davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-05-15

in making half a dozen, as the weaver must first make the flores. These are usually made of spruce tree roots in terwoven with blades of grass co1ored by a vegetable dye prepared by a process known only to themselves.
 The grass is gathered by the natives in the Iagoons. The root gathering takes, the form of a picnic, as the women carry their cooking utensils and go out to camp in the woods for several days The roots gathered are scraped, parboiled, and then left in a pan of water for two or three weeks The oldest .ssquaw in camp decides when the root is sufficiently pliable for working. The next process is to remove the fibrous tendriIs from the parent roots by the aid of a curious shaped knife. One end is then at tached to stick set firmly in the ground. The slim root is then pol ished and the weaving commenced by starting at the bottom of the basket, held in place by two sticks while the sides are built up. All baskets are carefully wrapped in cloth during the process of manufacture to keep them from becoming soiled. The most beautiful ones come from Attu, a
The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-05-15

legend runs, a chiefs wife and her two children went out to gather spruce boughs for holding salmon eggs She left the children in the canoe, telling them to remain there until she came back, but they were disobedient and wandered away. She called and called but only the crows answered, and finally a spirit told her that a white man had carried the youngsters away and this is supposed to happen to the disobedient little Alaska Indian. This legend is not unlike those to be found in the folk lore of the Maoris of New Zealand.
 The native women, especially in Southeastern Alaska, are shrewd bar gathers and the traveller sometimes has artif1cia1ly colored old ivory and furs sold to him instead of the gen uine. The boiling of wa1rus tusk in seal oil will give it the color of rare old ivory, and the rubbing of lamp black into furs improves the appear ance of the hide, so the stranger in Alaska will do well to rub the fur before purchasing.
 Baskets Real Treasures
 Their baskets are sometimes gen. uine treasures. Weeks are consumed
The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-05-15

small island of the Aleutian chain. These are made of fine straw with 1 richly colored strands of silk woven through them.
 The birch bark basket. too,4 is of 1 Alaska Indian origin. At Point Bar row some of the baskets are decorated with fur, ivory or reindeer hide, while others made from the roots of cedar trees are ornamented with strips or wild cherry bark. Moccasins made Of moose hide or fur seal, heavily lined with squirrel or rabbit skins, are also offered. These make excellent bedroom slippers and have tho merit of lasting for years. The squaw does not for get the children and toy baskets and moccasins for dolls are on sale.
 Though not industrious and in genious in art as the women, the men are quite expert in harnnerlns out native copper into articles of use fitness, such as paper knives or spoons, or in making pretty brace let from a silver dollar by the same process.
 Famous Blankets.
 The Chilkats who live near the Lynn Canal weave blankets which show remarkable artistic taste, giving to the work an unusual value. Until a few years ago these blankets were the distinctive ceremonial robes of the native tribes of Southeastern Alaska They are made of the wool of noun tain sheep and are gorgeous in the ex- quiSite blending of the cOlorSs and are worth from seventy-five to two hun dred dollars. The Chtlkats are also slxiIfuI in carving on stone and goats horns. The Indians are great ini- tators, and while they retain their own ideas as to the figures they carve they will frequently copy picture of the President of the United States on a waIrus tusk or on mastodon ivory.
 The Alaska Indians are for the most part hospitable and polite, and these virtues grow as one travels farther north. Many times they have saved the gold hunter from starvation by sharing their last morse1 of food with the white brother" They love to copy the white mans ways and be his friend. The few negroes who came into the mining districts during the rush were objects of the greatest in terest to the Indians and they finally gave the Sons of Ham the name of tpale-man-afraid-to- to-wash-his-face.'
The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-05-15

