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BY FRANK O. CARPENTKR.
pj NATION of four million blacks who
are beginning to plant American
cotton.
A territory which has some of the best
cotton soil known to the world and
which is as big: as Alabama, Louisiana,
Mississippi, South Carolina and Georgia
combined.
A country protected by Great Britain
whose people have millions to back it
and who make and sell more cotton than
any other nation outaido our own.
These are some of the conditions which
point toward Vganda as the African cot
tort ' land of the future. The cloud is
now no bigger than the hand of a man;
but it is growing and It may bring
mighty storms Into our financial sky.
Cotton in Uganda.
It is now only two years since the
British began to experiment with cot
ton raising In this, part of the world.
The first seed wag sent oul by the Brit
ish Cotton Growing Association, and it
was distributed to the native chiefs
throughout the country. That whs in
J904, and there are now thousands of little
plantations all over Uganda. In most
places the fields are less than an acre Jn
size; and in many they consist of only
little patches connected with the bananas
growing about the houses. Nevertheless,
the cotton is everywhere, and everywhere
It grows well. This is so with almost no
cultivation. I have walked through fields
where the plants were higher than my
head and have pulled the lint from fat
bolls surrounded by weeds.
The amount of seed first used was about
1000 pounds. The product last year from
this was almost 2.000.000 pounds: and the
output. of the current year will be 5,000,
WO pounds of seed cotton. This all comes
from cultivated patches set out by the
Datives and worked by them, almost with
out instruction from those who are engi
neering the cotton movement here. I have
Been hundreds of bags brought into Kam
pala on the heads of the natives, who
Walk many miles to take their lint to the
hiarket. The amount coming In now is
Something like two tons per day, and
there are great warehouses here which
lire packed full of cotton ready for gin
Ming. Cotton on Lake Victoria.
The cotton movemenet is being engi
neered by the Uganda Company, Limited.
This is an association of English capital
sts who have been more or less interested
n the Christian mission work going on
n Uganda. They represent a great deal
f money, and have active and up-ot-date
nen in their employ out here. They have
British manager and assistants and are
putting up a big ginning plant, with the
best of modern ginning machinery.
Twenty-four gins are already running,
and these are operated by two steam en
gines, one of which Is of a bundred-horse
bower.
The gins were made by Piatt Brothers
. Co., of England, and were installed by
Relic From Bleak Summit of Mt. St. Helens
Record Book Now in Portland Contains Names and Personal Observations of Mountaineers for Many Tears.
THE old, wrecked and moldy record
back of the mountaineers who
have made the ascent' of Mount St.
.Helens has been brought down from the
peak, where it has been for 20 years,
nd has been, filed itt the archives of the
Alpine Club, of Portland. From the
first entry until the end there have been
written 220 names. While the addresses
ire for the most part from Oregon and
Washington, there are many from all
parts of the world.
The first entry was made by Daniel
W. Bass, of Seattle, who with O. C.
Yocum. Thomas A. Marquam, N. W.
Gorman. E. D. Devert, B. C. Towne and
W. G. Steel, made the ascent on July 14,
1SS9. and left the record book, on the fly
leaf .of which were written directions to
all climbers to subscribe their names and
experiences therein. The book was en
closed in a copper casket and firmly an
chored by Mr. Bass to a hole drilled in
the rock. It is strange to note that O. C.
Yocum registers from East Portland.
Was it only so few years ago that the
eastern side of the Willamette was com
monly known as East Portland?
Nine days later came Judge McBride,
' who tells posterity over his signature
that George Merrill was with him, and
also C. Fred Caples. Mr. Merrill records
his age as 63 and wants to know if there
be an older whp has ever ascended the
mountain. Judge McBride notes that
Mount Rainier was in sight, and some
later comer from Tacoma asks why he
didn't use the correct name.
The entries are not in order as to
dates, and the next jumps to July 31,
J 891. Oh, ladies, the blunders of youth.
Her'e are set down that all the world
may see that Miss Lucy A. Williams was
16 years old and Miss Georgie McBrido
Giltner was 17 years of age away back in
that prehistoric day in 'ninety-one. They
were the very youngest of their sex who
had up to that time made the aactui.
vSPROUTED
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Mr. J. Buckley, a representative' of that
company, who has been over our cotton
states and claims to know all about Amer
ican cotton. He tells me that the
cotton her, grown from our seed, is su
perior to the same cotton grown in Amer
ica, and that it is as good as any upland
cottnn that we produce. The present out
put of the gins is only about four tons
per day, but this will be increased.
