Ashland tidings. [volume] (Ashland, Or.) 1876-1919, 1914-09-03
Joe Knowles, the
ArtiSt-Nature Man

OiohlyO WiAdoJ ol liNC0 III vi anus
Pass Saturday afternoon and was
given hearty welcome back to civil
ization.
His nature suit consisted of the
skins of the two deer which he had
obtained while in the woods, one
deer, the one killed by the cougar,
the other the one Mr.. Knowles caught
in the snare. One skin was wrapped
about his body and the other was
hung from the shoulder. He also
wore deerskin moccasins upon his
feet. Moving pictures were again
made of Mr.. Knowles and the crowd
during the demonstration upon Sixth
street.
The nature man looks little the
worse for his thirty days in the
woods. He has lost some of the sur
plus flesh which he carried when he
went into the mountains, weighing
now 1S1 Y pounds, as against 202
when he commenced the stunt. His
skin is tanned a deep copper color,
and his uncombed hair and grizzled
six-weeks beard gave him an un-
kempt appearance that was general
in the days before men had made
acquaintance with the tonsorial art.
He looked the real idea OF the primi-
tive human
The bathtub and the barber shop
were the first civilizing influences
that Joe wanted to see after the ac-
claim of his reception was over. He
wanted his Boston clothes and a new
pair Of shoes The pavement felt
strange beneath his soles and the
noises of traffic we're strange sounds
in ears used to the twitter of the
sparrow or the chirp of the chip.
munk.
There are none who have beer
in touch with the movements oi
Knowles during the period of his
nature experiment but are satisfied
that he has made good, that there
has been neither fraud nor deception
in his work. Both Professor Water
man of the California State Univers
ity and Professor Edwards of the Lo
Angeles schools are satisfied that h,
has made good and made good hon
estly.
The one big piece of work that ha
been accomplished by Knowles dur
ing his month in the woods has beel
the painting of a marvellous natur
picture. This is upon slab OF whit
fir bark, and all the pigments ar
from the things provided by nature
The painting is of a moonlight seen
in the forest, and the colors are c
moses, dead woods and leaves an
other waste matter of nature, groun
upon stone and mixed with balsaI
from the fir. 1t is a real work of ar
and upon it Knowles put much of hi
time for the past three week
Knowles is proud of this picture, a
well he may be. He is not proud {
the fact that he shared an innocer
deer. This was matter of necessit.
:. and no more life was taken by hi
than was absolutely needed to civ
him food and covering for his bod
q When he had assured himself tn;
= he had accomplished this much, /
. then took up the picture.
/ Knowles brings back from ii
wilds the surplus from his larde
;. The deer flesh and fish he dried, an
could have lived for a couple
- weeks longer upon this surplus ha
it been necessary. He proved h
ability to get his living from Il
:. Siskiyou wilds without the aid
arms of implements. Aside from Il
suffering caused by the poisoning
. his feet during the first few day
= Knowles did not mind the hardship
+ colder than the nights in the MaiI
e woods, and the native timber a lit
l. more difficult with which to start
u fire by primitive methods. For tn
~ reason he started but two fires du
ing the time of his experiment, d
-s pending upon keeping the Goa
banked and alive. Speaking of h
: fire-making, Knowles said:
= II had a hard time getting fire
there is no wood up here without
grain. / tried more than TWEEN
times, and it was more an accide
than anything else that got fire Il
first night. / have found now puT
of dry aspen, the same thing / ust
to work in the moon on my pictur
which carries a spark better thu
anything else. / have only built
fire twice. When | wanted to
from my camp to another place
spend a night l carried a spa
smothered in punk"
When Knowles arrived in the can
of his associates last Wednesday q
II firct thinU ha ta6 wnc ThI