The McCook tribune. (McCook, Neb.) 1886-1936, 1890-10-31
NECESSITY MADE A TONGUE.
the Story of the Invention OF the EpheDr
oral ChIsook Language.

Out Of the necessity of a universal
language for commercial transactions
has been evolved the harsh. discordaSt
Volapuk. yet not generally accepted
Its only charm. if it possesses any, is
in the simplicity of its grammar. 1t
has no horrid irregular verbs, like the
terrible aller which is the bette noir of
all students of French; nor has it that
awful subiunctiye mood of our own
language which the average Kansan
and Missourian. instead of letting
severely alone, has laboriously wrestled
with until they have constructed n
Or two veritable provincialisms and
which sound, when heard by the culti-
waited ear. like an epitaph in u York
shire country churchyard.
But years ago. in the early part OF
the century, the traders of the Hudson
Bay, the Northwest. and other fur COM
panies manufactured a jargon out of
The English, Indian. and French lam
guage as a means of communication
between themselves and the various
Indian tribes. whose tongues and dia-
lectS were like a sealed book. The
Chinook enabled them to converse with
the white men. and. converse, also
among themselves. 1t is not a lam
guage. because it has no grammar; it
is more euphonius than Volapuk. but
that is admitting little in favor of its
euphony. One word, like the French
on or faire, has a dozen different mean
ings, depending upon its relation to
another word, easily guessed at in Chi
nook. but not SO easily in French if
one adhercs to the irrevOcable fiat Of
the Academy" Although l have
had no use for Chinook these twenty
five years. l have not forgotten it, and
presume l could carry on an ordinary
conversation without difficulty. To
give Il specimen of it's character | here
present the little nursery prayer of
Nov 1 lay ME down to sleep:'
ALTA ni-ka meosum. ni-ka tick-ey
Sah-a-le syee, close manage ni-ka tum-
tum. Spose nika mam-e-loose clip nj
ka mit-whit to-molla, ni-ka tick-ey
Sah-a-le syee qual-isum is-cum, ni-ka
tum-tum."
Literally:. "Now 1 sleep, I want the
Great Spirit to watch my soul. If I
should die before l get up tomorrow
l want the great Spirit to forever keep
my SOUL"
During the early days of the PENN
sular campaign a certain officer of high
position and rank sent a telegram to an
other officer stationed in Washington.
who, like myself, had been ''hived" in
one of the posts on the Upper Pacific
for years and understood Chinook, in
which jargon the message was written.
Of course it was intercepted, as were
all suspiciousIy worded messages, and
brought to the great War S%ecretary's
office, where cipher experts perspired
and grew desperate over it, but could
make nothing out of it. Its capture
created a terrible commotion; and
awful was the mystery surrounding it;
a plot against the Government it must
be, and no effort was spared to trace
it to the sender. At last this was ac-
complished, and its harmlesSness clear
ly established; the weary officer before
Yorktown had simply asked his old
comrade to send down at first opportu.
nifty some bottles of good whisky.
Stanton overlooked it, but warned the
principals not to indulge in such dam
pfeasantries again. Kansas
(Jf3y Syn9.