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Show H ?MVJfear ft V I H I Jv V . BkJr I iJo vV?r'"-, , -"- 'J - " d o 1 oJo a -o oo a a o t a' -s - vL JskW w I jtH ! 1 About an ancient mound, where 4 tnany centuries ago a now forgotten I race worshipped, at the present day there appears mystic figures wcar- i, ing cowls and masks and singing , 3 strange Incantations that in their J ; weirdness seem to be revivals of the Iff chants of the original dwellers of the land. I These men or the Monks of Caho- iMwS kin, come at night to honor the--- MR'? memory of that forgotten raco of 1 centuries ago. Not one is known to g the other, not a word is spoken cx-S cx-S :, cept the strange incantation and no eyes save those of the monks are al- I 1 lowed to gaze on the mystic rites for i the dead burled beneath that mound. II Tho Mound of Cahokia is near I East St. Louis. It is the work of the J - mound builders and its history is I ' lost in the oblivion of the past. I ' The Monks of Cahokia are bosi- II ness men of Illinois. They now num- j ber more than 500, yet as was said I before, during the entire ceremony H 1 at the mound the identity of each 0 monk is concealed from that of the other and no word Is Interchanged between them. g I There, before that mystic pile that j l contains beneath It the bones of pcr- gfB haps the oldest inhabitants of this 0(1 jf continent, with the moon as the only fl light for ceremony, the Monks or 9 ) Cahokia chant their sad song to the B 't memory of a forgotten race. 9 X The chant of the new in the hon- p t or of the old is the only link that -jig binds a forgotten race of mound .9 builders to the present generation of j a Monks. M 1 DRESS LIKE j I KU KLUX. m The orEanlzatlon of tUc M,lks ot I Cahokia was formed many years "3 ago and not until recently were the jS 'I names of any of its members known. 9 Ab mysterious as the Ku Klux or the - night riders of Kentucky, these men J9 i In their cowls and wearing masks j, 5 gathered at periods to cngago in "M V theIr mystJc work. Glimmering ;' lights appearing as will-o'-the-wisps' IS occasionally gave to passersby a Jjp . glimpse of this secret organization JP at its rltualistc work, but tho full &A ' account of what occurrs about the Jw . mound when tho monks arc at their 'jjZm Prayers or rather Incantations nev-,jjw nev-,jjw , 'cr has been fully known, w ', There are weird sounds, strange BgS i noises and strange words as tho Si ,- ' tongs are sung for the dead of Ca-WjR Ca-WjR '' hokla Mound. The fleeting figures in jg their queer garb, the almost uncan-EJSfc uncan-EJSfc ny souudB of tho Incantations and Jg2 the very mystery of the action of SjgjSa the monks, might lead to the belief W&p tnat the dead mound builders wcro Hl reincarnated and were singing their $$? laments. "mJ Until recently the names of tho '&f I - leaders of the Monks wore shrouded "'H Iu mystery. Some of the forms were dB recognized, but the Monks never re- 9 vealed any of their secrets or ad- T'JM" mittcd even their membership. ' tH However, they finally decided that J otto Ulls Eleantlc mound should be per-? per-? ifm Actuated, and decided to call on con- 'SH gress to purchase the laud on which jJUjtt U Is located. Congress, however, iWm Iailcd to act fa"?rabIy and uovr tno ': W -OK i. i J tOCt-ot eoaometo - o " " fl i i ill 14 ft W- I I 3s. fil MlH "monk'mouno" neap Es-rT-uouis-; 1L.U- "" I III Y Is I matter is before the Illinois legislature. legisla-ture. The publicity necessary for sueh a project revealed tho names of the leaders of the movement, George E. Little of Edwardsvillo is Lord High Chancellor and J. II. Dicrker of Edwardsvillo Ed-wardsvillo is amanuensis. Among the recently admitted members aro Congressman William E. Dodcuberg. Judge W. E. Hadley of Edwardsvillo and Dr. Henry H. Whclpley, an arch-eologist arch-eologist of St. Louis, who has explored ex-plored the ancient mound and has taken from it many valuable relics. MIXING IN THE MODERN. , Tho membership of tho order now equals 5C0, more Uian 150 new ones being initiated at a recent meeting at tho Elks club. This was one of tho few initiations not held at' the mound itself, and antiquity was mixed mix-ed with the modern by a cabaret following fol-lowing the initiation. Before the scrvico tho Monks in-their in-their strange garb paraded the streets of East St- Louis, headed by a brass baud. They were so disguised by their masks and with the hood of their cowls drawn over their heads that it was impossible for the crowd that viewed the parade to recoguizo any Individual. The Mound of Cahokia is in St. Clair county, Illinois. It is surrounded surround-ed by a chain of smaller mounds. In all there are 26 mounds in an area of 250 acres and It is this 4land that the Monks have asked the state of Illinois to purchase as a park. The history of the ancient race that constructed these mounds is buried in the deepest antiquity. Archaeologists Archae-ologists are certain that they even ante-dated tho Indians who were supposed to be the first inhabitants of this continent. Geologists, loo, give to the mound builders a very early