El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1916-11-18

w. Certain MYSTERIES NY: s 5, Of the toilet
Of prehistoric American young
women are solved by the discovery of
an aboriginal rouge mine at Leslie, not
far from the city of ST. Louis.
The rouge is an oxide OF iron, its
color so vivid that all the surface Of
: the ground in the neighborhood of the
mine is tinted a brilliant red. Workmen
now laboring in it look. when they
come out, IS if painted red from head
10 foot Anybody who handles the
mineral taken from it finds his hands
80 smeared with the pigment that re-
peated washings are reGuired to re
move the stain.
Discovered Recently.
Nobody suspected the existence OF
the prehistoric rouge mine until, re-
Gently, the opening up Of a large BODY
of iron ore in the locality mentioned
revealed a system of irregular tunnels.
or burrows by which the ground was
literally honeycombed TO n depth Of
. twenty-five feet or more The ore
is 'hema tite.r nearly as hard as me-
tsllic iron. but this is not what the
aboriginal miners sought They wanted
the paint. which they found IN seams
and pockets
The most precious thing in the world,
from the viewpoint Of the pre-Colum-
bian Indians, was paint They de-
lighted in the use Of color. especially
for the establishment OF the person
1t was an essential feature Of the
tOilet-foT the women at all times; for
the men on ceremonial occasions, or
as an adjunct 10 the costume in war
Who. indeed. has not heard Of war
paint" But few people realize how
general even at the present time. is the
use of color by the women Of the Indian
tribes all over North and South America
for the enhancement OF their looks.
Among the PspagOs of Sonora and the
Cocopaws OF the region about the
mouth of the Colorado river not only
every woman but every child is painted
Was Source Of Wealth
The prehistoric mine here described
supplied not only rouge, but also
of iron which today We cali yellow
ocher- Undoubtedly these oxides. yell
low and red. were distributed by trade
for distances OF thousands OF miles.
To the tribe that owned il. the de-
posit must have been a source of i'm
mense wealth.
There were in those days. of course.
other paint mines What. makes this
teresting to archs biologists. apart from
Its richness - source OF pigm ents.
Is that II IS the only one ever dis
covered That involved underground Dor
3ngs- All other worked deposits OF
the kind found NJ % date were on the
ers were obliged to eXcavate burrows
that were often Of such small diameter
as hardly to permit their bodies to
pass, Through these they crawled.
digging oUS the soft oxides. boring
their war around the hard masses OF
hematite. and occasionally striking
large pocket big enough when It was
partly emptied TO enable the worke-
to sit up and attack the walls with ?
pick made Of 2 grooved Ratchet shaped
stone attached with withes to & wooden
handle.
That IT should have been BOSS
with such rude implements. TO nene-
trate the body Of iron ore through
winding passages hardly big enough
70 aceomodate man in .craw ing
posture is difficult 70 realize. Pre-
sumably the p7int-stuff was carried 20
the surface OF the ground IN small
Once obtained. the soft oxides we've
ground in a small mortar. OF rubbed
on a fiat surface for their intended
use Tiny bowls and lars of earthen-
ware potter were utilized as paint
cups, being specially made for the pur-
pose: and Il is interesting 10 imagine
the primitive American Young woman
employing these receptacles. as IN
coubtediy she did. 10 contain the
necessaries OF the toilet which she re-
garded as most indispensa BILE.
Decorate Faces in National COIors.
In the use Of rouge. however. she
had her own peculiar method She
did not rub il on her cheeks 10 make
them pink Why. indeed. should she2
OF the hue Of health in her complexion
she had a plentiful natural supply But
there were such things as decora tive
effects, calculated to catch the young
men.'-painted designs in red and other
colors. The bellies Of the Seri tribe,
whose residential headquarters is the
island Of Tiburon. in the Gulf OF Cali
fornia- are today accustomed to orna-
ment their faces with elaborate effects
in red, white and blue that must take
many DAYS to produce.
Accordingly, we must figure to our
selves the prehistoric American maiden
as an expert in A kind OF face-decora-
ton which demanded a degree Of
artistry incomparably bevond that re-
CURED Of the most perfectly painted
damsel one sees on the street TO-DAY.
IN her time there were no beauty
pa-lors-" And there was the added diff
ficulty that the patterns with which
Ehe adorned her fair countenance were
prescribed by authoritative convention.
The chief product Of the aboriginal
mine st Leslie. red ocher. was. so far
rs the primitive Ameican maiden was
concerned. the earliest form OF rouge.
II furnished also. as already explained.
brilliant yellow pigment But there
was no lack OF other colors for the
prehistoric toilet. Oxides of copper. OBJ
tanned in many places and distributed