Show WALK THROUGH FIRE S A well known travel traveler tr who hai had spent some me year years in journeying round the world wae was asked on ail him ratum what he begat led as the most ell live iwo sift he had seen A without the least hesitation be he replied the fire vak tes of tahiti hundreds of hu lu u have since witnessed thie this says terlow louK pagan festival ac not t only y IF in tahiti but in FIJI and aico also in japan and d arr recently la in llono honolulu lulu thial cranfi fire walking ceremony bai has juuli ii experienced scientists who have beheld behold it and no factorY 8 lution has yet ben 1 lord ord stanmore when governor ol 01 FIJI once witnessed the weird festival on the island of benga denga before the priests commence commenced their curious rites they were wore examined I 1 y th tin governor 3 physician and again after tho ir per for fori nance on the heated atones stones in this instance the fijians traversed a tl bed of white hot stones several times swaying their bodi s to and sad tro fro ant an I 1 1 chanting as my did so the heat from train the stoned was so creat great that I 1 I 1 handkerchiefs thawn upon them thern tm 1111 met lately caullet alight might yet the dried fern leaves on oil many of thi priests ankles were not even singed neither were wore their feet in any way damaged by the ter terrina rifle heat ta T head priest burd the governor wae was no trick ind the astonished onlookers could only echo the word of lord alan Stan more inore Nond wonderful rul erful taus u I 1 inexplicable thie this curious heathen ceremony has not been performed BO so frequent li of late in the south sea islands the last performance of ilia nature being lit lt given by papa ita its in honolulu in the presence of hundred persons ita Is ii the last of a long line of tahl who have for many generations been troia from heat and fire and a few fact facts bout this extraordinary individual individuals a teat will not le be without interest late reet A largo large square space was first dug up into this pit war thrown ten or twelve corda cards of wood upon thia this woo I 1 w wa as placed eight or ten tona tons of broken lava lav for elx six hours before the ceremony fierce flames leaped dupard through the stones curling around them and gradually turning them red and finally white hot the venerable tahitian superintended the feeding of the flames when the wood was reduced to live coals the atone stone were poked together as much as possible to make them stationary under the tho weight of the fire walker all this tima time the excitement of the operators bp gators tors was increasing in intensity when nil all was ready papa ita removed his and placing a wreath of tat leavea leaves about hia his brow and hold ing a wand made of the arub shrub in his right hand high above his head approached pro ached a furnace crooning in a low musical tone a most melancholy ard weird incantation the gaping crowd held iti its breath as the man app appi ached the be bd I 1 of hinted stones without fear cr hesitation the bigel man dressed in the fantastic garb of the fire ackers stepped upon the rocks and passed aero acro the fur nace as deliberately as though it were a carpet upon which hia his bare feet rested for tully fully halt a the mail feet etere ere upon the heated mcl a jil all this time he crooned the weird arge of the birj clr goddess and trept hia his wand of tal tat leavea leaves always in motion ahen when he reached the other aide and 1 stepped 1 off a physician came forward ind asked to see his feet the tahl tian granted the request they were unharmed and there was no trace of any siret preparation or chemicals which it was at once sup papa ita posed the savages into th t soles of their feet before entering thy fr fley ordeal again the fire walker I 1 appedu ip ped una the hot rok rocks and walked to the ter of at the furnace where he stood for emeral several minutes hie loose flowing fl owin robes waving to and fro in the intense beat lie anen called upon any one of those present to follow him through the furnace assuring them they would be protected by the are goa god no one in the audience responded it may be added that in I ill 11 some of the onlookers who have endeavored to cross the burning stones without the consent of the priests have met with the most disastrous results there Is nai deception about the heated stones A thermometer six feet above the furnace at registered degrees indeed it was so to hot that the solder of the instrument melted N ither do the performers u reb t t any auy pr caration pa ratton ration to the Eu burppee ropes it i Is all a mystery A cording to the lory story at 0 atik old priest hie his Is I 1 a adored family which for ages has been under the th special PI car ear of 0 I 1 tam tw arn the g gi ideas OL 01 fire questioned after his remark able performance he replied I 1 am the lat last lineal descendant nal fire walkers ot of the tahitian Is lands many generations ago the god IMS dess of fire Ili I 1 teara te ara chose my ancestry to represent her in III this orld world and gave them complete power over are and heat I 1 am the last in X 17 A 1 jai walking on the hot stone stones the line because my stople have been untrue to their former teachings and have imbibed some of th tho 0 rell tell grous notions of the western estern world the goddess decreed that I 1 should die childless and with me dies the last fire walker of modern times she protected my forefathers and she will protect me as she has so often dune it Is only through a special power that I 1 am dept ept from burning to death tho the goddess of fire once visited us biorn her home in the moon she appeared to my ancestry completely en in tho tat leaf and it Is to this teat leaf and her watchful care over me that I 1 have immunity from harm she related to my forefathers that years yeara and years ago a bird flew to the and plucked the berries of at the tal tat or sacred a tree and carrying th them m over our laland island home dropped them in the soil and thus it was the tree first grew upon this earth at As long as I 1 pray to my goddess and follow her wishes fire cannot hurt me many sorcerers and magicians with the aid of ointments etc have cited to dupil cate this sacred rite but the we simple prayer I 1 offer to the godless before I 1 attempt to walk in the ore drives the heat from me and I 1 go over u I 1 i scathed As already stated pala ita Is the last of at the ure mikers bat but it t may Int interest crest and even our surprise prise many to learn stat a similar perform ance may be witnessed twice a year in the months of at april and september at the demple of near boklo in japan here the priests ets of the shinto religion walk with im over a bed of heated charcoal many european people have watched the pc pic or mance with silent amaze ment |