Evening Republican, Volume 20, Number 306, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 26 December 1916 — Many Strange Methods of Telling Time Are Used [ARTICLE]

Many Strange Methods of Telling Time Are Used

To ascertain the time at night, the Apache Indians employed a gourd on which the stars of the heavens were marked. As the constellations rose in the sky, the Indian referred to his goucji and found out the hour. By turning the gourd around he could tell the order in which the constellations might be expected to appear. The hill people of Assam reckon time and distance by the number of quids of betelnuts chewed. It will be remembered how, according to Washington Irving, the Dutch colonial assembly was invariably disposed of at the last puff of the third pipe of tobacco of Governor Wouter Van Twiller. A Montagnis Indian of Canada will set up a tall stick in the snow when traveling ahead of friends who are to follow. He marks off with his foot the line of shadow cast, and by the change in the angle of the shadow oncoming party can tell, on arriving at the spot, about how far ahead the leader is..