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About The Chemawa American (Chemawa, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (May 12, 1920)
PAG E T H E C H E M A W A A M E R IC A N W H E R E DO A COW’S EA R S GROW? Of course everyone except a few b en ig h ted city dw ellers is perfectly fam iliar w ith cows. M any farm e rs ’ sons and d au g h ters have alm ost been b ro u g h t up w ith th e cows, know w hat it is to feed and care for them and to m ilk them m orning and e v e n in g , fail w eather and foul in the sw eltering heat of sum m er and in th e chilling blasts of w in ter. Y et, we have a h u n ch th at about 99 1-2 out of every 100 persons would be unable to give a correct answ er, offhand, to the question: “ Do a cow ’s ears grow in front of her horns or behind them ?’ Can you tell and, w ith o u t going out to have a look at old Bossy, be positive th a t your answ er is correct? A sk your friends and see w hat a su rp risin g ly large n um ber will answ er incorrectly or be obliged to confess th a t th ey d o n ’t know . U n fo rtu n a tely a g reat m any people have never learn ed to observe closely; they have eyes b u t th ey see n o t - a s th ey sh o u ld . A good observer q uickly and w ithout conscious effort tak es in a m u ltitu d e of details of ev ery th in g he sees or hears an d is able to recall them all later if he desires to for any reason. H e may see some new operation perform ed b u t once an d , th o u g h it may be com plicated and difficult, be able to duplicate it. H e m ay enter a stran g e room and rem ain for only a m in u te or two b u t on com ing out lie able to tell correctly th e n u m b er and location of doors, w indow , etc., to nam e the articles of fu rn itu re , e tc ., in the room s and tell ju st w here each is placed. H e may travel over a stran g e road once and be able to recall all th e tu rn s, to describe the houses and other b u ild in g s and recall the location of trees, bridges, etc. As a ru le, women are b etter observers th a n m en, perhaps because they are m ore alert, also a bit m ore cu rio u s and in q u irin g by n atu re and because they are m ore attracted by th in g s th a t in terest them or that appeal to them as beautiful. T h e power of observation is a m atter of train in g and cu ltiv atio n . All one need do to acquire th e habit of observing closely is to really keep his eyes and ears open. Of course he need not be u n d u ly in q u isitiv e or “ snoopy” but he should system atically train his m ind to take note of ev ery th in g th a t im presses it or should im press it and to do this in a flash. HOW THE IN D IA N S RECKONED TIM E T h e A m erican In d ian s of early days reckoned tim e by w hat they called “ sleeps” and “ m o o n s.” A ltho m any m odern In d ian s have adopted all the progressive u p -to -d ate ideas of the w hite man and aie as m uch civilized as anyone, a few are still clin g in g to the p rim itiv e w ays of th eir ancestors, in calcu latin g tim e as in v ario u s o th er m atters. T h e I n d ia n ’s “ sleeps” referred to a su n -to -su n day of 24 h o u rs and his “ m oons” to w hat th e w hite man ro u g h ly and im properly calls a m onth. T h e I n dians indicated the noon hour by pointing vertically u p w ard . T o indicate the m iddle of th e first half of d a y lig h t period— n ine o ’clock he pointed upw ard m id way betw een the horizon and the zenith and to in d i cate m id -afternoon— th ree o ’clock he pointed tow ard the opposite q u a rte r. H e spoke of the eastern horizon as “ su n rise ” and of the w estern horizon as sunset. Jo u rn ey s and distances betw een different points were m easured in “ sle e p s.” Thus when he undertook to tell how far he h ad traveled or to tell how far one point was from an o th er the old-tim e Indian would say a certain num ber of sleeps. O rd in arily a sleep in this sense corresponded to som eth in g like 35 miles— the d istan ce a m an could cover in a day, tra v e l ing at an o rd in ary pace on foot. H ow ever, it was not u n u su al for men carry in g im portant m essages to m ake tw ice 35 miles or m ore in a single 24-hour period. A RELIC OF M ARY’S LAMB Probably most people who have ever th o u g h t about the m atter at all suppose th a t “ M ary ’s little la m b ” about w hich the w ell-know n jin g le centers was a purely im aginary anim al. T here really w as such a lam b, how ever. I t belonged to a little girl nam ed M ary and it actually followed its m istress to school one day, as n arrated in th e poem. Some tim e ago a bit of the wool th at grew on th is la m b ’s back was conveyed by will to the historical society of Som erville, Mass. T he wool is in a p ie c e o f stocking th at M ary’s m other k n itted from yarn spun from the la m b ’s fleece som ething like a century ago at S terlin g , M ass., w here the little girl and her pet lived. F rom M ary Saw yer T yler, the heroine of th e poem , the bit of stock in g passed to the above m en tio n ed testator in 1880. Ira te F a th e r— “ W h y did you keep my son after school w hen he did noth in g ?” T e a c h e r—“ I detained him because he w o u ld n ’t tell me w here the M issouri R iver is. H e ju st stood and looked at me. F a th e r— “ H e was dum bfounded at your ig n o ra n c e .’ T o en ter an exposition at S anta B arbaia, C alif., a horse was carried in a specially equipped airplane from Los Angeles. T h e flight was m ade w ithout m ishap. One d a y 's delay was caused by th e H um an e society w hose officers had to be assured th a t the horse w ould suffer no cru elty . A m ong old records at C larksburg, W . V a w as recently found a copy of an indictm ent returned July 5, 1856, against H orace G reeley, publisher of th e N ew Y ork T rib u n e. D istrib u tin g copies of the T rib u n e co n stitu te d th e “ felo n y ” charged. T h e paper was alleged to contain articles the purpose of w hich w as to advise and incite negroes in th e state to rebel and m ake i n s u rre c tio n .” T h e tow n was then in V irginia.