This company has also an hydraulic bal
ing press, made by John Shaw & Sons
of Manchester, and it proposes to install
other machinery. At present it is difficult
to land heavy freight here. Until the
Uganda railway was completed everything
was brought in by black porters. As all
was carried upon the bead, no piece
weighing more than 60 or 70 pounds could
be carried on the long journey of 800 miles
up from the sea roast. In this hydraulic
press there is one cylinder which weighs
two and one-half tons, and it .almost
broke down the boat by which it was
carried across I,ake Victoria. The nearest
landing place on that lake is several miles
from Kampala, and tho cylinder was
dragged inland by a traction engine.
This same company has recently pur
chased a location under Ripon Falls, at
the head of Napoleon Gulf, where the
Nile flows out of Lake Victoria. The
falls are such that they will furnish a
big electric power, and it is the intention
to build ginning mills and" cotton fac
tories there which will be run by the
Nile at its source.
A Modern Cotton Gin in Africa.
While I was in Omdurman, in the
Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, which lies on the
Nile .1500 miles or so north of here, I saw
half-naked negro women sitting flat on
the ground taking the seeds out of the
cotton with little gins run by hand. The
gins were like clothes wringers.. The lint
passed through rolls not bigger around
than a broomstick, and the work went on
as slowly as in the United States before
Eli Whitney invented his gin. The gin
ning establishment here has as up-to-date
machinery as any in our Southern states.
It is a building of sun-dried brick cover
ing perhaps one-eighth of an acre. It is
of two stories, and the gins are on the
second floor, so arranged that the cotton
can be wheeled in and the lint dropped
down below.
Bight near the ginning rooms are the
warehouses. These are now five in num
ber. They are 75 feet long and 30 feet
wide, and have on hand about 2.000.000
pounds of seed cotton ready for ginning.
All this has come in within the past few
months, and the cotton is now arriving
by the hundreds of bags every day.
AH Brought in on the Head.
While at the factory I saw scores of
natives trotting along with great bags of
cotton on their heads, and wherever I go
I pass men bringing in cotton. . The stuff
is still in the seed. It is put up In banana
bark and bound over and over with be
nana fibers so that it canncjj fall out dur
ing the carrying. Each bale weighs about
70 pounds, and this is a good load for
a native. The men who bring it in are
usually dressed in bark cloth, but some
No less a hand than that of Edmund C.
Giltner, how secretary of the Chamber
of Commerce, made the" record1, and he
modestly gives his own age as 24. He
states that there was a calm on the
mountain top no wind stirring. It is
plain that he was not then connected
with Portland publicity. Of the party
were Charles E. Runyon and Lorlng K.
Adams. Mr. Giltner writes: "I took a
picture with my new Kodak."
They seem to have had a mania for
writing their ages, did the women who
made the ascent of St. Helens. On Au
gust 2, 1S91, Mr. and Mrs. C. W. Embody
were upon the mountain. Mr. Embody
writes. "I will have to cut this short, as
Mrs. Embody's feet are almost frozen,
but she says she'll stay there until I gat
her age in, which is 23, and not a day
or an hour more." It's been quite a little
while since August of 1891 more than
a few snows have fallen on Helen's peak.
Just one day before the visit of the Em
body's, D. C. Greenwalt, of Vancouver,
raised the Stars and Stripes and properly
recorded the event.
The record again jumps as one turns
the pages to August 9, 1894, when there
is written: "I, Rev. W. A. M. Breck, of
San Francismo, supposed to be the first
clergyman on this mountain, being a
minister .of the Protestant Episcopal
Church." Some Irreverent wag with
nothing of the fear of the Lord in his
heart, wrote underneath, "Yes, and I
saw him catch fish on a Sunday." The
thoughtful reader wonders if this be true
or if it be but an unveracious slander
of a worthy man.
In August, 1896, George S. Allen; C. M.
Allen, Wirt Durgan and Charles McCaf
ferty declared and wrote it for all to see
that "St. Helens is a h of a fine moun
tain." They had with them a dog, and
since it is a dozen years ago, it is to be
supposed that that adventurous canine Is
"one with destiny." George M. McBride
of Oregon City has left the record of an
frnnrst jruuu Ua tells of having found a
THE SUNDAY OREGONIAN, PORTLAND,
X)H
of them wear Americanl, or American
cotton sheeting, which is popular here in
Uganda.
