"r r vj-. WKWJ' iwCTJswraa 5 ;r THE jmBW AGB,POBTLA.NT, OREGON. TjBvt"-" 'V-jy:7' t 'TALKING BY SIGN8j"';'?llb!"'L!f.h' UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE 18 ONE OF MOTIONS. Coafnclua, Rnmeaea and Sitting Ball Might Carry on a Conversation Though Not Speaking Batue Tongue, I Indiana Can Understand Each Other. There Is an old story of the man who was too boahf ul to UUk In coinpuuy and ftho received from a friend the rude advice, "If you can't talk, make signs." There was more, to this remark than might at llrst appear. It points back to the Infancy of human Intelligence. The language of signs Is as old as the tills, or at least as old as humanity; It Is old as any form of animal life -wherein thought or emotion has re quired oxpresHlou. The American Indians arc the great st sign talkers now left In the world; or, pcrhnps more properly, It might bo aid that they were such until the nil vauce of whlto civilization chuuged many of the requirements of their lives and thus altered many of their cus toms, this among them. The average whlto man never learned the sign Inn sun go of the Indians, perhaps having contempt for It, perhaps Ignorant that such a thing existed. It was only the half savage trapper or hunter, the voy ageur or plainsman whonc life was pent among tho tribes and who thus pcrforco must learn some manner of speech, who came to understand fully and practice habitually tho sign Ian gunge. Not all white men can learn rr f it -Vr OF Jr4 1 - J ,'iBMM&JSMtliTSMMMMMWKMkmKr i mfmmM&Lt 'T ii ttH.iwtffttfcmm f r STICKS 3H0 IHBITTIOH m ijTfT ' smmmmmMswsmm the sign language, though some pick It up readily, Just as certain persons learn foreign languages more readily thuu ethers. The sign talk was lu all caseH femst used by whites who had beeu among the tribes from early youth. lu BOine cases It was ho habitual that It was employed, us It often In by the Iudluns, as a regular menus of dally conversation Instead of spokeu speech. To the "tenderfoot" who Arst went upon the plains lu the old days there were some signs or marks which were early net-opted as obvious or generally understood. Thus, he saw a slim pile of roeks upon the edgo of hoiuo coulee or ravine. He did not know what that iucaut at Arst, and tho older plalusmeu told hlin It was tho sign for water. Not even the plainsmen could tell who Arst luveuted that sign or who was the Arst to employ It. It was "always there." The beginner on tho plains learned other things, among thene tho fact that the plains were capable of vast dis tances, which could bo traversed better by the eye than by the horse or by the weary human foot. A inllo away he aaw a horbcmau riding In a circle a circle which would npiear tho same when seeu from any direction. He did not kuow what this meant, but when he was told It said "Come ahead," he did uot bother about riding over to the man he wanted to have come uhead. He simply rode his circle, Just as had the Italians from whom the whlto meu got this plains Blgu. If tho man were on foot and wanted his friends to come ahead he Blgultled It by squatting down and rising up a number of times In suc cession u slgu which looks pretty much the same from any direction. You can ice such a slgu n mllo or more, nnd it Is easier to talk that way than to try to shout over vacuut mile of prairie. The Indians used yet nuother sign to ay "come ahead" when Becrecy was necessary. This was made by taktug hold of tho lower part of tho blanket or robe which one was wearing and holding It out from the body, theu mo tioning with It lu toward tho legs-a Ign as obvious as tho bockoulug hand, and vlslblo at a greater dlstanco. A blauket fastened to n long nole and thrust up Into the air meant to a mov ing and scattered party: "do Into Scamp here." Yet other signals, as for "Attention," or "llo careful." wer uado by tho rolled or folded blauket. -, l Bsuoko Hlunuta. a I Tha traveler upon tho plains in the 'arly days soon learned the slgulUcanca it tha spires of smoke which he hum tilfBM mw rising from a distant rldg S. MUOtTVlVVS SaJU ( UIUVIV1U I1IV.UUU A was the signal talk of the Indians, across miles of Intervening ground, a Blgnal used In rallying the warriors for an attack or warning them for a re treat when that seemed advisable. The Indian had a way of