davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1901-02-10

in California. There, varied materials
take away the monotony of Africa and
Asia. Different colored materials. dyes
and pigments, OVERLAPPING and APPLIQUE
work, feather and quill work, shells and
beadwork, and above all, the primitive
mythology dominating the ornamentation,
produce the myriad effects over which
the collector is in ecstacies. Coiled bas-
kerry is a mosaic, the elements being
stitches all of the same width and
length. The marvel is that such bold ef-
tects as clouds, flames, mountain chains,
and water are successfully produced with
in these limits. A fascination in all good
pieces exists through uniformity and reg
ularity of foundation and sewing. Some
of the Pomo, Washoe. Yokut, and Apache
pieces are almost miracles of unity in
variety.
FINEST Bit of Dasketry in Existence.
The most delicately woven coiled bas-
ket in the world is the work of a Yo-
kala woman, living on Russian river
California. Her name is Keshbim; and il
she had lived long ago she would have
been one of the dryads, for all wood lore
is hers; she knows where the slender
willows grow, and can see beneath the
ground the tough white roots of the
sedge. Keshbim worked seven months
continuously on the little treasure, no
bigger than pint cup, which is now IN
the National Museum Ii is beyond all
price, this basket. for, the magic in
Keshbim's stubby fingers is an unequalled
gift that will die with her.
The foundation of the basket is of will
! low rods, and the sewing is done not with
linen thread, as you would suppose, but
with roots split so fine that in some parts
| there are sixty stitches to the inch. The
| design is the Photograph of a feast at
which Keshbim would give this basket
to her dearest friend, demanding some
thing equally precious in return. On the
bottom are black and white squares in
checker work. These represent the mats
that she will spread on the ground at the
feast The band of rhomboid figures
around the bottom is the roof of the
dance lodge, with rafters crossed and in
terlaced. The human figures about the
top are Keshbim and her friends. men,
and women dancing and celebrating the
foOd-faling, or acorn harvest
Another of the museum treasures, more
striking to the eye than Keshbims work
is the basket in which Pomo Indian wo-
man caught the sun. 1t is not to be I'M
derstood that she actually placed the orb
of day in this slender receptacle holding
The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1901-02-10

A. e. Robinson, MD. C. M. Medical Director.
They cured so many men who had battled
for years against the mental and physical
suffering of lost manhood that the Insti-
tute has decided 10 distribute free trial
packages to all who write. Ii is a home
treatment and all men who suffer with
any form of sexual weakness resulting
from youthful folly, premature loss of
strength and memory, weak back, vari-
cocele, or emaciation of parts can now
cure themselves at home.
The remedy has a peculiarly grateful
effect of warmth and seems to act direct
to the desired location giving strength
and development just where 1t Is needed
1t cures all the ills and troubles that come
from years of misuse of the natural func-
lions and has been an absolute success in
all cases. A request to the State Medical
Institute, S13 Elektron Building Fort
Wayne, Ind, stating that you desire one
of their free trial packages will be COM
piled with promptly. The Institute is de-
sirous of reaching that great class of men
who are unable to leave home to be
treated and the free sample will enable
them to see how easy it is TO be cured of
sexual weakness when the proper remedies
are employed. The Institute makes no re-
strictons. Any man who writes will be
sent free sample, carefully sealed in a
plain package so that its recipient need
have no fear of embarrassment or pub
LEFTY. Readers are requested to write
without delay.
The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1901-02-10

down to feast. he reaches through and
fastens their legs TO the horse. Then,
when the bird fiops its wings in an effort
to escape, other Indians rush out from
the grass, until small army 10 formed.
each man carrying a lasso. Quick as
lightning they lasso the birds, which are
then taken to town and kept for the next
bull fight.
In another part of Peru. there is a
natural excavation some eighty feet deep,
and sixty feet in diameter. gradually d.
minlshing to twenty feet at the bottom.
On the brink OF this shaft and so near
that it almost topples over, the natives
place the carcass of a COW. A score of
condors Immediately light upon 1t, and
being the greediest of birds, tug at the
body. pull 1t and claw It. until 1t falls
over the edge. Not satisfied with what
they have the condors Immediately fol-
low; but they find, when they have
gorged themselves, that they are too
heavy to fly up between the narrow walls,
and so are trapped. This plan is also
tried In other parts of South America, old
wells and chasms in the mountains being
used as traps The birds are often taken
TO port where they are sold to foreign
ships, which carry them as curioslties to
the states and Europe.
Like the albatross, the condor flies rap
idly, travelling from the mountains to the
coast In a few hours. No bird can rise
so high, nor cover so much territory. At
The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1901-02-10
CALIFORNIA BASKETS MADE IN THE FORTIEs.