When the cotton arrives at the ware
houses it is weighed, an the man Is paid
In rupees, or in strings of cowry shells,
about 2 cents a pound. This amount of
2 cents constitutes his reward for plant
ing and harvesting the crop, in addition
to bringing it for miles on his head to
the factory. I am told the pay is con
sidered small even among the natives,
who work for wages as low as a dollar a
month, and that there will have -to be a
raise in the price, or but little more will
be planted. It is also whispered that the
chiefs are getting a rake-off from the
Uganda Company, Limited', and that for
this reason they are enforcing the natives
to sow cotton. So far tho people have but
little idea of intensive cultivation of any
kind, and the cotton grown is the result
of nature rather than work.
Just outside these warehouses I took
a snapshot at a score or so of natives
who had just sold their cotton. Each
had a lot of cowry shells in his hands,
and they were chatting and planning
what they would buy with their money
at the Hindoo stores of Kampala.
I am told that as soon as the price is
increased, the number of natives plant
ing cotton will rapidly grow. The
amount sold last year was five or six
times that of the year before, and 12
times as much was raised in 1905 as
in 1904. All the cotton so far grown
is from American seed, the wild cot
ton having a coarse fiber with many
large seeds in each boll. Egyptian
cotton is now being tried, but so
far it has not proved to be as suit
able to this climate and soil as the
American upland. The Government
itself is aiding in the movement by
distributing seeds. It has also put in
hand gins in different parts of the
country and baling presses for pub
lic use.
While at this factory I went through
the mud houses which have been
erected for the men, and more espe
cially for the Hindoo clerks con
nected with the business. They are
rude one-story affairs and do not com
pare In comfort with the homes of our
factory people of the South.
Just outside the ginning establishment
a score of natives were making bricks.
The clay looked to me as though it came
from the hills of the white ants. It lay
in a pile on the ground and men and
women, dressed in bark cloth, squatted
about it pounding the clods into dust
with clubs. In a pool nearby another
gang of natives were mixing the dust
solid silver pocket flask which, alas, was
empty. Also a pair of spectacles. Whether
the owner has ever gotten his flask again
no man now knows. It might be thought
that Mr. McBride might have chosen a
better medium for his advertising.
Judge Thomas A. McBride Was pn the
peak again in 1S91 for the ninth time,
having made his firBt ascent in '72. E. M.
Rands, Mrs. Holman and D. C. Telford
were with him. The judge's barometer
made the height 12,410 feet. About this
date,' C. J. Evlnger made the ascent. From
the record it is possible to estimate Mr.
Evinger's age at 49 years plus or minus.
A. W. Hewett and A. R. Cook made fcn
entry on August 9, 1S91, Mr. Cook writing
that he was "most damnably and most
devilishly tired." From which one might
gather that Mr. Cook was at least a little
weary. E. C. Giltner was there on the
same date again with his little kodak,
and exactly three years later to a day,
made the ascent again with his camera,
as carefully recorded. On this last trip
he was evidently the pilot for a bevy of
young ladies, but sadly makes entry tiiat
Miss Treat alone finished the climb. Miss
Butler, Miss Caples and Mrs. Yearguim
having fallen by the wayside. In this
entry neither his age nor the ages of any
with him have been recorded.-
On August 12. 1892, A. R. Canfleld, from
Idaho, wishes for just one of the peaches
that grow in his orchard at Lewiston,
and so plaintively does he phrase hlr wish
that he seems plainly a very thirsty Indi
vidual. W. H. Imus, who in 1894 was the editor
of the -Kalama Bulletin, leaves an entry
for all posterity to read. He writes: "I
am the only man with a cork leg that
ever ascended this mountain." It is more
than likely that this record will stand for
many a long day. A contingent of our
German fellow-citizens visited the peak
in August, '89. O. B. Aagaard was one of
the party and there celebrated his twenty
fourth birthday. Many are the yester
days since then and the birthdays are not
ietf. O. Ehlbeck was Mr. Aagaard's close
.AMERICAN SEE
AT THE SOlCZSCEOFxTHE
1 I
and water together making the mud out
of which the bricks are molded. The
men were naked almost to the waist, and
they tramped up and down in the mud
to knead it for the bricks.
Africa as a Cotton Continent.
The experiments going on as to cotton
here are representative of others now be
ing tried in the various parts of Africa.
