The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1892-09-22
ossIx 4 tew o. r,.eAe LEr7.
The eemfnoaes Of F1oridn and the Curious
Customs Obtaining Among Them.

Zh0 0ommOAee OF F10rA<fD and the Curious
Customs Obtaining Among Them.
A queer condition of affairs exists
among the Seminole Indians II Florida
-of what there is left of them DR.. s.
D. Chopin, who recently returned, says
special 10 the Philadelphia Tfmea
from the "Allen place" forty miles east
o1 Fort Meyers, relates some highly
interesting facts bearing ON the ques-
taon OF Indian education and develop
ment About six months ago the United
Stetes government sent him here TO
superintend the erection of saw and
planning mill, q shingle factory and a
schoolhouse and cottage for the teach
era also 10 lay the foundation for on
Industrial school for the benefit uf the
Indians still inhabiting the high ANTS
on the northern bor,dasy 4 the .Ivcr-
gaades. This scheme was put On loot
by the Women's National Indian asso-
ciation OF Philadelphia, Of which Mrs.
Qaentin is lryE.dD4u p.'icr s. Dr.
Chapane coming this association sent
Dr.. ]. Il Brecht 70 open o school here,
and he did 30, and white children were
allowed 70 attead Is with the hap, chat
the Indians would follow their example
But so far they fcpo evinoed ao inaor-
est whatever IN the matter, and DR..
Brecht hopes that by good treatment Of
them and by pc rsevcnlnce he NAV in,
duce the Indians to tSslse u>lvtyn s1,3e of
the opportunity thus offered.
The Jeminoles, Dr. Clnpin aayr> rsvy
number about five hundred, with per-
haps two hundred, in cracker vcrviae
ulas, bucks" for they are Warriors 10
longer. When Chief Osceola, or the
Rising Sum-" went down the u',1rii!,e
spirit Of the Seminole tribe was broken
forever. Three conditions limit the in
crease OF the race-thdr restricted
hunting ground, its malarial condition
and the law of the tribe as
to mur,iuge. This lcw for
bids the marriage Of any two of the
tribe whc.e thcro Is tAe !cess. known
blood relation, and 1t Is as unaherable
as those OF the Medes and the PersianA
In consequence Of this tribal ukase
boys OF eighteen years marry women OF
eighty or more It often happens that
TO marry Of all they have no other
choice
The dress OF the bucks Is b1cksk1n
trousers and q turban made OF US many
yards Of red or yellow calico as they
can conveniently coil around their
bronze brows The women confine
their dress almost exclusively to beads.
They all have an utter repugnanoe for
photographers, and their features can
be had on paper only by the use Of q
kodak concealed from their sight.
They live IN three-sided palmetto
'sshaolss, end they care neither to Inn
prove their minds nor to accumulate
worldly goods Around the ALLEN
piece" the guava and many other semi
tropical fruits grow wild in the woods,
and the very finest farming lands can
be bought for two dollars and fifty
cents per acre. Frost fell In this SEQ
ton last winter for the first time in
over thirty years, and the spring
drought exhausted the usually ample
supply of good water to such an extent
that DR.. Chaplin had to sink wells for
supplying the stock With water while
en- route from here to the schoolhouse
site with lumber and machinery.