The farmer and mechanic., 1915-04-06

OF history by pictures and relies of |
.ne aporlgines. are certainly inform |
ing, and the collection easily takes |
rahk as one of the most complete |
South OF washington.
A Paint Pot.
Mention has been made in a for
mer article of some of the hundreds
OF objects which illustrate so many
OF the varied phases Of Indian life,
put there are yet others which merit
explanation. A paint pot is in the
eatteeuon- This is "fulgurite," made
Dy nghtning striking and fnsing the
sand I'm this one red oxide of iron
has formed. The Romans Of eden
days called these fulgurites "thunder-
pers. and thought their greatest god
had hurled them from the skv. The
indians mixed the oxide, red OF vel
low, with grease and painted their
races and bodies with it. They also
useu II Tor other decorative purposes.
Their Stone Work.
The Indians did not fear to work
the most refractory stones, in order
TO make implements; flint, for exam
PIE, or hematite. that is iron ore The
drills they used in doing admira Bile
boring are shown, as are also objects
they bored. including pipes, gorgets
| (WOrn at the neck as ornaments} and
| arrow-straightevers.
! Their clay pottery was of high
| class In many cases. There is in the
! collection one Of the finest Jars in
| the United States. These jars or pots
were made in mould of plated cane
and made smooth on the inside. When
dried they showed on the outside the
cross pattern Of the cane. Many per-
sons have an idea that the Indians
| stamped them while soft with corn
| cobs, but this is an error. The weak
point about much Of their clay pottery
is that is does not hold water, as they
darken their pottery by exposing it to
the smoke Of chestnut bark.
| Indian Money.
The Indian money, called variously
wampum, peak or ronoak, was made
/ OF sea-sheIlS or of a rather soft stone
and had wide currency, practically
all the tribes in America accepting i
| AS currency. TO make it, particularly
of shells, required good deal of care
and time. Both sorts are in this col
lection.
Keen Fishermen.
Sinkers for fishing lines are anon.
the objects on view. These are o
stone, as are also weights used II
> do not know how to glaze it Th
tCataWbas were and are better pottery
, | makers than the CAerokeeS. The
I holding down the seines which the re
men used to- drag in the creeks. rh
!. Indians were adept fishermen an
. | nearly always located their village
j near streams. At several points. nea
, | Raleigh they had towns as the
! were called, though in general the
\ were shifting people and for SAM
= tary reasons, for one thing. Se1doI
q stayed long in a particular place.
The Indians were superstftious, bt
6 not a whit more SO than many peopl
e in this year of grace 1915. They ha
9 "conjurers'' and so have we in Ra
= eigh at this good hour. Their cor
jurers were shamans or "medicin
men" and among them were iugglel
and near-magicians who worked 8
/ sorts of schemes to deceive the
y clients and in fact all their trib
9 These shamans are among the Chert
Is KEGS to this day.
, The White Pictures.
- On the wall of the western Hall
- History are the famous white Pi
ttures,' painted in 1882 by Governt
- John White, of the Roanoke Colony
:, in what. was then called Virginia
- now North Carolina. These pictur
- are invaluable. They are copies
- I the ones in the British Museum
London and are gifts TO the Sta
:, from Col Benehan Cameron. II
III III | United States has in the Nation
no Museum aHolleI See' diiei Iiio''0 'iii
-. are all. OF course many engravln
:. of them have been made and In Il
- eastern Hall of History is a rare We
~, ume containing the first of these e
~ cravings, made in 1899, this vOlur
- being aIoan by Bishop Joseph Blou
"a / Cheshire. The story told is by Hari
~ and it was first published in Lend
in 1883.
-, The White Pictures" made by
-. | remarka Bile man, who was, writer a
mt ... ,:t.; 80 o.r.rnor on
-, once and whose "capitaf on RoanO
o. Island was the first "('itv of Raleigh
- are invaluable, particularly VIII
-, studied in connection with this Indl
collection, which it is the write
=; purpose to enlarge.
Useful To The Student.
H. Tt will readily be seen that the II
er | of History is invalnabie to Studen