UNKNOWN

Taranaki Daily News, 2 July 1909, Page 3

UNKNOWN

■ll Siaui is a lire that nut only lasts ■' year,, but lias what have been aptlv ■lined 1 -lineal descendants." it is to ■-' found in a DuddliUt temple near ■nngfc"k, where every foiirtli year, a I certain period, the priests light a fresh lire in a big brazier. This /lame is kept lalive for tun,- years, and is in turn [extinguished after supplying a brand to ignite its' successor. Inasmuch as this practice lias obtained for upwards of two eentuuies, the Buddhist lire of Bangkok is, in a sense, the oldest in the world. Another long-term lire is said to exu-t at Sarhad, Persia. This flame is a symbol of religious' fervor, and it is death to extinguish it—it lias burned for seventy years. In explanation of this curious rite, it is explained that the Persians, rigid Mohammedans and regarding their former lire-worshipping faith with detestation, nevertheless sillier the Sarliad flame to continue to display their gratitude for a service rendered a high oilieial of the Persian Government many years' ago. At that time, it is said, a pious Parsee, who had come to trade at Sarliad, was the happy means of saving the Grand Vizier from assassination,. 80 the grateful Shah of that day ordered that the fire lighted by the Parsee should be kept alive indefinitely. There arc some regions of the earth, like those inhabited by the Eskimos, where the motive for retaining fires' for long periods lies in the great difficulty of obtaining means for lighting new ones. One traveller reports seeing a fire in Lapland that had not been extinguished during seven year*. It had been carried from place to plate in an old ship's busket. The keeping up of fires for years at a time is said to be sometimes an incident of .-. Sicilian vendetta. The wronged individual, when lighting nis ''lire of vengeance." is said to take n solemn oath Hint it shall not'be extraeuished until his thirst for revenge shall have been satisfied by the death of the nH'cnding person. There is on record 0 trial in Palermo wherein it was shown that the accused, eharged'with murder had kebt his kitchen fire alight for fiv« years.—Home paper.