The daily telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1901-1926, 1908-11-09
LAND 81 TAE cRo ssBoV
Tf,s Deadly Cd Arrows of tli1
ifsoo SiaarasI

-.ffa Deadly ISoiSulSd ArrasS- of err
Ei6soo sllarIosSlocts
ON the VIVA frontier bet tween China
ana British Burma IS d borbarons tTtl1e
which has no civilized supervision.
George Forrest, an English traveller,
thus describes the chief weapon Of
these people. 1f had to suggest 4
rftle for book on the upper Salwin I
should eallsif Tile Land OF the. Cross
bow. which IS The eharacteFi weap-
On IL the country ind the Liss0o tribe.
Every Lfssoo With any pEeteRsions to
chic possesses at least two Of these
lveapons-one for everyday use In hunt
ing, the other for war. The Little chill
tlren play with miniature crossbuws.
The men never leave their hlts for any
purpose whatever without their cross
bows wien they so TO sleep the snu-
kune' Is hung over their heads and
when they die Il Is hung over their
graves. The largest crossbows have a
sypan Of fully 1--WE feet and require a
pun OF fully thirty gave pounds to string
them. The bew IS made OF 8. species OF
wIld mulberry of5great toughness and
dexib1lity. The stock, some four feet
long In the. war bows, Is usually of
wild plum wood. The string is OF
plated hemp and the trigger Of bone.
Tho arrow, OF sixteen to eighteen
Inches, Is Of split bambOo about four
times the thickness OF an ordinary
knitting needle, hardened and pointed.
The actual point+is bare for quarter
to ont third Of an inch, then for fully
an inch the arrow Is stfIpped 70 hale its
thickness, and on his lion poison IS
placed
THE poison IS inEarihbly . detection
expressed from the tubers of a species
Of aconitum which grows on those
ranges at an altitude of 5000 to 10000
feet. The poison is mixed with resin
OF some vegetaH esglsp 10 the consist
ehcy OF purity and then smeared en-
the notched point. The feather is sup
piled by a strip of bamboo leaf folded
into triangutarJ form and tied In a
notch at the end of the arrow, with the
point OF the angle outward. The re-
duction in thickness of the arrow
where the poison is placed causes The
point to break OF in the body of any
one whom it strikes and, as each car
ries enough poIson1t to Kill cart horse.
a wound is invariably fataI. Free and
Immediate incfSion Is the usual remedy
when wounded on a limb or hcshy part
Of the body, but at Chengka the uncle
OF the Laowo chief showed us a prep
aratIon which resembled opium dross
and which he said was an effective
antldote.
with few exgeRtions the, Llssoo
seemed to us to be arraut towards.
but the crossbow and poisoned arrow
are certainty most diabolicaI weapons
An arrow from war bow Will pierce
deal board an inch thick Mt seventy
or eighty yards. Some Of the TseSou
natives were so expert that they could
hit mark four inches in diameter re-
peatedly at sixty to eighty yards. As
no one goes anywhere without his
crossbow and his bearskfn Qpive full.
OF poisoned arrows and as every viii
lage is at .feud with every other VII
lage mutual suspicion is inevitable
In open fight the Lissoo are usually
careful to keep Mt respectful distance
from each other ana behind oxhide
shields which protect the whole of the
body. But if battle is rare, murder
and sudden death by ambush in the
jungle are common"
~ 1 3D.