The Toledo chronicle. [volume] (Toledo, Tama County, Iowa) 1873-1924, 1875-01-14
FATHER JyT.T00TH.

FATHER JuT.T00TH.
FATHER JUT.rooTH is . droll fellow
who lives in the land where the goats
climb trees. He dresses in a thick suit
of ashes, carries his tobacco behind his
ears, and for ornament wears the tail of
q COW.
His wife wears an apron of skin with
. fringe Of iron rings and beads and
bells; and the largest house in the vii
lage is hospital for cows.
Queer people, did you say! Yes, they
are queer, / must admit; and it would
be hard to believe what we hear of
them only that travellers have seen them
and written books about them.
But let me tell you more. He is
called Father Jut-Tooth by the Nubians
because Of singular custom his people
have of breaking of or filing to point
the two lower front teeth, thus leaving
the upper ones to grow out till they are
very prominent. Why they should think
this an improvement upon Natures way
of arranging teeth nobody knows; but
their fathers set the fashion and they
dutifully follow it. And let me tell you
that the most savage tribes in Africa are
as much slaves to fashion as we; and 1t
is even worse with them because the
fashion is not simply the cut of clothes
but mutilation of the body, breaking of
teeth, pressing heads out of shape,
stretching the lips till they look like a
ducks bill, tattooing new patterns in
the skin and boring holes through the
flesh.
Father Jut- Tooth dresses in suit of
ashes, as said, AMI rubs it well in, so
that if he is a poor man, and obliged to
use wood ashes, he is changed from his
native bronze color to fine gray; but
If he be rich and can afford the luxury
of more expensive sort of ashes he
will be a rusty red. The use of the
ashes is to keep off insects, and for the
-----~ P..Po0c III olCops ia u bed of the
same ashes.
His favorite ornament, told you, is
the tail of a cow; but he does not disdain
other tails, such as a goats, and the chief
OF his tribe has quite an assortment of
tails with which to vary his dress.
Then, like all other Africans, he has
his ears pierced in several places, and
iron rings or bars put in. And, worse
than that, his upper lip is pierced, an
iron bar fitted in, and, as you'll not be
surprised to know, he is tatooed in
stripes like the rays Of the sun, going from
the top of his nose across his forehead
and temples.
But this singular gentleman is not yet
fully dressed. He has ivory rings on the
upper part of his arms, and, if he is rich,
iron rings or bracelets from elbow to
wrist, besides immense iron chains, some
times as many as four around his neck,
and fastened on, too, so that they cannot
be taken off.
His hair is probably shaved close to
his head, though traveller tells of one
dandy who had thin hair about six
inches long, which he had trained with
great care till it stood up all over his
head in locks and pointed like tongues
of flame. The peculiar material which
he used on it had dyed it of a rusty red
color, and the observer frankly says he
looked like fiend.
AS for clothes, the less said of them
the better. He calls man who
wears garments a woman, and the Ger.
man traveler-who of course was fully
dressed-received the ironical name of
the Turkish Lady"
This man is Dinka, and the dress of
his wife is about as droll as his. To be-
gin with, she nearly equals him in iron
rings and chains. Her ears and Inns
and nose are as fully decorated as their
limited size will allow. Her neck bears
chains of iron beads shaped like gas pipe
cut into bits, strings of wooden balls,
cords Of leather, among the rest. prob.
ably, an amulet to keep her from harm,
made OF some verses of the Kohran, in
closed in an ornamental leather sheath.
This amulet, by the way, she shares with
the cows and donkeys, who of course
need protection also.
Her apron of skin is heavily fringed
with iron rings, bells, beads and such
things, and her costume is completed BY
heavy iron rings ON her ankles, which
are fastened on, and which clank as she
walks. A person of wealth sometimes
wears as much as fifty pounds weight Of
iron all the time. So you see riches have
their burdens in Africa as well as in
America.
Every Dinka man carries a club A
yard long, with a knob on the end.
which makes it look like an immense
nail
The house of this curious couple i.
made of bamboo, daubed with clay. and
The pointed roof of layers of straw, sup
ported by branches Of tree. This man.
sion-as you may imagine-is not very
strong and will last but few years.
The great wealth of the Dinkas con-
sists OF cows. They collect great num-
bers Of them and take the best care of
Them, with the sole desire of possessing
great herds. But, strange to say, they
never kill one to eat, though they like
beef we'll enough to eat them if they die
BY accident or disease. 1t is wonderful
how attached Dinks is to his cattle.
He provides large hospital for the sick
ones and attends them with the greatest
care. II one dies, he Is inconsolable.
much more so than If he had lost wife
y child. When asked the use of MANY
cattle, he replies that it 10 enough to see
hem do we'll and look fat.
As sign Of grief, going into mourn
ing, In fact, Dinka wears q cord
around his neck, which should think
must De hard to endure, in addition to
he stun already there.
Lake most savageG the Dinka thinks
III disease y caused BY evil spirits, and