sending up the smoke lu rings or pun's, knowing that such a smoke column would nt once be noticed and understood as n signal and not taken for the smoke of some camp Are. He liable the rings by covering his little flro with his blanket for a mo ment, then suddenly removing the blnn kct and nllowlng the smoke to ascend, when he Instantly covered up the lire again. The columns of ascending smoke rings said to every Indian with in a circle of perhaps twenty or thirty miles, "Look out. There Is an enemy near." Three smokes bullt closo to gether meant "Danger." One smoke merely said "Attention." Two smokes meant "Camp at this place." Travel the plains and the usefulness of this long dlstanco telephone will quickly become apparent. (Sometimes at night tho settler or traveler saw llery lines crossing the sky, shooting up and falling, perhaps taking a direction diagonal to the Hue of vision. He might guess that these were the signals of tho Indians, but unless he were an old-timer he might not be able to Interpret the signals. The old-timer and the squaw man knew that one Are arrow (an arrow prepared by treating the head or the shaft with gunpowder and Hue bark) meant the same ob one column of smoke puffs viz.: "An enemy Is near." Two Are arrows meant "Danger." Three nrrows said Imperatively, "This danger Is great." Several arrows said, "Tho one- wmawr mjtk vm.tJjfK hWtff "Uol&s wwmwmwwmmw: THE AMERICAN INDIAN 9f I r fKMM aims Of TM JJH- TkiMoow W.a &mr - uurmo Found my are too many for us." Two nrrowH shot up Into tho air nt once meant, "YV shall attack." Three at once said, "V attack soon" Four nrrows at once said "We nttack now." An arrow shot off lu a diagonal direction said as plainly as a pointing Anger, "That way." Thus It seems that the untutored savage could telephone falrly'well at night as well as In the daytime. In tho forests as well as upon the plains it wns sometimes necessary for one man to commuulcatu with nuother while tho two were separated by days of time or miles of dlstnnce. What boy has uot left n slanting stick to tell his companion which path ho has taken lu tho woods? The boy does without In struction precisely whnt tho savago does. When one party of Indians wish es to tell another imrty where It has gone tho leader places a stick, stuck slantwise lu the ground, pointing lu the direction taken by the departing party. This Is an Index Auger, snylng plainly, "That way." Hut If tho newly arriving party saw a cross stick stuck Into the earth at right angles to the Index It was known, In tho language of tho signs, that the Arst party Intended to travel ono day. Two cross sticks meant two days, and so ou. These (tcoplc could not write a letter to pin uku the stick, but their message was none the less plain to those who rend It. HIku Talk 1'roper. Such were some of the long distance signals of tho tribes, simple and easily understood by all. This Is something Interesting to study, but It has properly no connection with tho slgu lauguage used as a common vehicle of commuut cattou In conversation, The slgu lan guage proper was executed by tho movements, gestures and positions of tho hands and arms, sometimes of oth er members of the body. To learn the simple signals of tho plains was easy to any ouo who cared to do so, but tho mastery of tho sign talk was a matter far more complex and dlttlcult and for some whlto meu tho task was too much. Iudecd, It seems that there were de grees of proAclency In tho slgu talk even atuoug tho Indians themselves. Some of tho Indian signs are stmplo and readily understood. When the sign talker straddled his left haud with tho two split Angers of the right you caught tho Idea of "horso" almost at once. When he held the hands thus and ad vanced them with a serlea of short, choppy, forward movemeuts, you saw that tho horso was going, that it was galloping. When tho talker hooked his two forefingers and held hit hauds up at tha sklea of hU head you mw the 1 ) -OHL. aW 'A4 -aVfOll p 'ill m ' r"at. asra hooked horns of the buffalo, atm you knew 'what he meant. If he thrust both arms above bis head, spread out, and with the Angers spread out, you saw the branching antlers of the elk unmistakably. Tho wolf sign, tle Arsl two Angers of each hand held close to gether and upright at each side of the