The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1904-04-03


his hand having healed). and without him
we might have lost our lives. To reach
| a place where we could commence the
| ascent of the mountain we were compell-
ed to travel for two days to the head OF a
great glacier where we could cross with
safety These glaciers will break with
out a moments notice and slide toward
the ocean, moving from a few feet 10
several hundred yards During the short
summer snow falls every night in these
mountains, and one can easily slip into
crevices and drop several hundred feet to
be rescued a hundred years hence.
While in camp the first night out. and
sitting close about the fire, l told one
which seemed 10 please the big man i'm
mensely He arose from his seat and
without word knelt before me and
with his eyes opened wide ard with a
vacant stare he stroked his beard rap
idly downward, one hand following the
other. Then he placed his index fingers
one TO each of my cheeks, when he
would remove them alternately, and at
each removal a spark several inches in
length would follow his fingers. He kept
this up for several minutes and during
the seance my head felt as If between the
terminals of power static battery.
The third day out, after climbing the
mountain but short distance, Martin
was suddenly seized with an acute attack
of lumbago 1t was of such severity
that we concluded 10 retrace our steps.
The big man told US to bare his back and
lay him on his breast. Then he drew
from his pocket a small leather pouch
and took therefrom a pinch of something
resembling dried flowers. This he rubbed
rapidly between his hands, letting it fall
slowly on Martins back. After they had
remained for possibly a minute he blew
it off. when there appeared a blood red
blister where each particle had touched.
He then placed his left hand under Mar
tin s chest and his right on his bare back
and raised him to his feet When he re-
moved his hand there was the imprint in
a deep Red color, which was prominent
for several days. Martin said the pain in
duced was but momentary His misery
was gone and he felt as well as he ever
had been
On examination 1 found the blood Just
under the surface and on the spot where
he had laid his hand cerum was oozing
out. The following day when one of our
dogs was tagging. he touched the hair on
its back as if to caress him when he
jumped forward ard gave out a yelp as
If he had been prodded with a sharp in
strument. Sometime afterwards, in a
darkened room he rubbed some of this
feathery. fluffy material between his
hands and threw il into the air 1t float
ed for awhile in mid-atmosphere and
gradually settled to the floor When first
thrown from his hand the scintillations
were so great that the whole room be-
came Illuminated with a blueish light
after which it was filed with an odor re-
sembling ozone generated by the rapid
running of a static machine.
/ tried to perform these miracles and
failed in all. He declared to me that he
knew not the source from whence this
power came. He stated that seven years
ago. during the dark season, when lost
on the great mesa of Columbia. he grasp
ed the flowery head of dry plant and af-
ter rubbing il in his hands. threw it away
witnessing the wonderful scintillations.
One other curious thing about this man
was that he could not breathe TO his salts
faction with his throat and breast COW
cred. His temperature was taken from
three 10 five times daily for the entire
time that he was with me. and l never
found IL below 101 degrees F. He told us
that he had never known what the sensa-
ton of cold meant-not even when with a
party of five, four of a number were
frozen 10 death. After all of the strange
things this man did in my presence,
never found a solution TO the problem.
Every resident in the village seemed
to know. honor and love the big man.
In answer TO my questions. he only re-
membered that when child he was stol-
en- by Indians and taken into the great
Northwest country. He did ont know his
age He made his escape when a half
grown lad, and in company with three
prospectors came here in 1880 While
never having had chance to go TO
school, he writes a very good hand and is
a constant reader of light literature. His
morals. as morals go in Alaska. are good;
he is an inveterate swearer, but as he
does it so awkwardly and innocently you
can hardly believe that ha means il. He
knows nothing of religion only that of the
Eskimos, and will tell you about the
mythology OF the Indians and how they
believe that fish came up out of the
water and bred with a toad and "A toad
with an eagle and an eagle with A bear
and begat men and women ] found that
he knew nothing of the great plan OF SAL
walton. | asked him IL the missionaries
never came rs way. when his reply was
remarkably intelligent and showed that
he had read newspapers. or at least was
conversant with international troubles in
China.
He said il Russia still owned this
Alaska. we would never have an oppor-
tunity TO exact an indemnity for the lives
Of missionaries, for this IS no place for
them; it is too cold; there is no vine and
fig tree for them to lounge under. and
you will never hear Of a he-missionary
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