Evening Star Newspaper, April 22, 1923, Page 73

MAGAZINE SECTION The Sundoy Shar, WASHINGTON, D. C, . FEATURES | Strange Ttibes, With Habits Foreign to Each Other, on Same Island BY MARTIN JOHNSON. . The man of wealth is the one who | NE day, after Osa and 1 were | !as the largest number of pigs and | again in Vao, our house-boy, | WIVes and cocoanut trees and canoes, | Part 5—8 Pages SUNDAY MORNING, APRIL 22, 1923. separated from the other toes and turned in. They could grasp a brench | with their feet as easily as I could drawn. Some of the men wore the Blg Numbers costume, some that of the Small Numbers. The women wors Arree, asked us if we would | Acquired by judicious swapping or by | like to attend a feast that | was being held to celebrate the com- pletion of a devil-devil, one of the crude, carved logs that are the only | visible signs of religion among the savages. Feasting was about the only amuse- ment of the natives of Vao. A birth or a death, the building of a house or eanoe, or the insctallation of a chief event in the least out of the ordinary furnished an excuse for an ergy of pig meat. The at- terded was typic Fiest the new vil was ¢ rled fato the clearing and. w ceremony, set up among some hu dreds of others. Then of the men brought out about a hundred plgs and tied them to posts. Others piled yams in the ce: r of the clear- ing, and still others th k their legs tled together, in a squawk- ing heap. When all wae ready, the yams were divided among the der men, each of whom then untied a piz from a po and presented {t solemnly to his neigh bor, receiving in return of about the same broke one front and one h their pigs and threw tho squealing lttle beasts on the ground besi Yyams. Then they exchanged chick and promptly broke the wings of thelr fowls. The their pigs to the center of ing, beat them over sticks until they n and threw them down to s Jerk their lives aw The men butlt little fi the clearing to cock the of them were chiefs, It general Tule throughout the reg that eat food prepared by ked over a fire by —any one we some ne legs men took the cle head the feast. Mos those who have The plg is mo New Hebrides tha the world. A man oned in pigs, and a won is rated according to the n pigs she will bring. e 18 the custom throughout New Hebridges to take plgs and gouge out ftwo teeth, so as to make room lower canine teeth to devel tusks. The most valuable tu those that have grown u ound 80 as to form two circles. These ara very rare. The New Hebridean native considers hi self well off if he has a single circ- let to wear as a bracelet or ring and he takes pride fn a collec- tlon of ordinary crescent-shaped | tusks. Pigs’ tusks are the New Heb- Tidean equivalent of money. th Is reck- n's beauty wea ber of T the youn upper for the into and curle complete nose | crange-colored cowries, vurchase, with pig's tusks, rare, and stones of strarlge shape or coloring as cur- rency. Most of the natives keep treasures in “bokus belong bell"—a western-made box with a bell that rings whenever the lid is lifted. But this burglar alarm is utterly super- fluous, for natives uncontaminated by civilization never steal. ‘While the cooking was in progress, the dancing began. A group of men in the center of the clearing went through the motions of killing pigs and birds and men. Though the pan- tomime was crude, it was effective. The barbaric swing of the dancers, | in time to the strange rhythm beaten out on the boo-boos—the hollowed that serve as’ drums—got Into | 5 danc blood, and I understood how the s sometimes ended in a drunken When the first group of dancers was tired, the older men gathered in the center of the clearing and pala- vered excitedly Then they retired to thelr fires and waited. So did we. But nothing happened dance, different in detail though fn from When e was over, there was more pala- Pigs More Important in New Hebrides Than Anywhere Else in the World. ave another | the | essentials monoto- | the second | € and then more dancing—and | o on interminably. Osa and I grew sleepy and went back to the bunga- low. But the tom-toms sounded until dawn. The queerest vessel seen anchored off Vao, midnight. one night at I have ever | She was about the size of | a large schooner and nearly as wide | in the b s she She had ausiliary Her engine burned wood. Her name was Amour. We found that the com- mander and owner was Capt. Mor: whom we had met In the rs before. He et copra wherever he could g proposed that he turn over his us at a daily rental, so th uld continue our explorations 1g the tribes of Malekula He nted readily. Osa and I we wasn't a better skipper than Capt Moran in th South Both he and his brother, who acted as engi- was long. wo ye: 1 to seas. schooner-rigged. | delighted, for there ! neer, knew the treacherous channels | ¢ whites in those waters, knew the natives from long ce as traders, The next mornin it was nearly dark reached Tanemarou port” of the Blg Nu We d rged a stick and rolled oursel when we again bay, the ers territory. ves in our blankets, we left Vao, and | “sea- | of dynamite | sure that there would be plenty of | natives on hand to greet us next| morning. e “vn were awakened at daylight by | hundred sav- | About a “THEY BECAME NOMADS, LIVING IN TREES AND DEPENDING FOR THEIR FOOD ON WILD FRUITS AND NUTS—FOR WHICH ZHEX CLIMBED LIKE GENUINE SIMIANS® | |on hand. | had—a foot ball. Vi o v AR n ) ‘WE FOUND THE WIVES WAITING AT THE DESIGNATED SPOT WITH SUGAR CANE BERS DRESS FOR OSA. ages had gathered on the beach, but to our disappointment, Nagapate had not come down to greet us. Only Velle-Vell, the prime minister, was I gave him plenty of to- bacco and the strangest and most wonderful plaything he had ever It was a sight for sore eyes to see that dignified old savage kicking his football about the beach. At about 10 o'clock, T took a few boys and went Inland to get some pic- | tures. Osa wanted to accompany me, but I felt that Nagapate's interest in her made it unsafe for her to venture. 