The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-06-11
THEY RAISE THE DEAD.
Supernatural Powers Claimed for
Kings Island Medical Men.

supernatural Powers Claimed Tor
Kings Island Medical Men.
From the san Francisco Call
The strangest island in the world"
said Capt. 81. j. Healy OF The United
States steamer Bear last night at the Oc-
cideutal hotel. lis Kings Island. 800 miles
northwest of here and 10 miles OF the
coast Of Siberia
1T lies almost in the middle OF Berins
straits, almost equidistant from the ASH
attic and American shores. Il is inhabited
by Isl turbulent straits IL Is about n
mile long and half a mile wide. and its
sides are 50 precipitoUs that they are like
cliffs.
Almost in the middle Of the island and
at the south side is an indentation made
10y the rushing waters This is expanded
into a funnel-like holes. reaching into the
island and out at the top at an angle ap-
proXimating so degrees. The hole is $50
feet deep. and during storm weather the
natives let down a rope and drag up the
seals, walruses and other sea animals
which they have taken.
'It is on these animals that the natives
subslst. They are very expert in taking
them, as Well as great whales, which they
40 not fear TO attack, and, Ia fact, secure
as trophies OF their prowess. They hunt
all these animals i'm their kyaks-bOats
so stout ana sklfully made that, though
they are often tossed over and over by the
surf. they are never wrecked and are
speedily righted. The boatmen sit with
their feet I'm holes in the boats, clad in
Natertight Walrus skins. These boats Will
put OF successfully where the ordinary
boat would not live a minute.
But about the catch Of these walruses
and other animals and the strange island.
tacles on both sides of the entrance on the
ledge. These are so cool that they are nat
ural refrigeratOrs. and i'm these they store
the bodies of the animals for future use.
| There are about twenty Of these recepta-
Giles or natural refrigerators, and there is
nearly always q supply Of meat IN them,
so that the chances of starving at any
time are comparatively scarce
! "On the right side of the island above is
| the village of the Indians. It is a queer
| town. whose miniature houses are made
| of walrus skins stretched on Eight frames
| The ground is SO rough that the little
/ skin abOdes are ranged one above the
! other, like houses in mining camp on
/ mountain side. In the distance they
| look small and fragile, but they are full
Of people and active as beehives.
/ From the tossing waves where the
| Bear lay the catacomb-like refrigerators
| ana the village presented novel appear
| ance.
THE island although sort OF repub
| lie in its government, is ruled by a few
| medicine men, each of different degrees
/ of Importance. The medicine men hold
| their positions by their remarkable feats
"a AE5GtAtA lAliAA- many pNbUAN nave sum
/ to see Hermann, and Blitz also in his
! lifetime, and have wondered at the teats
| they have seen them perform. But l un
dertake to say that none of these pro
! fessOrs of the black art have performed
| more marvellous things than L have seer
| these barbarian medicine men do there.
| For instance, l have seen one of thesC
] medicine men take man and lay him OF
| a table and take a big knife and stick il
| right into him to the handle. The mar
| would Writhe, turn pale gasp, and die
! Then the medicine man would Withdraw
| the knife, go through a few nominations
| tumble over the victim, and in a momen
| he would get up and go about, sound az
Il have also seen them pluck out rab
| bits, birds, and other forms of animal life
| from impossible places They would do
| things before your eyes that were mar
! VellOus to US and to all the natives, for o.
| course the natives believe implicitly IN
| the supernatural powers of their medi
but the strangest thing I saw happen
ed on board my snip one day There were
about 100 Of these natives aboard; one 0
orrhage and Vomited blood all around
The blood came from her lungs in streams
She was lying there on the deck as pal
as death, and / thought to myself tina
she would die there, so | rushed man of
to get DR.. Yeamans, the Bears surgeon
Before the doctor could get there tn
chief medicine man rushed out and, goinl
to the girl, he blew first into one ca
and then into the other, and then tapped
! neE on the tliilis anu SIG BOL up anu W al
| all right again, and she began dancini
around on the ship as healthy and activ
as though there never had been the leas
| thing the matter with her. And mari
you this wasn't two minutes from thu
| time she had the hemorrhage. l neve
saw anything so marvellous in my life
There was all the blood before me on tn
ship, too.
"Talk abour queer things, where II
Hermann and civilization alongside o
/ that?
"The tribe of Indians have lived Their,
from time immemorial. They have beei
| born there, and on the island they bur!
! their dead The Indians are nomads ant
| leave the island every summer, with tn
| exception of few hOusekeepers, ant
/ don't come back till September. They q
| to the mainland on both sides, wandering
| about like our American Indians use t
| do on the prairies, only that these liv
! largely in their kayaks, while they hun
| for seals, walruses and whales.
"The strange rock in the sea which Il
| the abode of these native, is about thirt,
miles from Port Clarence. 1 relieved then
twice when they had through infortuit
| Gus circumstances been reduced to a poin
| bordering on starvation.
| Il cannot see that these natives on tina
| rude rock in bleak and distant Berinj
Straits are as happy as any people hav
! ever known. There children are as joyful
! apparently as ours, and in all respects tn
| people seem to enjoy life as well as we d
| here. Did you ever hear of another PEG
| pie like them? If I had not seen then
| 1 would find it hard to believe that the
| actually existed"