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A .V \F? f"S VOL. 28. NO. 9. HE APPEAL KEEPS IN FRONT BECAUSE: 1It aims to publish all the news possible- 2~It does so impartiallyt wasting no words- 3-Its correspondents are able and energetio- Sn^JsisiaianMisfSEiiiEaiaiai^iBJE^ HEN, some years ago, the pres ent writer projected a journey through the interior of Vene zuela and Colombia, his friends, among them several natives of the two countries named, tried to dissuade him trom the under taking. After picturing to him the countless privations and dangers they were certain would be incident to traveling through the great wilderness, which con stitutes the larger part of the Republics that border the Carib bean, they declared it would be tempting Providence to venture among the ruth less savages who inhabit the forests and llanos watered by the Orinoco and its affluents. So great, however, was his desire to visit this little known part of the world that he determined. In spite of the difficulties and dangers predicted, to make at least the attempt to accomplish his long fcherished purpose. He has always been glad that he paid no heed to the horrible forebodings that were volunteered by well-meaning but ill-advised people. Had he done so, he would have deprived himself of one of the most delightful experiences of his life. For, oatside of certain discomforts Inseparably con nected with roughing it in the wild, the entire trip was one of agreeable surprises and unalloyed pleasure. And, in lieu of bloodthirsty savages seeking to transfix him with poisoned arrows, he found the Indians all along his route to be not only harmless, but 'hospitable and obliging. In-" deed some of the most pleasant recollections he has of his wanderings in the wilds of Venezuela and Colombia is the kindly treatment he invaria bly received at the hands of the children of the forest. These observations, says a writer in the Pan Amprican Bulletin, have been suggested by a work which has recently been published in Ber lin on the Indians inhabiting the region between the Rio Negro and the Yapura. It is by Dr. Theo dor Koch-Grunberg, a distinguished German trav eler and ethnologist, and is entitled "Zwei Jahre unter den Indianern" (Two Years Among the In dians). It has appealed to us in a special man ner, not only on account of the mine of informa tion it contains regarding the manners and cus toms of the various tribes of Indians which the author visited during his two years' peregrinations In this comparatively unknown part of the world not only on account of its numerous and valuable illustrations reproduced from photographs which constitutes so valuable an aid to the right under standing of the narrative, but also, and chiefly, be cause the doctor's experiences among the red men of the regions visited were almost iaentical with our own in other parts of the continent. It was in August, 1903, that Dr. Koch-Grunberg reached the little town of Sao Felippe on the Up per Rio Negro. Using this place as a base, he proceeded without delay to explore its western af fluents, the Icana, the Uapes, the Curicuriary, and their chief tributaries, and to study the manners, customs and languages of the divers Indian tribes that live on or near their banks. Atter spending nearly two years among these people, some of whom never saw a white man betore, he returned to Manaos, near the mouth of the Kio Negro, by way of the Yapura and the Amazon. He was well equipped for his work, which for him was ever a labor of love. He had previously accompanied Dr. Hermann Meyer during his ex ploration of the Xingu in southern Brazil, and had then learned to admire the many notable quali ties oi the unspoiled denizens of the jungle. Outside of a young Brazilian, of German descent, his sole companions during his long wanderings among many tribessome of whom, he had been warned, were antropofagos (cannibals)were In dians whom he employed as porters and boatmen. And these were in most instances what are known as indios bravos (wild Indians) who had little or no contact with civilization. But so completely did he from the first win the confidence and af fection of these simple, kindly people, that they at once treated him as one of their own and made him feel at home wherever he went. And so considerate and just was he in all his dealings with them that his reputation preceded him from tribe to tribe. Everywhere he was known and welcomed as "the friend of the In dians" and any service they could perform for him was freely given. He lived in their malokas (communal homes), shared in their repasts and festivities, took part in their dances and their hunting expeditions, was a witness of their strange marriage and burial ceremonies, and romped with their children, helped to entertain friends and guests He had every opportunity of familiarizing himself with the peculiar manners, customs, tradi tions, and superstitions of his hosts, for they were ver willing to impart to him all the information In their power