1 went to the top of a hill a few miles back, where I made some fine plctures of the surrounding country, and was lucky enough to get a group of savages coming over the ridge of another hill about half a mile away. On the following morning, Naga- pate made his appearance, and told me, through Atree, his interpreter, that he had brought his wives to see Osa. I sent the boat to the schooner for her, but when she appeared. Nagapate sald that his wives could not come to the beach and that Osa, accordingly, must go inland as far as the first river to meet them. The armred crew of the Amour and Capt. Moran and I accompanied her. We found the wives waiting at the desig- nated spot with sugar cane and yams and a nice, new Big Numbers dress for Osa. They had not come to the beach because the newest wife was not permitted to look at the sea for a certain time after marriage. Osa was pleased to add the Big Numbers dress to her collection of strange things from Melanesia. spite of their apparent simplicity, the making and dyeing of the pandanus garments is a complicated process. Since the grass will not take the dye if It {s the least green, it has to be dried and washed and dried again. When it i thoroughly bleached, it 18 dyed deep purple. After Osa in turn had presented the wives with salmon and sea bis- cuits (which I afterward saw Naga- pate and his men devouring) and strings of bright-colored beads, Naga- pate agreed to get his men to dance for me if I would come to his village. Osa returned to the schooner, and Capt. Moran and I, with five boys, went inland. We made the village in four hgurs. Savages crowded about me while I got my caderas ready for action. At Nagapate's com- mand, a few men went to the great boo-boos and beat out a welrd rhythm. The savages warmed up gradually. They marched quickly and n perfect time around the boo- boos. Then they. stopped suddenly, with a great shout, stood for a mo- ment marking time with their feet, marched on again and stopped agaim, | And 40 ony the march becoming Zastar In! D YAMS AND A NICE, NEW BIG NUM- |and faster, and the shouting wilder |and more continuous, until at last |the dancers had to stop from sheer exhaustion. )| started beachward, accompanied by agapate and & number of his men. It grew dark before wo reached the | beach. The boys cut dead bamboo for torches and in the uncertain light they gave, we stumbled along. When we came out on the beach, T went to the boat and got a crate of biscuits and a small bag of rice and took them back to Nagapate for a feast for him and his men. Then I sald good-bye. I believe that the old cannibal was really sorry to see us go—and not only for the sake of the presents we had given him. Some day I am going back to see him once more. Our next anchorage bay on the west side We landed, but saw no signs of sav- ages, and I set about making ple- tures of a beautiful little river that ran into the sea at one &ide of the bay. As I worked, one of the boys ran up to me and told me in a very frightened beche-de-mer that he had iseen “plenty big fellowman along Ibush,” and we beat a hasty retreat from the river, with its beautiful vegetation, well fitted for concealing savages. I walked along the beach until I came to & trail like a tunnel leading into the dark jungle. At its mouth, I set up my camera, attached a tele- photo lens, bundled up a handful of tobacco In a plece of calico, placed my bait at the entrance of the trail and waited. A half hour passed. Then, quick as a wink, & savage darted out, seized the bundle and disappeared. iMy trap had worked too well. I had our armed crew withdraw to the edge of the beach and asked Capt. Moran and Osa to set their guns against a rock so that the savages | could see that we were not armd. In case of emergency, we could use the pistols in our pockets. Then I sat down on my. camera case and waited. . At noon we sent one of the boys back to the boat for some tinned lunch. We ate with our eyes on the trail. It was 2 o'clock before four savages, with guns gripped tight in thelr hands, came cautiously out of the jungle. I advanced slowly, 8o as not to frighten them, holding out a handful of tobacco and clay pipes. They timidly took my presents, and I tried to make them understand, by triendly gestures and soft words, that we could not harm them. To make a long story short, I worked all after- noon to gain their confidence—and it was work wasted for I could get no action from them. They