Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1892-04-06
CHILDREN Or Thu NORTH,
MISS OL0F KRARER, THE GREENLAND TRAY
ELER, LECTURES.
She Tells Of The Life Of Her Kinsfolk-SoDgs II
The Eskimo Tongas-Miss krarsr in
Full Eskimo Costume.
BROOKLYN TTmss.

BrookIyR Times.
Miss Olof Krarer, the little Greenland
lady, lectured to very large and very
much interested audience in the Nos
trand Avenue M. e. Church on 1.-The
Children of the North" Miss krarer Is
most interesting person to look at, for,
although she is 30 years old she Is only
forty inches high. She is quite stout,
however.
She was introduced by the pastor, the
Rev. A. II. Goodenough. She said: Il
was born in Greenland, in Danish
America. When was II years OF age
emigrated to Iceland. From there |
went to Canada and thence TO the Uni
ted States l have four brothers and
three sisters. l used to live in a snow
house and dress with furs. then lived
on fish oil and fat meat. The Eskimos
are all very dark and this is because
their snow huts are always half filed
with smoke. They rarely wash them
selves. For fifteen years l never put
my hands in drop Of water. When ]
came TO Iceland and saw the people
wash themselves l thought they were
silly, and the first piece OF soap that was
given to me / put it in my mouth as
something TO eat.
We have six months night in our
country, four months day and two
months twilight. When / came here
they used 10 keep me in room full Of
ice and snow, for the doctors said that |
couldn't stand the warm climate other
wise.
We have In our country no schools, no
doctors, ministers or lawyers. We have
no rulers. Every one lives as he pleases
All we know is what our parents teach
us; that is to do good 10 one another.
When one OF us gets sick we think the
bad spirit has got into him and we hate
meat once in while, but they usually
soon die and are buried in hole in the
snow.
People doa't attain great age in my
country. Sixty years is the limit, and
they usually die between 30 and 40.
They are usually only sick once and
that is with consumption.
When outdoors the people wear two
suits of fur clothes; indoors they only
wear one. We call man rich who has
a flint to strike a fire, and that is the
only difference between poor and rich
When | came from Greenland to Ice
land | was as dark as an Indian and my
flesh shone with oil. My hair was as
black as a crow and as sticky as gum.
When was sick il was all cut off and
grew in again this color Ia rich brown.
Ii Is the smoke that colors both face and
hair. The Eskimos on the southwest
coast OF Greenland are not so dark.
Their blood is mixed with that Of In
dams. They are also taller. On the
east coast a man four feet high is tall
man.
We come OF race who are supposed
to have originated in some mariners
from Norway who were shipwrecked on
the coast. When the babies are too
young TO eat frozen meat the mother
throws piece of fat on the fire, and
when il is sufficiently melted she gives
it her child to suck. This is the only
cooking that is ever done.
The summer is the worst season OF the
year, for it blinds the eyes. The spring
is the best time, for then the Ice breaks
up and the men 90 to spear seal, walrus
and whale. The spear is made of walrus
tusk. The Polar bear also hears the
noise of the ice breaking up and goes to
his fishing, and then 1t is the best time
to catch him. When an animal is cap
tured the men and women smear them
selves with the warm grease from the
carcass.
Reindeer are very scarce but very use
full. When they are dead their
skins are used for dog harness and
their sinews for thread. The dogs look
more like wolves than like any dog you
ever see. The houses look something
like your round tents. The door IS very
low and there is long narrow hail
leading into the igloo. If two people
meet in the hall one will have 10 crawl
out backward as it Is too small to admit
OF passing one another.
When man wants to get married be
has TO steal his vile, and if he is caught
he is killed. II he succeeds, however,
nothing more is said. | will explain
how | came rway from England. There
were some sailors wrecked on our coast
Thep were the first white men we had
ever seen. When they had been with
us about year they went back to Ice
land and | went with them.
MY people are the most contented in
the world. would not be able TO ex-
plain TO them the things | have seen in
this country, because their language
does not contain enough words. We
have very little amusement there. One
of the women's amusements is to sit
down in the snow house and guess who
is the prettiest. The tony people are
those who sit on blocks Of ice covered
with fur. Those who are not tony sit
on the ground. Ny people don't get
full; grown until they are about - years
old. and they seldom get married before
that time.
Their idea of religion is that there
is a good place and a bad place after
this life. The good place is somewhere
where IL is nice and warm, and the bad
place is represented as being colder. II
would not do for any one to tell them
the bad place was hot one, for they
would be sure to want to go there"
This about closed Miss Krarer's lee
ture. She then answered large num-
Der of questions concerning herself and
her country which were put TO her by
people in the audience and then retiring
for few minutes she returned In fun
Eskimo costume OF white fur. During
her lesture she mad sung one song char
acteristic Of her country and she now
sang another one. twas most peculiar
music, indeed. When the audience dis
persed many were the expressions OF
delight aud wonder az the statements
she had made.