Arizona silver belt., 1896-01-18
NEW YORK INDIANS.
Bat Little Advanced Above Their Ari. zona Brethren, the Apaches.

East who are continually meddling in the management of the Indians in the West, would find it profitable to study the "noble red man" nearer home, where after two hundred years contact with the whites, and the repeated eff forts to civilize them and instill habits of thrift, they are still shiftless, semi barbarous people, adhering tenaciously to the superstitious rites, customs and vices of their ancestors.
 The New York Sun some time since published an interesting article on the Indians in New York State, now num- bering about 5000, and occupying be- tween SOL and 90,000 acres. The majority of these Indians are descend ants of the Iroquois and large pro- portion of them belong to the Seneca tribe, always the most powerful and important of the Six Nations. The Senecas are now gathered into the Tonawanda, Cattaraugus and Allegheny reservations, in Niagara, Erie and Cat taraugus counties. The two latter are larger than the first and contain the bulk of the tribe. The Indians keep up the tribal government, republican in form, by which they have been ruled since white meu first knew them.
 The white man can find many things of interest within the limits of the res ervations, and a trip to one of them is we'll worth taking. It is not difficult to tell when the boundary line has been crossed, for well-cultivated farms give way to land covered with underbrush and other wild growths, rough cart trails take the place of graded roads, and the general air of prosperity that graces nearly all this western New York country disappears. There is tiled land on the reservations, but usually it is only small plot of an acre or two adjoining the houses, and planted with corn and potatoes. One may travel day after day through these h. dian farms and rarely see a man at work in the fields. The custom of permitting the squaws to do most of the work still prevails.
 The ordinary habitation is a rude shanty structure of boards, with a couple of windows and single door. About the door play half dozen chil- dren and as many dogs, the latter de- eidedly lean and hungry.
 Although most of the reservation lands lie in a rich farming country, the Indians main subsistence does not come from the cultivation of the soil In the winter season he weaves baskets, and when spring comes he digs the fragrant sassafras root, which is found in plenty along the Allegheny river. Later in the season he starts out to sell his wares among the whites. The wagon, loaded high with baskets, is drawn by broken down horse or a yoke of cattle. The head of the family sits on the top of the load, holding the reins or welding the lash, and almost invariably smoking black pipe. The squaw and the children trude along behind, stopping at the farm houses to make sales. When the harvest season comes the Indian may work for n few weeks for some of his white neighbors. and thereby earn a few dollars to carry him through the winter.
 The one great weakness of the reser- vation Indian, as of hls less civilized brother, is for frewater. Strong drink seems to have peculiar attraction for him and to be particularly disastrous Tn its effects. An Indian infamed with drink Is usually quarrelsome and often a dangerous customer to deal with. In spite of the heavy penalties, the law forbidding the selling of liquor to Indians is constantly violated in all the towns near the reservation. A favorite method of evading the law is to mix q quantity of bad whisky with very hard cider, and to sell the compound as q soft drink. As the cider IS usually a near approach to vinegar, the deadly effects of the eoncoction may be imagined. Nevertheless, this business is profitable, and many farmer takes this way of disposing of his crop of cider apple.
 The foregoing statements, says the Sun, may give the impression that the reservation Indians are not, on the whole, thrifty lot, and such is likely 60 be the opinion of one who travels through their country. There are, of course, many exceptions, but the aver age Indian does not make progress because he is not ambitious, He seldom looks ahead further than the next season, and is quite content if he may sit in the sun and smoke his pipe. It takes severe bodily discomfort to make him patch up his house, and in the spring he is well satisfied to have got through the winter without freezing.
 The village wag thought he would have some fun with the mild-mannered