davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1914-12-20

ing tallow by boiling down sheep. A
freezing establishment has recently been
installed there, and another freezer ex-
lists at the Rio Seco, to which 10000 sheep
are annually shipped. The annual output
Of these two freezing establishments Is
almost 100000 carcasses. and the tallow
works connected with them have mar
keted more than three-quarters of mill
lion pounds of that article.
During my stay at the Strait of Ma
gellan in 1898 the era of sheep raising
was at its beginning. The value of the
lands had just become known and
stock farmers were coming in from
Australia and Europe. The first sheep
brought in came from the Falkland
Islands, which lie in the same latitude
about 200 miles eastward. The Falk-
lands are and have long been famous
for their fine sheep The first ex-
portations TO the Strait of Magellan oc-
CURED in 1873. Seven years later the
flocks had increased to 10000, and when
first visited TERRA del F'uego they
were considerably over g. million. At
that time one of the largest sheep
owners was the American consul, q
Russian by birth, who had spent most
of his life in the Magellans He had
100000 acres of land in TERRA del
Fuego and his house at Punta Arenas
was one of the finest of Chile. 1t Is
of red brick covered with stucco, and
is SO finished that 1t looks like light
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1914-12-20

is not so. Mr.. Bridges, a missionary who
has been living among them for some
thing like 90 years, says they have ex-
cellent qualities, He denies that they
are cannibals and that they eat meat
which is not cooked. Before the mission
aries came the Yaghans had several
wives. but the intermarriage of relatives
was looked upon as abominable. They
lived in groups of 20 or 30 families, and
at night sat around the fires in front of
their wigwams. Dr. Bridges describes
the Yaghans as good-natuied and not UNI
intelligent. He says they have Ian
guage of their own, which contains no
less than 10000 words This is In striking
contrast to the Eskimos. who are said
to use less than 10000 words. and to the
Bible. which has altogether only 700 diff
ferent words
These Yaghans have also been injured
by the wearing of clothing. They for
merly numbered about 5000 souls, but
smallpox, the measles, pneumonia and
tuberculosis have cut them down until
there are now only a few hundred. They
nave gained in civilization, but they have
lost their rugged health, and are ply
sically on the road to destruction. The
missionaries say that some of them have
learned to read and write, and above all
ito fear God and keep His command
ments.' AT the present death rate how
ever, the best of them will soon be In
heaven.
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1914-12-20

our corps" said Kurakin, 'the more
revently he believes that perfect time
is coming. When the war broke out, the
Emperor Francis Joseph) is Anti
christ and that the glory of Russias
warriors will be to extirpate Anti
christ. After that, the nations will live
In peace. Our men are not military by
instinct. Underneath their Messianic
dream is the hope that in the coming,
regenerated world they will not serve
In an army"
Ivan Ivanovitch goes into battle
with certain fixed mathematical notions
about his fate. These are specific army
notions. In his village he believes Of
he is an Ukrainian) that every ninth
man born dies between 20 and "a. That
is, in military service age. When con-
scripts leave their villages, elaborate
calculations are made to discover who
is ninth man. The army superstition
is that every fifth man is killed" This
is the man who comes fifth in a regi-
mental roll. A soldier at wilma told me
that during the first fights on the
East Prussian frontier two men nearly
tainted with terror. They calculated
that they were 18th and 35th men on
battalion roll. A German shrapnel shell
cured their terror by sending a dozen
comrades into eternity, and disarrang
Ing the roll order. Another battle SUI
perstition is that wounds ON the left
hand are worse than on the right. The
left hand is nearer the heart, and a
left hand wound leaves heart weak
ness. 1 asked DR.. Stepanoff of the Gal
ernaya hospital whether this has any
scientific basis. He answered:
IT have had men slightly wounded
in the left hand who complained of
heart sinking, and considered them
selves worse invalids than men whose
whole right hands were shattered by
fragments of she'll"
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1914-12-20

