two years be lived in boston on 00 april 6 1880 he arrived in salt bait lake clity city having been sent here by eben Jee director of the new england conservatory of music since that time he has firmly limbed himself in his profession here I 1 and nd has baa made a great many friends fri tri endo endis the son john harold radcliffe dai dl J not come to america with his bis father but remained behind completing him bia education he developed strong bust ness tact and having a domire denire tor tar travel and adventure on the uh ot of january Ju nuary 1884 at the ne ake ot of twenty two he embarked ou on a mall mail a earner eamer in the employ of a firm ot of Liver liverpool poul merchants mero nants fur for od 01 ba a trading post on the west weel coast af africa here he remained lor for two years yeam and eight months as a representative of the liverpool company bartering with the natives giving them rump rum gio ging powder runo run sword cotton prints clothes of all kinus kinue beads looking glasses earthenware and others articles receiving in return palm bilm palm kernall ker nals ebony lv iv ry and rubber I 1 in u and abt abi ut old calma there were thousands of natives most of whom dw dwelt elt in all f the savagery characteristic of their tribes the total number of europeans was only twenty awu all of whom were engaged lu in trade with the natives ts here says mr radcliffe Bado lifie the one united presbyterians rians have had a mission established for the last fifty years and that too without having any good or but very little the children of the chiefs are placed in the fusion schools where they learn to read and write but not very well at the age of fourteen they are taken from school the girls become the wives of chiefs abat ago aberia fa most moat remarkable thing says aabye mr la Is that when the boys and aad girls are taken from school and out of the mission they invariably I 1 tall all back almost immediately into the he savage state of their at ai ceat cre they are a most moat barbarous iLdo leot and filthy people and areas are as impervious to the reforms of civilization and teachings of christianity as the bide of a rhinoceros to Is proof against the bite of a mosquito the children of the slaves are not allowed to go to t mchoul and in fact are so BO ignorant that it would be a bop elees task to try to educate them king duke the IX is the double title of the native chief of old calaba whose word is ie low law and with whom mr radcliffe became well acquainted acquaint ei he has baa au an african secretary who was br aught from accra the principal city and aad seat of government on the gold coast who transacts trans aota all of his business bust new on mr Radcliffe Radcliff eis 8 return to england he be remal ed there but two months he had bad done a good bu for hie bis company and was again sent back to represent them this time he be waa as stationed at old calaba for a period of three years and relates in a quiet and unpretentious manner when closely questioned oLed some thrilling ad ve ven n tur turea as I 1 in n hunting h U u ting eap exp expeditions s biti one formed for the purpose of killing alligators crocodiles anti ami other animals again mr Rado liffie returned to england and again he remained but a short time two months and a hlf half this time he was sent back ae a representative not only of the old firm lor for which he had bad made two extended voyages to Afric abut for a large number of firms firma which found it greatly to their theft advantage and protect protection iou to their interests this time mr radcliffe was waa stationed for fora a while at apolo also a trading port on the west coast of africa and about miles from old calaba later on he be went to a town at a considerable distance in the interior at this place his company established a trading post and where they did a big here the natives were even more ignorant than they were on the cocot and at times much blood was shed abed among themselves they never on any occasion sought bought to molest europeans with whom they were very anxious to carry on a trade the european products were taken into the interior up the river as far as possible ou on small steamers and canoes after which they were carried by natives to the trading posts sixty pounds was wag an average load for fora a full day days a march at this inland trading post says mr Rad cliTe were some of the filthiest creatures he ever saw in human form they have an In heretA aversion to soap and wetter water and will not handle them in any manner that tends to cleanliness for ten months be dwelt among them and made money when there was not a white man within a radius of twenty miles on the death of a chief or other important personage was the time when atrocities that are fearful to relate would be committed and which showed plainly the barbarity of the natives instead of such an occasion being made a time of mourning and sorrowing it was waa hailed balled us so the hey day of merriment of dancing daj drinking aud and revelry huge fires would 11 lumine lurloe the fever stricken forest and swamps and almost naked demons would yell themselves hoarse and by the beating of turn tom toms tome and other instruments make a thousand different noises a as they would bring brina a number of slaves