Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1901-11-21
AN 1 POLITICIAN.
POuca Chief Who Is an Organizer
and a Power Among His Peo-
pie in

Tall Elk, chief of the Ponca In
dams, leads a strenuous life. His
days are filled with official cares and
his nights are given to social duties,
SO that the redskin has but few
spare moments which he can devote
to his family or studies, says a Wichita
special to the Chicago Inter Ocean.
The Ponca Indians live on a reserva-
tien in the northern part of Oklahama.
According to official figures, the tribe
numbers about 600, but there are in
reality more than that number. The
Poncas multiply very fast and are in
creasing instead of decreasing. Their
per capita wealth is therefore dimin-
ishing. This is a source of worry to
Tail Elk. As chief of the tribe he is
their ruler in sense but not in fact.
The Indian agent is the real power,
but the reds look to their own chief
for everything. He issues the rations,
when they have any, and pays out the
tribal funds; he leads the dances, and
comforts the sick and dying. He acts
as minister when one is needed, and
is an expert poker player when he gets
into a crowd of gamblers.
Ian LIN II HIS g AoAhAS "'S
in a tepee on the banks of the Arkan-
sas river, overlooking a good SWIM
ming hole. In summer the whole fam
lily indulge in a bath before every
meal, while in the winter they do not
battle at all. He makes no written
promises to officeseekers, for he can
not write. He has a pull in a different
way. Tall Elk is rich, and when cleo
ton time comes around, as it does once
every two years, he buys up the most
powerful of vote getters. He pays
them literally, and he wins every tim
he chooses, for Tall Elk has surround
ed himself with a powerful ring. His
friends in a political way are almost
as rich as he is, and in a few years
he may expect to find opponents for
his high position. These opponents
will in all likelihood come from his
own crowd.
The office pays no stated salary.
Sometimes it is worth S 5000 a year,
and other years not more than $500.
This all depends upon the number of
payments and amount of grass moneys
that come from the government. The
chief is not allowed to leave the reser-
walton without special permission from
the chief medicine man, and he cam
not have more than one wife, while
the other braves and members of the
tribe can have just as many as they
want to.
Every time there is a dance Tall Elk
must be there clothed in brilliant
robes. He is a member of the Sacred
White nffa- alan --I - 4In
best ghost dancers of the territory.
He was formerly against the ghost
dance, but the failure of the Indian
agent to give him a medal of honor
for opposing this dance ten years ago
led him to join the belligerent forces,
and since then he has tried his best
to create trouble among his people.
The North Polar Sea.
In a recent lecture on his explors-
tons in the Arctic ocean and the re-
suits obtained with regard to the ocean
currents on the Norwegian coast, in
the northern part of the Atlantic
ocean, and in the Arctic ocean during
his voyage in the Fran and in the
Michael Sars in 1900, Fridtjof Nansen
declared his belief that the Northern
Arctic ocean is not to be regarded ais
forming part of the ocean system of
the world, but as being an independent
inland sea, which contains several sub
ordinate currents which are affected
by the influence exerted by the two
chief currents of the gulf stream and
the Arctic ocean. Fol obtaining relia-
BILE data concerning the rate of speed
at which the sea currents flow, their
temperature and sadness, a most elab-
crate system of apparatus was made
use of. which enabled the ocean u
rents to be investigated at any depth
without sudden changes IN the tenn
perature of the water being able to
affect the results obtained. In fact, so
accurate are these results, that Nan
theory is attracting widespread
attention in scientific circles.-Lon-
don Globe.
Thinking 1t Over.
"Do you think you will marry that
titled gentleman from abroad?"
81 haven't quite decided" answered
the American heiress. 81 am not sure
can support him in the style to which
his ancestors were -