Evening Republican, Volume 18, Number 253, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 26 October 1914 — Page 2

The SHORTEST of PYGMIES

YGMYLAND, in the MaM lay swchipelago, has been sR H found and explored, described and pictured. It is as -weird and wonder--1111 ful as Gulliver’s Lilliput, and is actual fact, not satirical fancy. It is hidden in the mountainous heart of New Guinea, or Papua, the largest island in the world —counting Australia as a continent. Lying south of the equator, and separated from Australia by •the Arafura sea and Torres strait, New Guinea has an area of 308,000 square miles. The possession of this yast territory is divided, politically speaking, between Holland, Great Britahkand Germany. Only in the British territory' has any serious attempt been nme at settling and administering the country. Owing to its remote situation, its rugged mountain ranges and impenetrable forests, its deadly climate and hostile, treacherous inhabitants, New Guinea today is practically terra incognita. It offers greater opportunities for the explorer, collector and anthropologist than any other portion of the globe. The expedition recently sent to this virgin land by the British Ornithologists’ union made pioneer explorations in the land of the Taplro pygmies, described in two narratives of sensational interest: Doctor Wollaston’s “Pygmies and Papuans” (Sturgis & Walton Co., New York) and Captain Rawling’s “Land of the New Guinea Pygmies" (J. B. Lippincott Co., Philadelphia). Here is a marvelous courftry, with snow-clad peaks as high as Mount ■Blanc, rising from impenetrable tropical forests inhabited by native races who live in so primitive a state that It is literally what Doctor Wollaston calls it —the stone age today. The pygmies encountered by Wollaston in one of their villages among the spurs of Mount Taplro were cleanly built, active little fellows, whose average adult stature was somewhat less than four feet six inches. Their skin is a dusky yellowish brown, hair short and woolly and black. Many of the men have short, bushy black beards. With the exception of a head dress of plaited fibers and .feathers and a gourd strapped around We loins, they go about unclothed. bows and arrows, flint knives and stone-headed clubs, and make fire by friction of bamboo sticks, blowing the smoldering tinder into flame. The raise and smoke tobacco, mostly in the form of cigarettes; set snares for birds, wild pigs and small animals; and extract a faint, pleasing sort of music from a split bamboo instrument, something like a jew’s-harp. Doctor Wollaston found the Tapiro pygmies shy and timorous, but eager for barter, and extremely curious about the white men. Their women he never set eyes on. The village headman, a bald and white-bearded old creature horribly disfigured by disease, kept up a shrill shouting all the while the straigers were in sight; and it was probably dub to his protests that the Englishmen—on this trip, at least —were not permitted to view the female of the species. It may have been that the pygmies feared the big Papuan men who accompanied the expedition from the plains would carry of! their wives. It seems the supply of Papuan women Is very scanty, and the men would be apt to seize any chance of abducting a Tapiro woman. Mr. Wollaston tells of an exciting chase after two small men, who were ultimately captured and kindly treated, but who “showed no inclination to conduct strangers to their borne.” This with the aid of native porters was finally reached, and

NEVER SPEAK AS THEY PASS

•overal European Diplomata Are Now Giving Ono Another the Frozen Stare. Several European diplomata in Washington, who have long been close friends, are now giving one another the frozen stare as they meet or pass each other on the street This situation is due to the fact that diplomatic representatives of the powers at war are not permitted to have