fire and helped the stall-keepers to col
lect their goods and money. The troops
who did this work left Wilma next day.
They had flirted successfully with Lith-
uanian servant girls. The first mile of the
road to Koyno was crowded with crying
females.
Most of these soldiers were married re-
servists. Behind some of them came their
wives. Outside Wilma depot saw a knot
of women who had come without invita-
ton to see their husbands. They button
holed an irritated looking officer, and
clamored: Where is Ivan Petroff, your
highness?" Has Vassili Riepoff left for
the front?' The officer had never heard
OF the men. A woman started to cry. AS
she cried, down to the depot, to entrain
for the Prussian frontier, came a battalion
or men. Among them was the crying
woman's husband After kissing her hus-
band, she kissed the ''feldwebel' for
bringing him along" and wanted to kiss
the frritated looking officer The SOL
diers behaved well to women in the towns
which they marched through. Pretty girls
of good class in society who ordinarily
look down on the unlocked muzhilk now
make hero of him. A tragic case took
place at Grodno. daughter of the Pol
ish proprietor, Jagdiewicz, fell in love
with sergeant In a Chasseur regiment.
The sergeant, remembering his military
duty, left the town without saying good
by. The girl killed herself.
Ivan Ivanovitch is we'll looked after in
the towns he passes through. The Polish
aristocracy at Grodno founded beauti-
full Soldiers theatre, where is Cor was)
played every night Russian historical or
folk play. The favorite Is a play by
Count Alexis Tolstoy. In Petrograd 1
saw similar soldiers representations. One
night was played Glinka's "A Life for the
Gar" turned into play; another night
weird allegorical piece called You
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1914-12-20
Ivan Ivanovitch" at Close Hand

him his reputation and 40 roubles
swindled from credulous warriors. The
soldiers entirely lost their enmity
against the "anti- Christian" Germans,
and threatened terrible things against
the prophet" Seeing so much pious
rage going wasted, the editor OF the
Wilma News explained that the
prophet" was German in disguise.
This improved matters.
I talked at Wilma to many nom CONS,
and to some well educated rankers In
the town was the Kharkov musician
Plesko who has not the educational
qualifications of zone year volunteer"
and is serving as a private. Plesko
told me-some strange tales of soldiers
superstitions and traditions. He says
there are specific army superstitions
When peasant enters the army he is
presented. together with uniform and
boots, with army notions which go
back to the days OF Peter the Great
The superstitions have an enlightening
character Their basis is the faith that
Messiah, or a golden age, will come
to earth. and that the Cars army is
an instrument of It's coming.
Sergeant Gurakin of the Twenty
second army corps (till lately sta
stoned at Helsingfors) gave me some
specific Messianic notions. One is that
the Turks are Antichrist; and that
when Antichirst is driven out OF Con-
stantinople peace will reign. Another
belief is that the Empress Catherine
will return with Messianic mission.
"Poidiot pc vel Yavrepie"-"She will
go all over Europe'-say the soldiers,
and she will establish universal rule.
The soldiers sing:
"Frenchmen,
Germans,
Long whskered Britons,
Little squirting Laps,
All will obey Great Catherine"
1.-THE more illiterate the soldier OF
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1914-12-20

and knees, and the cooking must be done
on a fire built in the canoe or on the
ground outside of the wigwam.
The Alacalufe canoes that 1 saw were
well constructed, and some of them were
10 feet long, yard wide and about two
feet in depth. They were made of strips
of bark sewn together with sinews and
fastened to ribs which ran across the
canoe Each boat had It's fire, which was
built on some earth in the center The
Indians who were not padding or steer
ing the boat sat around these fires, and
some cooked the while over the Goals.
The Alacalufes are perhaps the low
est of all the human race. They are
more like beasts than men. Those I
saw were almost naked, although ,here
was snow on the ground and the winds
were bitter cold A few of them had
on guanaco skins which half COW
cred their bodies. and others had shreds
of rags that only accentuated their
nakedness. I remember one man who
wore a rag apron as big as a lady's
handkerchief tied to string about his
waist, and excepting this, only a short
vest open at the front>and a hat This
man pduuleu the BOAT, ana MS W1Ie SAT
at the stern and steered. The woman
was naked to the waist, and she was
sucking baby clad in little more
than a string of beads and breech
Cloth. She held the naked baby TO
her breast with one hand and steered
the boat with the other. Another wife
near the prov aided in padding. She
had guanaco skin tied around her
waist but the upper part OF her body
was bare. She bent back and forth as
the oar rose and fell In the water
During our stay in the straits we had
to tie up every night as the navigation
was too dangerous to risk after dark
At every anchorage number of these
canoe Indians came to our steamer. All
were understood. but the most of them
were plump and fat, and not a few had
paint on their faces and bodies. Their
faces were something like those of the
North American Indians. They had
black hair and brown skins, and their
teeth were white and apparently good
They had skins and furs to SELL or
rather trade, for they knew nothing of
money They snapped them for knives.
food and beads. They were evidently
afraid of us, and would not come on
board. We dickered with them over
the side of the vessel they staying in
their canoes the while. They were
shrewd. and they often got the better
of the bargain. The things they most
wanted were tobacco, candy and cake
They were ready to trade for biscuits
or cigars or tobacco in any shape and
they seemed quite as anxious to get
tobacco as food.
The onas and Yaghans are the In
dian tribes of the Island of TERRA del
Fuego. They are of higher civiliza-
ton than the Alacalufes and OF late
they have been so changed by the mis-
sionaries that their savage traits are
fast passing away. In the past the
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1914-12-20
s'Pincherto Cries Actress.

