Milford chronicle., 1893-07-07

] there all day long WithouI q cAalla9 u
| expression on his face and without having
converse With anyone. a slave stands be
hind him holding IN umbrella over his
royal person. He is Gn embodimen5 o.
savage dignity and authority. He is like
the oriental monarch OF few square miles
/ of wild country and q squad Ot 600 No
| 1nads who used 10 crawl out Of his tent 1T
| dawn, drink ealabssh Of mares milk
and with a grand flourish toward the east
! exclaim: Il have broken my fast. Now,
/ sun. you have my permission to shine upon
1 the world"
Now tie head drummer begins 10 beat
/ the skin Of his instrument. AT first - is
/ a gentle, rhythmic tapping. At each sue
! cesssye tap the blow Is triie harder, the
! noise a little louder. Now another drum
| joins in. A brass cynbal takes up the
gradually swelling chorus. Finally all
| lie instruments are hard at work, and
! wild refrain floats out over the plaisanoe.
| In the center Of the floor thirty men ami
women, all as black as the ace Of spades,
have been sitting or lying. As the So
called music starts up one after another
I rouscs from his slumber or his stupOr and
beats time with his body. Finally all are
on their feet, and at a signal from their
leader, who wears a h0op-skirt OF weeds,
the dance begins tits more march than
a dance Forward swing the motley crew,
brandishing their gar-clEbs and grinning
with their hideous mouths. Then they
fall back again. The music rings out
wilder and wilder. The drums beat louder
and louder. Now the eontOrtions COM
mence. They are neither sensuous nor
graceful They are simply savage and
bideous Nlne Of the performers enter
more into tbs spirit Of the ogrie than the
Amazcns. They shake and twist them
selves and throw their limbs and bodies
about with utter reckiessness. They swing
their weapons as if it would delight them
to murder, to carve and 20 destroy.
Suddenly the music stops, and the ex-
hausted dancers throw themselves on the
floor again to rest and sleep for Eve min
Gtes. At this juncture it would be well
for visitors % choose the windward side Of
the theater if they wish to remain for tho
next dance The sun shines warm, but
little air is stirring through the village,
and DahOmeyites are Ethiopian.
Not far away is the village of the South
Sea Islanders. Though from the Peciho
instead Of Africa they are much Ike the
Dahomeyites. They have similar huts,
stage under a bi9shed, q baby lying asleep
=. efftke lsslses, and the same disre- /
rard Of ouantici and fitness in their cloth 1
ng. Their publ lance Is much ike that 4
Of the Africans. heir women are an i'm |
provement over amazons, however. |
The South Sea islS eers have with them |
three Hula girls, Wild 4re passably oomely. :
They wear short skirt of Sea grass, stud /
ded with pieces Of glat and other rude 4
and they t9Eine grasses and 1
flowers ia their dark hair. They cultivate 4
urraca in their daurfup andNnra mt rrynY-
like.
North America contributes t0|the savage (
show, too. Down by the south pond, near
the Krupp gun exhibit, are the Queckal
Indians from British America. They have
their rude habitations, their totem poles,
their hideous wooden idols and their
burntout canoes. They initiate their fel-
low savages from the Orient and the south
seas in having a dance that Is ugly and
wild without being in any sense disgusting
or improper.
From the Arctic regions we have two
one the Laplanders from near the
north cape Of Norway and the other a
family Of Esquimaux from Greenland.
Did King Ball, the ruler Of the Lap VII
age, is the 5Olliest savage along Midway,
lie Is out for a good time, and intends to
nave it at any cost. When the mercury
'ises highest and he might be expected to
suffer most with the heat he pulls his seal
ikin about his thick figure, smiles know
ng smile and rushes away to I'll himself
With cool beer More than oneo they have
lad TO call the patrol wagon aud cart him
VI to the calaboose. 1t Is in drink alone
hat civilized man and the savage reach
he same level
WALTER WEsloLAN.