period in the history of the world. It is certain from observations of both classes of scientists that at some period estimated es-timated as far back as 10,000 to 20,-000 20,-000 years ago by the geologists and 2,000 to 5,000 by archeologists and historians, there lived in America an ancient race that in many ways ox-celled ox-celled in accomplishments the Indians In-dians who succeeded them. What ttic exact period of their existence ex-istence was never will be learned, unless at some future date tho exploration ex-ploration of some of the mounds re-vealB re-vealB tablets that will give the world the history of this most ancient race. IIISTOBY IN DOUBT. Whether they flourished before the glacial period has not been established. estab-lished. The high-class of their work Indicates that perhaps It "flas after the glacial period. Drawing on the rocks on the bluffs along tho-Mississippi tho-Mississippi river may have been by tho mound dwellers or the Indians who succeeded them. These diaw-ings diaw-ings in a mixture of red fire clay and some peculiarly lasting oil, tcp-lesented tcp-lesented slraugc birds and animals, now; long extinct. One prominent one drawn on the limestone of the bluffs is of the Plasa bird, a bird of mythology that may have had something to do with the religious worship of this ancient race. The exploration of many of tho mounds found throughout tho United Unit-ed States brought forth indications that tho mound builders were of tho same high ordor of civilization as the Egyptians, if not of a contemporaneous contempo-raneous period. Their pottery work far excelled that of tho Indians wbo inhabit tho United States. Thoy had pots and vases with handles, showing the higher accomplishment accom-plishment in the production of clay utensils. They had spears with iron heads and bodies of bamboo, crudely fashioned fash-ioned knives of iron blades and wooden handles. They had mills for grinding meal, the latter sliowing that in civilization civiliza-tion they surpassed the Indian, although al-though they -ante-dated them. Tho mound builders evidently were a peaceful nation. They hunted hunt-ed game as the relics of animals found in the mounds indicate. They apparently cultivated grain. Tbey had a high degree of cultivation. They wore home loving. Nothing bas been discovered to indicate that they ever warred. Little thore is to indicate in-dicate that there were heroes among them or that any wcro called on to defend their homes. What became of this ancient race? Certainly they wore not wiped out by the Indians as there is nothing in the history of the latter race to indicate in-dicate this. WHAT WAS TILE! R FATE I It almost is certain that the ravages rav-ages of disease could not have wiped out a nation that apparently was spread not only over North America, but evidence of which also is found ill South America. Further proof that they lived before the great glacial gla-cial period is found In tho fact that in the ruins are found the boucs of prohistorlc animals animals that were so gigantic that nothing but nature itself could have rendered them extinct There are many positive proofs that through a depression in yearly tomperature a glacial period Invaded Europe, Northern Asia and North America, burying wido oxpanses of territory under an ice-sbeet of whoso character and extent northern north-ern Greenland with its surface capper by ice can afford an idea. The immediate result of this suddon climatic cli-matic change was au essential alteration alter-ation in tho fauna. Animal forma -In ml : IHIIIILj that were unequal to tho imparcd climate, that could neither resiat it or adapt themselves to it, were at first driven back and then annihilated. annihilat-ed. Were, then, tho ancient builders ot mounds of Cahokia and of other such mounds throughout the United States among thoso to bo caught In the glacial period that ancient timo that ante-dates history itself and is known only from tho unmistakablo marks of its existence that archaeologists archaeol-ogists and geologists have found? Tho glacial or drift period drovo many animals from tho western hemisphere to tho eastern across what is now Behring sea. Thus it is apparent that the last vestige of human life disappeared after the great Ice floes came down LiiBllisBf III 11 1 if H from the north. When after thou- l WM sands of yenrs this ice molted thoro Mll'l came to North America tho Indians. iff ILfl They found the land uninhabited. lijlCH But did they find tho same mounds ill ill that aro now seen through the coun- II fl try? ilLH Whether or not the mound build- 1 Ifhfl crs pre-datcd them perhaps never I k H will be learned, 1 1 H It is this very mystery that tho Ipfl Monks of Cahokia today worship.' 1 1 There is something strango about llol'fl those mounds as ono views them. 1 Pj?fl They cannot but recall vivid mental ffij'bH representations of an era long gono 9Jri,fl when a strange raco trod there- IJHpl It is tills veneration for antiquity I ill H that created tho Monks of Cahokia, IIH I the most uniquio organization of ilr IM H kiud in tho United States. Ijl H 11 I |