The Wichita daily eagle., 1893-06-10
AilI;ll lss;siil5Jr
ESKIMO ADJUSTMENTS.
An Inreuio rs Method of sCapturing Eide
Down ENIckS.

little pleasure, Tor th6se cnlIorcl
doomed to pass. their days among th
almost eternaA show beside the frozel
ocean. Yet even here life t.o these lit
tie people has its,en t0yments,,a and ever.
season briggs to<, them it's round
Games and sports as regularly as l
does 10 the youth dwellingNin NOR
genial chimes.
In summer al portion OF the, lnhab b
itants leave the winter villages an'
scatter along the.coast for the pun pos
of hunting and fishing Others go t
distant points along the coast and tn ld'
oil, guns. tobacco, powder, lead, etc
with natives of tbes interior. receivin
in pavment va lua BILE 'furs and'the skins
of reindeer. which trey use exclusively
for clothing. At these meetings. round
of feasting and games are inCkllged in
before any trading issdone Whenever
q camp is made the fhttie folk'will be
found with their bows and arrows
shooting grass birds. which are abun-
dart. or the numerous varieties OF shore
birds to be found in that.region.
A group OF the little hunters Is often
seen. followed by the girls, the latter
provided with little pals, very often a
tomato can with a wire bail, and when
a number of birds have been killed the
pirls pluck them. start fire and cook
them. and all sit down in the SAND and
have a feast. If eggs are in season some
of the Iparty will have gathered tsoIne,
and a BANQUET is the result. Two KINDS
of food at one meal are surely ban
uuet to them. Another method Of
catching birds by the children is by
means of net stretched across an olf
iron hoop. taken from some wrecked
whaler. All through the summer
months great numbers of phalarope
are to be found along the shore.
The little boys set the hoop net
in the water. about three feet
from the beach. working it into the
sand until it will stand alone: then.
with a small line attached to the top of
the hoop. they go up the beach and
SCOOP out place in the So nd to hide IN
and await the coming of the birds,
which are constantly going to and fro
near the beach: and as they feed in
the ripple or wash along the shore the
most of them will pass between the
hoop and the beach. When number
OF birds are directly in front of the
trap a smart pull Oh the line brings the
machine down over the birds, often
catching from three TO SIX at one fall
of the trap. In few hours they Will
catch q hundred or more birds.
In May and June immense numbers
of elder ducks fly along the coast
bound for their breeding grounds far
to the east of Point Barrow. At this
season every person, male and female,
is supplied with the Eskimo implement
called by them ke-love-i-tow-tin which
is made as follows: Eight balls three
quarters of an inch in diameter, are
cut from ivory or bone. with a tip or
ear through which hole is drilled;
eight strands of finely-braided sinew
are tied to these balls. At the opposite
ends the stra nds are brought together,
each of exactly the same length, and
tied to ten or twelve quills of some sea
fowl, when the implement is ready for
Use. The bunch of quills is grasped
with the right hand, while the fingers
of the left comb out the strand, and
when all clear the balls are held be-
tween the forefinger and the thumb.
This is done in few seconds, when a
flock of ducks are seen approaching.
When the game is near enough, with
quick circular motion just the same as
throwing stone with sling, the mis-
sile is launched among the flying birds,
when. if one of these strands crosses
the neck or wing of duck, it brings it
to the ground. where it is then
captured. The action of the air
on the strings tends TO separate the
balls in their flight, so that they
cover quite a space, and if the birds
are punched they often bring one down,
and the boy c~ girl that can do this is
proud and happy. just before the
fight begins the boys may be seen
with their ke-love-i-tow-tins praeticing
wit h a dummy duck. which is made of
narrow strips of whalebone eighteen
inches long, tied in the center. with
string tied to the ends, which curves
the strips into dish-lille form. This
is scaled into the air bv one boy, when
all the rest throw their ke-love-i-tow-
struck by several of the boys. In this
way they become quite expert throwerS.
When approaching winter drives all
summer visitors, birds and ducks"
southwark. and the earth is covered
with snow, the boys and girls practice
house building. With couple of long
knives and a wooden snow shovel they
will work several days on miniature
house. which must be fashioned exactly
as father and mother build their snow
houses, with its long entrance paSSa ge,
with room for storage on one side of il,
on the other cook-room with snow
fireplaces and chimney. in which a
real fire is built at the far end of
the passage a small hole. through
which ono can Just creep on hands and
knees into the living room, with its
bench of snow across the end covered
with moss gathered from the tundra
FOR bed. and sheet OF thin ice set in
the end of the roof for window. An
Eskimo lamp completes their happiness.
With the thermometer thirty degrees
or forty degrees below zero they still
manage to have good time. for they
arc we'll protected from the cold by
their fur-clothing. Forest and Stream.
Out OF IT. Either Wav.
Officer O'Iiara-Bein' 4 policeman in
New York is har-r-d wor-r-rk.
Mrs O'Hara-Yis darlint
oficer o'Hora--If policeman goes
asleep on his bate the commissioners