friendly relations set up with the Tapiro, as these newly-discovered pygmies are called, the men submitting willingly to measurements, which showed an average height of four feet nine inches. But no offers of metal knives and axes would induce them to let their women be seen, probably, Mr. Wollaston conjectures, because they feared abduction by the Papuans. He supplies interesting details about them, although vagueness attends these, “for they are so Indescribably dirty that it is not easy to know which is their true color,” but the type is distinctly Negrito. The language of the Tapiro pygmies seemed to be radically different from that of the Papuans, and the Wollaston party were unable to make even the smallest vocabulary of it. Their voices are high-pitched and nasal, and full of animal-like throat sounds impossible to render phonetically in writing. Captain Rawling and Doctor Marshall had somewhat better luck. Through a forest filled with birds of paradise and emerald green serpents, they penetrated to the pygmy village of Wambiriml, high up in the hills and spent a day and a night there, photographing and parleying with the Lilliputian natives. In the line of feminist study, however, they made no further advance than their predecessors had done. It was only among the pygmies’ grownup cousins, the taller Papuans of the plains, that they secured those pictures of women and children which form so striking and convincing a complement to the published narratives. "The more one sees of these people,” writes Rawling, “the more one realizes that their lives are one long struggle for existence. Precipitous mountains with deep and gloomy gorges surround them on either hand, every foot of ground clothed with the densest forest, wit£ perpetual rain, with no wild fruit or edible roots, and flesh in any form scarce and hard to procure. One must seb the ground to appreciate the amount of labor that has been expended in clearing away the great trees and vegetation in their efforts to cultivate the less precipitous land. When it is realized that this has been accomplished solely with the aid of fire (a difficult operation in this wet climate), stone axes and two implements fashioned out of a couple of small pieces of hoop-iron fastened to bamboo handles, the magnitude of the task will be understood." The visitors displayed large butcher knives, which elicited gasps of admiration and envy from the pygmies, and explained that these prizes were 'for such men as would Induce a woman to show herself. Yet all to no purpose. The old men formed the obstructionist party; the young ones by themselves might have yielded to the temptation. They said the women had surreptitiously peeped at the white men from the screen of the jungle, but had been scared off by the clothes they wore! u »>• The pygmies, it is believed, intermarry with the Parimau people of the plains, who are of larger stature, and not so Turkish or Mormon-like in their ideas about the segregation of the female sex.

the slightest relations and are supposed to meet as strangers. A number of social ties in the national capital have been broken by the European conflict, as the diplomats concerned in the war are religiously adhering to the custom of not recognizing, even in a personal way, the representative of the country with which their own power is at war. Rather embarrassing situations have occurred at the department of state since hostilities began, but on the regular diplomatic day, several diplo-

THE EVENING REPUBLICAN, RENSSELAER, IND.

The Papuan women of Parimau have no great attractions, either natural or artificial, to hide or conceal. With the exception of a few beads they wear nothing but the loin cloth, made from the bark of a tree. “Poor wretches!” exclaims the explorer, “their days are one long round of toll, and they have little leisure to think of trinkets or decoration. Woman, the weaker creature, is relegated to a very inferior position, and is in fact the slave, body and soul, of her lord and master, becoming his property to deal with as he pleases. Marriages, except on special occasions, are not considered of much importance, and are not celebrated by feasts or jollification. Nor is any attention paid to the birth of a child. “If dress can be looked upon as a source of pleasure, widows in Paupua are to be envied, inasmuch as they are required to adopt outward and visible signs of their bereavement. A widow of standing will decorate herself with a short and scanty bodice of woven grass, which leaves the stomach bare, while from the hips will hang a still more ragged form of skirt. Surmounting all is a peculiarly shaped poke bonnet, made of the same material, which, unless the lady wishes to be seen, completely hides her face. Young widows are not so careful to conceal their charms, and are usually satisfied with the scantiest of skirtKMn the form of bunches of grass hanging in front .and behind, and if thSy fancy it, with more tufts hanging from the biceps.” Probably nowhere else in the world are the birth and death rates so high as in New Guinea. The suggestion here occurs, that the gift of $100,000,000 for a world health campaign—which benefaction Ambassador Page announced the other day in London as having been projected by a number of wealthy Americans —may find scope -in New Guinea. “The income of this fund,” according to published announcement, “which will amount to about $5,000,000 a year, will be applied to the study and cure of diseases among native races in all parts of the world.” -

Oil Bearing Tree Found.

