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About The Loup City northwestern. (Loup City, Neb.) 189?-1917 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 2, 1915)
AMERICAN (NOIAN ftAAlCf S Oj/ROGERTH.LOWIE ^ "v/y the AnmcAcmuxun journal )j /«fv ^ i 5 BUFFALO DAFCF BYFIA/IDAM JND/AS/O □ HE word "dance," as applied by the Indians, has a mean ing very different from that which it carries in our own language. When we hear of dancing, we think, first of all, of music and steps. These features are, of course, not lacking in aboriginal danc ing, but they are completely over shadowed by other aspects of culture with which they are associated. To put it briefly, OUr dancing appears in the same contest with restaurants, hotels, debutantes, attempts at a social rapprochement of the sexes. In Indian society, dancing is largely connected wuth war and agriculture and the chase, with processions, magical per formances and religious observances, in short, with the serious affairs of life. Indian dances, as far as the steps are concerned,are often of remarkable sim plicity. A widespread "squaw dance,” found among the Shoshone, Crow and other northwestern tribes,consists sim-' ply in the circle of dancers shuffling the feet alternately to the left, each man in the circle standing between two women, with his right arm around his partner’s shoulder or waist, or in some cases with arms encircling a partner on each side. With short in termissions and an occasional intro duction of the war dance, for variety’s sake, a squaw dance of this type is sometimes kept up all night, to the supreme gratification of the perform ers. The tobacco dance of the Crow In dians, is, if possible, of even simpler character. The participants stand up several in a row. holding sacred ob jects in their hands, and alternately bend each knee and raise or lower each hand without at all moving from their position. The highly popular grass dance of the Plains Indians is of a more strenuous character. Only men take part, and they move about briskly, sometimes in pairs, sometimes separately, vigorously stamping the ground with their feet, and frequently mimicking martial exploits. The orchestral equipment of the In dians is not very comprehensive. The flute tor flageolet) is restricted to use in courting For dancing, the drum and the rattle are by far the most important instruments, although other types were used over a relatively large area; this applies, for example, to notched sticks rasped with other sticks and bird-bone whistles, usually worn suspended from the neck. The drum varies considerably in form. On the northwest coast the natives mere ly l*cat a plank or box. The Plains Indians commonly use a skin stretched over a hoop, held by strings crossing underneath, but a large double-headed drum suspended from four sticks also occurs. Rattles are likewise of widely varying kind, such as gourds containing small pebbles and ring-shaped or globular rawhide bags —for which in the dance of today baking powder cans make favorite substitutes. Sometimes a certain in strument is considered distinctive of a particular dance, and various forms of costume are also considered badges. Thus dress comes to occupy in the Indian dance a place of signif icance to which there is no corre spondence in the dances of civilized races. Sometimes to be sure, the ap parel merely is designed to give an appearance of picturesqueness, while in other instances lack of clothing is sometimes compensated for by face and body paint or hy a profusion of regalia held in the hand. The Crow grass dance might be chosen as an example of the social type of Indian dance, the Pawnee truska and the Mandan buffalo worn en’s dances as represeutatives of shamanis^c or religious performances. - - JJ ASsmBOJN£ /ftojAs/s y/y a socjal pahcs while the Mandau okipa illustrates well the great tribal festival type of dance. The Crow grass dance, or, as the native call it, the “hot dance,” is re garded as the joint property of four clubs, to some one of which nearly every man of the tribe belongs. In a sense these are mutual benefit organi zations, for whenever a member is confronted with a difficulty his com rades are expected to help him in every way. In each of the districts of the Crow reservation, these four so cieties share with one another a sub stantial dancehouse. When the time for dancing comes, a committee of men proceeds from lodge to lodge, planting a stick in front of each. This means that each household is to con tribute to a feast to be held by the clubs after their dance. A crier rides through camp heralding the perform ance and calling on all members to present themselves at the dancehouse. On one occasion I have known four marshals to be appointed to punish the laggards; those who had dis obeyed the summons either had to pay a fine or submit to the indignity of being thrown into the creek. In the meantime, the people assemble until the dancehouse is charged to its utmost capacity. Then the musicians, seated in the center around a big drum, strike up a tune, later re-en forced by the voices of some of the women, and the members of some one of the four societies rise to perform the vigorous turns and bendings char acteristic of the dance. They give vent to penetrating cries in rapid suc cession, they brandish weapons