The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1911-01-04
WIT OF The indian
The Dignified Red Man Has a
Keen. Sense of Rumor.
STORIES OF STANDING BEAR.


torney-A GaiIan. Brave and His
Mirror-An invisible Bridge.
The impression prevails widely that
the Indian lacks the saving sense OF
humor-'-that most characteristic OF
all American qualities" To the ere
atsng and the spreading Of this tn-
preston many recognizable traits OF
Indian character have indisputaoiy
conributed-his ancestral pride. his
e1clrsiveness, his gravity Of face and
dignity Of manner In public
Nevertheless aa injustice is done
him, for ac,ns no primitive peoples
IS the sens Of humor keener or more
spontaneous and kindly.
Years ago was conversinS with
group Of children Of the Omaha tribe
They were on their way to reserra-
don school, and directly IN their path
lay a swamp an eighth Of mile
vide, and straight through this they
were required to wade twice a day.
1T IS too bad" / remarked Can
you not so around the swamp? Your
feet VIII be wet, and you will be un-
| comfortable and possibly H."
-Oh," cried girl OF about twelve
years, her dark eyes dancing with
merriment, I'VE walk over the $1.2c0
bridge"
They all Iaughed at this. What
could It mean? saw no bridge; there
was no bridge to be seen. 1t made
them merry to see ne mysdfed, and
heard them laughing and chatting
Is they went through the water and
mud. .Afterward I discovered the hu-
NOR In the remark Some years pre-
v3ous to that time tie government had
appropriated $1,ooe to build bridge
over this swamp, but somehow the
money. had vanished into somebody's
! pocket AID the work was not done
One evening ! saw 4 gallant young
brave making bis way swiftly over
the pratries Of the Omaha reserve
he was dressed l. all his fnerJ. and
at his side dansled 4 smal! mirror.
ManifestIy ne was an ardent lover.
This / should have surmised from his
dress and eager haste. even II I had
not known him AS he was friend
Of mine, had inside information OF
his hopes and purposes: also ven
tured to stop him for moment. pre-
cious as knew him ,ime to be.
That miro: at your side" / re
marked. 'js to give opportunity for
Prairie Flower to discover how lovely
she Is, IS It not? he considered q
/ moment. and then, with twinklins
eye, he replied:
NO. Maybe SO she Will talk too
much to me. and then I Will look into
my mirror TO see how tired an"
This certninly was the humor Of alb
surdity.
Examples Of Standing Bears humor
could give almost without number.
During the trial Of his case before
Judge Dundy the contention OF the
government attorney was that an In
dian is not person within the mean
Ing Of the law. This puzzled the old
CHIEF greatly. It also amused him.
One day at my table ne waS rtSor-
| ous5' plying knife and fork when
| suddenly he paused in his eating. lit
Cd up his hands, ard. humorous
smile lighting up his noble. storm
SCARED face. he remarked: The atior-
neys say ! am not 4 person. But I
can use a knife and fork Does bear
do that? II be. the attorney. IS per
son I am one also. We both eat with
knives and forks. Indeed. think I
can nse them faster than he can. II
he wants to race me eating I Az
ready" We all laughed at this. When
we were quiet Standing Bear added.
That Is. / will run an eating race
! with the attorney II he will pay for
the beefsteak."
The first public address Standing
Bear ever made was given in my
church. In the COURSE OF It while he
was pleading for assistance he address
ed various classes OF people present
the men. the women. the clergy. the
business men. the children. When he
wes pleading with the women he said:
II appeal TO you oec~use you are brave
| and patient. Whenever you have any
thing hard TO do you never rest until
Il IS done" This was Z gallant senti-
nent worthy OF 4 chief But Frank
Z, Fleschc. who was interpreting. rcn-
dered the sentence thus: You women
ere patient When there IS anything
hard to be done We men let you do It"
This was so true to Indian custom
! that the audience laughed.
Standing Bear was puzzled As he
stood silent n moment wondering what
mistake he had made Bright Eyes, the
beautiful Omaha maiden. stepped for-
ward anl said. Ny brother Frank
has made u mistake IN Interpreting the
chiefs thought" Then she gave the
proper rendering.
The Chicago papers took liberties
With Standing Bears Iane. one OF
them referring to hin constantly as
Upright Bruin. When this was e1-
pldaed to the chief he took the matter
with great good nature.
What does It natter? he remarked.
bis face beamiog. Il am al! ted up
with names am lie pony tangled
IN his lac!nt Father Hamilton, the
Presbyter.nn, calls NE cider. The
Eptscorslhn clergyman calls me- ward