simply stood Lke hitching-posts and. let mae.take i * koK ¥ T was very late before we got was a small of Malekula. [plctures all around them. At sun- |down we went back to the ship, with | nothing to show for our day's effort. i PR ]\‘vu sct sail betimes and before long | reached Lambumba bay. I had | been anxious to visit this region, for | T had heard that it was inhabited by nomad tribes. rly next morning we struck iniand along a well beaten trail. We followed this trafl all day. but we saw no signs of natives. Next day we took a second trall, which crossed the first. Again we met no one. But we found baskets hanging from a banian and the embers of a fire still alive under a blanket of ashes. This was the most beautiful part of Malekula we had seen. The trails were well beaten and for the most part followed small streams that cut an opening In the dense jungle to let the breeze through. Here, as else- where, we were surrounded by gay tropical birds and in the trees hung lovely orchlids. On the third morning we took a new trail. We were walking along | very slowly. I was in the lead. I | turned a sharp corner around a big | banian and all but collided with a | savage. The savage was as aston- ished as I, but he got his wits back more quickly than I did mine and flitted oft into the jungle as quletly as a butterfly, In the hope of sur- prising other natlves, we agreed to stay close together and to make as little noise as possible. In about half an hour four natives appeared on the brow of a low hill directly in front of us. They, too, turned at the sight of us and ran. We followed and in about fifteon minutes stopped to rest near a great banlan. As I grew accustomed to the light, I saw dimly, peering from be- hind the tendrils, four intent black faces. We had caught up with the men we had surprised on the trail I spent an hour in trying to coax them into the open. I held out to- ward them the things most coveted by the natives of the New Hebrides— tobacco, salt, a knife, a plece of red calico. I made an attractive heap of presents on the ground and we all stood back, hoping that the shy sav- out and examine them. But they re- fused to be tempted. At last I lost patience and ordered the boys to sur- round the banian. When I was sure that we had the natives cornered I went under the tree and hunted around among its many trunks for my captives. There was not a sign of them. But in the center of the banian was an opening in which hung long ladders fashioned from the ten- drils. . ‘We did not get another glimpse of them that day, but when we returned to the Amour we saw footprints in the sand of the beach, and the two boys we had left in charge sald that a number of savages had inspected the vessel from a distance, dis- appearing into the jungle just before our arrival. * k¥ k ARLY next morning, as we were eating breakfast, a native march- ed boldly down the beach and up to the side of the ship. In bad beche- de-mer he asked us who we were and where we came from and what we wanted. We learned that he had been “blackbirded” off to Quesnsland)| ages would pick up courage to comey Man’s Wealth Reckoned in Those Animals and Woman's Beauty Rated According to Number of Pigs She Will Bring—Visiting the Monkey Men, Whose Protection Is in Methods of Flight—White Visitors Sleep as Guests in Trees. long before and had made his way back home after a year's absence. He knew all about the white men and their ways, he told us, and proved it by asking for tobacco. But finally I succeeded in extracting from Nella—so he called himself—an agreement to guide us to the head- quarters of his tribe. He took us along one of the trails that we had followed in vain during the preceding days. But presently he turned off into another trail that we had not noticed. The entrance was masked with cane grass. Afterabout ten feet, however, the path was clean and well beaten. When we had pass- ed through the cane he returned and carefully straightened out the stalks that we had trampled down. After a mile or so of trail Nell called a halt and disappeared int the depths of the banian. Soon he returned, followed by three young savages and an old man, who was nearer to a monkey than any human being I have ever seen before or since—bright eyes peering out from a shock of woolly hair, and enor. mous mouth, disclosing teeth as white and perfect as those of a dental advertisement; skin creased with deep wrinkles; an alert, nervous, monkey- like expression; quick, sure, monkey- like movements. He approached us carefully, ready to turn and run at the slightest alarm. I endeavored to shake hands with him, but he jerked his hand away. The friendly greet- ing had no meaning for him. My presents, however, talked to him. Re- assured by them and the voluble Nella, the savages squatted near us. The five savages sat and discussed us in thelr own language of growls and apelike chattering. They tried to examine the rifles carried by our boys, but the boys were afraid to let thelr guns out of their hands. Osa, more confident, explained to the savages the working of her repeater. Then they focused their attention on her. They felt her boots and grunted ad- miringly. They fingered her blond hair and carefully touched