Thomas County cat. [volume] (Colby, Kan.) 1885-1891, 1888-02-02

VsOuS VI SAVA0kA.
Manners and Morals Pr~v.ulne 49,
Strange People.
Sir John LuLb ,ck's recent lectur.
on the habits and ideas Of savases
furnished the text for editorials In
nearly all the London papers Morals
We have so long been accustomed tn
look upon as . matter of creed and
cole. that we are apt to forget that
throughout the far-s,retching British
E npire they are very much question
OF latitude and longituds. What n
virtuous under one sky is believed to
De folly under another. An act which
We regard as a capital crime is by
millions of our fellow subjects held to
be duty incumbent on every good
trlbesman. A thug murders As part
OF his religion. and the thief caste in
India steals for the same reason. A
dyak would consider himself dis
graced II he failed to lay q human
head at the feet of his inamorata
and Sioux or Cheyenne will com
fort himself with the thought that his
boy is already tho best horse thief in
the village There are people. neither
very low in the human scale nor
notable for the cruelty of their dispo.
siion. who believe the murder of their
relatives to be filial duty. When
old age app reaches and the powers be.
gin to wane they quietly join tho flu.
neral procession and are decently
knocked on the head. in order that
in the land of sports they may arrive
hale ard hearty. There are tribes in
Sumatra who set their aged parent
astridc Of the branches of tree, and
then shake he branches and d YOUR
what fall. u nder the pious delusion
that they are feasting of the fruits Of
tho forest. 1t is a mistake to imagine
that a savage eats his enemy
simply for the sake of en-.
joying a comfortable meal He is i'm.
bued. in many instances by lOftier
motive. The war; Tor in life acquitted
himself Ike man. and-according to
their ideas of animism-is capable,
when eaten. Of imparting some Of his
most enviable qualities to those who
feed upon him. Moreover. it would
fare badly with the enemies of dead
and uneaien tribesman if they arrived
in the Land of the Hereafter friendless
and strange. while the warrior who
had gone before was there as strong
as ever and had troops of friends and
ready to espouse his
quarrel. Accordingly. the savage
logic is, eat him. and SD prevent any
future complications. The English
man goes into a new country SO full
of eagerness and so thoroughly inn
bued with his own insular habits.
that he scarcely takes into &C
count the fact that the people
with whom he has to deal.
and over whom perhaps he has to rule.
have for number of centuries been
governed by IDEAS and customs en-
lirely different When the barbarian
sleeps. his belief is that in dreaming
his soul wandcrs far afield. and hence
10 waken him is to run the risk Of
about his business q man
worse placed than P.ter Schlemild.
since the chances are that unlike I'm
dine, he may be without his Grant
spirit. The etiquette of man varies
greatly. A Briton shakes hands;
there are E,kimo tribes who express
heir esteem for visitor by pulling
his nose. We take IF our hats rs
mark of esteem; there are other races
who don their head covering in the
presence of a superior. To extend
he fingers from the tip of the nose
9 an act which. in this hemi-
sphere. is not considered mark Of per.
'onal respect Yet, to take a sight"
8. in some parts of that empire on
which the sun never sets. a proof of
he highest good-breeding. Even in
he matter of gifts. the gulf between
he ruler and tho ruled is often very
,road. A Chinaman-nnd a China
nan is. of course. anv thing but a saw
.ge-looks upon fin as neat and
appropriate present to an aged per-
on, over whom the doctor is shaking
lis head. and in the Malay I-l,nds one
riend sends to another . too h-brush
8 the most delicate mark Of consider.
ti0n no can devise. London 6l0sd-