at an imaginary foe, and thus proceed around the lodge until the ceasing of music makes them come to a sudden stop. A very different phase of dancing is presented by the Pawnee iruska The members of the society practicing this dance were supposed to be masters of fire, and their attitude toward it was to be like a Pawnee’s attitude in fac ing the enemy. Spectators were in vited to their gatherings, their songs were chanted and the members began to dance. After the third set of songs had been sung, the attendants built a big fire and hung a kettle of water and dog meat (or buffalo) over it. The leader advanced to the kettle when it was full of boiling soup, plunged his arm into it and took out a piece of meat. All the other members followed suit and unscathed pulled out meat, for they had secured medicine power that enabled them to overcome the force of the Are. An evidently related ceremony occurs among other tribes. In the hot dance of the Mandan and Hidatsa. the performers not only exe cuted the trick practiced by the Paw nees, but also danced with bare feet on glowing embers until they had stamped out the fire. This was like wise a usage of the crazy dancers of the Arapahoes. who indulged in other queer antics, such as doing everything in reverse fashion and expressing the BRIEF INFORMATION German silver now goes by the name of “nickel silver” in England. A burial casket has been invented Miat is made of two pieces of heavy glass, held together by metal bands, that is proof against chemical action of the earth. A Berkshire minister has six broth ers fighting in the German army, his wife has four brothers in the French irmy and their son is fighting for Eng land. The seventy-fifth lineal descendant of Confucius is living in the Chinese town in which the founder of the Chi nese religion was born and where he was buried 25 centuries ago. A perturbed Texan foresees a Mexi can attempt to regain his state, Ne vada and New Mexico. In any event our arbitration treaty with San Salva dor still holds good. The stream which has been supply 1, ing the ancient city of Damascus wCSi f water for nearly forty centuries has been harnessed and will provide elec tricity to light the city and operate 100 I miles of railway. Silkworm culture has become such an exact science in France that the weight of the cocoons harvested in proportion to the eggs incubated has been doubled. The United States patent office is self-supporting, and during the year 1914 yielded a surplus revenue of $215. 000, an increase of more than $144 000 over 1913. Artificial sponges are made by treat ing paper pulp with chloride of lime, adding common salt, drying and nrpRiJ ing into desired forms. * Telephone poles of glass molded over a heavy wire net are being made in Europe. These poles are rarely broken, will neither rot nor rust, and are Impregnable to insects. A substantial prize has been won by a Belgian inventor in Italy for an arti ficial leather made of cotton, which is said to be as durable and elastic as the genuine article. To warn traffic on narrow cross streets of the approach of street cars on main thoroughfares a signal has been invented that waves arms by day and displays red lights by night as a car nears the Intersection. opposite of their intended meaning, thus lending to an otherwise solemn performance an aspect of buffoonery. While the activities just described seem to have had no object beyond the exhibition of the performer's su pernatural power, the dance of the Mandan Buffalo Women's society was intimately connected with tribal wel fare. Whenever the supply of buffalo had failed and the village was threat ened with famine, the members of this organization were called upon to exe cute their dance in order to attract the herds. According to an early ob server, they never failed, fpr they simply never ceased dancing till buf falo had been sighted. Prince Maxi milian of Wied-Neuwied gives a good first-hand account of a performance witnessed by him in the early thirties of the last century. There were two men acting as musicians, with rattles and drums, one of them holding a gun. The leader was an elderly woman wrapped in the skin of an albino buf falo cow. The Mandan okipa represents again a wholly different type of dance. It was the great several days' annual festival that corresponded to the sun dance of neighboring people. Osten sibly it was a commemoration of the subsidence of the deluge recorded in native mythology, and some of the im portant characters of the myth were impersonated by performers. On the other hand, there was a great deal be sides. A marked dramatic feature was supplied by numerous mummers representing animals and closely mimicking their peculiarities. Prom inent among these were buffalo mas queraders who imitated the wallowing of the animals represented and whose actions were expected to entice the game to the village. Many tribesmen j voluntarily submitted to torture. The wide scope of activities em braced by the dances of our native American population makes perhaps the main point of interest over and above all special features. For what must strike every observer of primi tive cultures most forcibly is that things which we consider quite dis tinct, men of a ruder civilization join. Thus the stars are to us a subject of purely scientific, study, but