Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1899-04-20

! BEACH POsToFFICE, LUMMI ISLAND,
! WHATCOM Co., WASH, Mar. 2Otb, 1898.
| Spring is here with all her joyous at
/ tendants The daffodils and hyacinths
are hudded, the pussy willows have dom
| ned their gray, silvery gowns, and ! can
! see now, as ! write, the large spring sal
mon making pretty curves in the air as
| they jump out OF their watery beds in gay
| frolic with their companions. We are all
unusually glad out here Of the lovely
weather for We have had two quite severe
storms from the northeast this winter,
with turTies OF snow and even the Oldest
I inhanitant declared he had never seen
their equal In intensity.
About two and one half miles north
east on the mainland is the Lummi Indian
reservation, composed OF 5000 acres OF
1ae land. about 80 families OF Lummi In
diaus and a few King George Indians,
who till the soil to quite an extent. When
white men came here from the East some
aJ or 80 years ago and took up their habi-
tatl0n on claims given by the government,
they, after living in solitude for some
years. seemed to think such an existence
uu1a8ranle. and so took unto themselves
wives !n The shape of greasy, wrinkled,
lazy -auHWs. aud now over the country
are scattered hunGreds Of malt treeds,
with teW fine tastes and ideas Inherited
from their father coupled with thg stolid-
fF and Guiluess Ut their mother. ] have
Dos mind now r. man living tW0 miles from
here who graduated from Yale college %
years ago. came out here married cop
par r...red souaW. and bias now a family
of 3 a- 80 Er0Nu-uD half breed children 90
call bum fat her, Some 0f the girls have
married H bite men, but no white girl viii
ever marry q half-breCd young man so
they are destined TO mate with those OF
their own race. 1 know OF cases here
IS bara the gr0Wn-up sUns Of white men
and sguaWs were married before their
fathers were united ln wediocn. When
the government passed a law some Is or l6
years ago compelling the white men 10
marry their Indian wives many of them
suddenly decided to desert the country,
but their Indian relatives rose up In their
wrath and said "marry or WeIl shoot,
and so they were married. And as they
nov seem hBppy and contented we must
not wonder why or comment.
The immense pile-drivers some OF them
costing $500 or $4,000 are now being
towed over the sound to drive piles for
the many fish traps. Since / last wrote
syndicate from New York city has ex-
pended 5000 600 here and bought up all
the largest traps The Allsop traps, in
GLIDING two loCati ions, were sold for sSO,-
600. The average cost OF putting in q trap
is $500 In a swift current the expense
increases to five, six and eight thousand
dollars. ] have seen Zoo salmon raised
at one ''lift, j." and the net or "p0t' is rails
ed every day during the run. ! have a
notion OF my own that amounts to pref
udice against p8rtaking OF canned sal
mon, but by the time il has Travelled
across the continent ! suppose the flavor
is improved Distance lends enchant-
ment,h you know. The fishing industry
has wonderfully increased the pay roll Of
this country, for il is conducted on cash
basis An immense fruit crop is predicted,
the farmers have their ploughtng done,
oats and field peas are sowed, Easter bon
nets are being planned and all feel as Il
the fetters or winter were loosed at last,
Before I forget IL let me mention that
nowhere did ever see such an abundance
Of straw berries as are raised In this North
west country and Of phenomenal size.
have seen many three inches In circum-
ference. II any doubt it take jour
ney westward and let me treat them to
filled saucer OF six strawberries covered
with cream. "FANNIE WINsLOW.h