ascending like a noble stairway from bot
tom to top of another bowl is the trial
over which weary feet must pass up 1.-The
shining steps of nature" The whole bas-
ket country is a range of Verdure-clad
mountains where the ideal vegetation for
the basket-maker, the redbud, the Kinds
willow, and the careX roots reach perfec-
ton in certain valleys, and in them alone
the "Bam-stuww" most delicate OF oil coll
ed basketry, reaches its climax. For these
beskets the sounding beaches Of the Pa
cine are visited for their pearly shells
and the forests hunted for birds Of bright
colored plumase. The basket maker must
De mineralogfst, botanist and geologist,
spinner, weaver and colorist; designer,
poet and sorcerer; and as Imagination
bodies forth the forms of things unseen,
her fingers turn them to shapes and give
10 airy nothings a local habitatiOn and
name.
The bands on a Navajo coiled basket
pack and red. are not merely stripes of
color they are associated with cosmogo-
ny. The little riffs in the bands are not
ldaiis in stitching, but they are passes
Ot gates and the spirit of the basket
comes and goes there through. To say
mat these patterns represent mountains,
4aAes or rivers, men and women. deer
VI other mammals. flying birds, or bird
ueChS, snakes. fishes, insects. flowers and
plants heavenly bodies, or articles OF use
aHo Worhip merely is but a fraction OF
1Ho truth. They are concrete standing
l 19 Tor all or any, but for one, and I'M
uerheath them is most charming folklore
a certain intricate pattern on a Washing
10" state basket was supposed to repre-
seht ripples, but on patient inquiry II was
.Yuhd 10 mean the subtle movements in
we under waters Of a certain lake upon
a special occasion. To appreciate the sym
D0Hsn fully, one must know the sign.
lar me story ana then study the skies,
mo landscape and thc social environment.
~ alpnabet 10 this primitive art-work
%guid be useless for each tribe adapts
olu ana standard forms to It's own con-
epla and myths, The artists alone, in
case, can interpret them
nolan basketry IL either plicaled with
o myers or sewed with an avn or
tstnle' Il Is the needle or point bas-
ny 10 use lace-maker's term that
q unler confederation here. You will
~, H 10 Northern Africa IN the soft
LEX ware Of the Moors; IN Slam. done
a. Ia''an wherein tho regular glossy
80 o9nspires with the small delicate
q the artist but ia perfection only
The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1901-02-10

fine old pieces of coiled ware are in exist
ence DR.. Fewkes dug up a piece or two
in Arizona. In the cliff dwellings other
examples are recovered, but they are not
fine. Time rapidly consumes basketry
and there is a special and pernictous
beetle which preys upon it, but the jewels
Of this are burned. Every pretty basket,
before the craze began and the art became
commercial was made by the artist for
some squaw friend at whose death all
personal property was committed to the
flames, the baskets with the rest.
Nearly all the fine baskets now in ex-
istence are in the hands of collectors of
curos gathered by the Forty-niners In
California, as at that time many of the
miners from the East came into posses
sion of the beautiful work. There is in
the possession OF Two ladies in Boston
collection of ten pieces, gathered by the
Forty-niners. and including basket with
a cover, probably the only one in exist
ence. Many efforts have been made to
purchase this little collection, but the
owners will not consider any offer. To
say that each specimen of the ten is worth
more than all the gold that could be car
red in it is probably a large underesti-
mate. So jealous are the two ladies' OF
The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1901-02-10

