The San Francisco call. [volume], August 11, 1907, Page 2, Image 2

About The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913

Image provided by: University of California, Riverside; Riverside, CA

                
ODD VEHICLES THE GO,
THE ODDER THE BETTER
THIS Is an age of the world when
to be emart Is to be eccentric.
and to be eccentric Is to be smart.
Something out of the ordinary
run, anything that shows Individuality.
& novelty of thought, stands tho best,
chance for success In so far as ths
world of society and fashion Is con
cerned. Th« discoverer or Inventor ot
any new fad or fancy receives the flat
tering homage of his associates, for In
every detail of the fashionable entour
age novelty Is essential, and some at
tributo that will make the owner
thereof stand out from among his fel
low men as original In his ideas Is
eagerly sought for. -c/v .
Of necessity there are three details
of Washington life that must resemble
each other closely. The general scheme
of life is the came. All large country
houses, for Instance,' are run on much
the came lines; there must be so many
servants In the household staff, so many
cattle In the pasture, so many horses
In the stable, to many automobiles in
the garage. There are general lines
that must be followed in order to Im
part the knowledge to the world at
large that the possessors of such be
longings are In society, of society, and
form Society itself — always Society
•with a capital S, be It understood.
But Just here ha« many a man \u25a0or
womia fallen br the wayside, for f r»
slavishly following after the rules and
regulations of fashion they have fallen
Into a most monotonous form of exist
ence, in wh'ch they realize that they
are being slowly but surely submerged
and the end to which is boredom to
contemplate, compared with which the
condition of the submerged tenth is
a wild delirium of pleasure. ; ,
Above All Be Unusual
To secure marked individuality is,
therefore, the end and aim of every
fashionable person who would fain be
<-onsidered prominent, and many are
the hours end days spent in search
ing for something that will attract at
trition and cauee criticism, that well
bred (?) criticism that is so largely
made up of envy. It is eald that the
old proverb which avers that a man Is
known by the company he keeps Is quite
obsolete now, and that In its place
one should read that a man Is known
by the traps he drives. And, In truth,
smart traps have 'been the entering
wedge for many families Into some ex
clusive country neighborhood In which
they might otherwise have passed un
numbered years of innocuous desue
tude and even moved away unknown
end unnoticed.
In spite of the fact that Americans
have adopted so many of the customs
of the older countries, they have not,
as a rule, gone very deeply Into the
subject of liveries nor of the family
colors that are associated with the
family coat of arms. Consequently the
colors of the carriages can be chosen
to suit the taste of any one. Two
shades of blue In the wheels, bright
red, black and white, maroon w *th a
touch of lighter red. and so forth and
so on Indefinitely, are to be noted
everywhere and excite little or no com
ment. Bat let there be some marked
hot* of color, some fantastic shape or
style of vehicle or some odd fashion In
the livery er headgear of coachman and
toot man, and straightway the atten
Twenty Thousand Years Ago at Shellmound
(Continued from Front Page.)
indent renways;, Indications of sacri
ficial offerings mutely Indicate a sura
fear of tha great Fire God and their
Over Ogres such aa present man In the
composure of his enlightenment- can
hardly conceive of, since he has assured
himself that thunder is not the bellow
of Infinite wrath and a sun darkening
not tha death struggle of eternal light
&nd gloom. Crude amulets and beads
fcpe&k directly of human ornamentation
F-nd of that sex vanity which is as old
r.s oldest man, and suggest wild tales
of primitive love and mateshlp that
had little of tenderness In It and much
of brutally gained and brutally main
tained possession — the woman Wrested
from her home shelter by tha force of
club and muscle and held so, when
tamed to the man's will, by the persua
sion of that same might. They were
Indeed an vn trammeled people — these
shell tribes of the stone age.