I have already written of the cotton pos
sibilities of the Sudan. They are enor
mous, and the cotton now being raised
about Khartum is equal in quality to the
best of that produced on the delta of the
Nile. In British East Africa the author
ities are attempting to raise cotton, and
several successful plantations have been
set out in South Africa. I understand
that the Germans are doing considerable
in the same line, not only between here
and Lake Tanganyika, but also along
that coast in the vicinity of Zanzibar, and
that they are already producing lu the
neighborhood of a thousand bales of lint
per year. They have raised as much as
flOO bales in a year on their little planta
tions In Togoland, on the Gulf of Guinea,
and they have sown cotton In the Kam
crun and in Southwest Africa.
The Italians are attempting the same in
Eritrea, the little strip of territory which
they own along the Red Sea. So far their
success has been small.
As to the French, they have done prac
tically nothing in cotton in Africa as yet.
The Belgians are making experiments
throughout the Congo Valley, where they
have plantations managed by Americans
from Texas. They are using American
seed, and the cotton grown is of excellent
quality.
The British have an organization known
as the British Cotton-Growing Asocia
tion, which is backing many of the ex
periments in the English colonies. That
organization has a capital of $1,000,000.
and its plantations here and there are
now producing something like a half mil
lion dollars' worth of cotton a year. Some
of its best work is being done in West
Africa, and especially in Nigeria. There
are als,o ginning establishments at La
gos, which take care of the cotton grown
near the coast. I understand that there
are 30,000 or 40.000 acres there in a fairly
good state of cultivation.
Plants Which Produce Silk.
It seems like a fairy story when I say
that there are plants out here in Africa
which produce fibers which may possibly
be made into silk as fine as any spun by
the silkworm. I am told that this is the
case. My informant is Mr. R. T. Paske
Smith, the assistant collector at Kampala,
friend in those days, for do not they thus
write themselves?
The "Q. Z." party made the highest
point In 1892. It Is written that they ar
rived there only by the mercy of God, or,
as one of the party puts it, "God being
our guide." Mountaineers will wonder if
this were not one of Indian Louie's off
days.
In 1894 Frank C. Perry wrote, "I was
here before, 20 years and 14 days ago, in
1872. Since then this grand o.d mountain
has changed wonderfully In shape and
base." No. Mr. Perry, the mountain did
not change. In 20 years and 14 days men
change much.
One bright day In August, 1S94, Miss
Bessie Kelly, only 10 years of age, Is re
corded as being the very youngest girl to
make the ascent, thus wresting the laurel
from Miss Williams. On this date Mr.
Merrill was again on tho peak at the ripe
age of 68. We will not be ready to climb
St. Helens when we have numbered oft
so many years.
A. D. Lee searched carefully through
the register in August. 1892, and found
that th,ree of his friends, J. Gerow, Dan
Gerow and P. Weir, who had told him
tales of having made the great ascent
were prevaricators (though he puts it in
finitely more strongly), had never been
on the mountain. Perhaps it was the loss
of confidence in his friends that disgusted
Mr. Lee, for he writes, "I have enough of
this snowy old hill. When it wants me
next time It will have to come and get
me."
On August 27, 1905, Joseph Brothers
and D-ick Sutton were mighty cold and
hungry, and said as much. From the
entry it would not be safe to wager
that either of them have ever been on
Helen since. H. C. Hoffman and party
made the climb in 1907. He writes:
"We started as members of the Goat
Club, but I, here and now, for one, en
ter myself as a charter member In the
Association of Asses, unlimited." An
other of the same party who was then
on the road to Klondike, writes that on
his return he'll build a walking side
walk to the peak. The sidewalk is not
yet builded. Can it be that the writer
of these 10-year-old lines has not yet
returned? ,
The 18-year-old quartet made the as
cent on August 10, 1891. In true 18-year-old
fashion their names are all set
down plainly and carefully for admir
APRIL 10, 1908.
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who was formerly stationed away off In
the interior of Uganda. He says that he
found there a plant which he thinks might
be used for silk manufacture. Said he:
'"I saw many of these plants growing
wild. They reach a height of five or six
feet, and bear a fruit shaped like the
cotton boll, but much larger. I should say
that the average fruit is as big around
as a man's fist. These bolls have a silky
fiber three or four inches long. It looks
somewhat like cotton, but it Is far more
soft, fleecy and glossy. The fiber is
wrapped around the seeds. During my
stay there I gathered a lot of the wild
6eeds and picked off the lint. I then
sowed them in about half an acre of well
prepared ground. They grew rapidly
without further cultivation, and when
they matured I .collected a little bag of
the silk lint in the seed and sent it on
to the authorities at Entebbe. Shortly af
ter that I took sick with a fever and it
was some months before I recovered. I
ing ages to read and ponder over.
