Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-10-03
yHE VOTING EsotIMAU.
How he Amase. Himself On tL. Cold Land
Of The N.,rih-

nov He Amuses himself On the Cold Land
OF the >crth.
fro'n thu ssn Fusn1-co E,smsner
pia yon ever see a group 81 children get TO-
ge'her on the sidewalk aud play the fascinating
game OF ''Es9uimau'1 Ii 10 not unlae tho
Muffin Man. but then IL requires different
words, and 80 IL certainly is another game en-
areiy' All the youngsters gather in a ring aud
slowly jig around and around. while half of
them shrill IN queer siugsoug:
Oh. do ION SNOW tho ksqaima.
Ti. ESauinanf"
The query 10 solemnly answered with great
alacrity by the other half Of the circl.. Who
shrek:
'oh. yes. we inow A. .ssuimsu.
ne hsan' ots
he lives IN Oh. land q tre sna ..sv
az ice ami snow
oi ice aud snow
Then the whole band hop solemnlv ahort
in stimulation Of the supposed antics OF the
Esquimau.
The funniest part OF il all, according 10 q
gentleman who has recently returned 20 this
eity from the arctic regions, lie that the little
Esquimau youngsters have almost identical
game-singing an odd little tune q their own
and going through queer antics. unhesitatingly
beiieved 10 be eNac; representations Of the
children Of the tar-away south.
Youngsters are youngsters all the world ever.
All the time that the childr n 10 the north aud
the children Of the south are considering each
other as remarkable beings, utterly uulko
theiaselNes. they are playing exactly the same
games IN the same ~as, and using the same sOrt
You would think that so much Of the little
Es9aimaus tiEle would lie spent trying 20 keep
warm that he wouldn't have a great deal left for
play. But those little fur-clad tots in the lee
and snow are having more tun than a circusand
summer vacations rolled into one.
They tag around after their male relatives iu.s
as ule small boys do here, and they fidget their
shub-nosed mAmmas almost 10 death by steal
ing on among the lcebergs in q little BIT Of .
pppy cranky craft made of skins and things.
lhey listen rcund-cycd 10 tales of barpoons
ana OF deadly bouts with polar bears They
tell their small sisters brave tales Of their
own aauntless courage, aad when a bigger
oot SHOUTS Polar bear! they run shrieking
to their relatives. iuSt if they lived on Culi-
iorhla stree; or somewhere ia the mission.
ihe Esquimau small boy IL amazingly lie
other small boys. Hes round-faced and brown
checked and chubby beyond belief. lie wears
queer garments Of skins aud of feathers. Hs
doesn't know what hat is. lie never ate a
pound OF candy or dish of ice cream in his
NE, and he never heard of base ball game
but he's lots like other bows for all that
As Tor the gIrl, why, Shoe precisely like her
blonde sister down here, who hasn't the FAINT
est notion how good whales blubbor rs She
knows just the same Kind Of games. When one
brown tot goes yisitin another brown tot
she Tugs her fayorite doll with h,r and then she
sits right down in the DARK little hut and Lee
gins to play house"
That doll of hers is a strengthening being
IL has a Hat face made of wood OF bone. and IL
has the stiffest kind of arms and legs, not
Joint in them. and lite eyes are just painted ON
the face, and it's a lucky doll that has \ hair on
its head; but little Miss Esquimau loves that
doll just as much as IL AZ were faKen haired and
had red checks and shining blue eyes Dolly
conldn speak mamma If you squeezed II 10
pieces. aad IL would never think of such a thing
as letting you turn ITS head, but Miss Esquimau
doesn't mind that n bit. She Just dresses and
undresses her and whips her, and cries over
her dreadful misdeeds quite as IL her name
were Maude Athel Van Buren, instead Of being
an unpronounceable thing in consonants anda
grunt
She has a good many gowns. too. has little
Miss Iceberg. oh, yes. Why, there's her
mink-skin walking gown and her otter sledgine
get-up and her seislskin cloak aud finest of al
her feather dress. Pretty things, they ara,
these gay skin garments. They are wonder
fully made, deIicately sewed and sometimes
they are wondrously embroidered with quilts
from the fretful porcupine.
There's another kind of doll that looks amas-
ingly like an Esquimau John l. sullivan. Its
chm protrudes in true pugilistie style, and its
hands-well, it's hands are the most "willing
hands" you ever saw.
Those benighted little beetle brows have
never heard OF Noahs ark. but they have . SUBJ
Tor It's welrN animals among their toys
Wooden walruses with fierce mustaches, and
ghosty birds, whose unbending dignity sug-
gests the splendid reserve Of those familiar Pc
triarchs Shem. Ham and Japhet, 90 distinctly
that you look around for the little green tree
and spotted dogs that always stand guard over
the ark.
They don't have trains OF cars TO play with,
those blue-nosed shiyerers; they wouldn't know
what TO do with them II they had. but they
have jolly substitute. There's q tiny sledgs
Of Il
there are bold forerunners going on before aud
daring hunter walking nonchAlantly behind.
There a toy for you. There's something even
better than that, though. There's a regular
Santa Claus of a doll sitting in q sledge and
driving four beautifully snarling dogs.
When the long winter dark comes on, the
boys sit in the low huts and make tiny boats Of
fish skin cunningly stretched over a skeleton Of
firm wood. While they are tiukering away at
these pretty boats the small sister sits beside
them On the bearskin and makes soft little fur
boats for her doll.
The mother is close by making nets or trim
ming robe with a delicate border Of porco-
pine quilts. She can tell the loveliest fairy
tales, that little bit Of a fat, roly-poiy
mother-fairy tales all about queer little seals
who eau turn up their fur hoods and turn into
the splendidest bow-legged men. There are
strange legends about the crow aud his wife
and Iales OF the domestic life Of the big white
bears. When the boy grows weary of the
saow There's always plenty Of snow--such
sleigh rides, such snow ights-only think Of
the Jun those little blUe-chins have.
They have the funniest kind Of foot balls.
They look like huge potatoes that have been
put down cellar and sprouted They're al
covered with long tufts OF fur that flies about
most confusing way when the ball goes round.
They make snoHshoes for themselves, too, and
for their dolls. and they go out ''shoeing."
Not such a bad idea. this living at the north
pole, is ii2 That is, when you're youngster.
When you're grown up You want books and
papers and concerts and theaters and soup and
dinners with more than course, aud its
different
grown up.