However., being a fisher folk and liv
ing where the boom of the eternal tides
roared forever in their ears, Inducing
contemplation and the forerunners of
Introspection, they were not as fierce
&nd as untamed as the natives of the
Interior who hunted the game of the
swift foot, the sharp fang and the
red blood. The tide dwellers were eat
ers of mussels, and with time some
thing of the inscrutability and wonder
and mystery that Inheres In tha great,
throbbing water waste near which they
lived, and from whose depths they
Rained their sustenance, seems to have
influenced a change in their makeup,
bidding for peace, and. under its spray,
to cling their blood to a more even
pulse, stirring Into existence Impulses
cf co-operation and welding tha. vague
gregarious promptings Into something
tangible. The very existence cf. these
tremendous sh«U mound* which can
tlon pf the bystander, or better still, of
the passerby In some fashionable-car
riage. Is arrested.
. Low crowned, bell shaped high hats
In straw, when they were first Intro
duced in this country,^ did wonders for
several families who bought them for
the coachman and the man on the box,
while the bright touches of mauve on
blue liveries and scarlet on brown, the
color In the collars, created much sat
isfactory, interest in the turnouts and
later on In the owner*-«>f said turnouts.
Now Is the Time \u25a0
. The summer season affords by far the
best.xopportunity for securing 1 good re
sults in eccentric traps. Fifth avenue,
now that traffic is so congested, does
not furnish a good background; in
truth it is the quietest appearing traps
that excite the most attention therein.
But at the railroad station or the boat
landing in the height of the season the
possibilities are practically unlimited*
To the uninitiated the extraordinarily
high poised cart, with' light body and
red wheels, teems like a caricature,
particularly when S the horse attached
thereto la of the most minute order, and
the driver, on ajslantingseat, is poised
et a most alarmingly high angle; but
wonders have been accomplished by
Just such a rig driven by some young
man who has lately come into money,,
taken a house in some fashionable
neighborhood and 'wishes to make his
presence known. And, "whisper It not
In Gath and tell it- not in the streets of
Askelon," the sum total of such a get
up Is not great — nothing like what it
appears. It ts, indeed*, a gilt edged so
ciety Investment.
be seen at various points along this
coast argues that a large body of peo
ple must have lived together harmo
niously, for single families or even
ftnall bands of natives could not have
reared such massive heaps of shell
refuse within, the period of time which
Internal evidence suggests as the time,
actually required for their construction.
— namely, from 10,000 to 30,000 years.
Undoubtedly* these mussel eaters were
more peaceably Inclined than were any
of their contemporaries. No traces of
cannibalism have been * found in the
Emeryville mound, not even In its low
est strata, which correspond to a state
of very primitive culture.' ft V
Yet for all that the mound builder,
was more peaceably inclined than his
more restless neighbors, he was In
many ways their decided inferior; for
food came to him easily — twice /daily
the inexhaustible- tides brought succu
lent sustenance to his feet/ where he
might gather It and eat' without much,
exertion or thought. Gathering his food t
required of htm little* cunning,; stimu
lated but very circumscribed develop
ment, and as consequence of the lesser
necessity ~ -waa born a weakened re
source. The manner of the
essentials of life by collecting shells, -'
even In that far oft age, indicates a low
form of human existence. In all^p'arts
of the world' during, the present time,
people may be seen on the shore at low
water gathering for food the shells
uncovered by the tide; and although
under «thY changed conditions of life
they raise no shell mounds, these peo
ple always belong to the lower classes
of BOdety, end lead in this manner a
primitive as well as a simple , life: ;
People depending for food .up'cra the';
gratherlngr of shells are usually not , ag- \
rlculturists, but fishermen, and perhaps
hunters as.: a'; secondary occupation.'
Basket phaet'ong of all Idnda &r«
coming Into favor, and these quiet, con-
They do not develop ' those character-/:
Istics which mean rapid human evolu- .
tlon; characteristics which grow- In the
being: of the agriculturist as tho
green \u25a0 plants of his lengthen
and mature, or those which shape the '
herdsman's nature as he cares for his
growing flocks. Crafts are not devel- <
oped. The' mound builder's implements
are of the rudest: kinds, and confined, to
the simplest 'uses;, made of stone and i
bone for the most' part. Of the more
complicated primitive Industries and .
the ' Implements necessary to their
prosecution .he knew,- nothing 1 . . Even
the mounds he built were not con- ,
structed' after definite plan, nor were
they the outgrowth of. a distinctly con
ceived plan; they, were formed Inci
dentally ito the dally existence of sue-,-,
ceedlns , generations; grew simply be
cause the; shell eater continued for
some reason to come to the same spot
to cat his mussels and scattered; the '
empty shells about the place where he
\u25a0feasted, without giving;* much l ; thought
as to • the fact' that he was constantly ; ,
piling , up of the refuse of :his tribal
kitchen a, lasting monument to himself.
