Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-01-03
WASHABLE WAS GAME
His First Appearance as a
Dinner Guest.
KNEW THE ETIQUETTE
SHoSHoNE CHIEFTAIN SIMPLY
WATCHED HIS HOSTESS.
Had Never Eaten a Meal Under Civil
lied Customs-Knew What to Do
With Napkin.
KNEW THE ETIQUETTE

that for the first time In his career full
blooded Indian chief Washable of the
Shoshones, sat down at white mans
table and partook of meal In the style
of white man without making single
rblunder in the matter of etiquette said
General Andrew s. Burt, United States
army. to a Star reporter.
Washable, chief of the Utah Shoshone
(Snake) tribe Of Indians, was one of the
most remarkable Indian chieftains Of those
I knew we'll In the frontier days of long
ago.
"Chief Washable had a commanding fig
ure; he was quite six feet high, with a
very dignifed carriage. was powerfully
built and had the reputation among lis
people for great endurance. 1 first saw him
at old Fort Bridger, Utah. I had been
IN the post several weeks before hay
ing a talk with this remarkable man.
One day l said to Judge Carter, the post
sutler Chose were the days of 'sutlersp,
who is that very dignified Indian 1 have
seen about the post; l never see him beg
cling. He looks as clean as If he began
his toilet every morning with bath"
THAT must be Washable" the judge re-
piled, HE Is a remarkable man IN his
tribe and would be notable one II he
had been born a white man and had been
educated"
He certainly has a dignifed carriage.
for them to be brothers. Who Is the In
dian that's always with him.
"Ah! that Indian is what Washable calls
his talk man. sort OF an ald-de-camp 10
his imperial majesty
Major If you will allow me to suggest
that you send your orderly to Washakie
with your compliments and say the COM
mandng officer would IKE IKE TO see him.
He will recognize your orderly and
knowing little English he will understand
what is wanted. He's a great old stickler
for form and ceremony. You have observed
that while other Indians have hung around
your house and office he has not been near
either"
I acted on Judge Carriers advice and sent
my orderly to the Shoshone chief to come
to the commanding officers office Washable
came, of course, accompanied by his aid
or talk man., necessary adjunct to a
formal visit between kings. l saw from
time to time great deal of this old In
dian warrior, and discussed the Indian
question with him in all It's bearings. Al
first we used an interpreter, but finally 1
picked up some Shoshone words. and that.
with the sign language, In which l was
rather proficient enabled US to talk to each
other quite freely l found him TO be
very shrewd observer and close reasoner l
had talked so much to my wife about
Washable, she became DESTROYS of seeing
him, and asked me to invite him to our
quarters In the garrison.
Invited Him to Dinner.
st invited him one day to call on Mrs.
Burt and bring his squaw. At first he de-
clined, and when asked why, he replied
q interpret his language quite literally. Il
got two squaws. You got only one.
Your wife won't want to see one chief and
two squaws. l bring one squaw, other
squaw get mad. 1 will have to lick 'em
| both make peace. 1 come bring talk man
when 1 Gomez I told him 1 would con-
WI nd Inf 6aV md
hour when he could dine with u.s. She
selected Christmas day. when We were
practically alone OF course, l had no 'Sho-
| shone' to mean precisely dining; I used
the Indian sign to eat and then the sign
for sunset.
MY object in having him to dine was to
see what his table manners would be. A
good test OF his poise under very trying cir
cumstances. Here was a man entirely I'M
tutored in good form in calling and at ia
BILE. but a keen observer and of great self
control Knowing this Indian I had
come to know him, modest, proud and sem
sitiva to ridicule, / felt assured that he
dreaded this ordeal more, yes many times
more than II called on to go into a furious
battle with some hostile tribe.
| AT the appointed hour on Christmas day
| Chief Washable and his talk man rang the
| bell of the front door and were ushered
| into the parlor Where my wife and 1 were
waiting to receive them; of course, the IN
| dams had no hats or overcoats to deposit in
| the hall before their entrance I received
| the chief shook hands with him and turned
| to my wife and went through the ceremony
| of presentation to Mrs. Burt. With some-
| what of an elaborateness Washable adj
! vanced, took her hand and said: How. I
! like your man. Glad see his wife The
! talk mans keen little black eyes watched
| every move of his chief, and his actions
| were as near like them possible.
Watched His Hostess.
Mrs Burt Washable and myself sat in
| the parlor chatting until dinner was an
| nounced. Upon my acquainting Washable
| of this fact. he arose in a dlgnified manner,
turned and pulled his blanket around his
shoulders. turning to do so in order that
he might not expose his person, he being
| lightly clad In accordance with the Indian
custom. He stood at complete ease until
| Mrs. Burt preceded us into the dining ROOM
| and upon a sign from me followed as II
| accustomed to such actions every day. In
| the dining room Mrs Burt pointed out the
seat he was to occupy, and he stalked up to
| his chair, but, to my utter amaZement he
remained standing until Mrs Burt took her
seat at the head of the table. when he pull
ed the chair from under the table and sat
down He remained perfectly passive await
ing Mrs. Burts next move. q could see
| that he was watching Mrs. Burt out of the
| tail of his eyes) Mrs. Burt removed the
| bread from her napkin and placed the nap
! kin across her lap. Washable immediate
| ly did the same thing. Soup was served
and l was anxious to see what Washable
I would do, for Indians have no regard for
| the silver and steel helps to eating in re-
| fined society, but again he did the right
i thing, picked up the soup spoon and ate as
| delicately as If he had been accustomed to
| II all of his life. The same thing happen
| ed with his knife and fork as the turkey
| and other courses were served, and his des-
sertspoon came into use at the proper time
| He took his after-dinner coffee, used his
! finger bowl with a nicely, and after Mrs.
| Burt had left the table Joined me in
| smoke and chat.
think of this, those of you who have
| none other than, slight knowledge of the
| great Indian of the plains Here was an
| Indian chief absolutely unaccustomed to
| civilized methods sitting down at a white
mans table and going through a course
| dinner without a hitch, as If 1t had been an
everyday occurrence with him"
BEGIN HEARING OF EVIDENCE.