Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About The Alliance-independent. (Lincoln, Nebraska) 1892-1894 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 20, 1892)
1 I THE ALLIANCE -INDEPENDENT. 15 ' THEY WON'T BE CIVILIZED. , Two Carlo as Trite Who Resist All Ef forts to Improve Their Condition. Hundreds of steamers sail every year through the Straits of Malacca bearing thousands of passengers, who never dream that just behind the mountains along the narrow Malay peninsula are two tribes apparently untamable, that have scarcely any in . tercourse with the rest of. the world, and wish only to be let alone. They are known as the Semang and the Sakei tribes, and are supposed to be the aborigines of the Malay penin sula. Ever since the vessels of civilized nations have frequented those waters they have lived there, says the New York Sua and thoy have no traditions as to ever occupying any other re gion. Once, however, they extended down to the coast, but the Malays drove them toward the center of the peninsula, where, in the virgin for ests, they found shelter against the human enemies, whom they fear much more than they do the wild beasts around them. The Sakei resembles negroes, and ethnologists who have seen a few of them wonder whence these black people with wooly hair, flat noses and thick lips derive their physical char acteristics. The Semang tribe on the contrary are copper-colored, with clear skins and brown cheeks and clear-cut features. The tribes speak ' different languages, but they have the same customs and live t on .the. best terms with one another. There seems, however, to be very little intermar riage among them, and thus the type3 are kept distinct The Sakei communicate from time to time with the Malays, but the Se mangs never leave their mountains. They seem to have no idea of religion and their imaginations are not at all im pressed by natural phenomena. With-' . in their circumscribed limits they are : the greatest of wanderers. They lead a thoroughly nomadic life. They rare ly remain two days in the same place and do not erect the slightest shelter except occasionally a roof of boughs for a few hours from a storm of un . usual violence. Like some of the na- , tivos of Tierra del Fuego they have no idea of building huts in - which to live. They have no herds and their greatest passion is the jealousy with which they guard their liberty and in dependence. White missionaries have made some attempts to gain influence over them, but have been wholly un successful. No effort to give them any of the notions of civilization have sueceeded in the slightest degree. They have not assumed even those habits of civ ilization which prevail among their nearest neighbors, the Malays. They, however, have adopted some of the vices of civilization, among which is the tobacco habit. The weed does ' not grow in their country, and their occasional efforts to procure it from the coast are about the only relations they have with other peoples. Many of them speak a smattering of Malay or Siamese. Mr. Meyners d'Estrey is . the only white man who is known to have lived even a short time among these very peculiar people, and about all the lnformatian we have, concern ing them has been supplied by him. LIVER WEIGHED TWO TONS. And He Was an All-Around Big Shark, ': ' TOO. : " It is about a big fish that I write, but it is a true story. I saw the fish. I v took his dimensions by- actual measurement; and I saw the liver. In the annals of Cape Cod, publish ed by the Rev. Mr. Freeman in 1863, he mentioned that in 1803 Province town had a regulation relating to the carcasses of whales, sharks, horse mackerel, , &ct which required that they be towed below low-water mark, which would indicate that these marine animals were so common as to be Jn some degree offensive in warm weather. Many of them wero ca tured for their oIL Eight whales yielded, twenty, forty, eighty, and sometimes 100 barrels; humpbacks, fifteen or twenty barrels; crampus, one, two, or ! three; biackfish, one barrel; sharks, from one gallon to seven or eight barrels; porpoise, two gallons, and a boat load of dog fish yielded about one barrel of oiL Now my big fish was called a shark, though he was not of the man-eating or shovel-nosed variety. Mr. N. E. Atwood. a distinguished and practical ichthyologist of Frovincotown,- pro nounced the fish a liver shark or sea elephant; and considered it rare. The fish was almost entirely white, and as handsome in form as a mackerel. He was caught in 1862. inside of what is called Long Point formerly an outer boundary of Provincetown's beautiful harbor. The fishermen had spread their seines thero for mackerel and this big fish had got entangled in them all about him, bo that ho was easily, pulled to the