and assist him in his ethnographic researches in every way possible. Besides treating them with justice and kind ness, he made it a rule never to accept any serv ice, however slight, without making some com pensation for it. The remuneration offered might be trifling, but the effect was magical. They were allmen, women and childrenat his beck and all every hour of the day or night. Of the Indians of Cururil (cuara) the author declares that they did everything to make his so journ among them comfortable and pleasant "For few glass beads and flBhhooks they kept us lib erally supplied with meat and drink. Fowl of r -*T wksL' Ar" sH^*^ 7 European origin they provided us with in abundance. They themselves eat neither chickens nor eggs." Their malokas or communal houses are quite different from the tepees or wigwams of our North American In dians. They are al so, as a rule, much larger and more substantially cof structed. Some of them are nearly 100 feet long by 40 or 50 wide and 25 or 30 high. It is ordina rily thatched with the fan-shaped leaves of the Cara na palm, and is quite rain-proof. A re markable feature about the building is that no nails are %m used in its construction and yet it is strong enough to withstand the strongest tempests of the tropics. Liana vines take the place of nails and bolts and posts, beams, and rafters are so thoroughly bound together that the building is as safe as it is durable. These communal houses, far from being abodes of filth, as usually supposed, are models of clean liness. They are carefully swept every day and are, as the author expresses it, peinlich sauber (painfully clean). The malokas are generally built on elevated ground, so that they may always be above in undations during the rainy season and near a stream of pure water. In front of them is a clear, open space, and near by are clumps of plantain and banana plants and pupuna palms, while in the immediate neighborhood are plantations of man dioca and fields of maize. These afford them all the food they need. But besides these sources of food supply, they can usually nnd an abundance of fish in the rivers and a choice variety of game in the forest. The mother looks after the man dioca, which is the Indian's staff of lite in the equatorial regions of America, while the father procures the game and the fish. "Life in one of these large commercial lodges," we are informed, "Is, on ordinary days, of Idyllic regularity." Long before daybreak its inmates are awake and, from hammock to hammock, carry on an animated conversation in a loud voice. This was often to my disgust, especially when 1 had worked to a late hour the night before, for, with all their chatter, further sleep was Impossi ble. At early dawn, about five o'clock, all take a bath in the adjoining river. Soon thereafter the women call to the first breakfast Each one puts in a large earthenware vessel the remnants, warmed over, of the preceding day's meal. This consists of boiled fish, strongly seasoned with pepper, or game, together with a shallow basket of mandioca cakes, placed in the middle of the house. The men now leave their hammocks, In which they ensconced* themselves after their bath, and squat in a circle around the appetizing repast prepared for them. After eating, each one washes his mouth and hands in preparation for the des sert. Large calabashes, filled with refreshing and nourishing mandioca broth, are then passed around. The women, so custom requires, eat after the men. Then all betake themselves to their daily occupationthe men to hunting and fishing, the women to their plantations, and peace ful stillness reigns throughout the entire village. Only a few old women remain behind and swing themselves idly in their hammocks. From time to time there come from the river hard by the muf fled voices of children who are splashing around in it, or from the top of an adjacent tree is heard the shrill tsry of a tame parrot Several*families commonly occupy one of these malokas. In some of the larger ones there are at times as many as a hundred souls. The building is then patltioned off, and each family has Its own'furniture and hearthstead. The larger hall ST. PAUL AND MINNEAPOLIS. MINN.. SATURDAY. MARCH 2,1912. AlT2?W^JFV22&^7mg&: in the center of the edifice is used for a general reception room, for dances, andrffir the entertain ment of-friends and-visitors. '$to chief or head of this patriarchal community lives, with his fam ily, in an apartment at one end of the maloka. Everything is under his direction, and nothing of importance is undertaken without his consent and advice. Notwithstanding the large number of people liv ing under the same roof, there is the greatest peace and harmony. "I have lived for months at a time," declares our author, "in one- of these malokas and never have I, under normal condi tions, witnessed any disputes or quarrels." It is, however, the moral conditions of the oc cupants of these communal lodges that impressed him most deeply. "These naked Indians," he as serts, "are as decorous as It is possible for men to be. Their morality is on a high plane, although several families live together in the same room. 