In the midst of the remnants of the
food cast aside by; himself,' this early;'
man continued to cling to his abode,/'
raising It more \ and more ' above the ..
general level of .the gx?und " nUI ll bft
came & distinctive and easily recognized
feature of the surrounding landscape.::
In all there are: considerably more
thaix r a hundred large '\u25a0 shell mounds in \
!the ;. vicinity immediately around^ the i
bay of San Prahcisco. These* in^ turn
form but one link in a chain of similar V
\u25a0 mounds * which stretch : ; northeflyValong <
..the v 1v 1 coast and Inland - from southern i
California up> to- Vancouver and farther i
;ih'. British: Columbia; .On^ the eastern"
; shore of ] the bay; twelve of them may
be seen In; as- many /miles * between ;
servatlve traps can strangely enough be
made satisfactorily conspicuous by a
Point Richmond and Alamedm. Tha
mounds themselves consist mainly of
broken or entire shells, ashes, bits of
charcoal and 'some artifacts— this
mass, far above the level of the ground,
in the case of the Emeryville mound
to a height of, -some thirty feet, and
extending: In this same mound two or
three feet below the present general
tide level. The fresh water creek run
ning near the base of this mound seems
to explain the cause of its origin *at
this particular, spot;! nearly all fs,hell
mounds are confined to localities wnere
drinking water could be readily ob
tained. There Is also a. greater abun
dance of shell . flsh at the mouth of
creeks and rivers. \u25a0 '• «
Man of "the stone age was ; quite fa
miliar with the uses of fire asan'ln
valuable adjunct to his daily life and
as an agent that helped him most ma
terially In conquering his environs.
One of the most uses to
which he applied this conquered ele
ment was to the i alleviation- of < pain—
to drive f roVn . hYs wracked " body j the
demons 'of disease. For this; purpose
he built sweat caves, crude "Hammarn"
baths, where he generated tha '\u25a0 neces
sary steam heat by heating . bbulderi
until they - were red <: . hot and i* then
plunging them 'Into a; receptacl* oon
talnlng water. In the Intense, almost
unbearable heat and steam thus gener
ated he lay and \u25a0weltered, until 'the
devils that were torturing , him fled
whence, they: had come, and then, rose
to bless that;, strange'; red _ blaze^that
had healed \ him In Its heat; The ; sites
of \u25a0 these former ; sweat -houses , are
marked* in the Emeryville mound by a
number, of well deflned hollows that aro
f ronr 20 ito 40 feet In length. To dispel
the' terrors ,of the night and to keep
the ; prowling /beastsVthat 1 , sought \ : man
as : he ' sought t them^ at i a respectful \u25a0 dls
little care. If it Is the phaeton wifn
rumble,* the coachman should by' rights
tance from his village when the somber
twilight settled /across the ancient
world, fire was an ally of incomputable
value. It was a natural sequence that
prehistoric man sh6uld personify fire
and make of it an object of reverence.
.All people, especially savages, ex
press therriselyes characteristically tn
their burial ceremonies. One of the
most striking differences indicating: a
growing ' change In the people whose
life history and cultural • stages are
represented in the successive, strata of
the shell mounds Is indicated In the
different forms of burial of their, dead.
