The suburban citizen., 1902-07-05
Some in rags,
Some in iags,
And some in velvet gowns.

Iucle sam is eSpeClally rlcl III AldS-
kan dolls. Some of them are of ivory,
no bigger than your thumb; but the
clothing is made with the greatest care
from the softest sealskin, trimmed with
beads and edged with white hair from
the leg Of the deer. Others are two
or three feet in height, and are carved
from wood and are equally well
dressed, even to their mittens, skin
caps with ear flaps, and their perfectly
correct snowshOes Then there are
the dolls of the Zuni and Moqui In
dians of Arizona and New Mexico.
These are a brilliant and cheerful
gathering and occupy a drawer all to
themselves. Some are made of wood
and others of baked clay, and all are
painted in gaudy colors. Some among
them have real hair done up in funny
little knots above their ears, or in
braids with feathers and red flannel.
Many Of the more beautiful toys
were made by the Eskimos. During
the long Arctic nights these wonderful
little people carve, from the tusks of
the walrus, figures Of every conceiv-
able shape and design. Often entire
villages are made, the huts, bidarkees
Tor canoes, and dog slegdes being in
perfect miniature. The dogs are cut out
of fine-grained white wood, and are
almost natural in their attitudes. The
toy-makers of Nuremberg or of Swift
Nap1a nd gpt1l1 hnxr, ei~
full work. The art of these Arctic
folk is the more wonderful when one
considers the very primitive tools
which they have to use. The knife
with which they carve the dainty little
figures is seldom more than a bit Of
steel barrel hoop, ground down to an
edge, and lashed with thongs of walrus
hide TO a handle of bone or driftwood
The toys of the Zuni Indians are
modelled in clay and baked to prevent
them from crumbling. Cows, goats
and frogs, streaked and spotted with
paint, hold the first place in this col
lection, but there are also clay whistles
and bird warblers, the latter quite like
the tin ones seen in our shop windows.
The bird is made to sing by filling its
hollow body with water and blowing
through a tube inserted In its back.
There are also clay rattles of various
shapes and sizes in the Zuni exhibit,
and wooden birds that flap their jointed
wings like those we hang upon our
Christmas tree.
In the collection of games there are
great many objects either interest
ing for the oddity of their shape, curl
Gus operation, or beauty Of workman
ship. One novel game consists of four
pieces of bone attached by a bead
string to a long steel bodkin. The
bodkin is held in one hand. and the
bones tossed up into the air. A sSilful
player may succeed in catching one or
more Of the bones upon the steel point,
and scores accordingly This game is
a favorite with the Cheyenne Indians,
and is not unlike our own game of
"cup and ball"
A card game from Persia, valued at
many hundreds Of dollars, has its
board inlaid with solid gold; and a set
of chessmen from India are Of beauti.
fully carved ivory, each "man" being
at least four inches in height.
Another curious game, from which
our Jack straws" Is probably de-
scended, consists Of a bundle Of ar
rows Of carved ivory or wood 1t was
the ancient custom to toss these ar.