half peck, but she strips the sun of his
brillaucy, which she fixes on her basket
in bands of many-colored feathers. Not
without toilsOme marches over many
weary miles did she gather the material
for her gift to the great Sun god In
the first place, there must be a special
kind of willow shoots for the foundation.
Nothing would offend her pride so much
as to suggest that some other species
nearer at hand would suffice. She counts
not the miles where the Kinds willow
grows For her sewing also there must
be sedge root the Mendocino sedge. be-
cause it makes such delicate splints and
flaments, and its fiber has all tones of
brown. color. With this much prepare
ton for an ordinary basket she could get
to work at once, but her kind of en-
broidery or OVERLAPPING demands that all
the elements of ornamentation must be
at her side and laid on as she proceeds.
Beads are to be cut from pretty stones.
Disks of she'll or wampum, and carvings
from the abalone. stand for money or real
value, exact long journeys over noun
tain trails to the Seashore. The shells
must be broken into small bits; each one
has to be perforated with the native
driu. and then a hundred of these pieces
are strung and rubbed round between two
fiat stones, to give them absolute uni
The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1901-02-10

formity. With infinite filing and scraping
the abalone shell discloses its iridescence.
Delicate and beautiful Ornamental
ton.
As brilliant feathers are indispensable
to a sun basket the woodpeckers meadow
lark, crested quail, mallard jay. black
bird; oriole and golden eagle, with their
red, yellow black. green, blue and mot
tied pumage. all in fast colors must be
laid under compulsory tribute. It is true
that before the coming of the murderous
gun, the California Indians lived on BET
ter terms with the birds. but even then
1t was no easy task to assemble such an
ornithological congress. Now, this art is
threatened by the trader, with his cheap
dyes and vulgar patterns, as well as by
the land-grabbers, who drive the basket
weavers away from the best sources OF
willow and sedge and shut up the trails
leading to the many-colored shells and
feathers.
Some very beautiful baskets are made by
the squaws in the missions on Tulare
Lake, Southern California. These are
mostly small and OF exquisite workman
ship. Thlare basket by one of the eX-
perts brings S1OO easily and some of the
The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1901-02-10

more elaborate specimens are valued at
many time that figure. The Santa Inez
baskets can't be bought for love or money.
Few of them are in existence and no
more are made, the last expert in this
form of basketry having died some time
ago. Every Santa Inez in the country is
numbered and catalogued and avid collec-
tors are waiting for the fortunate owners
to die and their collections to come to
the market, when some extremely lively
bidding may be looked for. The Sally
bags" made by the old squaw, Sally of
the Wascoe tribe, while not of the finest
workmanship, are of a curiously soft tex
ture, and are much priced by collectors.
Sally has been getting $50 for any kind of
basket. but she is growing old and
blind and doesn't work much now, con-
sequently the Sally bags are rapidly APP
preciating in worth. They are of soft en-
twined wreathng ornamented with ami
NAL figures in corn husks.
Fine Baskets All in the Hands of
Collectors.
Wonder is often expressed that no more
The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1901-02-10
ART TREASURES BY SoUAWS.
Called BAsKETRY OF THE PACTF-
&c SLOPE TRIBES WHICH Is
BEYOND PRICE.

u,ndreds of Collectors Awaiting to
Snap Up Every Good Specimen o:
4ha work as Soon as 1t Is Finished.
Few of the Squnws Now Living
Are Up to the Highest Standard OF
the Art and the Younger Women
lax Observation-Disclosures Supplies
&ba Materials for the Work and
She implements Are of the Rudest
1r5nd-Keshbin's Masterpiece, Now
- Gen of the Smithsonian COIIec-
.iou-The Basket in Which the
PIANO woman Caught the Sun-A
Few Years Ago Good Examples of
the Art Gould Be Bought Cheap;
NOW Their Value Has Increased
Many Times.
copyright 1901 by o. T. Mason)
washington, Feb. s.-To speak of the
A american Indian as an artist would seem
"a most people an absurdity. Yet there is
q branch Of art in which the squaws of
certain aboriginal tribes stand incompar-
able and unrivalled in all the world, the
one and delicate art of coiled basketry.
only few years ago interest in this
wonderful textile art was confined to
small number of collections and ethnolo-
gists and the finest specimens of basket
~ could be bought for a few dollars.
Now there are collectors all over the
country with whom basketry has become
a mania; the best examples of the art
are held beyond price, and even the more
ordinary output, of the sort which twenty
years ago could have been bought for
ten or twelve dollars apiece, is joyfully
snapped up at from $50 to 500 each. The
collection in the National Museum at
Washington, comprising about 1000 pieces,
which cost probably 5000 to collect,
couldn't be bought to-day for $4,000.
CoiIed basketry is found among the In
dams of the Pacific slope; the Pomos, the
Cickatats, the Washoes and the Wascoes
The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1901-02-10

