Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1892-05-19
But One Authentic Tasmanian Now in
EXistence-The Maoris
Also Going.
The Practice of Head-Hunting is Still
Continued in the Pacific
Islands.

tne only pure olOOu lasmanlan living,
have recently given rise to much contro-
versy in the little island, and Henry Ling
| Roth, perhaps the best authority on the
| history and customs of the Inflated pee
pie, has taken part in it.
Mr.. Roth and some of the newspapers
assert that Mrs. Smith, who is now sixty
two years old, is only half breed. She.
on the other hand, produces reputable
| white witnesses who say they Snew her
parents and that they, undoubtedly, were
| of pure Tasmanlan stock. She also is able
to cite extracts from othciai papers of the
colony, printed long after the total ex-
tinction OF the Tasmanians was announced
to the world, in which she is referred to
| as a pure blood aborigiue; and parliament,
in 1882 and 1884, voted her grants on &C.
count of her unique position as the sole
survivor of her race.
Here is picture of Lalla Ro0kh, who,
until Mrs. Smiths claim Ito be the '"only
living Iasmanlan attracted attention, was
supposed to be the last of her race. LaiIa
Rookh died in June. 1876, six years after
Wiham Lanney, the last male Tasmanian
had passed away.
A few men in tais country and Canada
are now striving TO prevent the American
bison from becoming extinct. The en-
deavor reminds us of the efforts OF the
whites in Tasmania TO save the remnants
OF the race they had anihilated. InS1803
between 5000 and 1000 natives dwelt in
the valleys of Tasmania All that were
left of them In l847 were twelve men.
twenty-five women and ten children. In
vain did the government build them COM
Portable houses, supply all their needs, and
give them teachers. The race,was doomed
and one by one the few survivors preished.
Other peoples in the Pacific and else
where are approaching the fate OF the Tas-
manians. Here and there it is the LIQUOR
and the diseases introduced by white men
that are decimating them. In Tasmania
1t was the shotgun, pure and simple. The
natives were not guiltless, though they
suffered many wrongs. Their impiacable
| hostility stirred up against them war Of
determination. The number of ''crows"
each had killed came to be the common
boast among the whites. The following
incident illustrates the utter heartlessness
with which. as the long struggle went on,
the overnlastered natives were pursued:
One day a crowd Of idle white saw ma
tive boy watching them distance. "Let's
have some fun, said one of the men. Tax
ing an empty revolver be pointed at his
own head and repeatedly pulled the trig-
ger. The men laughed, and the lad drew
nearer, much interested in the perform
ance. Now you do it," they said to him,
as they handed him loaded revolve,
The boy blew his brains out, and this
was what the white pioneers Of Tasmania
called ''fun"
The fate of the 1nsmai,ians was a warn
ing to anthrorologists. The natives
dwindled and disappeared before Hey had
been intelhgently studied; VIZ nave little
accurate information about them Con-
Trajectory statements are made even az to
their religious notions. Some rooms at
Hobart and other towns are flied with
their handiwork. A writer as compiled
in pamphlet Of less than thirty pages the
best information about them, work that
is curious for the many conhc state
ments it contains. So these people,
Ffiourishing as they were when this CEN
tury came in, have vanished before its
close, leaving scarce a trace to show that
they ever lived.
THE MAORIs FADING AWAY
The Maoris are going the same way.
though not by violence. When the whites
first came among them their number was
estimated at 10000. They have been
dwindling gradually, and figure in the
New Zealand Census of 1886 as only Al 1863
souls. It is noteworthy that children S
diseases, such as whonping cough, intro
duced among The Morris by Europeans,
are fatal alike TO infants and adults. Pull
monary complaints have made large rava-
ges, but their greatest enemy, unknown
before the coming of the whites is drink.
Women rival the men in their devotion to
the cup. Verschuar, who studied the Ma
oris in 1889, says that their chief felicity
is in getting drunk Another traveller
says he saw a native on hotel YER
anda one day loudly iamenting that he
was mot beastly drunk. though he had
swallowed thirteen glasses Of whisky.
Children Of tender years follow the shin
ing example Of their parents, and boys of
5 and years are often seen with pipes in
their mouths. Nothing, apparently, can
tay the ravages, due to the blessings of
civilization" which, with each recurring
year, are making the Maoris less numer-
Gus than before. Our picture shows two
Maori women salutjng one another in the
street by rubbing noses, after the
peculiar custom of their people. The
picture is from a photograph, and the
camera caught them In the act on street
ID Wellington.
Let us turn to another phase of depopu-
Iation in the Pacific It is a we'll known
fact that the practice of head hunting has
more than held its own. Among some of
the lesser known islands it has increased.
Ii n, nara 70 sort Of cfsze IN many IN
isl, al Il i,t is still given up 10 the most
hea1 5ilenlsh practices. OF course canibal
Ism is assol lated with it, but many is
lar ders stalt on war expeditions FOR heads
alone, and natives of the Solomon islands
have told travellers that there is no felicity
equal to that of acquiring fresh heads
with which TO adorn their tabu houses.
The British in North Borneo are waging
war on the practice and execute every
native they convict of the crime. Here
are some Of the results Of WOodford's
observations during his brief visit to tie
Solomon islands in 1888; and, by the way,
it is curious that these islands derive the
name the Europeans gave them from the
fact that the easily explorers soiemnly as
serted that it was from these blessed tops
of mountains. peering above the sea, that
King Solomon derived his treasures OF
gold.
HUNTING FOR HEADS.
Woodford's story is in part d catalogue
Of head hunting exploits that came under
his observation in the islands Of Guadal-
cana and Alu. Much TO his surprise be
found nearly every native IN Aiu armed
with Snider rifles. The trade in guns and
ammunition among the Pacific groups liz
nov contraband, but is still carried on sly.
ly by Sydney and German traders, and is
a potent factor in the depopulation of