The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1895-01-20
5AVAGEs WHO ARE civrLlz ID
African Natives VINO Hive notion Of
the Ar.S aud Sciences

African Natives VINO Hive a Notion Of
! the Ar.~ and Sciences.
Most people think Of the natives Of
! tropical Africa as naked savages, with
out any of the resources OF civilization. :"
SAID an ex-missionary. But the fact is
that many Of the tribes are acquainted
WIN not few or the mechanical arts.
y Oh are probably aware that the min
ing and working of iron have been under
stood by the natives of that part of the
world ever since prehistoric times. In
Liberia the Mande are smelters of iron
and workers in gold and silver. They are
also tanners of leather and wcavcrs of
c4oih, and they make an infinite variety
OF domestic articles. The Makolos are
excellent wood carvers, the Djours are
sk'liiu! iron workers, and the Bechuanas
are good metal workers. fur dressers and
architects.
The Baganidas of Victoria Nyanza do
beautiful work in brass, copper and ivory.
Ol the slave coast the people of Da-
money, who otherwise possess an uucn-
V.ablc reputation, are accorded very re-
specialize position in industrial artisan
snip. Glass making is not known among
them. They make cloths of cotton and
many other textiles, and their dyes of
blue, red and yellow owe their peculiar
richness TO native co!or.ng substances.
Tanning they also understand. and they
obtain salt from sea water by evapora-
ton.
Among the tributaries of the White Nile
at Sahara and Benghieh are tribes OF ma
tives as white as Europeans, having oval
faces and silky hair. In Dahomey public
prostitutes were licensed and the pro-
ceels of the tax paid into the public treas
ury long before the practice was adopted
by modern legislatures and considered
as radical departure in modern civiliza-
lion. Lord Bcaconsfield said of the Zulus:
They have outwitted our diplomats, out
maneuvered our generals, and converted
our missionaries, and yet we call them
savages.'
The Mandegnas have attained a con-
siderable degree of cultivation and know
ledge of the common arts. Their musical
instruments are the flute, harp, bell and
drum. The Veis of Liberia having
obtained acquaintance with letters from
contact with Arabs, have invented an
alphabetical prime of their own language,
original and independent both of the
Arabic and English characters. This is
the greatest effort ever made by an
african tTloe toward the advancement OF
culture. The Vcis make pens of reeds
and use indigo for ink.
Africa Is destined before long to be-
come the great gold producing continent
OF the world. In 1889 it yielded S3.6.OOOO
worth of that metal. Last year it pro-
duced about S.5,OO0.OOO worth of gold.
During 1891 the output OF its gold mines is
likely to equal the $50, 10000 produced by
the United States
The total expectation of diamonds
from tho Cape of Good Hope, from
the date of their discovery to
the present, has probably OK
ceeded $3.50, 100000. The annual expendi.
ture in digging for the gems is now s., OOO.-
OJO, and tho export is limited to 4.5OJOOD
OF carats annually, to prevent a deprecia-
ton in price. The Orange Free State has
recently given to the world the largest
known diamond. weighing in the rough
$40 clrats, and likely to weigh when cut
500 carats.
The rum of the white man is a curse
10 the natives of Africa. 1t is estimated
that 100000 gallons of spirits are an
nually imported into the dark continent"