even our ancestors invested them with all sorts of mystical properties, and the North American Indian personifies them and identifies them with the heroes of his folk-tales. Thus, too. we hava orna mental designs and often do not give them any symbolic interpretation. Primitive man is indeed less given to symbolism than pernaps has been sup posed. nevertheless his tendency to invest a geometrical pattern with meaning remains greater than our own. So dancing, which to us is merely a form of amusement and exer cise. becomes in primitive communi ties an important social function, an opportunity for sleight-ot-hand per formances. for religiout ritualism, and may become charged with an atmos phere of supreme holiness. Unearthed'Old Coins. While digging trenches in the forest of Champenoux. French soldiers dis covered a hoard of ancient French coins of the early seventeenth century, evidently buried at the time of the French entry into Loraine under JL>oulB XIII. Under the provisions of the law half the treasure will go to the state and the other half to the finders The prefect of Nancy has undertaken to have the soldiers' share of the coins sold at auction In their behalf. The remainder will be placed in the Nancy museum. Fire Starts Lilac Blooming. A white lilac bush in the rear of E. L. Taylor s yard at Torrington. Conn., bloomed for the second time this sea son. This unusual occurrence is due to the fact that the bush was exposed to the extreme heat of a big garage fire.—Hartford Courant Copper Production in Russia. The production of copper in the Ural region of Russia during the first four months of this year reached a total of 6,460 tons, an increase of 600 tons over the corresponding period of last year. THE EUROPEAN WAR A YEAR AGO THIS WEEK :iov. 29. 1914. Allies captured important posi tions near Ypres. Montenegrins defeated Austrians in Bosnia. Russians split German army and defeated relief column at Gombin. German aviators bombarded Lodz. Princes Abbas and Osman ban ished from Egypt for anti-British conspiracy. Germany paid $37,500 indemnity to Luxemburg. Nov. 30, 1914. Three big battles were fought in Poland. Russians captured ten miles of German trenches near Lowicz, but failed in attack on Oarkehmen. Russians won successes in the Carpathians and Galicia. British ships again bombarded Zeebrugge. Germans were expelled from Pe trograd for raising funds for war ships. Dec. 1, 1914. Germans prepared for new dash toward the sea in West. Battle on the Yser was refiiwad. Germans broke Russian wing near Lodz, capturing 12,000 prison ers. Russians seized German ammuni tion barges on the Vistula. Serbians captured 1,500 Austri ans on River Djid. Premier Rushdi Pasha of Egypt declared for Britain. Dec. 2, 1914. British, re-enforced, took over command of the Yser region. Austrians took Belgrade. Russians won at Szczercow and entered Wieliczka. Montenegrins repulsed Austrians. Hungarian chamber of deputies voted war bills. Prince of Wales fund reached $20,000,000. _ Dec. 3, 1914. Germans took offensive in Flan I : j ders but lost heavily trying to cross the Yser on rafts. French occupied Le Mesnil. Tete de Faux in the Vosges and Burnhaupt in Alsace taken by the French. Germans attempted to flank Rus ■ sian right wing. Austrians repulsed assaults on Przemysl. Russians took Bartfeld. Riots in Belgian concentration camps. Italian parliament opened. Pre mier Salandra saying Italy would oreserve armed neutrality; Bel gium was cheered. Dec. 4, 1914. Allies made repeated attacks on German line in Flanders. Russians won a victory at Lodz. Allies landed troops in Montene gro. France called youths eighteen years old for military examination. Mohammedan soldiers from Tu nis sent to fight in army of allies. Turkey proclaimed holy war against Serbia and her allies; riot ing in many towns. American students at Oxford took up relief work in Belgium. Dec. 5, 1914. Allied aviators bombarded Ba den. Italian chamber of deputies passed vote of confidence in gov ernment. British steamer Batiscan sailed from America with food for Bel gians. French made gains in Alsace and attacked Germans at St. Mihiel. Germans in Poland, re-enforced, formed new battle line and moved on Piotrkow. Dickens Drew From Life. Smike, Charles Dickens' character in Nicholas Nickleby, sb,.ms to have been drawn from the life. Said the author in a letter apropos of that novel; "The rascality of those York shire schoolmasters cannot be easily exaggerated. 1 have kept down strong truth and thrown as much comicality over it as I could rather than disgust the weary reader with its fouler as I pects.” _-_._ Case of Hating Oneself. Proprietor oi a Concert P?ny (en gaging a soprano*—"Now, I want you to understand. Miss Ueerly. that 1 like my boys and girls to be one big family—no quarreling, no jealousy." Miss Deerly—"Ob. that's quite all right. 1 ve never heard anything in the work of any other singer to give me the slightest cause for Jealousy." Fool’s Paradise. Originally, in Christian mythology, a region "near the abode of the blessed,” but not a part of it. a sort of borderland, “where dwelt the praise leas and the blameless dead.” Today used to denote the mental condition of those who. by their vain hopes, are "fooling” themselves. Stretching Steel. By the modern process of spinning metal thread it is possible to make a single pound of steel stretch a dis tance of 70 miles. Daily Thought, There Is an idea abroad among moral people that they should make their neighbors good. One person 1 have to make good—myself. But my duty to my neighbor is much more nearly expressed by saying that I have to make him happy—if 1 may.