Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1899-02-04
CURIOS FROM PIG-TAIL LAND.

The travellers Wartegg describes east
ern North America as a country where
people change their creedS and their
lodgings about the LIST Of May, or soon
after" and conservatism, or the tenden-
cy to persist in established customs, can
certainly not be considered a besetting
foible of representative Yankees, but
there are facts that make one doubt if
it's power over certain classes of our
fellow men has any limits whatever.
Not individuals only, but whole COM
munities and nations, stick to the usages
of their ancestors as their chief hope Of
salvation. The word "time-honored'
sums up their definition Of fitness. The
antiquity Of a habit outweighs all it's
disadvantages. If they can be convinced
that any doctrine, custom or fashion has
prevailed for a couple Of thousand years
no other argument is needed. Captain
Basil Hall spent a couple Of hours try
ing to convince a Solomon Islander that
it was the height of absurdity to knock
out a child's front teeth, and, by way OF
reply, the old chief took him to a sort
of village mausoleum, where the skulls
of half a dozen patriarchs were grinnlng
~hideously, minus their incisors.
The natives of Southern Abyssinia have
perforated their nostrils for the last 5000
years, and in the seaport towns of the
Philippines our countrymen can study
fashions hat have defied reform since
the times of Confucius and Zoroaster.
What? Appear in public without a
queue?" The mere idea agitates a Chi
naman's epidermis with cold shivers. Ce-
lestial dandies spend a considerable por-
ton of their income and time in hair
dressers' shops. Prisoners who lack the
means to pay a laundry bill still contrive
to engage the services of a barber. The
almost invariable return of our Mongols
to their native land has a good deal to
do with their desire to end their days in
a country where their sense of decorum
is not constantly outraged by the sight
of queueless males of their species.
The artist Wanjuran, who spent sew
eral years in the South China free ports,
devoted a series of cartoons to the il
luStration of additional drawbacks. ono
of his queue martyrs has been plllofleu
by being hung up by his main braid, with
his toes Just touching the ground, like
2 mutinous soldier in the stocks, ana
now and then forces himself down tat
footed to enjoy the luxury of funda-
mental rest at the expense of a minutes
scalp agony.
Another tries to outrun his creditor
but in turning a corner is grabbed pS
the end of his flying appcndage n maui
ed ANONYMOUSLY before the
A policeman has collected three Slcf
culprits, and drives them along the pub
lie street, using their queues as a Jehu
would the reins of his coach horses. They
twist and howl, but the hand of Nemesis
declines to relax it's grasp till they trudgt
along anxious to anticipate the TINS
schedule of their driver.
A more serious offender has beer
chained to a block, to undergo amputa'
ton of his topknot. and stands staring
like a French criminal witnessing the
preparations of the guillotine manage
Two babies are having their hair al
most twisted out by the roots to satisfy
the demands of propriety, but seem re
signed to fate, as their doll is afflicted
in a similar manner
For the last 1000 years the i%nconven
fences of the queue custom have beer
daily experienced by millions, but it ha:
contrived to resist reform. One emperor
forced the male adults of a rebellion!
province to wear dog collars for sever