SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 1907.
The Miracle That Failed;
An Incident of Mormonism.
LEFT VICTIM TO DIE
THE MORNING ASTORIAN, ASIOKIA, OHKGON.
The long discussion in tho Senate
of the various pliast" of the Kced
Smool case has had tho effect of stim
ulating investigations of a number of
the obscure features of Mormonism.
A mass of historical mat tor has boon
brought to light by students of the
growth of the cult and a great volume
of material, wholly sratteredv has boon
rediscovered and added to the data of
origins. '
Among this material Is the story of
the miracle that failed, involving the
tragedy of a budding prophet who could
not deliver the goods, a misfortune
which came very near costing Joseph
Smith a tight-lilting coat of tar and
feathers as the penalty of his failure.
The tale Is told in an old history of
Chenango County. Now York, and has
been overlooked by many of the his
torians and critics of Smith and the
church he founded.
It happened at the little town 'f -f-ton,
where Smith was married in lS'.'T
and where ho had lived for some time.
Here he organized his society and prac
tically btR.in the strange propaganda
that as tile yojirs passed trailed Itself
nearly across the continent until it
re-fr-hed the promised' land f the
shores of the great Salt Lake. A. Af
ton Smith drew about him a body of
earnest converts, and hjs vigorous
preaching, his strange personal mag
netism, and hU startling avowals of
prophecy and inspiration attracted
v large crowds to his services. Finally,
to put the capstone of achievement !o
his movement of pretensions, any to
prove to the sneerers and revilers. of
whom there were many, that he had
divine attributes, he walked from
shore to shore upon the waters of a
creek that flowed near the town.
The feat came as the dramatic cli- j
mas to a powerful sermon by which j
his hearers had been aroused to the j
point of frenzy and the ocular demon- j
stration of his professed divinity,!
greeted with a Greek chorus of "A -mens,"
removed the last vestige of
doubt from the minds of convert Ac
cording to the relation in the old coun
try history, the news of the marvelous
feat spread like wildfire throughout
the adjacent country side. It was
discussed at every crossroads store
and was the one topic of conversation
at every farm house and village home,
cv-.:i ;i rovi:.-rs w-tv .uV'-.:ed f r the
idy water, tin the piles boards had
been placed, by means of which walk
ing to tho water was reduced to a tine
and practical art,
It happened that while Smith was
practicing this miracle In order to per
form It without any chance of mishap,
some boys, who had sought tho o
eludod spot for a swim, surprised him
at work. They watched him from hiding-,
and when he left thv Investigated.
Keeping the secret of their discovery
to themselves they waited until the
day when he announced that he would
one of the boards from tho submerged
point where the water was about ten
foot deep. The prophet's Involuntary
bath was the dramatic result.
The same old history gives another
story of Smith's undoing. Me had de
clared from his pulpit that his per
sua wits divine, and that no one with
safety could lay hands upon him to in
jure or hurt him. Soon after this
rash assertion Smith was passing the
house where lived Nathan Aldington,
a young man of a strict inductive me
thod. Ho sprang at the prophet, i
. . . I
KnocKe t turn dow n, and gave him a
bird of a whallophig, while Smith yel
led for mercy, and was finally releas
ed much tho worse for wear. Nathan
said that he simply wanted to show
that Smith was a liar.
Smith had quite a vogue in tho vi
cinity of Afton as a caster-cut
of devils, t'pon his trial upon the
charge nf being u Impostor, several
witnesses testified that they had seen
Smith turn the trick. One said he saw
a devil about the size of a woodchuek
run away. Another witness said that
a devil he had seen Smith exorcise
from one man looked like a yellow
dog when it left its victim.
Rut. of course, this testimony of
the prophet's failures and shortcomings
Is from his home section, where in
man can be either hero or sage. Dri
ven from his own state, he succeeded
in laying the foundation for n great
WealthyAutomobilists Strike Aged
Man and Flee from Spot.