who had been brought from an adjacent district and offer them up as a sacrifice to appease the wrath of some imaginary monster the victims walk forth with bowed heads beads which as they kneel upon the ground at the place of execution are severed from the body frequently at one stroke never more than two then comes the most horrible act of all the he catching of the blood which spurts from the mangled trunk in cal abashes a sort of gourd which mr radcliffe declares is given to little children to drink As a conclusion to this bloody butchery a number of young girls are offered up as sacrifices floes by being crucified and their bodies suspended in air until by the process of decomposition they en disappear mr radcliffe says gay that he was once waited upon by a messenger of the king to attend one of these terrible massacres and as a guarantee of good faith was requested to contribute a couple of casks of gin for the celebration not wishing wish ing to incur the displeasure of the king he be had no other alternative than to acce accept it and he says the scones scenes he witnessed will never be erased from his mina t as long as memory sets lasts at the chiefs side are buried alive usually two or more of his wives and a number of slaves subterranean passages are made lead ing tram from the graves graven of the boude bondsmen to the sepu lober ot ol their chief in order aider as is believed by the natives that they can ata moments moment Is warning hasten to the side of their chief in case of any impending danger another horrible custom which prevails among the natives of this part of africa says mr radcliffe is to put to death all wo en who give birth to twins as well as the infants themselves the government however he be says has put a quietus on this awful crime tj 0 a considerable extent jut the work is nevertheless carried on in the interior as an of old many women near the trading posts who now have hav the misfortune to become the mother of more than one child at a time is hastily and secretly conveyed by her friends on to neut neutral ralI or mission IJ ground where the natives dare not commit certain acts while in africa in 1885 mr radcliffe says he made two trips into the interior with the noted american missionary bishop taylor he says that gentleman was the mast extraordinary individual he ever met that lie be constantly placed a small polished marble slab upon his hl pillow on retiring at night that he might say truthfully that he had always slept upon stone he had many other habits which were equally u ally eccentric and unaccountable vo not lt infrequently both american and european women wives of missionaries were daring enough to accompany their husbands upon their mis and for a time would work assiduously in attempting to teach the natives christianity but generally they would be stricken with fever which in most moat cosm would terminate fatally and the widowed husband would either be compelled to complete his labors alone or return home lie he himself was obliged to leave the dark continent on account of a severe attack ot or fever which it was believed would kill him his last trip covered a period of two years when he again returned to england from there he set sail to the west indies where his experiences were of such au an factory character t that bat he came to new orleans and was there at the recent big strike during a jam of a mass of humanity on the streets he fell loto into a sewer trench and badly injured one of his knees As a consequence he be was taken to a hospital and was confined to his bis bed for weeks a stranger in a strange city he accidentally met and made the acquaintance ol of Cli charles arJes R hasely a well known ludi indianapolis anapolle attorney who at once interested himself in his behalf durigg all of his travels the wan dering son eon bad not heard of his hie father ada an 1 had bad lost track of his hie whereabouts in IDA a remarkable manner he learned that his father had become a resident 0 salt lake the attorney immediately took steps to find ra lellure senior benior and on getting in communication with him presented the aota in the cass case before the father who at once arranged for the coming home of his long lost boy the details were all arranged by wire and as soon eoon as the young man now dow thirty years of age was wa able bleto to leave the hospital he be proceeded en an hid aih journey to salt lake the other evening professor radcliffe went to the depot to welcome hi hie a son on he looked in vain for the object of his bis visit to the railway station and was almost disappointed when he be saw a gentleman coming through the crowd on the platform assisting himself by a couple of crutches crutch ea immediately he approached the stranger anil and peering into his face he inquired la Is this john harold the stranger looked up in a startled manner and uttered V te e words yes father it is and you have not changed since last we met the writer will here bore end and his bis story and leave the reader to his own imagination agi nation as aa to the scene which followed in conclusion irwill be 0 stated that john harold is now stopping with his fath r that he is well please with what he knows of salt lake and that he will probably locate here and go into business as soon as be recovers |