Scientific investigation is being made of a newly-discovered oil-bear ing seed found abundantly on the Island of Catanduanes, in the Philippines. It grows on a large tree and comes from brown pear-shaped fruit that opens not unlike a cotton boll when ripe and emits the seeds. The seeds are rough of surface and of a dark brownish color, about the size of a large dried prune and slightly kidney-shaped. The tree has not yet been fully identified, but it is thought to belong to the genus Amoora or Dysoxylum. Tradition shows That before the advent of p petroleum the inhabitants of Catanduanes used the oil from this seed as a luminant

Important Figure.

‘‘Slnce my boy entered public life I no longer feel like sending him on an errand to the grocery store.” "In public life, you say?" "Yes. He’s a boy scout now."

mats were forced to apparently snub their close personal friends representing “the enemy.” It is related that during the RussoJapanese war the ambassadors from Russia and Japan had a way of bowing in a perfunctory manner, but never exchanging a single word.

Its Kind.

"It is a bad thing fdr children to be stealing jam and Jelly.” "Sure; what you might call a syfuptltious tendency."

TOO MANY DISASTERS

NEED FOR PUSHING "SAFETY FIRST* MOVEMENT. Evident That Extreme Vigilance In All Ways Must Be Maintained if Real Improvement la to Be Accomplished. The tremendous pressure of war news has caused a series of railroad, steamship and mine disasters to pass with little notice. The loss of life, considerable in itself, has, of course, been small in comparison with the loss in battle. But we can scarcely afford to Ignore these stall and “usual” disasters. Ip Utah a dozen men have been imprisoned in a mine. In the St Lawrence, a Canadian government boat rammed during a fog, went down with a loss of fourteen lives. But these do not concern us so closely as the numerous railroad accidents. The worst was near Lebanon, Mo., when a St Louis and San Francisco passenger train rolled -from a soft track into a flooded creek. Twenty-seven persons lost their lives. Near Livingston, Ala., an Alabama Great Southern train was derailed at a switch, with a loss of six killed and twice as many injured. At Memphis an Illinois Central freight train ran down a streetcar, killing eleven persons and Injuring fifteen. Near Waldron, Ind., one man was killed when a Big Four freight split a switch, at Morristown a C., H. & D. freight train ran down a gravel wagon. This accident threw open a switch, with the result that two men were badly hurt and twenty-one loaded freight cars were reduced to wreckage. A week or so previously a Grand Rapids and Indiana passenger train ran into a washout near Kalamazoo, Mich., and injured a large number of persons, among them several residents of Indianapolis. It is to be observed that most of these wrecks occurred at switches or at pofhts where the tracks were weakened by floods. Investigation has not disclosed whether any were avoidable. , The “safety first” movement has become general. I The idea, which at first was one of stern necessity, has become popular. “Safety first” means vigilance first and always—and in all ways. Railroad managements are impressed with the need for such constant watchfulness. Recent wrecks have been confined to no one system. The New Haven, which for months stood at the top of the disaster list, did not 'suffer, due surely to the rehabilitation of Its official system of management. Accidents, as long as safety depends on fallible humanity, may be unavoidable, but they can be largely reduced in number. The realization of a deeper sense of responsibility on the part of official and employee is necessary.

NUT LOCK

This nut lock is particularly adapted for use in securing fish plates to railway rails, but, of course, is capable of general application.—Scientific American.

Danger.

A protest against the use of red rear lights for ..motor cars was made by William D. Sohier, chairman of the Massachusetts highways commission, at the recent conference of the uniform motor legislation commission in New York. Ordinarily they work well, but several railway engineers have complained that upon rounding a curve they have stopped, thinking a switch must be open, only to find that the red signal was the vanishing tall light of an automobile on an adjacent road. No harm has come from it as yet, but it is possible that some time an engineer might take a danger signal for an automobile lamp, with disastrous consequences. The color of the automobile tail light is perhaps not very important, if it is generally agreed upon; red is the natural thing, but no doubt several others would do.

Cleaning Nickel.

All kinds of nickel can be kept in good condition by using a mixture of equal quantities of alcohol and liquid ammonia, stirring in whiting to the consistency of cream.

