New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-01-03
SITTING DOWN.
LESS THAN 10 PER CENT OF THE
WORLDS POPULATION DO 1T.

II the operation be natural. all human creatures
must sit down-and there Is an end OF the tneory'
for they do not. Reviewing In fact the population
Of the globe 1t seems likely that the men ana
women who sit less than 10 per cent TO pesih
with the millions of China and India must be ex-
cIuded: only the hundreds there turn the CUSHIONS
10 their destined use. so that more than one-haii
OF mankind Is excepted at stroke. But that ~
not nearly all. Japan follows. with the Ianus ana
isles Of the Far East Asia In general the most part
OF Africa the Indian territories OF America from the
Arctic circle to Cape Horn. When We look closely, IL
appears that only Europeans, their descendants
and those whom they had Instructed SIT.
The custom Is not universal even in Europe. Al
the time OF the neither chair nor stool. rarely
a divan could be found in a Bulgar house outside
the towns: the table only foot high ana the
family sauatted around 1t on the floor. The Bull
gars are not people to adopt new fashion reaqiy.
Throughout the Balkan princpalities, indeed seats
o OF fm popaaion; even the divan in
farmhouse Of Albania and Montenegro II - as
chairs and stools That is improba BILE in any case.
but when we that outside OF 9rHRe eS th
these people follow the practice OF their remo,est
ancestors The Turk has simply arrested deVeiop
ment at this as at other points.
TWO ATTITUDES FOR RESTING.
Men who do not sit have two attitudes for rest
ing; women OF their own: Squatting on
the MssH Of II n ns ood nS a
Toes. and 20 keep the balance comfortable me arms
European trussed in this manner promptly feels
pain in his calves. but he can understand that
Golfers use it. There is legend current in North
staffordshre referring to the embodiment Of militia
century: After divers. eccentre manoenvres t the
officer cried Stand at ease When his order s s saa
like an Indian coole, There IT, however, a mode
IS utterly Observation-Disclosures Being fatgUed. these
people stand on leg and curl the foot an ns
custom 'Ho seen In Africa We ask in bewder
ment why on earth they do not lie or at least
without any pretence Of Justification. that they
their forefathers dwelt in swamps especially ma;
usases ' men will devise before it occurs to them
r s asde is general from Siam
eastward through the Malay countries. In the
the folded over them and the chin resting
the arm: Some tribes as the pyakss carry a,I mat
the damp BIT sdom
indeed will man sit upon log or root, though
his mind More rarely still, il that be possible
win you observe him sGgatiins Women always
bent Sideways thus resting on the outer part OF
one thigh; mighty uncomfortable posture. as it
II may be assumed. therefore. that sitting down
. any see
heard Of them But we are all convinced nova
a e8sA hat
velopment II so. It follows that the inhabitants
least. did not Sit. Evidence cannot be expected /
have a careful and learned restoration Of
logs bus have
vain for the authority. The savant probably took
IT Tor granted, giving no thought to the matter
NOT A NATURAL HABIT
Sir Samuel Baker was privileged to behold the
first adumbration of chair by one of the tribes
which he encountered in Ismailia 1T is to- be OBJ
struck with the simple arrangement used by the
sa s g e Of eor
In IN such manner as to form an endless loop sat on
their shoulders and their, knees binding them
selves up tight and hItched it,. The MahdIsts have,
might have distinguished themselves beyond all
s 81 Chinese e am m
date for the introduction Of sitting down. Captain
in ths o. as
ns oan sat Ws s their
cite the year but the I.eang dynasty reigned in
the twelfth and thirteenth centuries A. D. and that
circumstances. In China six or hundred
are tho no while wherein s to establish
adopted this one, but for the populace it Is still
easy lying: but can testify that rich Ma MALAY
Nkodah seaan d mn merchant na acsstomed to
Observer; ii e common thing for a visitor il
his heels as the unaccustomed chair tires him. ~
terms Is with Tie phSssa to rss British s%r
would be men OF standing well acquainted with
european furniture Chairs would be novelty
abolished the divan in public ceremonIals But
s snsy are do %S ' no to ns down Plainly
CONSIDERING the circumstances,the ancient and
i By
one ge1Pie whsh had influence enough to spread
ment. and you find them possessed OF chairs or
t thrones at very early date. But there is an
learned ali they knew at the beginning and chairs
sa them So SnS
the articles themselves remain. A tomb painting
ss sy % Ia Per Sws
tfades AND handGrsfs workman is polishing
stone. perhaps: another is drilling the completed
frame doubtless for cords to support the seats
hall such an invention was TO be expected Some
may think this strange assumption. If Europeans
should Replied With SscSm%s ddencs bet
cause SaYs the Enropea n, had no carpets So far
using carpets p5opfo mota and people
to them This is serious Ia', we
reflect So long as human beings, were content |
their robes Of bark or skin were mpercept dBH
neither squat n the mud, even sit cross,lesSed.
unless IIS the earth were quite dry The Oriental
with that article found salvation in a high seat
THE ANCIENT CHAIR
But this, OF course; was not the inventors mo-
ts hat they c Tess Tns
to make "a probable At least Many
to u.s. and they show. as much graceful variety as
the subject admits: but the motif or principle Is
the same that in the Egyptian This. however
Is rlnlng detail The practice. OF sitting was
adopted NOT for convenience but for dignity; the
chair was throne OF the gods or the Pharaoh:
and long ages passed, no doubt. ere 1t became
simply piece OF furniture. That the king should
be raised on high Il II natural idea, and universal:
but II does not follow that he should sit. Those
lie Durbar. at Delhi. do not forget the throne there
"a slab OF inlad marble under canopy. Below
these. and the Great Mogul squatted cross-iegged
above; his Tzler below; like the old World parson
In the Dewan Khsss. where the nobility had audit
rnce. designed for the same attitude; the king
could not sit upon It. Egyptian originality showed
Itself I'm msking Pharaoh sit. Many chairs have
been discovered In Etruscan tombs and pictures |
They are always assigned to the king
Or the chief. The Roman curue chair was a fold |
Ing stool without back arms. the top OF II lift |
Ing or. while the legs OF II doubled up. The name
is interpreted to show that In the beginning n |