"George Burnside Story, W. Carl iHaz
eltlne. Thomas A. Burnside and Otis F.
Akin." He who wrote the record mod
estly placed himself last. They got wet
not rain or fog. but from "moisture
in the atmosphere." A dog was with
them "Antler" was hiB name, or was
it her name? The record docs not say.
They left mementos in the copper box
among them some hair from the dog.
Louis B. Akin poetically phrases his
sad state under date of August, in 1892.
"The Indian wears his moccasin,
The white man wears his gaiter;
I have no shoes left on my feet,
I need an elevator."
Lulu M. Otnell Carson, on the line
Just underneath, and dated September,
1896, writes: "I'm very tired, and I
don't oare who knows it." It's barely
possible that her reference was to the
verse,
C. C. Shafford climbed the mountain
in July of 1898. Messrs. Frazler, Mc
Alister and Ansley were of the party.
Mr. Frazler makes plain his opinion
that Mount Helens is a pretty nice
thing to stay In Portland and look at,
but that he has had all he wants of
it in personal contact, while F. L. Bar
ber, on the same page, thanks the
blessed fates that "Jim," his bulldog,
has stood the trip well.
Now comes the record of the moun
tain having defeated the attempt of
Miss Aurora Eland to scale its heights
In September. 1906. Mrs. George Beck,
Miss Ella Hobart, Mrs. Gaither and
Miss Florence Claud were more suc
cessful. We have no way of knowing
what became of Miss Eland, though 'tis
safe to presume that she is not out
there on the cold mountain yet.
Now comes the last entry of all.
Claud B. Farley and C. F. Clark wrote:
"We realize the greatness of God as
we stand here and look over the great
mountains, and upon our bended knees
give thanks unto him that hath given
us strength to reach this place." The
years have gone and it Is to be hoped
that Mr. Clark and Mr. Farley can still
give thanks that they have been
brought to the places that they now
are. (
. There are now in this country 4 societies
of the National city Evangelization Union,
their annual expenditures being upward of
BAM
then tried to find what became of my
silk fiber, but the authorities at Entebbe
could not Inform me. I spoke of the plant
to Archdeacon Walker, tho head of the
English Church Mission Society of
Uganda. He said he knew it well and
agreed with me that it might be valua
ble. I cleaned some of the fiber and
stuffed a sofa pllow. It was as soft as
down."
"What is the name of this fiber, Mr.
Pnske-Smith?" I asked.
"I do not know what it is called bo
tanically or that it is mentioned in any
botany. The natives call It Mfumbo."
More About Bark Cloth.
And this leads me to write again about
the wonderful bark cloth which is pro
duced by almost every native family and
which until recently formed about the
only clothing worn by the million-odd peo
ple of the kingdom of Uganda. It is used
in other countries as well and the natives
An Unappreciated Beast
THE increase in the number of mules
in use on farms and in cities
throughout the Eastern .and Middle
States is more noticeable every year.
This useful creature has been employed
as a draught animal in the South and
West ever since the settlement of that
territory, and the only wonder is that
it has takn so long to demonstrate its
utility to other sections. A mule is a
valuable asset on a farm or a gentle
man's country place. In place of the
odd work-horse, kept for. the cart, the
hay-rake, the plow, the mowing ma
chine or the lawn-mower, the mule is
etrongly recommended by many per
sons. The points of difference between the
mule and the horse In conformation
are mainly larger, thicker head, longer
ears and smaller hoofs, larger girth,
shorter legs and longer body in the
mule. The relative disposition of the
bones and their angles are the same
as in the horse.
The mule is tougher and hardier than
the horse, is less subject to disease or
to inflammation from slight injuries,
and usually yields more readily to treat
ment. It has been noticed that the
mule is nearly exempt from some of
the common diseases of the horse, espe
cially from colds and the many compli
cations arising therefrom.
Every indication that the mule has
equal intelligence with that of the horse
has often been demonstrated. Every
one who has ever attended a circus
performance has been interested and
amused at the antics of the trick mules.
Not only' are they possessed of intelli
gence, but their evident enjoyment, as
shown by their eyes, the motion of their
ears and the sportive whisking of their
tails, proves conclusively that they
enter Into the spirit of the occasion,
and it requires no great stretch of im
agination to conclude that their sleek,
round bodies shake with laughter.
It has long: been the custom to trim
of German East Africa ratee much of it.
