The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1903-11-15
THE JUNGLE GIRL
GETS HER COSTUMES
She Does Not Buy Them, She
Searches for Them in the Jun
gle-Lace BarkIS Her Favor
lite Ball Dress Fabric--Bril-
Iiantly COlOred Seeds Are
Strung for Jewelry.

Down in the tropical jungles of Cen
trail America and the West Indies the
head of the family is not worried by
milliners' and dressmakers' bills. The
semi-civlized belle of these lands
knows how to get nearly the whole OF
her costume from the jungle. She
manufactures it herself from the ma
terials she gathers from nature.
Though she may be able In rare cases
to get from one shop ten or fifteen
miles away a few yards Of cloth with
which to make her dress, any trim
ming she may wish to put upon 1t must
be searched for in the woods.
Lace bark is her favorite material
for making anything light and dainty.
This lace bark is the film which COW
ers the heart of the lace-bark tree.
The natives carefully remove 1t and
soak it in running water for three or
four days in order to get off the gum
and unnecessary fiber. After that 10
is bleached on the sands by the river
and sprinkled now and then to whiten
it. When it has become a creamy
white it is pressed with a hot IRON
or a heated stone, and is ready for
use. 1t has a fine lacy appearance
and runs into more artistic patterns
than any manufactured article. When
made into a dress it is wonderfully
beautiful.
The jungle girl uses 1t sparingly on
her ordinary clothes, but for her ball
dress flounce after f1ounce is used to
give a fluffy look to the skirts. She
else would.
Her jewelry consists of beautifully
colored seeds strung together in the
form of necklaces, bracelets and tiaras.
In addition to these, on the night OF
the ball she catches the brilliant fire.
flies which swarm in the jungle, and
artistically arrange them in her dusky
locks. The jungle girl would not ex-
change her wallahs," as she
calls the firefles, for the diamonds of
a Northern belle.
The jungle girls hats are a marvel
to behold She weaves them herself
from the jippij appa grass, and can
get any shape or style she fancies. She
trims them with the netty fiber of the
cocoanut palm and the gorgeous wings
of the mountain parrokeet, which is
shot and brought home by her father
or brother. Even her parasol and UNI
brella are supplied by kindly nature.
When the sun is too hot or the rain
TOO heaVy, big plantain of banana
leaf does as well as anything bought
in the largest stores of an American
city.
creole belle is as fond of perfume
as the daintiest American woman. and
is just as particular that it shall be of
the best kind. She goes to much more
trouble to procure it, but then she
knows that 1t is always pure and fresh.
She first picks her fresh flowers, and
then, by some process handed down
from one generation to another she
distills 1t.
The secret method is often known
to only few families, and they would
not give IT away for any sum OF
money. The lucky holders of the
secret, are, Of course, envied by all
who know them, Although others
may receive presents of the much
valued scent from those in the secret,
they cannot make it themselves and,
therefore, cannot afford to be as lavish
with it as they wish.
The tropical girls soap is procured
on the way to the bath. AS she walks
down to the river to battle, she stops
here and there to gather soap berries,
and she cuts piece of stick called
'chewstick," which she uses as a
toothbrush. She chews the end of It
until it becomes quite soft and froth
gathers at the end. She then r1bs
her teeth we'll with it. This is the
best toothbrush on EARTH as 1t not
only prevents the teeth from decay
ing, but keeps them beautifully white
and clean. People in other countries,
knowing the value Of this chewsticle
above all others as a dentifrice have
1t powdered and exported to them.
In many parts of South America the
natives cannot buy cloth to make their
clothes, so they have to spin it them
selves out of cocoanut fiber, river
weeds and bamboo fiber. The cloth
woven from the bamboo fiber Is very
soft and silky.
Unlike the West Indians, the South
American belle wears shoes Of kind.
These are made of a coarse woven
material like sailcloth. which is at
tached to soles of rawhide. They are
the most comfortable shoes imagin-
able, and are used by the soldiers of
South America when on the march.
They are called "alpagattas" and
Americans who have travelled In South
America invariably bring them homG
to their wives and daughters for bath
slippers. Those who are lucky enough
to have a pair would not exchange
them for any other slippers. however.
costly. No other footgear equals the
"alpagatta" for comfort and dura-
bility.