Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1893-10-13
A CHIP OF HISTORY.

1t was in the fall of 1892 that govern
ment agents noticed a marked falling off
in interest as regarded education among the
Sioux tribe of Indians. In fact, the Indi-
ans at the Standing Horse agency, at least,
developed actual hostility to educational
ideas. 1t has been estimated by one au-
thority that the cause of education among
the Sioux was put back twenty years; but
to this day the government does not know
the reason of it. 1t was a simple matter
after ALL
On September %, 1882, Professor Moses
Slowshaw stepped from the stage as it
drew up in a swrling cloud of dust at the
Standing Horse agency. Professor Slow
shaw was a special embassy sent out by the
William Penn Rights of Savages society of
Philadelphia, of which he was a shining
member, to see if the gentle family OF
Sioux was being deprived of any of their
inalienable rights. There were no CORE
spending members of the William Penn
Rights of Savages society among the set
tiers in the territory of Dakota at that
time. There are none in that neghbor-
hood now.
A curious group of Indians, stagedriv-
ers, cowboys, half-breeds soldiers, plain
and ornamental cutthroats, and other men,
bers of reservation society watched Pro
fessor Slowshaw unload a large Philadel-
pha carpet-bag from the boot of the stage
and carry it to the house of .one of the
resident teachers. 1t was the professors
first trip to that region, but he was not I'M
prepared for it. He had read about the
country and knew what to expect. In the
hold of his carpet-bag the professor had
slowed away all things needful. There
were thick wooden underclothes to guard
against the change of climate; blue Cog
giles to ward off the effects of the sun
which poured down on the great, open,
shadlowless plain; teld-glass for viewing
the somewhat meagre landscape; a rain
coat and rubber boots for wet weather
riding gloves and a heavy felt hat for eX-
cursions to the different points where some
solitary and isolated savage might be suf-
fering gross wrongs; a large siX-shoOting
revolver, lest the unsettled state of society
should demand the exercise of the first
law of nature; and last, in the very bot
tom next the sheathing and remote from
the hatchway, was a liberal bottle of snake
bite remedy. The professor had been his
own stevedore, but the work was thor
oughly done, and the well-trimmed cargo
was brought safely into port.
Whiskey is not an antdote for the VEN
ON of the American rattlesnake. The
professor knew this as well as anybody
but he also knew that it comes nearer to
being an antidote than anything yet known
to medical science. Therefore, wishing
for the best, he saw that his bottle of bite
cure consisted simply of pure whiskey,
deity extracted from the long rye of the
rich Susquehanna valley. The bottle was
large, but it had been put in solely for use
in case of bite, as have said, and not
with the intention of employing it tC
Stake ordinary thirst. The professor had
heard that the snakes were numerous on
the reservation, as, indeed, they were
along the water-courses and in the Bad
Lands.
But Professor Slowshaw, though moi
personally familiar with far western life
was not altogether ignorant of some phase.
of the existence. He had vague notion
that it was quite customary there to lool
upon whiskey in the light of a mild anC
refreshing beverage, to be drunk freely
upon certain occasions, namely, Whenever
accessible. The thought of his bottle be
ing stolen occurred to him. He saw Wis
ion of himself standing in the centre of (
ring of fiery, kissing snakes, and not
drop of remedy on board his bag. He de
termined to do what he could in advanc,
to reduce the chances of this fate overtak
ing him. He accordingly pasted on hi
bottle large red LABEL