There are several varieties of trees here
which produce it, the favorite being a
fig tree which grows to a height of from
30 to 50 feet, and from which bark strips
can be taken which average six feet in
width and ten feet In length. The fibers of
this bark are Interwoven like cloth. It is
wonderfully strong and when pounded
and treated by the natives Is almost as
soft as velvet. It Is eewn into durable
clothing. Some of this cloth was shipped
to New York about a year ago, but so far
no record of Its final disposition has been
received. The amount sent was 2GO0
sheets, a similar shipment being made at
the same time to London. Tho bark
would make a very fine paper if it were
ground, but whether it can be used as
a weaving material for cloth remains to
be seen. At present the only demand for
it Is among the natives.
The Forests of Uganda.
I have just had a talk with Pr.
Christy, an Englishman, who has a
large concession of woodland running
along the Nile just below where that
great river flows out of Lake Victoria.
The tract embraces about 150 square
miles, and it is so situated that the
timber could be thrown into tho river
and floated down to Khartoum, were
it not for certain falls of the Nile be
tween NImuli and Gondokora. As it is,
the chief market will probably be Brit
ish East Africa and the other countries
reached by way of the Uganda Railway.
Said Dr. Christy:
"Our forests "are magnificent. We
have mahogany trees 150 feet high, and
some of them four and fivo feet in
diameter. They are perfectly straight,
running up to a great distance without
a branch. Wo have a species of wood
that resembles teak, and we have niU'h
hard wood, some of which will almost
resist the blows of an ax. We expect
to do a great deal with that wood, be
cause it resists the attacks of the white
ants, and we can therefore sell it for
railroad ties. We have now orders for
300,000 ties, and we have three differ
ent varieties of antproof wood from
which we can supply them."
Rubber in Vganda.
"How about your rubber possibilities.
Dr. Christy?" I asked.
"We have rubber vines and rubber
trees, and some of the latter are 100
feet high, with a large girth. They run
from that size down to sprouts. We
have about 2.000,000 rubber trees in our
concession. They rango in diameter
from three inches to three or four feet.
The most of them are ready for tap
ping, and we shall exploit that part of
our concession first. We shall work
carefully, delaying the timber export
until we have our rubber industry
thoroughly established, as we fear that
the cutting down of the other trees may
break the rubber trees.
"Our plan now is to cut out the under
brush and map the forest, so that each
part of it can be easily cared for. We
already have 900 men at work, and shall
have double that numhrr within a few
weeks. We expect to build villages on tlia
estate and to train our own workmen.
We have already brought expert rubber
gatherers from Ceylon to show the na
tives how to tap the rubber trees without
Injuring them. If they are properly han
dled they will continue to yield rubber
year after year for their full life of about
40 years. A tree is ready for tapping at
about five years of age, so that we ex
pect to get an income for 35 years out
of each young tree. In a short time our
property will be a great rubber farm
yielding a vast crop every year."
Campola, Uganda.
the hair on the tails of mules from the
croup to about 10 or 12 inches from the
ends. The ends are then squared and
the "paint brush," or "shave tail" ap
pears in all its beauty. This custom is
not, however, always followed. The
natural tail, as well as the mane. Is
thinner and the tail Is more switch-like
than that of the horse, nor are either
as long. The mane is often trimmed or
"hogged" and the forelock removed.
Country Life In America.
The Spell of the Yukon.
ROBERT W. SERVICE.
There's a cry from out the loneliness oh,
honey, listen!
Do you heart it, do you fear it, you're a
holding of me so!
You're a sohbing- in your sleep, dear, and
your lashea, how they glisten
Do ou hear the Little Voices all a-begging
me to go?
All a-besslng- me to leave you. Tay and
night they're pleading, praying.
On the north wind, on the west wind,
from the peak and from the plain;
Night and day they never leave me do you
know' what they are saying?
"He was ours before you got him, and
we want him once again."
Yes, they're wanting me. they're haunting
me, the awful lonely places:
They're whining and they're whimpering
as If each had a soul;
They're calling from tho wilderness, the
vast and godlike spaces.
The stark and sullen solitudes that senti
nel the Pole.
They miss my little campflrcs, ever brightly,
bravely gleaming
In the womb of desolation, where was
never man beforft;
As comradeless I sought them, lion-hearted,
loving, dreaming.
And they hailed me as a comrade, and
they loved me evermore.
And now they're all a-crylng. and it's no
use me denying;
The spell of them Is on me and I'm help
let's as a child;
My heart is aching, aching, but I hear them,
sleeping, waking.
It's the I.ure of Little Voices, it's th
jnsnrtsf of the Wild! .
X