—Stev enson. Unfortunate Men. Some men are so constructed that they simply have to swindle Borot body, and rather than be idle they will bunko their friends. ONE ON THE OLD SQUIRE Child's Misconstruction That Must Have Been in a Slight Degree Disconcerting. The kindly old squire was giving a little treat to the village school chil dren. After supper he stepped on to the platform and announced, with a beaming smile: “Now, J am going to perform cer tain actions, and you must guess what proverb they represent. The boy or girl who succeeds first will receive a quarter. That did it. Instantly every eye was fixed on him. First of all the old gentleman lay down on the platform. Then one man came forward and tried in vain to lift him. Two others came to his aid, and between them they raised the squire, who was rather portly. The actions were “leant to repre sent the motto, "Union is strength.” When they had finished, the squire stepped forward and asked if any child had solved the puzzle. At once a grubby hand shot up and an eager voice squeaked: “Let sleeping dogs lie.’’ _ BEHIND THE RUSHAN GUNS Writer Sees War and Peace G" Hand in Hand in the Great Euro pean Conflict. The road slanted down till we were close to the crashing batteries. For hours we drove along behind a desul tory but gigantic artillery battle. Gun after gun, each in its raw pit. covered with brush to shield it from aero planes. In the very field of the artillery, peasants were calmly plowing with oxen, and in front of the roaring guns a boy in white linen drove cattle over the hill toward the pastures along the river. We met long-haired farmers, w’ith orange poppies in their hats, un concernedly driving to town. East ward the world rolled up in another slow hill that bore curved fields of young wheat, running in great waves before the wind. Its crest was torn and scarred with mighty excavations, where multitudinous tiny men swarmed over new trenches and barbed wire tangles.—John Reed in the Metropolitan Magazine. Their Achievements. A promoter and a politician were I boasting. "I sell something I haven't got to people who don’t want it,” said the former. "Huh! I have your best effort whipped to a quivering custard,” re plied the latter. “I sell them, for all the revenue they can rake and scrape, something that is worth nothing, and then get paid for making them like it.” No Iron Cross for Officers. Washington, too, had his iron \ crosses. However, they were merely badges, known as badges of military merit. This decoration was estab lished by Washington in 1781, and was conferred upon noncommissioned offi cers and soldiers for three years’ good conduct, or for specially meritorious service. They entitled the wearer to pass and repass all guards and mili ; tary posts as fully and amply as any commissioned officer whatever. _ Assassins a Vicious Tribe. The Assassins, or Assassinians. a band of fanatical Mohammedans, canm i into Persia and settled there about 1090. They also possessed themselves of a large tract of land in Syria. They trained up tk6 young to assassinate persons designated by their chief. From them came the word assassin. After making way with quite a num ber of rulers they were run out of Persia and Syria. One Exception. “1 can see the dollar behind the dime every time.” “Not if it’s a Mexican dime.” It's all right for a man to wake up in the morning fresh as a daisy, but it isn’t right to let his freshness get too fresh. There's nothing like being ready when opportunity knocks. I DEMAND FOR PURE ENGLISH! New York Publication Criticizes the Style in Which Street Car No tices Are Worded. ■'Public notices ought to he exam pies of the best writing. They should j be written by masters of style. Take, i for example, the notice in the street cars: “Passengers requiring transfers must request same from conductors at the time of depositing fares in box." Of course that is understandable. It is about as good English as one would expect in a judge’s opinion. But i it is not good enough for a notice that hundreds of thousands of people are to read every day. Here is New York spending forty millions a year for lit erary and other instruction for chil dren who, when they ride in the street cars, are exposed to managers' Eng lish and taught, as to transfers to “re quest same from conductors.’’ Shocking! Of course the notice ought to read: “Passengers who want transfers must ask for them when they put their fares in the box."