FROM the New York Herald.
The resentment of two young girls ~
the insults of man In crowded subway
express train last night led to a fight
that spread an uproar through the train
from Forty-second to Seventy-second
street, and resulted In the arrest of
Lewis Plotz, an insurance agent.
Miss Emma Piana 10 years old, very
pretty, and motion picture actress
seized the man sitting next to her soon
after the train left the Grand Central sta
ton, and shouted that he had pinched
her. At the same time Miss Jeanette
Freedman, also 10, and also pretty, who
had been sitting on the other side Of the
man, cried that his other hand had been
employed in pinching her.
TIL eman struggled to free himself from
Miss Piana, but she held on, and then
several men Joined in the fight, and there
was tussle, In which several strap
hangers were knocked down. This fight
continued until the train stopped at the
Seventy-second' street station. There Plotz
was turned over to policeman. and tho
two girls, with other passengers, followed
him to the West Sixty eighth street sta
ton. The police found a revolver In his
pocket, but he showed permit to
carry 1t.
Plotz was sent to night court, with the
two girls following him.
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1914-12-20

brown stone. Every part of the build
ing was brought in from abroad and
all the laborers who worked on it were
imported from Buenos Aires or Santi-
ago. The house cost something like
100000, and is still the wonder of this
part of the world.
The grazing farms of the Strait of
Magellan are not only on the mainland,
but also on TERRA del Fuego. They
number millions of acres and some of
the best are on TERRA Del Fuego, tho
great island which belongs partly to
Chile and partly to Argentina.
TERRA del Fuego is half as big as the
state of Ohio and the greater part of
1t Is made up of plains and wide
stretches of moor1and covered with
grass, which Is green in the summer
and reddish brown when winter comes
on. This grass furnishes good grazing
all the year round. In the winter the
sheep sometimes dig down through
the snow and as rule the SHOWS melt
soon after falling. The grasses of the
strait are noted for their richess and
sweetness. They are excellent for the
production of both mutton and wool
and they would feed far more stock
than they do were 1t not for the rats.
AS 1t is, this pest is so great that it
now takes three or more acres to sup
port one sheep The rats not only eat
the grass but they burrow through the
earth to such extent that 1t Is i'm
possible to drive over the plains with
a wagon, and on horseback one has to
ride very carefully. Cattle are used
as rat exterminators. They are driven
over the ground and the rats in their
burrows are tramped to death by them.
The sheep farms of TERRA del F'1ego
are much like those OF Australia. They
are fenced with WIRE and the sheep are
kept in large paddocks, some of which
arc as big rs an ordinary American town.
ship. The average flock contains about
1000 head, and each flock had its own
shepherd, aided by dogs. The dogs are
Scotch co1lies so intelligent that they
seem almost human. They will pick any
sheep from a flock at the command of
their MASTER who directs them by mo-
ton of his hand which way to go. If he
waves to the front, they know they are to
go ahead. If he throws his hand to the
rear they come back, and tho holding
mp OF his hand in the air brings them
to a standstill.
The most of the shepherds are Scotch
men, who came to the Strait of Magel-
Ian on five-year contracts. They re-
ceivo about $50 or $40 a month, and have
I'm addition house rent fuel and meat.
Their houses are two or three room
shacks scattered over the farm The
fuel comes from the woods, and their
meat Is mutton from the flocks they
herd. On the whole, the farms are al
most self-supporting.
The most important part of the year
at the Strait of Magellan is when the
shearing is DONE This season begins in
January, and on the big ranches it may
last for two months. Much of the work
is done by professional shearers, al
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1914-12-20