their treasures that n IS difficult even to
get sight of the collection.
To the squaw artist herself her art is
of little profit. She does not understand
the value OF her work and most of it is
snapped up by sharks who had made
contracts with the basket makers An
agent who recently sent on a basket
worth perhaps $50 wrote;
THE squaw who did this got 81 for 1t.
II took her the better part OF month.
Her daughter. who Is my servant, gets
Sl2 a month"
Under such circumstances Il Is hardly to
be wondered at that the art OF colled
basketry is dying out rapidly. Could some
announcement be given to these people
and fair payment for their work Il would
be their salvation and the preserving and
perpetuating Of the finest Of all aborigi-
nal arts.
--ou. T. Mason Curator Of the National
Museum
The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1901-02-10

week, when he took the laurels even from
Senator Depew, who has hitherto stood
unrivalled as a reconteur. The Montana
Senator's address fairly bubbled over with
wit and humor, and was especially keen
in satire directed at the canteen amend
ment of the army bill.
The new senator from Kansas Mr.. J..
r. Burton whose credentials have just
been presented, is hailed as a distinct
acquisition by that august body He is
a young man. for the Senate, (only 40 a
lawyer by instinct and profession, and a
remarkably forcefu orator. Mrs. Burton.
who accompanies him on all his speech
making tours, is with him in Washington.
They have no children.
The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1901-02-10
CATCHING VULTUHES.

In south America the Condor Is Dam
gerOus TO Herds.
Condor-catching is a sport enjoyed In
certain parts of South America where he
is dangerous to herds OF COWS and calves.
and as no bullet can penetrate its thick
feathers, the natives have invented vari-
Gus ways of killing them.
The Indians of Guiana have the most
exciting method They use the hook and
line. Having baited the hook with fresh
meat, they hide in the grass until the
The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1901-02-10

EX-Vice President and Mrs. Stevenson
are spending a few days in Washington.
on the way to Townsville, Ga, for their
usual winters sojourn. Dinners. lunch
cons and teas are the order of the hour
Tor their entertainment; which also in
clude their daughter, Miss Letitia. who is
dividing her winter between the gaieties
of the capital and Atlantic City. Nobody
In official circles was ever more popular
or universally beloved by all political fac
IONS than the Stevensons. Personally,
Mrs. Stevenson is a lovely characteristic
cere kind-hearted, unaffected, a devoted
wife and mother-a true womanlv woman
than which there can be no higher praise.
Senator and Mrs. BILLY" Mason-as
everybody calls the genial Ohio law-mak-
er-are holding series of receptions in
their suburban home, on Columbia road.
The daughters and son of the house are
accomplished musicians, and are wont to
render programmes of concerted numbers
that would reflect credit on professionals
Miss Ethel Mason usually presides at the
piano, while Misses Ruth and Winifred
play the violin and their brohter, Ernest.
the mandolin.
The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1901-02-10

They say that in New York ones So
cial status is decided by her bank ac-
count; in Philadelphia by who were her
great grandparents; in Chicago by the
value of her jewelry; in Boston by her
erudition in New Haven by the number
and size of the elm trees in her door
yard and so on to the end of the chapter.
In Washington, ID is first the official posi-
ton of the head of the family; and, sec
ond, ones own tact and facilities for en-
PERTAINING. That wealth plays no very
important part in the social life of the
capital is patent on every side. Even in
the departments are many ladies of cul-
ture and refinement, bearing the honored
names and closely related 20 those who
have been famous on both continents in
their time That these ladies are now
bread winners, the work of hand and
brain hired for so many dollars per month,
does not initiate against them In any
way. They assist at receptions. are wei
coined in the most exclusive homes, and
frequently enjoy the browning honor of
being invited to the distinguished posi-
ton behind the line" at White House
functions. Their formal calls are re-
turned by ladies whose feet are firmly
set on the highest round of the ladder
if only by cards, left by lveried footmen
at the door of the Government clerk"
while she is still at her desk in Treas
ury. War Department or pension bu-
reau. If entitled to social recognition by
birth, education, refinement. any respec-
table woman in Washington may easily
obtain 1t, whatever the state of her
finances or the plainness of her clothes;
and keep 1t, too, until she forfeits IL by
some glaring indiscretion against the un-
written code of etiquette.
The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1901-02-10