—Life. WOMEN DOING POLICE DUTY Take the Places of Berlin Night Watchmen Who Are Serving Country at the Front. Berlin, before the outbreak of the war. employed a force of men whose duty it was to patrol the less lively streets of the city at night to keep the peace. Men of good physique and i tried integrity were selected for these j positions. Each man learned his terri- j torv and knew* the people of his ! streets. He was given a bunch of j keys, a revolver and a sword. With the keys he was enabled to enter any house where he might suspect a rob- | hery to be taking place, and some times it became his duty to accommo- j date those belated wanderers who for- j get and lose their keys. The revolver ! and the sword, worn with the consent ! of the police, were seldom called into use. Since the beginning of the war these night watihmen are women. The men who once filled the places are now serving their colors at the front. In most cases women whose husbands have been called to perform their mili tary duties are selected. How He Saw the Louvre. A French literary man fell in with 1 one of the new order of American commercial men the other night and asked him if he had seen the sights of Paris. “Yes,” he said, "but I find that the police have closed most of the sights." "Oh, no,” said his literary friend, “the real sights of Paris, the monu ments, are always open—the Pan theon, Notre Dame, the Invalides, the Madeleine and the Louvre." “Ah, yes. I have seen the Louvre thoroughly.” “Thoroughly?” said the French homme des lettres in surprise, recall ing the labyrintliian vastness of the Louvre collection, “and how long did it take you?” “Fully an hour," was the reply, j ! which has left the Frenchman puz- j | zled ever since. Mouth-Breathing Danger Signal. Of a child that habitually kept its ; mouth open people used to say that it had “a foolish look.” They let it go at j that. Nowadays understanding per sons are quick to recognize the fact that the child needs medical and per haps surgical treatmenL The nasal passages, through which it should breathe, are obstructed, perhaps by adenoids.—Philadelphia Record. Not Particular. “Jones says he's for peace at any price.” "Oh, Jones would be for anything at any price.” How Could He? Doctor—Stick out your tongue far ther. Boy—Can't. It’s fastened t’ my back.—Judge. Spending a dollar before it is earned is like eating an egg that is to be laid tomorrow. PERUNA A STANDARD FAMILY REMEDY For Ordinary Grip; For A ll Catarrhal Conditions; For Prevention of Colds. An Excellent Remedy For The Convalescent; For That Irregular A ppetile; For IVeakened Digestion. Ever-Ready-fo-Take WOMEN MAKE WAR MUNITIONS Experiment Tried in England Has Been Satisfactory to an Extent That Pleases Authorities. Women llave proved to be very ex cellent machinists in England, pressed into this service by the exigencies of warfare. About 800 girls are now em ployed in the munitions factories of that country, and at an early date a great many more will be so engaged Some of these have been at work four months, and were trained by such skilled operatives as were available for the work of instructors. These girls were found to be capable of a good output on many of the operations after only a week's instruction. Lady superintendents are in charge of the place night and day. and a good mess room is provided for meals. All the operations, with one exception, in the making of 18-pound shells are carried out by the girls. There is plenty of such labor available in the country, and all the women are moved by the keenest spirit of patriotism. Many a man s future has been spoil ed by his wife's social success. Beautiful, clear white clothes delights the laundress who uses Red Cross Ball Blue. All grocers. Adv. There is no more fallacious theorv than the one to the effect that one man is as good as another. To keep clean and healthy take Dr. Pierce's Pleasant Pellets. They regulate liver, bowels and stomach.—Adv. Nothing is so fatal to the romance of a stolen kiss as to have the girl sneeze at the wrong time. Not Gray llaira but Tired Ey« make us look older than we are. Keep ycur Eyes young and you will look young After the Movies always Murine Your Eyes— Don’t tell your age. No Limit. "What do you do with your car when vour wife is away?” “Everything.”—Life. Most of Them Should. “I'm a self-made man." "And you suffer no remorse?”—Bos ton Transcript. Unanimous. "I wish and wish again I was in Michigan,” sang the man with the bar ber shop tenor. "So do I," remarked a man in the front row. His Lavish Linquipotence. "Those sonorous sentences that the Hon. Bray Lowder rolls forth with such an impressive wealth of masta donic pomposity and overpowering orotundity—” “Yeah! Sounds like the water com ing down at Lodore in McGuffey’s old Third Reader, doesn’t it? The hon orable keeps a large collection of port ly platitudes preserved in glass pars for the obfuscation of the unthinking." —Kansas City Star. Could Not Understand Capacity. During the public inspection of a Red Cross hospital train on tour through Scotland thousands of people passed through the barrier at one par ticular station and came out at a dif ferent exit. Open-eyed, a countryman stood at the entrance watching the crowds. At length he burst out to a bystander: “Great Scot! that muu be an awfu’ big train that's gaun tae France. I’ve been standin' here for twa solid hours seeiu’ the folk gang intil it, an' she's not filled yet.” -1 The Breakfast Shapes the Day Load the stomach up with a breakfast of rich, greasy food, and you clog both digestion and mind. For real work—reed efficiency—try a breakfast of ^ Crape-Nuts and Cream Some fruit, an egg, toast, and a cup of hot Postum. Then tackle the work ahead with vigor and a keen mind. There’s joy in it Grape-Nuts is a food for winners. “There’s a Reason” Sold by Grocers everywhere.