The Evening statesman. [volume] (Walla Walla, Wash.) 1903-1910, 1907-02-21
CAKEWALK IN AFRICA.
Kongo First Home of Southern
Dance, Says Starr.
HAS ALL THE FANTASTIC STEPS

,
II Accompanied by Ragtime Music
and Hand Clapping - Eating Of
Travellers Merely a Joke, He Claims.
Many Curios Brought Back.
The cakewalk is not Of American
origin. 1t had it's beginning in the
wilds of Africa, not upon the sunny
plantations of the south. 1t is a dance
hundreds and perhaps thousands Of
years old and was an requirement Of
the negro before he ever set eye upon
America.
The origin of the cakewalk has been
unearthed by Professor Frederick
Starr of the department of anthropol-
ogy of the University Of Chicago. who
returned to Chicago recently after an
absence of sixteen months. year OF
which was spent in darkest Africa
says the Chicago Inter Ocean.
Practically the only American addi-
ton to the dance is the cake, and it is
not at all certain that there may not
be some prehistoric antecedent for this.
he says.
Il always had supposed the cake
walk to be of American origin" said
Professor Starr 1.-The natives of the
Kongo Free State have a dance that
has all the fantastic steps, all the
elaborate attentions, all the eloquent
attempts at grace, the salutatiOns, the
carrying Of the cane and the light airy
movements that we know here in Amer
lea in the form of the cakewalk. The
dance is accompanied by sort OF rag
time music and handclapping, but
there is no cake"
Professor Starr also exploded the
missionary cannibal joke 1.-The man
who made up that perpetual piece Of
humor had a lively imagination" said
the explorer. II was among many
cannibals, for there are many tribes
in Africa which still adhere to this
custom, but none of them ever express
ed a desire to eat me.
1.-THE natives are not in the habit Of
eating travellers. dare say that few
white people have been eaten, but
very few. The particular variety Of
meat that may be served at canni-
balistic feast Is strictly limited in each
tribe One tribe may eat only the old
people, another the children, If they
should die and still another those who
fall in battle. Etiquette is very strict
on these matters.
Neither is it dangerous to travel
through Africa. The greatest danger
is not from the natives or from the
wild animals, but from the fever. If
you approach the natives in the proper
attitude you will not be harmed. But
the fever is an enemy. My companion.
Manuel Gonzales. suffered from TWEEN
ty attacks, while had about ten
Professor Starr left the United States
on Sept 10, 1905, accompanied only
by his adopted son, Manuel Gonzales,
his mission being particularly to study
the pygmies Of the upper kOngO. He
took a steamer to Matadi, a port on
the Kongo about $50 miles from its
mouth. From this point he began his
explorations.
Il am not yet ready to advance any
new theory or to contradict any old
Ones" said Professor Starr. How
ever, l have established one fact of
scientific Importance. Anthropologists
have always supposed the Kongo peo
pie to be long headed. The contrary is
true, and, in fact, they are somewhat
broad headed"
Professor Starr found throughout the
regions he visited that the women Go
the work. The bulk Of the food is sup
piled by agriculture, and it is the wo-
men who have to supply it.
in Africa the men do little but talk,
and they are the greatest takers in the
world" he says. They smoke tobacco
and hemp. For drinks they have sort
of beer or wine made from sap of palm
nuts, sugar cane, bamboo or pineap-
piles. Palm wine is the favorite bey-
erage
Il visited in all twenty-eight tribes
OF these, perhaps, the Bampendes were
the worst. They are above Wissman
falls on the Kasia river. They are can
nibals and eat their slaves. One of the
chiefs has a fOndness for drinking hui
man blood.
"Will these people ever reach a high
state of civilization? That is a hard
question. The people of England were
barbarians when the first Romans dis
covered the island Without the hair
dressings and tattoo marks there is not
much difference between some people
Of the Kongo Free State and our south
ern negro"
Professor Starr brought back four or
five tons of collections, including spec
linens of r1tive implements, weapons.
ornaments clothing, tools and furni-
ture. Besides this he brought back 700
photographs taken by his adopted son,
Manuel Gonzales.
From scientific point of view Pro-
lessor Starts explorations will be i'm
portant. He has studied the people and
country more thoroughly than any 9th
er scientist and has brought back more
specimens.
Big Railroad Station In Paris.
There is now being built at Juyisy.
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