'The woman plays an important role as the wife and counselor of her husbarift, but her in fluence is greatly augmented when she becomes a mother. She then enters upon her proper life work, for the care and bringing up the children are committed entirely to her unfailing love and devotion. "From the moment of birth until it is able to walk one rarely sees the child without the mother. The two are practically inseparable. The 'baby* here is ever the object of the same tender affec tion as with us, and the older children, too, are never without their mother's special solicitude. I have seen a mother playing with and entertaining them for hours at a time. "The Indian woman is far from being the stupid beast of burden pictured for us by superficial ob servers. While the hu&band devotes his attention to the commonweal, the wife spends her time within the limits of the family circle. But along with the chief duties of the family she also as sumes the chief 'rights. Her life is indeed one of toll and iatigue, but she thereby expands her faculties and brings her true nature to its full development. What, however, excited the author's greatest astonishment was their extraordinary honesty. The Ehrlichkeit, he tells us, "war verfluffend." "I could have left all my trunks remain open and they would have taken nothing. Even pieces of printed paper which I had thrown away and bits of stearin that had dropped from my candle they always carefully placed on my camp stool. Speaking generally, the author does not hesi tate to declare, "The property of another is strict, ly respected. Never will an Indian sell the small* est thing, while in his keeping, which belongs to another without the owner's knowledge and con sent, and never will he accept payment for an other." Regarding the cannibals, against whom he had been warned when he was in Manaos, he assures us that "they were all as harmless and good natured as all the other wild Indians with whom he came in contact." Having had such delightful experiences among these simple, kind hearted people, we can well understand that when the day of parting came the author found it difficult to tear himself away from those at whose hands he had for nearly two years received such unvarying kindness, and who had contributed bo materially to the success of his expedition. We are well aware that the account Dr. Koch Grunberg gives of the copper-colored denizens of the South American forests is wholly different from that of most writers. But he is not alone in his favorable estimate of them. Those who know them best, who have spent the longest time among them and have had an opportunity of studying them at close range, will find our au thor's descriptions and Judgments .correct as well as sympathetic. But divergent as his experiences are from those of the majority of travelers, they are neverthe less quite in harmony with those we should expect from one who was willing to treat the Indian as a human being and not as a pariah or as a soul less brute. %^*''f^ris|^#^^ Inhabitants of Corean-Manchu Border in Constant Terror. Villages Visited Almost Daily by the Beasts and Absolutely Disregard the Efforts of the Poorly Armed Natives to Kill Them. Vladivostock.Travelers from the Corean-Manchu border bring startling tales of the activities of the Siberian tigers in that locality. According to an English writer, who just has re turned from an extensive trip in that region, the natives live in a constant state of abject fear for their lives. Some of the villages are visited al most daily by tigers, who, with an ab solute disregard of the efforts of the mildly combative natives and the dozen or two small spears and arrows that eventually, porcupine quill fash Ion, decorate their rough hides, smash in hut doors and proceed to devour everybody in sight. Unable to get within striking distance of live prey these tigers will visit the graveyards. The natives of the smaller villages, with their primitive arms, being pow erless against these man-eating beasts, big battues are organizing in Seoul and are sallying forth in an ef fort to rid the country of the "noxious vermin." Hunting tigers along the Corean Manchu border is not the child's play that trailing similar beasts in India has become. There is none of the difficulty and exasperation of having to deal with a small army of native beaters for, unlike the jungle tiger of Bengal, who sleeps away the day and pounces by night on his prey at drink ing places, the northern beast is at his fullest activity by day. Instead of having to stea\ from the security of an elephant howdah, with a sleepy, surprised creature that cowers, alarm ed by the beaters, from the path of your ponderous mount, one is out to encounter a thoroughly well-awake brute, ravaging the open countryside and you are, if you follow the Russian custom, afoot One may rely on the