Government Ownership.

The supreme court of Panama has sustained a recent law whereby the government -reserves ownership in metal mines and deposits of coal and oil.

Belgium Leads All.

In proportion to its size, Belgium has more railroads than any other country in the world.

Madrid a Railroad Center.

JNearty one-half of Spain’s railroads enter Madrid.

BETTER THAN THE ARC LAMP

Filament Lampe of High Candlepower, It Is Believed, Will Boon Take Their Place. / - ' The new metal filament lamps of high candlepower are likely to take the place of arc lamps for outside lighting in many eases, and one of these Is Tor the lighting ofraflroad yards. A good example is a large freight station and yard on the Continent which was newly installed last fall. Current at* 6,000 volts comes from an outside electric plant into a transformer house where it is reduced to 200 volts. Fbr the lighting which is needed for loading and unloading of freight there are used 24 ironwork poles, each 26 feet high and carrying a 800 candlepower metal filament lamp, while the lighting of the outer tracks comprises 14 similar poles 40 feet high’ with the same lamps. In other places, 50 candlepower lamps are employed. A suitable device allows of lowering the lamps from the poles when they are burned out, but ordinarily they require no trimming as in the case of arc lamps. A small winch and - steel cable lowers the lamp in about the same way arc lamp, so that a new lamp can be readily put in. For use inside of freight cars, sets of hand lamps on flexible cables are used, the cables working by trolley upon wires stretched alongside the tracks. —Scientific American.

FIRE ALARM ON TELEPHONE

Automatic Device Sends Warning to Nearest Station, Indicating Location of Trouble. An automatic signaling device has been patented which can be attached to ordinary telephone sets, for sending in a fire alarm to the nearest fire headquarters, at the same time indicating the location of the party desiring protection. The mechanism, according to the Electrical World, consists of a push button on the subscriber's set which when pressed releases the signaling apparatus, thereby selecting the proper line from the exchange to the fire headquarters and sending in a signal characteristic of the station where the alarm originated. If the. telephone line is in use as a called line, the fire-alarm signal breaks in and severs the existing connection. If it is in use as a calling station, the call box is restrained until the existing connection has been broken and the switches returned to normal.

Keeping Parts Together.

In the motor car repair shop considerable time and trouble can be savqtj by keeping component parts together when disassembling the car or parts thereof. The carelessness in this respect, which exist in so many motor car repair shops, is really appalling. For example, a carburetor may be removed for inspection. To remove it several nuts are taken off. Often these nuts are laid on the running-board or inside the channel of the frame, or perhaps placed on the bench near the carburetor. On inspection it is found that the carburetor needs a new nozzle, or a part of it requires repairs that require a delay of some hours or days before it is replaced. The huts are forgotten. Often it is necessary to remove the bottom cover from the crank case or the cylinders from the crank case. In either case as soon as the parts are taken off the nuts should be screwed back on their studs.

Seek to End "Creeping.”

One of the most troublesome difficulties, experienced in the maintenance of railroad tracks is the tendency of the rails to creep in one direction. Creeping is due to wave action Induced in the rail by the passage of the heavily loaded wheels. It is much worse on tracks in which the travel is all in one direction, the creep being in the direction of the traffic. Much attention is being directed today to the arresting of this movement, and several forms of every efficient anti-creep-ers are upon the market. They consist, usually, of an inexpensive form of clip with end jaws which engage the base of the rail, the clips projecting below the base and fetching up against the adjoining ties, thereby locking the rail to the roadbed.

Road Plow for Motorcycles.

Where there is a great deal of clay or mud, a plow may be made for the motorcycle, which will be of sufficient utility to be worth the trouble. Form two fiat pieces of metal Into an acute angle V and fasten these to the underside of the front fender. The thickness of metal or the fastening should be such as to bring these down to within a half-inch of the tire surface —D. R. Hobart, New York city.

Fastening Metal to Wood.

For fastening metal to wood there has been patented a galvanized steel nail with a lead head, the latter spreading 1 to exclude moisture from the hole the nail makes.