night It sleeps in crevices on the noun
tain side; but at dawn quickly rises, and
with no motion Of the wings that can be
distance.
The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1901-02-10
SENT FREE
TO M En-.

Free Trial Package of This New Dis
covery mailed to Every Man Sending
Name and Alphabetically Restores
Strength and Vigor.
Free trial packages of a most remarka-
Bile remedy are being mailed to all who
will write the State Medical Institute.
The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1901-02-10

The fact that members of Congress are
here for so short a time and that the
whole official Structure is subject to swift
Kaleidoscope changes, no doubt does much
to oblterate tomality. One must be-
come acquainted quickly, or-presto-
change the tenure of office has expired
and the opportunity is forever lost The
new official and his family, wishing to
figure in Washington society, has but to
send cards, or begin the merry round
without other formal Introduction. to find
themselves warmly welcomed. II frequent
ly happens that a member from some
back woods district, comes here alone.
entirely ignorant of "the ropes" and find
ing himself lonesome after a time de-
sires social advertisement. In such cases
his confreres from the same state or
territory are certain to come to the res
cue and give him the few necessary
pointers to effect successful entire into
the highest circles. Here, as elsewhere
wealth may open many doors hut it is
not essential to social popularity. To
the everlasting credit of Washington, be
it said. that no city has less of that
vulgar and venomous gossip which Is
the bane of smaller communities There
Is an atmosphere of trustful congeniality
here-at least on the surface, which !s
all that social has To do with-that does
not stop to unearth family scandals or
disinter ancestors. but receives one at
his or her own valuation.
The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1901-02-10

The French government has just appro-
priated a handsome sum of money for
the erection of an embassy I'm Washing
ton. The site is not yet selected. but the
building, which is to cost not less than
$4,000 WILL of course. be placed In some
desirable portion of the Northwest. For
many years the embassy has occupied
the time honored mansion OF Admiral
Porter in II street-a roomy and COM
Portable old house, which in its day has
been the scene of many notable entertain
ments; but is now sadly behind the times
1t was in that house that the famous
ball was given in honor of the Prince
of Wales, now King Edward VII. during
his visit to this country.
Speaking of changes OF residence-the
Secretary of the Treasury and Mrs. Gage
are about to vacate the Hebrew house IN
which they have lived ever since coming
to Washington. They will take temper
airy quarters in a fashionable apartment
house until April /, when they are to
move into the beautiful residence now
occupied by Attorney General and Mrs.
Griggs. Vice President and Mrs. Roose-
welt have at last definitely decided upon
Washington home. They have rented
the large and handsome house of Hon
Bellamy Storer, United States Minister
to Spain, and will take possession of It
before March 1.
The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1901-02-10

OF course. there are reigning social
queens" who obtained their prestige as
much by rare fnesse as by many seasons
of experience. The hostess must have
the tact to welcome at her receptions
guests whom she has never seen before,
with no shade of difference in her manner
than to her chosen friends. She is gem
orally assisted by several matrons and
maids, to each of whom the unknown
guests must be introduced. The fine art
comes in In being able to catch an I'M
familiar name as announced by the
usher, to apply it afterwards to the
right person and to pass it along down
the receiving-line without balk. What
a herculean task, when several hundred
people, the majority strangers, crowd in
Of an afternoon! 1t is related of Mrs.
Hamilton Fish. who is stll quoted as
the highest authority on official etiquette,
that during her long and brilliant reign
in the National Capital she never forgot
or misappiied name. Both Mrs. Hayes
and Mrs. Cleveland possessed much OF
that beautiful faculty, together with the
rarer gift OF making each individual in
a throng feel himself or herself particu-
larry noticed.