head, Indicated the erect cars of that animal plainly. Not quite so plain, yet plain enough If you arc a hunter, wnt the sign for the mountain bighorn sheep the two hands, one at each side of the head, describing the outward and forwnrd curve of tho horns. The Anger and thumb slightly approached and held nt the side of the head Indi cated less obviously the pronghoru of the antelope. The sign for snake was simple, and any one would understand It tho extended forellngcr thrust out before the body In a waving line, like the course of the snake lu traveling. Not quite so obvious Is the sign for "lie, liar, he lies." Here we get back to the ancient Bymbol of the serpent, which seems to be the synonym for duplicity among all peoples and for all times. The liar sign Is mndo everywhere by the forked Angers thrust out In front of the mouthfor ncross the body "He speaks with a forked tongue." This Is ancient Indian rhetoric for you, but It Is correct. The sign for "truth, It Is true," would obviously bo the single Anger used lu a similar manner "He speaks with a single tongue." Yet others of the simpler signs are easy of comprehension by the man who Is capable of casting off his customary habits of thought and trying to be n child again. Thus, we say a man Is In doubt, he wavers mentally, he Is shaken In his mind, he hesltntcs. When tho Indian sees something strange to rfc TSmimi,Gm5 OirilI5DIl!B10illllOI!lllOII!i!l)iDl!SilWraifilllDl!l!l!l!Oi!lX s ". It- m (BRWE V HMjF I l TcLtAB s. I -.jumn ..eL rrr OANOZ him, whoso unme ho does not know, nbout which he Is lu doubt, he points to it, then shakes his loosely extended Augers In front of him. "What Is that?" I don't kuow whnt that Is," he bays, plainly, when you come to think of It. Now, stop to think what you do with your hand when you say "No!" and say It emphatically. What does the heroine do ou the stage when she spurns the villain's suit? Haud palm out, swept sharply down nnd to tho right. It Is "No" as plain ns can be. Upon the other hand, we all kuow the Implica tion of tho extended haud when It Is held lu front of the body, as when one shakes hands or Is pleased, or suys It Is all right the gesture of asseut or of concurrence. When the Indian would sny "Good; It Is all right," ho throws out his right haud lu front of him, palm down, tho edgo of the hand away from him. When ho says "Yes" ho snaps his forollngor down upon the, hand as he brings tho hnud quickly down lu front of hlin. It Is hard to explain, but when you see him do It you know he means "I've got you." One will uot see so much of the old slgu talk amoug the tribes to-day If ho travels amoug tho reservations of tho West, for the Iudlau Is nothing If not practical, and he does anything lu the easiest possible way. The changes lu his life have rendered It unnecessary for him to rely much upon the slgu lan guage. There are halfhreeds and Car lisle graduates to Interpret for him, and he likes to stand up before the Great Father aud make a speech in that way, beiug always au orator, an actor, and an Individual well aware of the full value of stage effect aud dramatic ac tion. He does not use the sign lau guage because he does not have to use it. Hence It Is now passing away. Scientists arc beginning to study It, and are maklug minute records regarding tho old speech of the plains. The Uul ted States government and the Smith sonian Institution are doing all they can to learn the old forms. The few trappers and hunters of tbo past who were once familiar with the sign talk, and who still live to tell us about It nre sought out and Interviewed carefully. Once a common fuct, because It arose from a common necessity, It Is now disappearing to join the ancient and soon to be forgotten story of one of the most Interesting aud most dramatic re glous ever known In all the history of tho world. Somo of tho unhapplest people on earth havo more money than they kcow what to do with. UPON A CATARACT'S BRINK. Thrtltlnsr Experience of a Voyager the Ottawa Hirer. The horrible experiences of one who has been swept away by somo merci less current nud Auds himself at last at the brink of u cataract may possibly be Imagined, but there are few who survive to relate to us the particulars of such an ordeal. Yet there Is one in stance where a man was saved at tho