Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-11-07
AFRICA NOW IN ORDER
Mr.. Curtis Tells of the PreSi.
dents Trip and the Pygmies.
WONDERS OF A NEW WORLD
Return of the Little Men Seen at the
St. Louis Exposition.
WANTED TO BUY ALL THE SALT
Political Status of the Congo Free
State-How the World Powers
Are Interested.
WONDERS OF A. NEW WORLD
WANTED TO BUY ALL THE SALT
BY WILLIAM E. CURTIS.

BY WILLIAM E. CURTIS.
Special Correspondence Of The Star and the
Chicago Record Herald.
NEW YORK, November 1. 1908.
DR.. Samuel Phillips Werner, who had
charge of the African pyg1nies at the St
Louis exposition, is now living in Column
bia, S. c.. preparing to take the lecture
field during the coming winter. He will
talk Of his adventures in the dark CONT |
nent, and of the conditions Of the people
there. That section of the world will at
tract a good deal of interest during the
next year on account of the hunting ex-
cursion of President Roosevelt. In LON
don l heard a great deal about the plans
that are being made for his entertainment
In Africa The officials of the several
British colonies have been getting ready
for him for months, and there is going to
be good deal more for him to do than he |
realizes. DR.. Balfour, who has charge of
the Welcome biological laboratories on
the branches Of the Nile. told me there
was more excitement and preparation over |
the expected visit of President Roosevelt
than would have happened on the occasion |
OF visit from any of the kings of Europe |
1 asked DIR. Werner how his curious pro- |
teges went home from st. Louis, and |
what they told their people of their ex-
Return Of the African Pygimes.
lat the time when the African pygmies |
had to return to their homes" replied Dr. |
Werner. IAN instruction had broken out |
among the Bakuba nation in the territory
Immediately adjacent to the regions |
whence they came. 1t was caused by the
accession to the throne of Bope, a lukeniu. |
or emperor. who is youthful and ambi- |
lous, and is under the influence of his |
wizards, who are disturbed by the prog |
ress of the missionaries and the growing |
influence Of the Belgian officials, which |
threatened their prestige and power. For
that reason concluded it was best to go |
back with them myself, and fulfill in per- |
son my promise that they would be well |
taken care Of and returned to their homes. |
In order to get them back by a route as |
warm as possible, we went to Africa by a |
way never before employed, at least not |
since the old slave-trade days We went
10 New orleans. thence to Havana, and |
thence by the Spanish Royal Mail to Ten
ernie, where we caught West Coast |
packet for the mouth of the Kongo.
AT Havana, where 1t was warm and /
almost the same climate as that from
which they came, curiously enough, there
was the only serious case Of illness among |
the party during their whole stay. The |
pneumonia, and the honor of being treat |
ed by one OF the most eminent physicians !
In the world, DR.. Jean Guiteras. who aft |
erward did such great work in the yell |
low fever at New Orleans. Malengu was |
placed In the hospital of Las Animas. and |
made complete recovery. In crossing |
the Atlantic. 1 was interested to note |
that the pygmies counted the days we |
sailed east, having previously counted |
those We had sailed west, and by this |
means kept their spirits on a rising tenn
perature, as each day they saw the sun |
rise In front of the ship, and so knew |
that they were really getting back on |
their track.
Polled by the Chief Justice.
AT Bona, the capital of the Kongo. the
chief Justice. who had made a roll of |
them when they went out, had them come |
before him, and he called the roll This |
time, each one stepped out, made a pro-
said, 'Heah, sah,' much to the amusement |
of his honor, who expressed his satisfac-
ton at their return without one missing. |
He said other natives mot pygmes) had |
been taken to Europe before, but some of |
them had always died l attributed the |
happy outcome in this case to the fact |
that l had scrupuously carried out my |
plan Of having them in America only in |
the summer and of returning by a warm
route.
lat Bona, we turned the tables on the |
governor, who had jokingly prophes.ed |
that when the pygmies came back they
would be giants. What he meant to inn
ply was that we had merely taken boys.
He had found it almost impossible to be-
lieve the real pygmies could be Ler-
suaded to leave their homes in 50 short |
a time. He had not known the peculiar
advantages my previous residence in
their country had given me in presenting
the matter to them, nor did he appreciate
the persuasive influence of the great
quantities Of salt which 1 had taken with
me. Salt is their most precious article.
Fond Of Salt.
In fact the pygmies threatened to bank
rupt the department of anthropology at
the ST. Louis fair by investing their saw
ings and what the public lavished on them
in salt and then demanding free trans
portation for it to Central Africa. Gov. /
Francis sent Ndombe, their suzerain,
barrel Of salt, which was influential |
enough to add five wives to that poten-
tate's already we'll furnished matrimonial L
establishment.
"Well. / had the party officially meas
ured at Bona, and the measurements
compared with those made year before.
Those / had declared to be the real
Batwa pygmies had not grown a milli-
meter, while some Kakuba boys. brought
along to show another type, and to keep
the same size as the Batwa, had grown
between two and three inches
This was conclusive evidence. The
Batwa were no larger than thirteen-year-
old boys, some smaller, but they had
not grown at all in a years time They
beef and watermelons at the fair had been
more fattening than the caterpillars and
wild fruits on which they sometimes fed
at home.
What the Customs Officer Found.
ha cuctomS officar Motod;I