Cannot Have Both Things" A foolish
same time wants peace. He gets all the
earth, but never gets nights sleep. All
night ugly laclseys knock at his door.
and say, "Your majesty is requested to
speak to the Prince of Khoska." This play,
l am told, is older than the war, but II
seems like a slSt on the ambitions of
Europe's disorderly states
Foreign sports are catching on with
Ivan Ivanovitch. AS in Germany. foot
ball has been introduced as a means of
discipline" English association" is
played. Ivan Ivanovitch breaks all the
rules. / heard reports from Przemysl
that the besiegers on the west front were
playing football. The Austrians shelled
them from 2S-centimetre mortars, and
compelled Ivan Ivanovitch to withdraw
his football field. Later the Austrians
and the footballers had to go further
back. Instead of teams Ivan Ivano-
witch organizes his war football in
'druzhini'- 'comradeships''- II men a
side. The extra men count as forwards.
I his innovation is to make the game
faster
saw very good soldiers football being
played in field behind Ochta. The play
ers were young men of the last reserve,
who were without past service, and We're
being called out and given two hours
drilling day on the field of Mars near
the Trinity bridge. Among the men were
university students and students of the
Alexander ii archaeological High school.
The students had volunteered to go to the
front, but had got refusals. Your bust
ness is TO defend ''Petrograd."
Petrograd will be attacked by the Ger
mans after the Gulf of Finland (Which
will socn freeze up) opens next spring.
So everyone here says. The imperial
government is preparing. Ivan lvanovitch,
to the number of $4,000, is encamped at w.
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1914-12-20
BY BYRON LOMAX

l talked at Moscow to a student of folk
lore who complained that service in the
army destroys all the individual provincial
customs and games. Service has the same
effect as factory life Soldiers from Man
churia brought new amusements. new
ways of gambling, new songs. Ivan Ivan
ovitch is an incorrigible playboy and
gambler when he is fighting Reports
from the front tell of soldiers who played
charades (of kind uncomplimentary to
the enemy during the delays In the
trenches; and OF terrific gambling bouts
with small means. Ivan Ivanovitch pre-
fers danger to tedium. AS modern fight
ing is mostly tedium-long waits in
trenches with shells overhead, often with
out chance of replying-diversion must
be found. Some South Russian soldiers
brought a Greek card game, which is
played wit htwo packs of cards by a
dozen men, The winners are the men who
hold the three and the seven OF spades.
Spades always count above other cards.
The game is called "Sapiorslxi Azart," the
sappers' gamble. During a guard ac-
ton west of Kalisch In the first days of
engaged in this game. Their military
function was to surprise the Germans.
who thought the country undefended: a so
they were forbidden to fire.
This trench played "sappers' gamble
for seven hours runs letter from an
officer. ut was a wonderful sight.
Crouching in groups in the mud you could
see our brave fellows playing cards,
Joking and quarreling. There were at
first, l think. three packs of cards in the
neighborhood. The men sent Jew sutler
into the town to buy more, and the Jew,
risking his neck for roubles, brought
back more cards. Men who had no cards
improvised them out of paper. One pro-
duced beautiful pack with a very ugly
king of diamonds daubed with mud. He
called the king of diamonds, vassil Feo-
dorovitch g. e. Kaiser Wilhelm, the Son
of Frederick). This gamble went on all
day. and l think about four roubles,
vast sum for single trench, changed
hands. Before dusk the Germans came
one They were met with voleys, which
sent them back. They began to shell the
trorch, and after nearly an hour dropped
into 1t a percussion shell which killed three
men and wounded dozen, including the
artist of the king of diamonds. The.
Kaiser was avenged"
Ivan Ivanovtch is marching into battle
in an edifying, moral mood. This saw
myself. In all Wilma town not a drop of
liquor was sold; even beer was una attain
able. One restaurant, / was told. was
secretly selling French cognac at -
roubles half bottle. This the soldiers
could not purchase l witnessed Ivan
1vanovitch's good conduct in the market
place. A kerosene flare on lithuanian
apple womans stall set fire to the cam
vas. and burnt out whole row of botths
Apples, sausages, cheap jewelry and coins
lay In heaps. The soldiSEs put out the
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1914-12-20

