The Eddy current., 1898-10-15
ESKIMO INGENUITY.
THE eLAT-FAcED. RoLY-PoLY
LITTLE SAVAGE a MARVEL.
some ~ fiis Inventions second
90 the Yankee IN Originality siedgss
fietteF rhau Snyihiss ws cssia gsss
FOE the Purpose.

The Eskimo and the Yankee are
about as far apart az two human types
wen could be- yet they have traits IN
common. II there Ia any quality super
laiively characteristic OF the Yankee Il
Is surely hla mechanical ingenuity: and
tho hat-facea. roly-poly Eskimo IL sim
ply marvel In the same line, though
he doesn't look II. says the Philadelphia
Press. In fact. Il Il 10 his clevernegs
that he owes hls existence No race
not fertile IN expedients could possibly
survive for a single year IN that land
OF eternal winter. whore nothing can be-
done In the same manner as In other
parts OF the world Really, those re-
glons OF frightful cold we're never
meant for man TO dwell IN. and the har-
dy natives are able 10 live there only by
defying nature and outwlttlng her M
every turn. In country where the
mercury drops down into the bulb and
freezes into bullet that you could
shoot out Of gun. to be long without
shelter meanG death yet the materials
on, OF which men build houses are no-
whore TO be found. So the shlfty Eski-
mo builds hut of the very snow that
seemed likely 10 destroy him and
makes himself very comfortable In Il.
But, again, In that terrible climate
he has neither wood nor coal nor any
thing else that we are accustomed To
use for fuel indeed, n he we're TO build
an ordinary fire In his ley den he would
quickly bring his own roof down upon
his head In a mass OF slush SO. with
a little lamp. which Is nothing more
than saucerful OF blubber, he gets
warmth and light and heat for his
cooking. Fish and seal are his chief
means Of subsistence. yet for his boat
he has not even the birch bark which
serves the purpose 30 we'll for his In
dian nelghbora a little farther south.
Not In the least daunted this arctic
Yankee makes craft OF skin, which
"a scarcely more than an inflated bag,
but which he manipulates with such
amazing cleverness that he can out
ride the roughest seas and actually
turn somersaults on the tumb,sdg
waves. They are not easily baked
these phlegmatlc. stolid-looking saw
ages. Most ingenious OF ail are their
aledges Everybody Is supposed TO
know how. In the absence OF wood
they build them OF numberless little
pieces OF bone deftly fitted. pierced and
bound together with blts OF slnew. hut
though everybody Is presumed to know
how Il Is done. nobody but an Eskimo
can do Il. You might more readily
construct bicycle OF scrap-iron aud
stove wire. Il Is task requiring In
finite skill and patience; yet. when fn-
lshed one OF these sledges lasts for
many generations. an heirloom handed
down from father TO son, better FOR its
purpose than anything we. with all our
science. could offer as a substitute. At
the same time strong and flexible. Il
endures the roughost usage as II Is
dragged by the wild. feet dog packs
over the frozen wastes that glrdlo the
| pole, Not always, however, has the
Eskimo a slelge OF this description
| ready TO hts hand. and somethlng ne
must have, hut you can't freeze out
an Eskimo. Calling TO his aid the worry
frosts that threaten his life. he makes
two long tubes OF sealskln. nils them
with moss and earth, or even with
snow. and vets them down, bending
them up little at the ends. In a few
minutes they are frozen a. rigid as
iron-and there are his runners. Mean.
while no has cut out a large oblong
from n thick walrus hide, which he
also molsteps. When that. too, II
frozen II becomes as stih as a deal
plank-and there is the top board. A
few stout thongs do the rest. and In less
than an hour he has seryiceable