KEPT SECRET FOR MONTHS
Searching Investigation by District
Attorney Brings Two Young Men
to Justice Declare They Re
mained Silent.
SOLOMON ISLES TROUBLED.
Civil War, Canabalism and Hurricane
Combine Against Islands.
VICTORIA, Feb. 18. The steamer
or Mlowera which arrived here yes
terday from Australia, brought ri-ws
that constant troubles were occurring
moment and the Hock of converts in-1 In the Solomon Islands as a result of
creased rapidly. ) 'he repatriation, of Kanakas, expelled
fo j fnrm Queensland following the enact-
Still there were many skeptic".
the Smith family had a very unsavory i
reputation in the neighborhood, and
Joseph Smith in particular, according
to the affidavits of some sixty of the
pr'om!:ent men of the vicinity, was
held to lie a person of absolutely no
moral character, and of vicious drun- '.
ken habits. They dcubted and waitel. j
Smith's success was his undoing,
according to the old history. The
converts hungered for miracles. They
ment of ' White Australia," laws. H.
I .u. iromouieus. a tfiiusn warsnip,
! placed in the vicinity "f the group
t to protect the r-turnU g blacks, shel
j led the village of Suiwa on Malaita,
! which so badly frightened the natives
that they took to the brush and have
not returned.
The- Missionaries fear a massacre
by the villagers, who resent the return
I of the blacks,
j From Papua news was brought a
wanted some more of the wator-walk-
. , ,u I punitive expedition following a raid
ing business as ocular proof for the ' 1 "
i hv ln n ntnVialQ r,n Pa rta Pnrioln vill-tcn.
fleck of new adherents, and Smith ; ' - '
rather reluctantly consented, for none
knew better than he how repetition
pens. When the day came great
crowds lined the shore of the creek,
everyone upon the tiptoe of expec
tancy. At the appointed hour. Smith
appeared, and, with a tread of dig
nity and assurance, approached the
bank at the spot roped off for him to
make the trial. He removed his shoes
and stockings and waded in. The
great crowd held its breath. Necks
were craned and staring eyes watched
every movement of the prophet.
A murmur of surprise, a gasp tf
wonder swept over the crowd as Smith
slowly and dramatically walked to-
cheapens. When the day came
ward midstream, the water,
two children being killed and eaten
at a cannibal feast.
Shortly before the Miowera left
Brisbane advices were received that
a hurricane had completely wiped out
Cooktown, in North Australia.
No lives were lost. The monetary
loss will amount to $2,000,000.
OUTLOOK CHEERFUL.
Prices of Stocks Are Beginning to Re
cover Although Slowly.
NEW YORK, Feb. 10. pries of
stocks have moved towards recovery
this week in a somewhat halting and
great irregular way. The market has been
wel!fi'f-e from pressure of liquidation and
opinion has grown more cheerful over
the outlook. ("';od results are expected
from the proposed currency reform
measures in the Senate, flic assump
tion is common in the financial dis
trict that the financiers of influence
regard as less formidable than they
did the probable consequences of the
government's attitude toward combi
nations of capital. The money mar
ket has been affected by the course of
the withdrawal of Government depos
its, from the banks, but less appre
hension is felt of the longer money
outlook and growing strength of our
position In the International exchan
gpa.
ClllC.UlO, Feb. Iti. Tile m.tery
sunvuiullng the killing of William
Ireycr, who was run down by a speed
ing automobile, three miles west of
Kenosha, Wis., July :'4 last was sud
denly chared yesfeiAiy when two
men who were In tho car which struck
and mangled the man told the story of
the affair in the courtroom at K'i o-di a.
As a result of their testimony, l.M
ward Collier, a former bleu le racer
and later noted as an automobile ex
port was arrested, charged with man
slaughter. He gave bond and was re
leased. J
Tho result of live moulds pvi,-.is-tellt
work by district attorney Maker
was accomplished when Frank 1..