Ona houses Were merely holes in the
ground, with wind breaks of branches
bent over them. The holes were about
big enough to contain one Indina fam
lily, and were used only for sleeping.
The Indians crawled in at night.
cuddling up there with their dogs lying
about and over them for warmth. The
cooking of the Onas was done outside
their houses. They moved about from
place to place, believing so 1t is said.
that the devil was after them, and if
they had permanent homes he would
surely destroy them. They are much
taller than the Alacalufes, although
they are not giants, as they have been
described. The men are about six feet
in height and the women perhaps six
inches lower.
In the past the most of these Onas went
naked, save for coat of fish oil and
guanaco skin, which they wrapped
around their sholders. Today they are
almost all clad like the whites, although
they still use the skins as an extra pro-
lection. I am told that they have become
subject to colds and consumption and
pneumonia since they began wearing
clothing, and that these diseases have
killed them off by the scores. They are
also no better for the foreign food that
they have now and then, and their normal
death rate is now SO great that the race
will soon disappear.
The Onas are found principally In the
northern part of TERRA del Fuego. They
are plains Indians. and are hunters rath-
er than fishers. The Yaghans are found
more in the southern portions of the is
lands They are fishers rather than
hunters, and they have been fnisrepre-
sented as associated with the Alacalufes,
and some travellers have described them
as the most miserable specimens of hui
manity on the western hemisphere. This
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1914-12-20

rs n TRIO RAD, December Z.
Especial Correspondence.)- ii
ka$W3SN have been studying Ivan
Qxta4U Ivanovitch, John, the son of
John. This is his correct and
lawful name, though all but pedants
say Ivan Ivanitch." have been study
ing him here wounded; at Wilma as he
marched singing through the town; and
for brief period nearer still to the
front. There Is a native proverb which
says. ''Dvadsat plat Fransusov; odin
Russki," which means There are %
kinds of Brenchmen, but only one kind
Of Russian" The proverb is right as
regards Ivan Ivanovitch He is one and
indivisible. Between the lymphatic
muzhik soldier from Vologda forests
and the dark, sharp faced men from
nunny south Russia there are differ
ences of temperament, but there is
hardly any difference in speech, habits.
superstitions; and no difference in their
way of fighting, regarding the enemy,
and living in camp.
Russia's army organization has level
ling effects. Every rifle-carrying
or rifle-carrying "riadovoi" does Proof
is the spread through the Cars army
in Lithuania and Poland of the new
war song" the Ear, Far VistuIa."
Vista, Vista daliol1o" runs to whining
inusic-this unmartial song. 1t was
sung by Rennenkampf's men at Gum
binnen at the end of August When L
was in wilma month later, every SOL
der was whistling it or whining 1t.
Now it is heard on the Upper VistuIa
and it has infected the Austrians and
Hungarians on the San. The song says
that the Vistula is far away, and that
we shall lay our bones by it. In other
respects 1T Is no more martial than
TITS a Long. Long Way to Tipperary'
of Britain's Tommies.
The soldiers in VIlna-most having
come from north Russia--are in n
superstitious mood. The town was full
OF wounded men, most of whom Gas
happens in other wars) were wounded
In the arm. saw 30 arm wounded men
being discharged on the same day from
the departmental provisional hospital.
At Wilma turned up one of the numer-
Gus prophets produced by the war,
who rage against "Antichrist." The
prophet" explained that the Germans
fired at our mems hands in order shat
they might no longer cross themselves
in holy church." A big stir was made
by this explanation.
Wilma held $4,000 men, quartered, and
lying on the ground, in shops. private
apartments, and at the railroad depot.
These men were due to leave for the
front in three days. Their subject OF
conversation was the vilainy of the
Germans, who wished not only to de-
stroy the bodies but also the souls Of
the "Christ-loving" warriors. The word
to-lubivuiyee" is sincerely used
by the soldiers. After i left Wilma the
prophet" disappeared. He took with