During the excavations made at Shell
Mound park by. Professor Merriain and
Dr.^ilhle ten^graves containing skela-;
tons more or less preserved: were
found- Many tribes of a low grade of
civilization follow tha custom of bury
ing ; their dead underneath their feeV
;in . the - ground upon which they live,
!to protect, tha graves' of the dead : from
being disturbed and also to enjoy the
'protection; 'of '• the 'departed spirits
against their I enemies./ Shell mounds
are riot, as has been ; commonly sup
: posed, ' ' eminently burial • mounds, and
whenever graves are found in these
mounds . their . presenoe can be ex
plained In ; the . above suggested : rea
sons. * The skeletons referred to were
found : only In 'the" middle layers of
• tha ,; Emeryville mound, tha \u25a0 lower and
thY upper strata \of \u25a0 the - heap contain- :
Ing no evidence ' of Interment. The fact
that" tha lower - and the upper strata, of
the mound are sterile of any actual hu
man remains, except for a few charred
/bone! splinters, • may be accounted
jfor by the well substantiated suppo
sition that .crematloivof : the dead : was
practiced;" during these ; periods, -espe-i
dally during* the periods correspond
ing^ to the upper 'strata* of the mound.
In : substantiation, of this '. hypothesis
the great*'- profusion of , calcined and
fire blackened : stona Implements, ashes
in which amulet* ' and beads arei Im
bedded, and in a tew Instances actual
be of diminutive size, but if a fair sized
man. be engaged, straightaway the
r outtlt looks absurd. The basket cart,
commonly known as the governess cart,
can be as delightfully conspicuous la
this country as In Paris, where It Is
driven by two or three or four fat men.
Three buxom women with the coach
man and a mlnuts pony to draw tha
trap present a decidedly diverting spec
tacle at' any railway station.' but It's
very smart!
The chances and changes of fashion
able life are evidenced In tha turnouts
more than in anything else. Not long
since it was, and still Is at some places,
considered much smarter to send largo
carriages^ to meet tha guests, so that
tha guests may have plenty of room.
For this reason tha private omnibus
was so much In demand. But now comes
fragments of burned human bones,
may be adduced as evidence. Cremation,
of the dead is still a prevailing - cus
tom among the California Indians, di
rect descendants of those first western
aborigines. Then, as now, this race of
people were accustomed to burn all per
sonal belongings with tha body of tho
dead. ; . *
Burning of their dead was an impos
ing, awe inspiring ceremony with those
ancients of the stone period. After
days of walling and lamenting which
accompanied the decease of one of tha
tribe's members — weird sorrow-music
that rose in ceaseless supplication to
ward the regions whence tha departod
soul bad winged its way, elaborate pre
parations were made to give the body
again to the element*;, to speed tha
body in flame and upward floating ash
that it might rejoin "the spirit that had
at last blazedthe trail .whence there is
no returning. Tha body was painted with
the" red. day whose symbolism is. even
yet a matter of guesswork among white
men and was turned face \u25a0 northward
toward the great fire mountains, whore
the Fire God had his abode* and his
belongings, sacred to their owner even
in death, . were carefully placed upon
the stiffened limbs. An Immense pyre
of wood .was piled i over the . bodY and
the death fires solemnly lighted.'
If we of the present day could re
kindle those dead fires of the earlier
world and sit by them aa watchers of
that : ancient mourning spectacle and
get the . feel of the primal world as an
actuality we should witness one of the
most . dramatic ' funeral ceremonies tha
world has ever known. It was lifted
by tha great- wave of sincerity that
prompted it very near to the , plane of
tha transcendental, such as even the
lowliest of earth's savages in all tho
tragic simplicity of their burials no
• longer I reach. We would • sea . the - fljr- -
ures lof the ; Neocene stiffened by, say»
" age . grief; into .those grim yet • pathetio
attitudes assumed by the older, more
•unconquered human when -he stood In
-tha i presence . of .- the . great unknown \u25a0
and, rendered that supplicatory hor
n; aga i. which his fear i would : not . let him
neglect' or suppress, while v the - twlst-
The San Francisco Sunday Ca&
tho tad In gay inforasallty. which t»
evidenced by the packta* of a* many
people as) possible tn on* trap, said trap
drawn by one hors*. The Irish Jaunt
lnc ear ls not yet übiquitous exactly,
but ts considered delightfully smart and
Informal, and when tt Is realised that
there can be 10 people on each sida and
on* stretched fell length In the center
«#at the possibilities of sech a trap
recommend It at once to both rich and
poor. But be It understood that It Is
only the rich who can rashly Indulge In
fashionable' economies. The first cost
of a smart jauntlar ear Is considerable.