element of sport being well to the fore. Well, fed, well exercised, long, lithe, tawny and glossy, the Siberian tiger A Siberian Tiger. is the finest wild beast aire. Th further north one goes the better spe cimen of tiger one meets, till one comes eventually to the pink of per fection, the super-tiger, on the hinter land of Vladivostock. He is as phys ically superior to the Bengal tiger as the wildcat is to the domestic pussy cat. A Bengal tigerin fact, any sort of tiger in a mild climatehas a thin pelt it is sufficiently warm for him. But in the cold climate, where there is constant exposure, as in the Oosoo rie, to a winter temperature of 20 degrees below zero, the fur becomes so luxuriant that you may plunge both hands out of sight in it. The Siberian tiger's pelt is worth nearly twice as much, commercially, as that of the Malay branch of the family. A Siberian tigress runs to only about 250 pounds. The biggest Ben gal tiger encountered rarely will ex ceed 400 pounds. The Siberian tiger, however, often runs to 550 pounds and even 600 pounds. Unforgeable Banknotes. Paris.It is a remarkable tribute to the 100-franc ($20) banknote issued in 1910 by the Bank of France that the first attempt to forge one of them has only just been reported. The notes are printed on back and front, are complicated and artistic in design, and in four colorsblue, pink, black and yellow. The paper Is pre pared with the greatest care, and every time a chemical discovery is made likely to hinder the work of a forger it is incorporated in the print ing of the banknotes. Since 1889 there have been only six attempts to forge the $20 note, three attempts to forge the 50-franc ($10) note, and one attempt to forge the 1,000-franc ($200) note. The Bank of France, unlike the Bank of England, does not destroy all banknotes when returned, but puts them into circula tion several times. It is only after about three years' use that, tattered and torn, they are burned. Taft Is Honored. Savannah, Ga.The Irish leaders oi Savannah have solemnly notified President Taft that if he will visil' their city, they will change St, Pat rick's day from March 17 to any date that will suit his convenience. Women Young at Forty. New York."At 40, women art young, if they'll go to ball games and forget their worries," declared Miss Villa Faulkner Page to the members of the women's professional league. Good News for Fat Men. Berlin.In a pamphlet "Good news to the fat man," Doctor Hikidascope, scientist, says there are more germs on a thin man's skin than on the epi dermis of the fat man. Defective Page RECALLS BUSY CANAL DAYS Quaint Phases of an Old Canal Boat man's Many Unique Experiences Up the Schuylkill Valley. Auburn, Pa.Boating on the Schuyl kill canal continued this winter for a longer period than some of the very oldest canal boatmen can remember. At least this is what Capt. Henry Rep pert, a retired boatman, says, and he ought to know, for he served 40 years as a boatman, and cultivated some pe culiar traits. He recalls incidents that occurred on the Schuylkill canal when there were 1,200 boats plying be tween Port Clinton and Philadelphia, and when 3,600 men earned a livell- Capt. Henry Reppert. hood as boatmen, towpath walkers and assistants while today there are only 38 boats in service on this, one of the few canals in this state still used for freight purposes. Although Capt. Reppert was not then employed as a canal boatman, he easily remembers when, in 1849, the first steam barge called "Experiment," came all the way from Wilmington, Del., through the Delaware river, and thence plied through the waters of the Schuylkill to the coal regions, carry ing on the return trip 115 tons of coal. He remembers when the first large steam barge, known in 1852 as the Daniel P. Shenfelder, was built at Reading and carried coal down the Schuylkill into the Union canal, and finally found its course all the way to Albany, N. Y.. This boat, had a ca pacity of 152 tons. He also recalls the packet boats that carried passengers from Reading to Philadelphia and return. They left Reading at 4 o'clock every morning and arrived in Philadelphia at 6 o'clock in the evening. There was a relay of horses every 10 or 12 miles. The boats were known as the Planet and the Swan. A year later, in 1847, other packet boats were put in serv ice, carrying both freight and pas sengers. When Capt. Reppert started his life as a tow-path trotter, the smaller canal boats were still in useboats 10 feet wide, 40 feet long and carrying froi 25 to 30 tons. SKULL USED FOR PLAYTHING Physician Finds Youngsters Playing With a Fossil Supposed to Be Ten Thousand Years Old. Monticello, N. Y.While making a professional call at the home of Wil liam Woolley here the other day Dr. James F. Curlette found the Woolley children playing with the fossil of a human skull which had become petri fied. Mr. Woolley said the fossil had come from Great Neck, Long Island, and was picked up by him in a stream which flows through his farm there. Skull 10,000 