Democratic Sentinel, Volume 20, Number 41, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 16 October 1896 — The Customs of the Tafrtars. [ARTICLE]

The Customs of the Tafrtars.

Now that we have begun to speak of the Tartars, I have plenty to tell you on that subject. The Tartar custom is to spend the winter in warm plains, where they find good pasture for their cattle, whilst in summer they betake themselves to a cool climate among the mountains and valleys, where water is to be found as well as woods and pastures. Their houses are circular, and are made of wands covered with felts. These are carried along with them whithersoever they go; for the wands are so strongly bound together, and likewise so well combined, that the frame can be made very light. Whenever they erect these huts the door is always to the south. They also have wagons covered with black felt so efficaciously that no rain can get in. These are drawn by oxen and camels, and the women aud children travel in them. The women do the buying and selling, and whatever is necessary to provide for the husband and household; for the men all lead the life of gentlemen, troubling themselves about nothing but hunting and hawking, and looking after their goshawks and falcons, unless it be the practice of warlike exercises. They live on the milk and meat which their herds supply, and on the produce of the chase; and they eat all kinds of flesh, including that of horses and dogs, and Pharaoh’s rats, of which last there are great numbers in burrows on those plains.—St. Nicholas. The Emperor of Austria likes spaetzle, a kind of macaroni, and apple wine, while the food of the Empress consists of cold meats, fruits, the juice of raw beefsteak and tea. She is very careful of her diet, as she is solicitous to preserve her figure. Canada proposes to erect a suitable monument to John and Sebastian Cabot at Bristol, England, in commemoration of the voyage they took in 1497, starting from that port and ending in the discovery of the Canadian coast