The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1893-07-20
LieHTlNe. FIRES vsye FaIcTloN.
Primitive Method Stin In Use Among
Some of the Indian Tribes.

Some of the Indian Tribes.
s Centuries agoMbefore the white men
had penetrated into the lands of the.
Klamath, Pueblo and, other Indian
tribes of the west-wood friction was
the method employed by the North |
American Indians The same manner |
OF kindling fires can be, observed |
among many of them to-day. :, No other |
method is employed by the Eskimos |
and other northern uncivilized people, |
and later than 1855 wood friction was
susedto kinete the fire at the white dog /
feast by the New York Iroquois In
dams and the Onondaga Iroquois of
Canada. The operation of igniting
finder by wood friction is varied, but
in every instance it is peculiar and
shows a considerable amount of pa
thence and ingenuity. The most primi-
tive form Of apparatus consists of two
pieces of wood, one of some dry, loose
grained timber, which is the piece to
be operated upon, and the other, or
spindle, of hard wood, which must be
perfectly dry. The first piece is laid
hat on the ground close to the tender
which is to be ignited, and a small hole
is cut in the floor TO receive the wood
powder as it is ground from the loose
grained wood. The hard wood spindle
Is then taken between the palms of
the hands, and having first pressed the
point against the other piece of wood
tits twirled rapidly, causing gradu-
ally increasing friction and grinding
cat little heap of wood powder, which
zezislyuto the hole referred to. This
senerates great deal of heat, and
Aally the little heap of wood dust be-
gins to smolder, and in little time
enough heat is evolved to produce to
ignition by spontaneous combustion.
Flame is never produced by this opera
ton. The wood or coal must be brought
into contact with the finder and eau
tiously famed into blaze.
Another form is called the pump or
weighted drill" and Mr.. Hough, in the
report of the National museum, says
that this apparatus is used lin only
two localities in the world for making
fres-viz. among the Chukchis. of ST.
IBERIA, and the Iroquois Indians of New
York and Canada. The apparatus is
very ingeniopsly constructed. 1t con-
sists of a piece of soft or loose-grained
wood, as in the first case, and the
pump or. spindle. The spindle is
made of well seasoned elm or other
hard wood. 1t is usually about two
feet long and has kind of fly wheel
about three inches from the bottom. A
crosspiece of wood with hole in the
center large enough for the spindle to
pass through easily is then adjusted as
the pump handle. Attached to each
end of this handle are cords, which are
fastened to the top of the spindle and
twisted around it in such manner that
moving the handle up and down will
cause it to revolve rapidly in alternate
directions, thus creating maximum
amount of friction at the point of con-
tact with the loose-grained wood. This
was the kind of apparatus used by the
Iroquois Indians at the white dog feast
of 1888.
The natives of the East Indies and of
Australia use another method for OBJ
tanning ignition by means of wood fric-
ton. Their method is by Saving"
I "a V-shaped notch is first cut length
wise in piece of bamboo-almost
penetrating it. Then another piece of
bamboo or other hard wood is shaped
like the blade of a knife. and this Is
drawn backward and forward, after
the manner of saving, until the lower
piece is pierced and the heated wood
powder falls through.
DR.. X. M. Luther tells the following
incident of lighting fire by this pro
cess: "A Burmese found a branch of
the oil tree, hewed in it a V-shaped
cavity, cut knife of ironwood, sawed
with it across the branch, and in less
than three minutes had coal of fire
underneath. This was taken in some
dry leaves, wrapped in bunch of grass
and whirled around the head, giving u
fame in 'jiffy'" This method, how
ever, does not seem to have been ever
used by the North American Indians.
buffalo Times.