Years Old. At the time of finding the fossil Mr. Woolley considered it nothing more than a stone of unusual form and structure, and took it home to his children, who have called it their In dian doll baby. The features in the fossil are very distinct, the mouth be ing especially large In proportion to the other features. Dr. Curlette said in discussing the fossil: "This fossil was found in a stream, and the action of the water upon it un doubtedly accounts for the reduced size, and to some extent the deface ment of the features. "In studying the fossil remains of this human skull I wondered whether the person upon whose shoulders once rested this head was not killed by a blow of a war club in the hands of some warlike enemy ages ago, for 1 noticed upon the side of the head an indentation as though a blow had been itruck there which broke the skull." THE APPEAL STEADILY GAINS r" BECAUSE: 4-It is the organ of ALL Afro-Americans. 5-It is not controlled by any ring or clique. 6It asks no support but the people's. $2.40 PER YEAR. BODY 15 BAROMETER Speculations Regarding Effects of Surroundings Upon Man. German Professor's Paper, Entitled "The Geopsychic Phenomena," Has Made Great Stir in European Scientific Circles. Berlin.Prof. W. Hellpach, of Karlsruhe, has published the results of the first all-round inquiry ever made into the problem: "How far are the brain and temperament of man dependent upon natural surround- ings?" His report, entitled "The Geopsychic Phenomena," has made a great stir in scientific circles, owing to the bold theses of the professor, who depicts humanity as a mere vitalized barom eter, which reacts incessantly to the stimulus of external forces, but has little independent control over its own movements. Landscape, says Hellpach, is of in finitely greater importance than cli mate in forming national character. The idea that climate is more import ant is a delusion. "In the United States the fantastic mountain world of the great west will time create a different and much more imaginative race than that which exists in the level east and south. At present America's population is too much in a state of flux to allow of this difference being determined, but the change is going on." America will thus in the future have two populations of entire ly different psychical inclinations and characteristics. Professor Hellpach gives a whole series of facts to show man in his capacity as barometer. His activities 4epend upon weather fluctuations. Prof. W. Hellpach. There live peculiarly sensitive "Wei. termenschen" (weather men), whose whole nervous system is affected by thunderstorms. On these tea, coffee and tobacco, taken during a thunder storm, act with extraordinary force, and the most moderate dose of alco hol, which in clear weather would have no effect, produces violent agita tion, and even temporary paralysis. A second type of weather man is the "snow man," well known to nerve specialists. Shortly before a snowfall their eating, feeding and sleeping are entirely deranged and they are thus able to predict a snowfall more surely than can a meteorologist with all his instruments. "Snow men" are rarer than "thunder-storm men." Both quickly recover from the weather ef fects, and even feel better than they did before. In addition to weather, man reacts to an enormous number of external stimuli, some of which are far off, in tangible and even concealed from the senses. Light has precisely the same attractive effect on men as it has on Insects. The word "moonstruck" is not a figure of speech, but a reality. Moonlight has a marked effect upon sleepers, and is the main cause of somnambulism. The changes of the moon produce precise organic effects upon certain lower animals, and man Is also liable to be moonstruck. Water, though, at a distance and in visible, affects the nervous system and makes some men conscious of its ef fects. Hence the "divining-rod" is a reality. The underground water real ly does cause nervous twitchings of the water-seeker's hands, and this sets the rod oscilalting. In the same way diviners of hidden coal, ore and other mineral treasures are quite honest. "It is established that there exist sensi tive men, whose psychical condition is affected by the composition of the soil underneath, though of this com position they have no knowledge." And even astrology has a basis of truth. The changes of the earth In its relation to the constellations in volve changes of gravitation "which causes nervous disturbances and thus operate on the brain." In a scientific sense no man Is therefore independent of the stars and planets. To Ban Campaign Cigar. Chicago.Miss Lucy Page Gaston, head of the Anti-Cigarette league, has appealed to the health committee of the council to make it a misdemeanor for political candidates to pass the}, campaign cigar. Dream Came True. Rockford, HI.Glenn Stockman, dreamed that his stepfather, Sol Hayes, shot and killed himself. Next day he received a message that In formed him his dream had come true. J* A