The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1907-07-02

From her head unto her feet.
And it matters very little
If her eyes be brown or blue,
They simply read your inmost heart
Whenever they look at you.
THE children bring her presents,
Red apples flowers galore,
For all the merry girls and boys
This darling little schoolma'am.
Who reigns without a peer,
In a hundred thousand class rooms
Margaret S. Sangster.
The NIojaves' 'sBig Cry.''
A high. wind-swept mesa, on the Ari-
IONA side Of the Colorado river, at a
point about twenty miles above Needles.
CAL, is the place selected by the Mo-
tave Indians for their "big cries.
The big cries. over the death Of a
member of the tribe are social events in
the lives of the Mojaves, and are dearer
to them than tournament of roses on
New Year Day to Californian. All
the members of the tribe who can posi-
bly, come to the wailing place are pres
ent on the occasion of a cry" Many
travel more than twenty miles, under
the scorching. desert sun, in order to
take part in the ceremony.
The cry usually takes place three
days after the cremation of the body of
the deceased; or, we may say three days
after death, for the body is burned as
soon as life has departed. There is a
belief among these people that If the
body is not burned before it becomes
cold, the spirit is lost; hence their haste
in cremating. Indeed, their eagerness
to insure t. spirit a safe journey to
the happy hunting grounds has, on sew
eral occasions known to the inhabitants
of that region, led friends to lay the
match to the funeral pile before life had
flown.
Paradoxically. all the people except
10 a a
The relatives, presumably the real
mourners, sit in stolid silence during the
ceremony and, seemingly, find relief for
their grief in the wailings of the multi
tude. The cry continues sometimes for
two or three days, or as long as physical
endurance lasts. Neither food nor wa
ter is taken during the crying period.
Finally, when so exhausted that bodies
can no longer be held in sitting pos
ture and threats have long since be-
come hoarse, and the voice useless, the
| ssemb1age falls to the ground and re-
freshes itself with sleep. Then the wall
ers betake themselves to a neighboring
camp and indulge in feast for a period
of time determined by the quantity of
watermelons, mesquite beans, and such
game as can be found in the brush OF
the bottom lands along the river, In
store.
On very few occasions has a white
man been permitted to witness one or
these big cries" Should a stranger ap-
pear on the mesa while the Indians are
assembled their grief is apparently for
| gotten, and they scatter to the four
winds But they meet again in some
selected place, as is evidenced by the
| doIefuI sounds waited through the still,
desert atmosphere.-Los Angeles Times.
In the Midst of Butterfly Migration.
In a breath appeared horde of but
| terflies coming from the north straight
vfT1cp
circle of trees, adding sumptuous touch
to the green and gold-for the time was
mid-September, and elms and naples
were f1aring torches.
had been only three days in Kansas,
and 10! a migration of butterflies.
| To witness a migration of this Milk
weed Butterfly is, I learn, rare priv
| iIege. for it is our only species in Amer
| lea that does migrate, and honoreo Were
we in it's royal progress, bound Tor the
| Carolinas or the Gulf states. A rolltck-
ing. happy-go -lucky sort of crowd they
| seemed.
| An amazing and interesting spectacle
we found these frail, airy voyagers on
| that sunny afternoon when, by four OF
| the clock (that strikes all the time un-
less it's gong is tenderly wrapped in
cotton batting). they drifted to us In
| hundreds like autumn leaves leased
from their moorings afioat on summer
| winds.
|
| ming into the chimney depths at twl-
| LIGHT thus the butterflies rose and fell
| rose and circled higher-higher, up &c
| the very tree-topS; then came tunDllhs
| hack among the leaves, setting anu uIl'
| settling themselves fuSStly, atr1ly, noise
| IassIv as though a mere contact with g
| branch made them recoil; If not just the
| right place-up and away, slowly anc
| with dignity; their selection was oalhe-
| lily made.
On the twigs they strung tnenlselVeS
| likes beads, one upon another; or, rath-
| ar fine comparison might well be made
| thew hung in punches as droops the vel
| low laburnum, the purple wistar1a, the
| fra grant locust blossom. Precisely Ike
that they hung, bearing down py tn as
| weight all around the tree the ms
| fringe of the spruce, freighting 1t witt
| christmas gifts before the time OF fruit
| age. .s..
| whether or not somnolence, tndiner'
ence to fate, or wing-wearlness TuIeu els
butterfly mind, I cannot tell, but stooc
! among the swarming thousands, at tne
| varv least count. and plucked them Off
, one by one, experimenting with tnen
and setting them again on the tWlgs.
| Set unon nv hand, this or that one
| -,o,,fd remain as I placed 1t for perhaps
| ton seconds. Another would, at the un-
| 1oosine of it's wings, flutter instantly up
| wards 1 set them upon my dress &c
| which they chung rather longer than te
my hand; but not any klIio oI eAp e.
uenting greatly disturbed them. Go
| ing the rounds, I attempted to coun'
| +te,,o az far as I could reach, but gave
If ND when I had numbered something
over three hundred, for they seemed al
ways on the move, settling. rising, nut
tering about, mixing themselves II
many ways.-Jennie Brooks IN Har'
| per's for June.
Riverside Repartee.
| The lone fisherman was having miser'
| able luck. and the presence of a small
bow did not contribute to his amiability
The youngster seemed greatly interested
as the man impaled a struggling worn
on hook.