The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-01-09

1 con. srits and cloth. and retreat Into
 the mysterious interior.
 | The glamor of their ancient history | and the mystery of their abode throws ! about them an interest which Is not al
 all justified by the unromantic reaii-
 ties of their life. They live. . few | families together, In camps pitched | upon some island or bit of high gound. Their houses are built of palmetto wood and matched over, just as they \ were in tho days when De Soto first explored the peninsula. The Semi holes always have been agriculturists. but their operations are conducted up- on e very limited scale. There is Q l patch of corn and patch of sugar
 cane. That Is all. The corn Is to eat. but the sugar cane is provided for a | much more important purpose. There | is a press to get the "sugar-water" out of the cane, and then there is an im- provised still And there in the heart l of the Everglades. in defiance or the internal revenue authorities and of all law, the last chief of the Seminoles Is making moonshine rum In preparation for a big drunk.
 The Seminole will sometimes hire himself to farmer to work in the fields, but he rarely sticks to the 1op beyond the first opportunity to get enough money to buy whiskey. some
  even fit for guides. that they don't even know their own country and that they are too lazy and too stupid to be of real sesvice. The surveyors say they will not have an Indian wcrk- man because he is so entirely irre- sponsibie.
 It is against the surveyor that the Seminole Is making the last fight for the protection of his ancient empire. The surveyors are crossing the Ever giades here and there. At one place there is q railroad. in others high ways, and over all the surveys for drainage canals. The Indians do not openly oppose or resist the whites. They have learned that such war fare Is hopeless. But they follow the surveyors and at night creep in and steaithily change the position of stakes and markers, confusing and harrasslng the men whom they think are planning to dispossess them of their homes.
 Cheap whiskey and moonshine rum are taking their toll of the race, and
 the tribal medicine men are doing their share of the work of gradual
 extermination. With the advantages of what we are pleased to call modern civilization there come the disadvan- tages of modern diseases. The disad-
 vantages have reached the Seminoles
 hrst. The aid Of e white physician
 is rarely sought. and Is usually de- clined if proffsred. The sick semi- nole prefers to trust himself to his
 own medicine man. That Ignorant
 creature, half believer in his own
 mummery. lets blood in copious quan-
 tities. doses his victim with power-
 Kul concocttonsf of poisonous herbs
 puts poultices of red peppers on in-
 flamed eye-lids and, generally. either
 kills or cures.
 The great event of the Seminole
 year IS the Green Corn Dance In the
 spring. at which event tribals affairs
 are discussed and settled. justice is
 meted out. punishments inflicted, and
 there Is feasting and gayety and mar
 rying and giving in marriage The
 seminole has certain standards of
 honor to which he rigidly adhere, al-
 though his standard differs consider ably from ours. Among Christian
 nations the principle of self protection
 is so generally recognized that criminal, even though confessed and
 condemned. is expected to take every possible advantage to save himself.
 Charley Billy was worthless Semi
 note. even more of a drunkard than
 most of his fellows. He was con demned to death by the tribe. He was not made 6 prisoner, he came to town
 
 he had money. he could have escaped without any trouble whatever. But he made no effort to get away, He told the white trader that he would soon be gone Into the 'big sleep" He returned to his people. was shot, and his body was cast away in the swamp. A baby, the child of the woman in the case, was thrown alive to the bug zards. and the woman was given to the half-negro executioncr for a wife. The Seminoles in Oklahoma under tri. bal government near imposed im- prisonment upon a condemned man. It is tribal notion of honor that is held sacred even by the most worthless of criminals.
 The marriage ceremony is simple. At the Green Corn feast the young girls start running and the young men chase them. The man who a girl has found a wife. Di- vorce Is equally as simple, the off, rended and non-resisting party to a quarrel having the right to leave home and play quits. Some rich Semi holes, medicine men usually. have more than one wife to comfort them and to cultivate tho sugar cane which | VIII be made into hrewater.
 The dress of the Seminoles is saw agely gay. The men wear all sorts | of compromises between the ancient l dress of their fathers and the con- ventional costume of the ordinary | American, but in every instance there 1 Is a wealth of color. Red and green | and blue in the brightest shades are | used for their shirts. often for their | and there arc always gay | ,ravatS or kerchiefs about their necks. | Their head dress is but little differ | ent from that of their ancestors who | were here when Columbus came, and | they still keep their sealp-locks in- tact.
 The women wear mother hubbards' 'f the gayest and loudest cotton cloth | that the trader can find to bring to | Florida. About the neck of a new porn girl baby Is placed a string of 'eads, and these are added to and multiplied until a grown woman some- lines has so many beads that 1t is burden to carry them. The women ave strings of beaten gold and sil- yer coins which they wear about their shoulders. over the enormous mass of 'eads. The social position and wealth 'f q Seminole lady may be determined 'y the number and the color of these beaten coins.
 The Seminole puts no faith in the white man. He does not trust his 'nemy. He is unwilling to take that lelp which the white man would nov 'e glad to extend to him. He does ot want to work. He wants to hunt lligatora. The only white mans civ ization for which he cares is repre- ented in fire arms and whiskey. He Till have the very best and latest improvement in ire arms and he will ave the very hottest and most DO. ent of firewaters Otherwise, he 4A l.