Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-09-14

The Wonderful Maya alphabet.
speech, as we have no definite proofs that it
was not known to the ancients.
The many peculiar remains found in this
country, and attributed to the Vikings,
imply that those people visited this country
as early, if not earlier than the tenth
century, which surmise-if correct-would
make the application of the word "dis-
coverers" incorrect. "Re-diBcoverers" in
that case would be more proper.
INVASION FROM THE EAST.
Then, We know that up to the time OF the
voyages of Marco Polo, Sir James Mande-
vile and others in the thirteenth and four
teenth centuries nothing was known of the
nations OF Eastern Asia, who were found
by these travellers to be well up in the arts
and manufactures, and who may possibly
for all we know to the contrary-have
visited and occupied this country long, long
ago by the western or northwestern route;
besides, the physical conformations of
Northwestern America are such as to great
ly favor the theory of the Asiatic origin of
the Indians, that is, if our aborigines are
of any foreign extraction.
Behring's Strait, dividing the continents,
is very narrow and Is frozen over every
year, probably as late as April, while dur
ing the balance Of the season there
is constant canoe intercourse. An
other interesting fact is that,
while the land on the Asiatic side
is barren, rocky waste, that on the Ameri-
can is much more fertile; abounding in trees
and plants of all kinds fourlshing in mild
genial climate extending with. nearly the
same temperature to Oregon.
A RACIAL RESEMBLANCE.
Then the general resemblance of the in
habitants on both sides of the Strait ap-
parently indicates a common origin, and the
similarity of geology and botany goes to
show that the separation of these two great
continents was comparatively recent
cataclysmic event.
Lieutenant Schwatka, in q recently
published work on the exploration of the
mighty river Yukon, Alaska, saws of the
A-yans, an Alaskan tribe: "There is
most decided Hebrew type of countenance
among them; more pronounced than any I
have ever seen." He also discovered traits
existing among certain tribes OF indians that
reminded him very forcibly of the Chinese
Moreover, the people on both continents
may have been indigenous to them and the
migrating movements occurring afterward,
may have caused the curious Asiatic or
Mongoloid resemblances found by ethnolo-
gists. Again, it is not necessary to 60 to
the Northwestern extremity of the continent
to find opportunities for the furtherance OF
our belief in an Asiatic origin.
FLOATING ACROSS AN OCEAN,
In our day it Is not rare thing for junks
or vessels of any kind to be driven off from
the Japanese coasts by storm and losing
their rudders, it is only question of time
for the Kuro Siwo, "Black stream" Japan
current of gulf stream of the Pacific to whirl
the unfortunate craft to the very shores of
America. Could not the nucleus of our
present aboriginal population or prehistoric
one have been brought to this country in
that manner?
The theory of spontaneous generation
advanced by some is worthy of investiga-
ton, but as yet 1t can only be used as an in
teresting possibility, notwithstanding the
fact that 1t was accepted bv such an emi-
nent authority as Lewis II. Morgan, who
was OF the opinion that but one race existed
in America when discovered by European
navigators and explorers and that-the Red
race. The question OF who were the first
inhabitants is most perplexing one, and
the probabilities are that we will never
know anything more positive than we do
now.
The mound remains on the banks of the
streams of the Ohio and Mississippi slopes;
the Notifications on the prairies; the cliff
houses and pueblos in the Southwest prove
that untold generations have lived, moved
and sunk into the oblivion of prehistoric
ages long before Columbus, Vespucci, the
Cabots, Balboa, Ponce de Leon ct al, were
of. The civilizations that grouped
their homes on our shores in the sixteenth
and seventeenth centuries. and fattered
themselves as being the first settlers of a
new and primeval world, would have been
astounded to learn that untold civilizations
had hourished and faded in the mysterI-
ously interesting past of our truly strange
land.
WONDERFUL ALPHABET.
Some of the ancient races are believed to |
have reached such degree of culture that |
they had begun to transcribe their deeds !
and history by means of hieroglyphics on |
stone and other materials; to one race an al |
phabet has actually been ascribed which is
evidence of most advanced stage of civil.
zation.
1t has been found that the same three
trades of development existed in America
Is those found in Europe and other coun-
tries of the world. These grades are called
Dy arch@ologists the stone, the bronze and
he iron periods. II was also found that
some of the tribes of Southern America
we're in their second or bronze epoch, but as
he Investigators moved northward the
people, as they advanced, grew gradually
ess cultured, until the more temperate
regions were reached, where they were
found to be still in the earlier or stone era:
put most surprising of all was the fact that
these were found remains of
previous population, containing implements
ind weapons of the bronze period,
proving that notwithstanding the fact that
,he present Inhabitants were as yet In their
stone or most primeval condition, the more
advanced or bronze period had already ex-
sted in a previous population. If we then
infer that races considerably advanced in
civilization existed at some prehistoric time
and have been swept out OF existence by d
migration OF barbarous tribes such as swept
over Europe in the beginning of the middle
ages, then is not the theory plausible that
races have occupied this country previous
o that again and back to the earliest stages
If mans existence on the globe?
W. G. KAUFMAN.
Alwnva Riahf and Neyer Left.