The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-08-22
BABIES SKULLS As ORNAMENTS.
Andaman Dwarfs AdOrn Them
selves With Dead Infants Bones.

-
From the New York World
The most interesting savages in the
world will soon become an extinct race
They dwell on the little group Of islands
known as the Andamans. in the Bay Of
Bengal They have always been remark
able for ferocity. though they are among
the tiniest OF existing dwarfs, the men
averaging feet 10 inches in hight and
the women 4 feet inches. In former days
they were accustomed to destroy every
shipwrecked mariner so unfortunate as
to be cast away upon their shores. IL used
to be supposed that they were cannibals,
but this report was untrue.
These pigmies vary In color from bronze
to sooty black. Their hair is very frizzly.
and the scalp is commonly shaved in an
odd fashion. so as to leave a spiral tuft
on top or two narrow strips of hair from
the crown to the nape Of the neck. The
eyebrows are removed usually. Both sexes
go very nearly naked The women wear
aprons of leaves, while the men adorn
the knees and wrists. Every Individual is
tatooed more or less, and garters, brace
let's and necklaces OF shells and human
bones are favorite ornaments.
Every dwarf on the islands has at least
one necklace of human bones. common
ornament is an infants skull hung from
the neck by a string. Such feuches are
supposed to keep off evil spirits. When
child dies. the body is buried, but after
a few days the father digs II up and re-
moves the flesh, carefully cleaning and
washing the bones. Afterwards he and
his wife break the bones into small pieces,
which are used in the fabrication of sew
eral necklaces. The mother paints the
skull yellow and hangs II around her
neck, though sometimes her husband
wears II. To keep IL from being broken,
she sometimes covers II with string. FL
nally, the necklaces of bone are present.
ed to relatives as memorials. Necklaces
Of human teeth are frequently worn by
the Andamanese.
They are among the most primitive of
all savageS. Until quite recently they did
not know how to make fire. On one Of
the islands of the archipelago is an ac-
tive volcano, from which they used to get
supplies Of fire occasionally. They were
very clever at keeping 1t, utilizing for this
purpose logs of decayed wood which
would shoulder for a long time. Going
on a journey, they would take a burning
log with them. This they still do. Moth
ing brought by the whites astonished
them so much as friction matches, the
ability to produce fire at will off-hand be-
ing regarded as supernatural
The houses of these strange. dwarfs are
fragile huts with a framework of slender
poles and roof Of palm leaves. Within Is
always burning a small fire, while over
head is a shelf for food, so that the smoke
may keep off insects. Trophies of the
chase, such as skulls OF pigs and turtles,
are hung from the roof in front Bows
and arrows are the weapons generally
used the latter being tipped with the
bone Sting" of the stingray. This
sting is very sharp and furnished with
many barbs, so that it infiicts a dreadful
wound and cannot be Withdrawn from the
flesh without cutting II out.
Within the last few years epidemics of
measles and other diseases brought by
the whites have wiped out a large part OF
the Andamanese population. The death
rate at present far exceeds the birth rate
and hardly any of the dwarfs will survive
a generation hence. They are very deli
cate, and diseases are propagated by the
practice among the women of sucking
each others infants Unfortunately
There are no idiots or lunatics among
these people. They knew no intoxicants
until the whites came, but now drunken
ness Is common and the women in par
ticulary are inveterate smokers. The
principal deity of the Andamanese lives
in a large stone house in the sky and has
a green wife. In the ocean dwelIs a
mighty evil spirit that eats the bodies Of
those drowned at sea. This demon goes
about with net, trying to capture hu-
man beings The dwarfs believe that
| their reflections seen in mirror are their
souls.
Mother Ito her boy sliding down the
banisters)-Fr1tz, what are you doing
there?
Fritz-Making trousers for orphan boys
-Fliegende Batter.