Page 4 Advertisements Column 1

Manawatu Herald, 17 February 1898, Page 4

♦ __-_-__") •'^^ INDIAN CHILDREN. native American Eoys aud Girls — Some Things Tl»ey Do ai-d Lcani. Of tho many millions of children in Nov - "i America but a small proportion are in Lli o broadest; souse "'native thero and to tho manner born." Tho- roily poly littlo nogroc3 aro tho children of Africa, and tho fair f::ccd children of Canada and tho United States aro tho children of Europe. But the Eskimo children who squat upon their fnr floored huts" and suck blubber— they are tho chilclron of America. The Indian children— tho children of the forest, tho boys who bend their bows of ash wood and fly their oaken arrows in the AN INDIAN ENCAMPMENT. heart of the deer, tho boys who race the fleet wind, -tho girls who sit at tho wigwam doors aud weave odd baskets of scented grass and thread beadwork — they are tho children of America. All American Indian children* have four things in common — long, straight, coarse, black hair, a lovo nnd knowledge of nature, simplo modes of iifo and a peculiar fashion of speech. Tlie girls let their hail hang about their shoulders in lank, graceless masses, or they braid it with strings of brilliant beads and threads of scontod grass. The boys crown theirs with coronets of sweet grass and with the plumes of the llrst mighty birds that fall to their arrows. Indian mothers carry their papooses on their backs, and a papoose seldom cries. Thoy aro very comfortablo in tho bark boxliko cradles into which they are so firmly strapped. The Indians, with all their faults, aro devoted to their children, and a papoose Io rarery hungry. Then it is always going, going. Its niothor is a husy, hardworking creature, and so the baby on hor back is always on tho move. Well fed, amply clad and' always on the go! What moro could any baby ask? Tho Indian child, in learning to speak,, learns to describe. Ho calls a squirrel "tail-in air." He calls tho fungus on the tree trunks "dcad-man's-moccasin-leath-er." He calls tho bees "honey-makers." He calls Lako Superior "Big-sea- water." Ho calls a doctor '-mcdicino-man." But in all the word pictures that bis little tonguo learns none. -is prettier than his descriptive names for tho months. April ho calls "Moon-of-bright-nights." May ho calls "Moou-of-leaves," Juno "Moon-<j£-straw berries" and tho liko. j """^Tho Indian boy is taught to hunt, to | fish, to trap, to wield tbe tomahawk, to ' build canoos, to make his bow of ash, to iSIE PRIDE OP HIS TRIBE— A UTE BABT. ig it with sinews or strips of deer hide, ishiou arrows from oak, to tip them l sharpened stono and to wing tbem )ly with feathers, be girls aro taught to fashion boxes cradles of bark, to make mocoasins garments from skins, to plant corn husk it, to tend cattle, and to woave as. mats and baskets of Gags and •es, of willows aud strong grasses. y learn to dostrango things with beads to stain with tho juico of berries the [is of tho birds their brothers shoot, so they uso for headdresses and belts, j writer who in the foregoing para>bs- sketches the Indian ohildren of th America as untouched by civilizaadds that an Indian boy oan do to ection what his ancestors have done generations. He can lie for hours ling his car to the ground bo quietly i you and I could never detedt by sight earing tbat he breathed. He can dance wonderful fashion in tbe lurid light of campfires. He can dance in snowis, dance upon the enow crust. He oan k with a thorn his strange picture lango on tho smooth tree bark. He knows ! habits and the haunts of evory wild ig in forest and in river. And in his i Indian way he has an accurate knowl* j of astronomy. Flamingoes Frozen Id the Tropics. traveler relates that ab tho foot of int Ascotnn, ono of tho peaks of tho '.es in Chile, thero is a hot spring that s into a lake some distance off, the er of which is rendered distinctly mcr near tho Inflow. The fishes find warmth agreeable, and tho flamingoes ; visit tho spot from tho lower lands Bolivia (md the fishes very agreeable ng. After fishing all day the birds during tho night in tbe shallow water he edge If they perch in the warmer Jons, it is well with them, but should ■ settle down beyond the influence of hot spring water their legs become ice nd during tho excessive cold of the it, aud they fall an easy prey to the ians, who capturo them before the i of the next day's sun has melted the Accidents Will Happen* ntcr uncle, who is nearsighted. He 3 a glass on the tabic, and being sty drinks. As ho drinks thore comes a am of despair from his niece Alice. In inishmrnl he asks, "What is the mat- " and Alice replies: You dr:n!;cd my aquarium and swaled my three tadpoles." — Goldcu Days.