A ROMANTIC STORY.

Taranaki Daily News, 18 October 1921, Page 5

A ROMANTIC STORY.

AFRICAN SUPERSTITION. ACCIDENTALLY DISCOVERED. By Telegraph.—Press Assn—Copyright. London, Oct. 15. Extraordinary light is cast on African superstition by the discovery of the mysterious sacred golden stool of the Ashantis. A special dispatch from the Gold Coast announces that several murders have occurred in consequence. It is reported that the stool was originally concealed by four men, three of whom were immediately decapitated and the -fourth died without revealing the secret. The stool was accidentally discovered during poad construction. Two chiefs of Nkoranga, near Coomassie, took possession of it and stripped off the .gold. Fearing the consequences they fled to Coomassie, where they surrendered to the authorities; One golden belt was seen in the possession of a northern native, who has since met with a peculiarly painful death by poison. The three custodians of the stool, fearing the results of their negligence fled to Coomassie and surrendered. They are guarded by West African frontier troops, all of whom are standing to arms and picketing public buildings. The Ashantis demand the release of the prisoners in order to put them to death by the p rescribed tortures. The prisoners beg their guardians to kill them or allow them to commit suicide, but resolutely withhold information of what they have done with the relics, fearing the authorities are not strong enough to protect them, for if the hiding place is revealed nothing can save them from an ultimate unpleasant death. , The threatening situation between Europeans and natives is now less serious than it was. The chief fear is of retributory vengeance among the tribes.