her skin, giving strange little whistles of awe. Osa was used to such attentions from savages and took them as a matter of course. We examined the banian from which our visitors had come. Like the tree we had seen on the previous day, it had a hole in the center, in which hung a ladder for hasty exits. Empty baskets, hung from the branches, showed that the place was much frequented. * % x % FTER a while about twenty na- tives came along the trail and the examination of us and our be- longings began all over. Osa went among the newcomers with her kodak, taking snapshots, and I set up my moving picture camera on a tripod and began to turn the crank. Like lightning they sprang to their feet and ran to the banian. They scampered up the tendrils like mon- keys and by the time I could follow them with the camera I could see only their bright eyes here and there peering from the crevices. Through Nella we coaxed them back, and down they came, while I ground out one of the best pictures I ever got. Osa at once dubbed them the “monkey people.” They had enor- ous Sat feot, With the-great toe | with my hands. | When luncheon time came we | spread out our meal of cold broiled wood-pigeon, tinned asparagus, and | sea biscult and began to cat. After | watching us for a few moments, two |or three savages fotched some small {almond-like nuts, which they shared | with their companions. They seemed | more like monkeys than ever as they |squatted there, busily cracking the | nuts with stones and picking out the | meats with their skinny fingers. By dint of many presents I won the confidence of the chief and before the afternoon was over I was calling him by name, Wo-bang-an-ar. He was a strang crony. He was covered with layer after layer of dirt. No one who has not been among savage tribes can image a human belng so filthy. His halr had never been combed or cut; it was matted with dirt and grease. His eves were pro- truding and bloodshot and they were never still. But, like Nagapate, he proved to be a real chief, and his people jumped when he gave a com- mand. He ordered them to do what- ever I asked, and T made pictures all the afternoon. * x % HAT night we slept in the banian, and the next day Nella led us through the jungle to a clearing some five miles distant. There we found about a hundred men, women, and children. All of them, save Woban- ganar, who had his food supplied to him by his subjects, looked thin and O the editor: Long Island so- clety has been flocking the past wk. to the annual Great Neck automobile show which |in these parts 1s an event only 24 in | importance to the yearly muzzling of | dogs for which a spectal holiday has | been set to one side in August This yr. the auto show is being held on the front lawn of the palatial Lardnér estate and the yard is clut- | |tered up with such a brilliant bevy | of costumes that a person can hardly | 100k out the window without a slight | feeling of nausea. The writer will not make no at- tempt to describe the different garbs | which fair feminity has showed up { with on this occasion but will devote | this article entircly to the new types of different kinds of automobile de- signs which is being displayed with & viéw to.public favor. | The motor which perhaps has at- | tracted the most nation wide tension |at this exhibit is the 1923 Aspersia | sport model. The tonneau of this car s so con- structed that they can’t nobody ride in it but sports. The Instant you step |inside of this car you are taking a | gambler's chance. | " Still and all they has been nothing showed on the premises which com- | pares with this model is unique body | design and up to date conveniences. | The space between the driver's seat nd the rear seat has been fitted up {as a 1st. class barber shop which the barber takes comb, brush and etc. out |of sanitary envelopes. The razor | blades is never used twice except when a policeman asks you for a ride ome. Between the barber shop and the ear seat is the locker room and |shower baths and swimming pool. The rear seat itself is upholstered in | porcupine quills 50 as they's no dan- | ger of the occupant lulling off to |sleep on the way home. Three rou- ette tables and a crap game winds p the equipment of the tonneau. * X K K | JHE driver's seat has the usual im- | L plements in addition to which they's an alarm clock and a penny weighing machine which vou get weighed for mnothing if you guess within 5 Ibs. of your actual welght. These innovations has made the front seat so popular that it is next to im- possible to get anybody to ride in the back seat let alone keep them from falling out. There is also a shooting gallery. This sport model is imported from Megalomania and coses $1,100.00 on the hoof of which the buyer must pay $6.00 down and the balance at $1.50 per wk. It is a whole lot more inexpensive car than it soun's as very few purchasers lives to make the 2d. payment. Next to the Aspersia in public In- terest is the new 17 cylinder Weasel. This car is what they call an enclosed time lock model and when you once get in it you can’t get out till the time 1s up. Like for inst. suppose you get in the car and set the time lock for 1-2 past 8 the next evening. Well, no mat- ter where you are