The Savannah morning news., 1903-01-13
-e~Sp-s------------
PRIMITIVE MANS FIRE.
Unusual Method Employees by KIa-
math Indians.

From the Washington Post.
Those who attended the last meet
ing of the Washington Biological So
ciety, held in the Cosmos Club lecture
rooms, were treated to one of the novel;
ties of science by Mr.. Frederick V.
Coville. botanist, of the Department of
Agriculture, who has lately returned
from a seasons tour of Oregon, Wash
ington, British Columbia, and all that
region commonly known as the North
west Coast" He performed a feat In
fire-making, that he had learned from
the klamath Indians. such as Magl-
clan Hermann might well have en-
Wed. Those who witnessed the per-
Torrance were astonished at the re-
suits obtained by means of a primitive
art, concerning which little, If any
thing, is known.
Among the tribes visited were the
Klamaths of Oregon, from whom MIR.
Coville learned much OF value concern
ing the various uses of native plants.
To-day these Indians have abandoned
many of their old arts and industries,
and are wearing ready-made garments,
which they buy from the whites. They
are also using iron hatchets and knives
instead of tools of flint, and plank
a result of this change, Mr.. Coville had
in many cases to search long and pa
tiently for older members of the tribe
who still remembered the uses of GER
tain plants which the body of the tribe
had abandoned and who were also able
to practice many of the arts which are
to-day forgotten and lost.
Met Many DiscOuraEements.
Although not an ethnologist, he real
lied that before the coming of the
whites these Indians had a way of
making their own fire, and, anxious
to ascertain the woods they employed,
he searched high and low over the
reservation for some member familiar
with the old fire-making methods. For
a time it looked as though the search
would end in failure. Indians forty
and fifty years of age stated in reply
to his inquiries that although their
fathers had often told them of the old
days when the people obtained fire by
means of the hand drill, they had
never seen the apparatus in operation
and knew nothing as to the mode OF
application. AS far as their >recoliec-
ton went. the tribe had always used
matches, which they obtained from the
whites, and they discouraged Mr.. CO.
willie by venturing the opinion that the
art was completely lost, and that none
of the tribesmen was old enough to
remember when or how it was en-
ployed.
Finally, after long search, Mr.. Co
vile found two venerable Klamaths
who said they remembered the days
when their people obtained fire by
drilling, and who very kindly produced
the necessary apparatus and showed
him the entire process from beginning
to end, obtaining fire by Which Mr.. Co
vile lit his cigar. The fact that there
were still one or two tribesmen able
to produce fire in the old-fashioned
way proved something of surprise TO
the Klamaths, and large number of
them, many of whom had passed the
age of 40 years, fiocked in from miles
around to see how fire-making had
been managed among their ancestors.
When Mr.. Coville witnessed the man
ner in which this aged aborigine pro-
duced fire he was indeed surprised, for
he saw at once that 1t was altogether
different from that employed by other
primitive tribes. Although savage
races may differ in the kind of APP
paratus used, some, like the Eskimos,
using the pump drill, others, such as
the Botocudos, of South America, EN-
ploying the bow-drill. etc, the method
is everywhere the same in the respect
that the one operating the drill does
not cease drilling until he has produced
a spark, or flame, whereas among the
Klamaths the drilling stops Before the
spark appears. At the last meeting of
the Biological Society Mr.. Coville, who,
before leaving Oregon, learned from
the old Indian how to operate the
drill, produced fire in five minutes by
this process, although a few days be-
fore he had done the same thing In
three minutes at the Agricultural De-
partment, where conditions were more
favorable.
Tools for Making Fire.
The manner in which the Klamaths
formerly produced fire, as shown be-
fore the Biological Society by DR.. Co
vile, is, therefore, as follows: First
of all, the apparatus: There is hand
drill, consisting of a rounded stick,
about two and half feet long, of any
variety of hard wood. to one end Of
which is spliced the drill point, made Of
sage-brush wood, which, though not
hard, is of a decidedly tough and elias
tic texture, After the drill comes that
which the Klamaths call the fire
blocks" made of post cedar, a rather
soft, punky wood, about a foot long
by half foot in width, and some three
or four inches in thickness. The opera
tor trims one edge of this block down
on both sides. so that. viewed from
the end, 1t presents a V-shaped figure,
and, in addition. cuts a deep notch I'm
the edge, which penetrates the ridge
that he has left in trimming the sides.
This block he places on the ground,
stuffing some finder, made from the
bark of the sage-brush, under the trim
med edge and about the notch.
This done. he is ready to begin OPP
erations. While an assistant holds the
block firmly upon the ground he places
the tip of the drill at a point about
three inches from the notch, and, taxi
ing the instrument. revolves it back
and forth between his outstretched
palms. The work is very fatiguing
In addition to revolving the drill be-
tween his hands. the operator must also
bear downward upon it with all his
might, and when DR.. Coville concluded
his demonstration before the Biological
Society the palms of his hands were
not only badly blistered, but in many
places the skin was torn and rubbed
off in large patches. The drill is held
in a slanting position, with the point
toward the notch, and the operator,
who at first drills quite slowly, in
creases the speed of the drill as the
point approaches the notch until. when