The Portland daily press., 1893-07-13

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''Asls him to tell me the famous So.
cret of the sun glass used by the In
dams in battle to direct their move.
ments by means of code of signal
rays"
'tHe is asking me the most sacredlv-
| guarded secrets of the Indians" said
the medicine man. GLOW did he ever
know enough to ask such questionsq"
1t may be incidentally remarked Just
here that to appear to know nearly all
about things concerning which we real
ly knew little or nothing was bit of
strategy we had determined to EMPLOY.
1t charged the Indian with bust that
much less responsibility for divulpina
such mysteries or initiating novitiates
into the privileges OF the acolyte.
s'There is" said the medicine chief.
ga system of signs and signals which
runs all through the Indian race. This
is necessary, since every tribe, speaks a
different language, in order that they
may communicate with each other.
These signs are made by smoke, blanket,
pony, sign language, FIRE, arrows, flint.
steel and mirror. The code Of sun glass
signals to which you refer is part Of
regular system Of signals at great dis.
tances which has been reduced
to a science by the Indians.
On bright day and when the sun
is in the right direction piece of look
ing glass held in the hollow of the hand
OF the chief directs the movements of
the whole field. The reflection Of the
SUMS rays thrown upon the ranks
serves without trumpet or command to
communicate the order of the chief.
According to the direction of the rays
the ranks move east or west OF north or
south; should there be distinct flashes,
the party hurrics forward, moving to
right or left. as the flashes indicate. IF,
on the other hand, the scouts sent on
ahead discover large force close at
hand continuous, quick, vibrabory,
tremulous motion Is given the mirror,
but no distinct flashes The party in
that case scatter and secrete them
selves. The system" said the medicine
chief, 'is simply perfect. A chief in
this way can sit on his horse On the too
OF a knoll and without word and with
only slight movement Of the hand,
direct the movements Of his men In the
valley below. Civilization has never
been able to inveut such system Of
drilling troop of cavalry in the field"
What is the secret among the In,
dams Of sending up smoke Ia greet
pyffs and then no smoker How is IL
done?"
'aThey hold blsnket for awhile over
small fire, and when the blanket is
full of smoke they open it and send up
the stipple. Ipdiaps notice every OBJ
ject as soon as it moves. Ages of trans
m.tted power have trained their vision
to keen perception. The signal Is only
an expansion of the sign"
How do the Utes bury. and why is
decd Ute never foundy''
'sThey bury by night, said the med
icine man, sin cave, and seal up the
cave so you would never know where to
begin to look. They will never talk
about it to anyone"
SLOW do they split the buffalo col
tyfnn2"
Suppose colusnn Of buffalo coming,
GOA A&<o - LA ny 4A11Gn WHO dMo d llEl1QIS4
nailes long. The Indians will ride
against that rushing wall and split it
Into two separate wings by means of
what is known IS the flying wedge
One Indian rides ahead, then two, then
three and so on. They shoot a buff
falo at the center Of tlle line, say,
and quick as it falls another right be-
hind it, and another, till they have
felled three or four, thus opening q
path which they may enter and which
opens gradually wider and wider until
the vast herd splits and the two wings
slowly separate"
What are fire arrows used for and
why do they make them2" said to the
conjurer Of secrets.
Fire arrows are sent mp sometimes
as signal of danger. They are seldom
used in war and are generally used for !
The purpose Of burning out raeeoons,
bears, rabbits, etc., from old hollow
trees.
"What are flint ana steel used for?
For information. Take an example,"
said the chief. "a party go out to sur
prise camp of Indians. An Indian scout |
is sent ahead. He crawls close TO tho |
tepees, counts the lodges and then turn
ing round and drawing his blanket
1bout his head, only betting the front |
OF his face show. he strikes off sparks |
on the finder and the counted number |
Of the sparks is the number Of lodges
SIS it true that the Indians were the
arst masons and that their masonry an |
tedates all Others In the past?"
EVERY tribe of Indians" said the
eonjurer, ''has it's secret societies,
which have passwords, grips and signs.
They will all deny that such a thing
exists, because it is big medicine, but
nevertheless it does, for all that Each
tribe, moreover, has its own peculiar
chart Of masonry, proving beyond all
peradventure that the Indians were the
first nasons in America. The four fol-
lowing charts, which have not been
made public before, will probably
throw some ight on this subject and be
recognized by those who are adopts in
the mysteries of masonry as incontesti-