shore, whore the tide left him high and dry. Being at that time engaged in business in Provincetown, I .was invited to 6oe the monster and see him cut up for the purpose of extracting his liver. By the way, all the oil of a shark is in his liver, while that of a whale, of course, is in his flesh or blubber. I took a rule and measured this shark and found his length to bo just thirty-one feet. The breadth of his 8 11 was seven feet and his circumference in the thickest part sixteen feet. I have stated that the liver of this shark weighed two tons, and this is how it was determined: The liver was cut in pieces and pitched into a dory. The dory carried a ton and a half in weight besides the tower, as has been proved, bringing her down to her upper streak. The dory was twice loaded deep with this liver, and so the fishermen thought the weight was nearly three tons, but to be with in bounds I concluded to call it two tons, and so it is recorded in this ver acious chronicle. After the oil had been tried out I found that it made seven barrels, and was worth at that time $200. Quickly Over. In the old pioneer days of the Green Mountain State the marriage ceremony partook of the simplicity which was a distinguishing characteristic of life in Vermont at that time. A native of the State tells a story of those early days, which his grandfather used to take great pleasure in relating. Elder Iirown, a much-beloved Meth odist minister was sawing wood in his front dooryard. The day was warm and the minister's occupation was nat urally heating in its tendency, so Elder Brown was in his shirt-sleeves, just like any unministerial wood-sawyer of his parish. Presently there came riding along the road and up to the fence a tall, lank, ungainly country bumpkin on horseback, with a fresh-faced girl on a pillion behind him, with her arms clasped about his waist. As they came to a halt, Elder Brown advanced to the fence and rested his arms comfortably on the top rail. "You won V get married, I cal c'late?" he said addressing the smiling pair impatiently. "Ya-as," they replied in unison. "Well, then," proceeded Elder Brown, "James, will you take this woman for your wife?" "Ya-as,'', replied the grinning bride groom "And you, Hetty, will you take this man for your husband?" "Ya-as," replied the bride, with un faltering promptness. "All right, then," remarked the min ister, reaching out his arm and bestow ing a hearty handshake on each of the newly-married party, "you can ride on." An d they rode on, as happy as if the ceremony had been more . elaborate, while the elder returned to his wood sawing. " J. W. CASTOR, Prs. J. P. ROUSE, Vice-Pres. W. B. LIXCIT, Rwy. E.E.MOTT, STATE AGENT. A. GREENAMYliE,.Trea. THE FARMERS MUTUAL INSURANCE CO OF NEBRASKA. INSURES ONLxY FARM PROPERTY AGAINST vsrFmE, LIGHTNING OR TONRADO,--C?r Dont renew your Insurance with the old line companies and pay three times what It Is worth when you can write with the Farmers Mutual and get better insurance at cost. tarwrite for Circular. LINCOLN, NEB. ritlXCIPAI. OFFICK, Room 407 Brace Building. P THE GREAT ACTUAL BUSINESS L School of the IxorMnVesfc. UVUKdU THOROUGH COURSES IN Book-Keeping, Arilliinelic, rcnmansliip, Tclegrajby, Shorthand; Elocution, Etc. DON'T. FORGET IT. Our rates of tuition are 40 per cent lower than any other college in this FREMONT BUSDiKSS:COLLE(JE, T. It. HAMLIN, 1'resident. FREMONT, NEB, CAPITAL NATIONAL BANK, LIJS COLN, NEBRASKA. CAPITAL : : : : : : $300,000.00. 45tf C. W: MOSHER, President, II. J. WALSH, Vice-President. R. C. OUTCALT, Cashier. J. W. MAXWELL, Assistant Cashier. DIREGTORS:- W. W. HOLMES, R C. PHILLIPS, D. E. THOMPSON, E. P. HAMER, A. P. S, STUART. ACCOUNTS SOLICITED. C. W. MOSHER, C. E. YATES, . Banks, Bankers and Merchants, INDEPENDENT HEADQUARTERS. CORNER THIRTEENTH AND M STREETS, LINCOLN, NEB. Three blocks from Capitol building;. Lincoln's newest, neatest and 'best up-town hotel. Eighty new rooms just completed, including large committee rooms, making 150 rooms in all. tf A. L. HOOVEK & SON, Prop'rs. WHERE DO YOU BUY We Sell to All for Cash and to All for the Same Low Price; DRY We guarantee the price on every arti cle in our store and will refund tho mnnmr V to those who think they have paid too (S much. If that is the way you like to do business we want your trade. , We want those who cannot call at the store to send for samples. Yours, Etc., . GDODS? MILLER & PAINE, LINCOLN, NEBRASKA. NORTH BEND NURSERIES. LARGE SUPPLY OF 4t$t Trees, Plants, Ornamental Trees, Shrubs W Evergreens. Large Stock of Best Old and New sorts of Strawberry Plants. Forest Tree for Claims at Low Prices. Write for SPECIAL prices on large orders. Es tablished in 188 J, Send for price list to ' NOKTH BUM1 NUKSEttlus, . , North Bend, Dodge County, Nebraska.