very edgo of the fulls. There aro few uiorc Imposing bits of scenery lu Canada than where tho Ot tawa Klvcr pours thundering and foam ing over the Chuudlere Kails. When the water In the river Is low, .ns it Is lu autumn, there Is a fall of about forty feet, but when the river Is swollen by melting snows In the spring the ap parent depth of the fall Is lessened. At any time the rush nud swirl of the great river over this ledge of rock is a sight worth seeing. in some places the water pours over In a dense and Irresistible volume, wlillo nt other points a shallow stream will spray Itself over n higher table of rock. On tho upper Ottawa aro Aoatcd booms of logs which feed tho largo lumber Industries of thnt region. Han dling these wet logs Is a trencherous busIucsA, nnd It Is easy to loso one's foothold and fall Into the swift stream. Accidents of this klud occur frequent ly. The only case that did not havo a fatal termination Is the one referred to here. The mnn wns busy forking these logs with those sharp tongs used to swing them nbout nnd draw them In, when he missed his footing nud fell Into tho river. Though a strong swimmer, ho could not withstand the current nnd was swept out Into the stream and on toward tho falls. Ncurlng the falls, he found himself still conscious, and It happened that he was being Aoatcd over one of those tables of rock where the water was so shallow that ho felt himself touch. He struggled to regain his feet, nnd wns successful In so do lug, so thnt he found himself standing lu, perhaps, a foot of rushing water, at tho brink of the cataract, n great cur rent surging by him on every hnnd. Hut It seemed hopeless. Ho saw no way of ccttlmr to shore, and no one from the. shore could get to him. Many people on tho banks of the river word watching him nud trying to study out somo plan to save him. Finally a largo derrick was brought to bear, such as It used In building operations. A great arm with ropes was swung out over tho current, and when the mnn had fastened himself securely with tho ropes ho wns raised up high and swung In, Just ns n large stone would bo raised lu constructing a building. WALES SETS A NEW' STYLE. Heir to Knitlnnd'a Throne Kachewa Created Trouncr. ' This Is tho new photograph of the Prince of Wnloa, which hna caused conutcrnntlon among tho chappies of Now York. It Is tho proof Indlnputublo of tho fact thnt his roynl highness Is weitrlng his trousers without crcnaca and hnx been wearing them so for some little time. Tho Prince's trousers aro pressed "even nil around" so ns to give tho leg n perfectly cylindrical "set." A. Chicago exquisite was asked what ef fect this change of fashion on tho part of the I'rlnco would have on swelldom la America, lie said: "There Is no WALKS NKW l'lCTltltK. uoubt thnt tho Prince of Wales seta the fashion for London and that we follow the I-onilon fashions lu general It Is hard to sny, however, whether tha crease wll go or not We are largely elastic In our modes. Tho crease la without question desirable and pretty. I should say that If we wish to we can have creases In our trousers without the consent of any other nation. Hut if the business once gets a good start It Is more than probable that the round leg will come Into vogue again. Mean whllo I would advise my friends In tha words of Popo: "Ue not the llrat by whom the new art tried, Nor yet the last to lay the old aside." An Army Guards) the Sultan. When the Sultan of Turkey attenda tho Friday midday prayer at tha mosque lu Constantinople the garrison of 30,000 men are stntloued along tha route In such a way that he shall ba Barely guarded from the moment ba leaves his palace until ho Is on his car pet In the cacred cdltlcc. Heer Glaaaca llcgutatetl Iiy Iaw. The ordinary beer glass Is regulated by law In Itavarla aud must hold ex actly half a litre, or nearly ulne-tentha of a plut Plenty or Coal in India. ' India la rich In coal, though little min ing has as yet been done In that coun try. The needle you hunt for In a bay stack never pricks your ringer. The rich roan travels whea be will the poor man when he can. ,LsrsmmmmmmmmmmwtSssf9S f THE METROPOLITAN BANK CAPITAL BLOCK, FRENCH flllLIP V. CAE8AR, Frcildentj TRUMAN W. EJCOP, Vice-President J O, JACOB II. 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