New Britain herald., 1916-09-15
PERSHING'S SCOUTS
 GIVE GHOST DANCE
ApaCheS Entertain Soldiers With
 GrotesQue Indian Steps

1 Field Headquarters, American Puni- l ! tive Expedition, Mexico, Sept. 14- The Apache scouts attached to the
 American Punitive Expedition came
 all the way from El Valle to field 1 headquarters to give ghost dance for General J. J. Pershing, just before the commander of the expedition left on 1 his recent inspection trip to the bor-
 der. The dance, weird and picturesque,
 was witnessed by thousand soldiers | and was held only after painstaking preparations by the Indians. | Prior to his first inspection trip l which took him to El Valle) the gen. 1 eral had heard many times of the l ghost dances the scouts had been giv- 1 ing at their camp and before leaving for Ell Valle had informed Capt. James l A. Shannon, who has directed the des- tinies of the Apaches that he would be pleased to have them perform for him. Communicated to the Indians the generals request caused great ex- cltement and they insisted on leaving
 at once for field headquarters. They passed the general en route anl it was only by the exercise of great diplomacy that they were pre- vented from debouching from their motor trucks and giving their dance on the trail. They were persuaded to continue their trip, however, and busied themselves during their six
 day layover at headquarters by fur
 n1shing their costumes and securing
 new and complete line of vivid paints.
 The dance, held the night after Gen. eral Pershing's return from El Valle,
 was staged on a level piece of ground ii , Behind a circle of bales of hay fifty yards in diameter, hundreds of khaki l clad-soldiers gathered. The general was seated in a big camp chair on low platform. A huge fire of logs blazed in the center of the circle, sending showers of sparks and great sheets of flame skyward whenever the jealous Apache fireman dashed gaso- line into it's roaring vortex
 Long before the general was seated, the fourteen musicians uniformed &C., cording to regulations and seated a short distance from the fire. began their chant. Their so1oist, Ietsuay, l would shout a stanza of perhaps twen- | ty words and his comrades would chant sort of chorus in guttural rythm. It was untamed, untrained and altogether primitive.
 Accompanying his chant, Ietsuay l thumped on a makeshift tom tom-a galvanized iron pail with a wet deer ] skin stretched across its mouth For five minutes the prologue con- tinued, then the ranks of the onlook- CTS parted to admit the dancers. There were five of then-costumed barbari- cally in trappings and headdresses fashioned by their own hands. John Cody led the band. followed by Chow EVc1rS 1o 1 Eskibende was the ghost and his role l partook somewhat of the clOwn-a stiff legged, dignified clown. Of the five, he wore the least clothes. Like the other four he wore a mask, cut from a burlap sack. A small head dress breech clout, moccasins and
 stuffed fawn which dangled against
 the small of his back, completed his costume In his hands he carried two
 red-tipped wands. His body was
 painted 8 ghostly gray.
 ] The others were attired most elab-
 orately. Their headgears, carved from
 wood, painted in bright colors, be-
 spangled with small mirrors and tip ped with fluffy white hawk feathers
 were works of art. Brass studded
 belts bits of calico, blankets of vivid
 hues and number of small bells that
 tinkled as they moved, made up the
 remainder of their dancing clothes.
 Entering the arena, they filed
 around the circle in a dignified prom
 enade, all except the ghost, who
 anbled in the rear, executing gro-
 tesque dance steps to the encourage
 ing shouts of the singers.
 Warmed by the applause of the
 spectators, the dancers soon increased
 their exertions. Around the fire they
 moved, shuffling, swaying, hopping.
 I The fire light was reflected from the
 l mirrors in their headdresses and the brass studs in their belts Streams
 of sweat flowed down their naked tor
 sos. The singers changed the motif
 of their chant and the five dark figures l that circled the roaring flames in-
 ! creased their pace. Suddenly the chant
 l ceased, the monotonous thump thump , ] of the tom tom ended with long roll and the dancers came to a standstill , amid a burst of applause. The first I 1 act was over.
 Ten times this was repeated, Ietsuay 7 chanting industriously, ~ apparently l without drawing breath. Toward the l last the impressiveness of the spec
 tacle was increased by vivid flashes
 of lightning from three storms in the : surrounding mountains. Their fan l tastic figures silhouetted against Pa
 jorita mountain by the binding bolts, , | the Apaches scored even more heavily . than they had expected.
 s After an hours exhibition, the dance ? ended, under orders. Left to them = selves, the scouts would have con-
 tinued for hours, even days, until 2 they were completely exhausted. l No one of the expedition, not even g their mentor, Capt. Shannon, knows . for what purpose the dance is given a | nor what is chanted. The dancers ! dress in secret and hide the accoutre-