Every detail of the man* livery, tho
horse's harness and the fitting! of the
cat must be of th* most expensive sort.
But the fact remains that It la an
equipage that can be utilized to convey
a lot of guests to and from tho train or
boat, and at the same time Is so de
lightfully censpicuou* that It ts safe*
to, assert It will surely be universally
adopted as a smart trap for train serv
ice.
• Automobiles are too universally used
to. be In the least smart, and tt aeema
to be impossible to secure any in
dividualism where 'they are concerned,
and so the mind of the aspirant for so
cial honor must stray to those* estab
lishments where novelties In traps are
to be obtained. The first cost may be
a bit heavy, but tho results will war
rant the expenditure; still there are
rare bargains to be found In second
band traps of eccentrio lines. These
latter should, however, be carefully
chosen, for. Just as In clothes, tha lln«
Is perilously narrow between th»
smartly eccentric and the conspicuous
ly startling. Under careful guidance,
then.. let the choice b« made, only be
ing quite certain that the guide -Is not
color blind, for the color of the horse
as well as the color of tha trap must.
be taken Into consideration. Most ef
fective results can be secured with a
dapple gray horse tn a high trap, or
with a black horse In a black trap with
trimmings of white, while for roan.
chestnut, sorrel or bay tho Jaunting car
with an appropriate green ts bound to
win tha favorable attention and criti
cism of the most . conservative) and
stand off country family.
Ing flames forever enveloped from his
sight' the tribal comrade. Tha watcher
would have seen this far progenitor
of his follow with his ga>a tha flames
and smoke that bora aloft tha ashes
of his comrade's body.' until his search
ing became lost In that purple void
that swallowed smoke and prayer and
gaze In aweful silence and gave back
no sign of comfort or recognition;
would finally have seen night lower
her starry blanket over glowing ash
heap and the mourning horde of men
cowering under the mysterious pres
ence of that something which con
trolled Ufa and death, chattering tn
subdued gutturals as they retired to
the night shelters to bide the lons
Rhadow hours. He would have felt
that ha Indeed was tha tragedy of tha'
growing race In its cradle.
Other events there were more tragio
than Individual death and burial. Lay
ers of sand overlying some of tha
strata* of shells In the Emery villa
mound Indicate * that It was uninhab
ited for ' considerable periods of tlma.
Explanation of these temporary evacu
ations can only ba arrived at by con
jecture. Whether sudden scarcity of
food in tha vicinity was the causa of a
general migration to other regions;
whether visitation of. dread plague or
merciless battle terminated in .a flight
of tha inhabitants, or whether 'a vio
lent convulsion of tha earth, accom
panied . perhaps by a tidal wave, was
tha forerunner of a superstition that
prevented reoccupatlon of the mound
during tha Ufa span of th« witnessing
generation— all this ts merely specula
tion. The fact remains that they did
vacate their shall abode for ' great
periods of time, and It ts but plausible
to attribute such vacation to ' some
tragfe. terrifying cause — is all ' prob
ability an earthquake.
The mystery which comas only with
the lapse of centuries ' clings to these
/people : and to their remains. Investing
them with greater Interest because of
tho;uncertalnty connected with'- .them.
Our instincts were their experiences;
their dim hopes -and unformed desires
our memories and forgotten realiza
tions. .With the mammoth beasts, the
strange, exotic fauna and tha other life
•characteristic of the warmer earth, the
man of the stona age has passed away
and lies deep buried in the forgotten.
Only his whitened moldered bones,
again up torn by the* latter man Ito help
•him in his attempt at solving tha eter
nal - why. remain to pro v « that a thou
sinfi y;«j »r» d a <Jiy in. thji •«• of
aaaa and, tls planet