Railroad Uses Cactus.

Cattle guards made of cactus planted in beds across the tracks have proved to be successful on a railroad in Arizona.

Big Sum for Improvements.

Pennsylvania railroad system is spending 16,000,000 for automatic signals in addition to 118,000,000 already invested in the system.

England’s Railroad Tunnels.

There are 28 railroad tunnels iq England a mile or more long.

HOME TOWN HELPS

CONGESTION TO BE AVOIDED Clty tjf Today Should Profit From the Errors Which Have Been Made In the Past. , Theiy are much more important and more fundamental objects than esthetics in city planning—-objects that are altogether within the reach of modern civic effort; many lines, indeed, in which thd modern city has already surpassed: ’older efforts, and will and must do 80 still mnpe. If civic art is the .sublime flower flnally can be hoped for, the necessary roots, stems and leaves must be found in the economic, social, hygienic and recreftytional life of the coinmunities. Industry and transportation; transit and rapid transit connections between economically and hygienlcally' developed factories, business districts, and healthful, enjoyable fepmes; plenty of playgrounds, open-air and indoor schools and public parks, are the logical objects of modern city planning—the. necessary foundation on- which civic life and civic beauty must rest before anything worthy to find expression in art radiating toward a physical and beautiful civic center can be developed. Those somewhat utilitarian objects of the new civic art are susceptible of a high grade of development unheard of in the plans for the cities of former times. City planning is the science of investigating and achieving these results. Extraordinary efforts and quite new departures must be made, in order to develop a new type of city, free from the old plagues. The city of the old type was built to house only a small percentage of the nation; and this small percentage was destined to an early death in the second or third generation. The cities did not continue to exist by their own increase of population, but by the continuous influx of people from wide agricultural areas. The old congested city, therefore, was essentially a place to die in; the modern city must become a place to live in. In the beginning of the nineteenth century only a small percentage of the population in the United States lived in cities, a condition which has changed materially today.

CHIEF THINGS IN THE GARDEN

Contentedness and Peace of Ara the Main Products of Any CultL vated Plot of Land. Do not covet all the fine things you see in other gardens, for you would not have room enough for them were they given to you. Choose what you feel you must have and most need in order to obtain “that sweet peace of mind that is better than all,” and you will Indeed prove a contented tiller of the soil. If you find you cannot grow some things you would like and haw satisfied yourself that they are not so& you, cease to worry about the matterand set about growing something else J Don’t worry over the impossible, but? make the most of your possibilities. When you get down to cold garden facts you will find that while your wants* are many your needs are few. The chief thing to be cultivated in a garden is peace of mind. If you gain this you will reap a rich harvest every day in the year.

Garden for Every Family.

'At least there should be a garden for every family in the state. This does not necessarily involve the making or maintenance of lawns or the planting of trees and flowering plants.' 5 If some love a vegetable patch more than a flower garden we have no quarrel with him, for peace of mind is, or should be the aim of gardening. dens are for the affections and the|w fore one should plant that crop or crops that must nearly meets his desires. If you love cauliflowers mori? than you do cornflowers you are fully ' justified in growing the former. It' requires just as much skill to grow a good cabbage as it does a fine tion, and one is further enabled by use of the former to demonstrate hla gastronomic ability as welt

Use More Hedges.

The writer likes definition of boundaries in estates both large and small, and does not fancy any place not so set out, for it looks as though without an owner, or at least has one who is rather undecided as to where his holdings begin or end. Hedges or outlines of street and boundary trees always add to the beauty of a place and define its extent. If such hedges also bear brilliant flowers so much the better, for the effect is materially heightened thereby.

Straphangers In England Now.

Hitherto there have been no straphangers in English motor buses. Every passenger has (by law) had a seat But the government has appropriated so many of these vehicles for campaign purposes that the companies are no longer able to accommodate the traffic. So the law has been suspended, and passengers are now permit* tod (temporarily) to stand up inside. ,