Jackson, sun of the laic Johnson A.
Jackson, a member of die of the ro
minent families of Kenosha, and Sic I
ley Montgomery, son of K. W. Mont
gomery, a wealthy lial.iia, 111., lun.l r
man broke down and on, tossed.
Jackson and Moiitg ncry s.iel ia.it
they left Kenosha ,,u th,: i:igal
tiieger was killed and that Collier
wag driving the machine, the.sp.-ed.it
the time of the tragedy being about
twenty live mil'-s an hour. Jackson
said the old m.ur, appeared to b in a
crunching position Py the roadside,
as if about t.t rise, when suddenly
Collier shouted;
'We've hit a man." The automo
bile was not stopped, but, on the oth
er hand the speed of the ear was in
creased and the party hurried away
without stopping to b-arii the extent
of their vlctim'm Injuries.
Jackson Maid the aecid-nt occurred
at a lime when his father, who died
a month ago, was about to undergo
a surgical operation, and he feared the
schock, if the matter became known
would kill the sick mm. Mon'goiin-ry
corroborated the statum-nts of Jack
sun, and added that uiiil" the trio we''e
hurrying away, they agreed not to dls
cl.se the facts with ('"gird to strik
ing of the In.u .,
They traveled about all that night
and did lot. kno.v of !. r's d'-.rh
until the body w is found the re x'
da.
Y
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at ,
EMBALMED ALIVE.
known to be ten or twelve feet deep
at that point, coming only half way
between his feet and knees. With un
belfeving eyes the skeptics watched
th progrss of his majestic glide. Then
suddenly, with a splash that threw
the water of the muddy creek high in
the air, the prophet disappeared, to
come to the surface a moment later
puffing amd splurging around like any
ordinary mortal under similar cold
bath circumstances.
A roar of laughter swept over the
crowd, and a battery of sharp, crude
brutal epithets and witticisms were
turned loose upon him as he swam to
the shore, and was pulled out by his
devoted adherents. Some of the baser
sort wanted to give Smith a dose of
tar and feathers, but the discredited
miracle worker was whisked away out
of danger by some of his supporters,
and the advice of the cooler headed
among the crowd prevailed.
Investigation showed that Smith, ac
cording to the allegations, had built
a submerged pier out into the river on
piles, the tops of which came within I Morning Astorian, 60 cents a month,
about a foot of the surface of the mud- Delivered by carrier.
CMICA'lu. Ills., Feb. K,.T!iit
thousands of Infants In Illinois as well
as many larger children, are being
sent to premature graven through tak
ing into their stomachs, in milk, the
same poisonous preparations that Is
used to embalm the dead, is Indicated
by the special report ready for submis
sion to Governor bensori by State Pure
Food Commissioner H. A. Jaynes.
Commissioner Sehuekriuoht points
out that of the thirty-five cities visit
ed, not one escaped having sold with
in its limits milk from unclean and
unsanitary cans and vessels or milk
not properly strained, showing a de
posit of filth In tlie bottom of the bot
tom of the bottles or other vessels, and
in thirty-two of the cities skimmed
milk was sold as standard, and was
adulterated with formaldehyde, which
authorities pronoun'-,; a poison "much
used as an embalming fluid."
N ' , ' i -o t '. " . ,, fl.i - .... ..,.oe "I" .".", ! 'V ' . . . ,
. iff '; l!,, I ' -t! 'ei 1 '.lev " ' fi" "
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FUNERAL OF VICTIMS.
NEW YORK, Feb. 10. A largely
attended funeral over the bodies of
three of the Salvation Army victims
of the Larchmont disaster will be held
tomorrow afternoon at Carnegie Mu
sic hall. There will be special music
and Commander Hooth will preside
The Salvationists who were lost in the
disaster numbered ten men and wo
men, several of them being officers.
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Mrs. Fannie Grlffen, Troy, Ala,
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