at or what you pass by, you can't get out of the car till 1-2 past 8 the next evening when the doors opens by themselfs. This type was bullt with a view towards allowing a person to get back in shape after a Rotary club din- ner. This car is libel to become very popular on acct. of economical rea- sons. They give it to you. Amongst the other popular designs which has wakened public interest at this show is the Pseudo-Pullman Limousine. This high class model is equipped with 16 uppers and lowers and 2 drawing rooms. They's a Hly cups. To carry out the Pullman idesr a conductor comes through every little wile and wants to see your ticket. This of course is all in fun. The other equipments consists of a railway gulde and a national hotel gulde. There is also a couple wash rooms with liquid soap and the cars all includes a colored man named Geo. These models sells by the mile. * % % % NOTHER new model worthy of mention is the Nalls-20. ~This drinking water tank at each end with the usual Small Numbers dress of a few leaves. A few men carried old rifles, a few others had bows and ar- rows or clubs, but the majority wers unarmed. These people had no houses or huts. They lived In the banlans. Sometimes they put a few leaves over the protruding roots as a shelter from rain. Occasionally they built against the great central trunk of the treec a rough lean-to of sticks and leaves. I picked up fragments of their history, which runs somewhat as follows: Years ago, thers were many more people on the Island than there are today. In the north and in the south there were great tribes, who wers fierce and warlike. They fell upon the people who dwelt in the isthmus, and destroyed their villages, killed their men and carrled off thelr wom- en. Finally the few that were left became nomads, living in trees, and depending for thelr food on wild fruits and nuts (for which they climbed like genuine simians), the roots of trees and an occasional bit of fish. Their number was augmented from time to time by refugees from the Big Numbers tribes on the north and from the Small Numbers on the south. They were unarmed, because thelr best means of defense w. fiight. They could not stand against their warlike neighbors, but they could elude them by climbing trees and losing themselves in the dark, impenetrable jungles. (Copyright by Houghton-Miffin Compasny.) AUTO SHOW GIVEN ON LARDNER’'S LAWN Sport Model Aspersia Offers You Gambler's Chance—You Don't Live to Pay Second Installment on It car is bullt specially for people that wants their normal number of nails tended to. A person with six fingers or six toes on one limb s out of luck when they buy this model as it will only take care of 20 natls. Jach car is equipped with a mani- cure and a chiropodist and is a great time saving device as a person that needs tension along these lines can get it on the way to or from business. Instead of a tool chest, this model has a complete nail paring set and is seil- ing blg as these lines goes to presa. The wheel-base s 144 yards. Least but by no means last {n the Ultra-Marine. This model is built along the lines of a zea-going vessel and you can hardly tell If you are at sea or the reverse as It rocks ter- ribly. This design is divided into cabin passengers and a steerage. It s equipped with ship's officers and you “THE 1923 REED WHICH INSTEAD OF A HORN IT HAS A SAXA. PHONE.” no sooner get into it when they's either a ship's concert starts or a redio begins buzzing. This car has frequently been refer- red to as the ultra in combinations between sea and land devices. It i practically ambiguous. These is just a few of the new models that has been exhibited on our front lawn dureing the presemt tell tale exposition, but would be re- miss in duty was I to forget the 1923 Roed which Instead of a horn, it has a saxophone or bassoon or clarinet. Each one of these models is equip- ped with an orchestra leader and when four or five of them is going along the road together. the passen- gers is practally all inspired to dance. This serves to congest traffic inside of the car but not on the road and all and all is a big step forwards in the problem of clearing the road to big- ber and better things. RING W. LARDNER Great Neck, Long Island, April 20. Modern Alchemy. HEMISTS used to devote thelr time to the discovery of the philoso- pher's stone, which would transmute all baser metals Into gold. The mod- ern sclentist works in a different way. For instance, in Napoleon't time, when the great Frenchman directed the attention of his countrymen to the manufacture of sugar from beets, there was only about 4 or 5 per cent of saccharine matter in the ordinary beet. By varlous processes of de- velopment the sugar beet of our ‘western states has been brought to such a state that it contains nearly 30 per cent of sugar; and by recent ex- periments in fertilization the yleld of beets has been increased by more than & ton an acre, or about 25 per cent. Instead of attempting directly to turn beets into gold, we are now turning beets into sugar, and sugar into gold. This is only one of the varifous benefits which have accrued to the country through the activities of the experimental stations of the Department of Agriculture,