only regarded as distant reIativesg A mans heir is not his son but his sis ter's sons. This makes a complicated system 9of relationship but one that tends to create hospitality among the tribes. Totem poles are the city di- rectory of Indian villages, as strange Indian entering the village will con- suit the totems to find his relatives, as these carved poles show the family tree.
 The Alaska Indians are stolid crea- lures, but the sight of a camera will cause, a perfect stampede to cover. The women sit about the streets of the towns offering baskets, rnoccasins and trinkets for sale. Their babies are often in their laps. yet they rarely disthrb their mothers by crying, and if they should the mothers have the "bogey man. story ready to frighten them. The Indians are of a naturally 'superstitious nature and they tell the legend of the ''bogey man" with all the reverence in the world and point out a totem in one of their villages to prove his existence. This pole is surmo ounted by the whitened face of a European hanked on either side by a child wearing high hat. As the
The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-05-15
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that it is the custom to rebuild the big guns. Fact though; guns are ''re- built much as automobiles and type writers are rebuilt and the procedure is every bit as important in its way as the manufacture of new guns, be- cause it keeps old guns in service which is of course better than relying solely upon new ones when your need is urgent. No wonder, then, we take off our hats to the new process which enables Uncle. Sam to rebuild a gun in precisely twenty-five days instead of requiring an interval of seventy five days, as it formerly did. to renew the youth of one of our protectors.
 If we may judge from the tests which have been made, modern high powered guns using smokeless powder the kind that Uncle Sam manufac- lures and uses-have almost unIim- tied life under normal conditions, That is, the gun itself does not wear out but they erode in the bore very rap idly owing to the high powder pres sures which they must sustain and the consequent high temperatures to which they are subjected. This is the explanation of why it pays so well to pro1ong the life of a big gun by refining the weapon or renewing the bore. The process of rejuvenating our heavy ordnance has been tremendous 1y facilitated by the practice in re-
 
 with conical liners susceptible of easy removal. This has done more than anything else to cut down the time lrequired to give a gun new insides- The shrinking pot, that inferno of the gun makers, is used in refining a gun even as 1t is in shrinking on the jacket ofa new gun. It is just here indeed, that the conica1 liner proves it's superiority over the cylindrical liner which has lately become obso- 1ete. The cylindrical liner when 1t was worn out had to be removed by boring, al tedious process of cutting kthat involved great loss Of time and labor. In the case of a gun with worn-out conica1 liner, however the process is speedy and simple. The gun is placed in the shrinking pit and heated to a temperature of about 500 degrees. Then cold water is poured through the liner with the result that it cooIs suddenly and contracts as it cools in consequence of which it drops out Of courses the gun must be heat-' ed again to- insert the new liner. but when the new lining is in place the mass of metal is allowed to take its own time to cool, no water being sprayed on After the reconstructed gun is thoroughly cooled it is cham bered, rif1ed and finished
The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-05-15
BY WAIDON FAWCETr

M OUR up-and-doingI Yankee has WY proven for some months that
 The is a Johnny -the-spot
 when it comes to supplying any power in need with arms and ammu- nttfon- But how many good. Ameri- cans realize-whether they favor such exports or not-that this playing of the role of armorer to the world at large is likely to work out nightly to the good of the Republic should defend itself against a foreign foe Next to being armed to the teeth there is nothing like Knowing where to lay hands on weapons when they are needed.
 By and large, the United States is a bit backward on the score of mili- tary and naval preparedness but it lis a safe guess that ere the carnage in Europe comes to an end we will lead the world in the possession of munitions plants privately and pub licIy owned. Already we have es- establishments that have quietly ex- banded until they overshadow in size and output the famous Krupp works in Gerfnauy of which we have heard so much since the beginning of this war
 Uncle Sam has nothing to do with the export of Amerfcan-made war equipment to Europe any more than he has with any other private busi- ness, but he is nightly concerned about obtaining an adequate supply of tpeacemakers,' as the biggest guns are sometimes called, with which to outfit his ships and seacoast defenses- Hence the desire of the government to work in more or less close har- n1ony with the great steel plants of the country. The War Department and the Navy Depar rtment have gun shops that rival the plants of any power on earth but wonderful as these are they are not qualified to perform every function in the transformation it has been the custom to purchase forgings from commercial steel plants and leave it to Uncle Sam's own work, men to put on the finishing touches indeed to perform all the painstaking and exacting operations of gun mak- 7flgl EEeF Il9et k2sstie Hq
The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-05-15

| A Quickened Demand For Big Guns In The United States.
 The lessons of the Old World war have all taught us, the least protected of nations, to lay in a stock of. the largest shooting irons and to be quick about it, too. Plenty of supposedly sound theories have been turned top sy7turvy since a year ago last August but almost everything that has trans pired on Europe's three battIefronts has gone to prove that the big gun, far from being an obsolete tool of warfare, is today the chief dependency of the fighters.
 The development of our latest na- val fad-the .tall big gum ship has, of course, whetted the GovernmentaI appetite for big guns. According to this fashion the up-t to- date battIeship has a main battery of 8 to 12 guns of the largest calibre, in contrast to the modest showing of the type of bat tleship that we were so proud of at the beginning of the century, a style of floating fortress that was ac- counted invincible with her four tur- ret guns, two aft and two forward. Even though our naval arbiters are taking to heart the moral of the pres ent war that speed is a mighty i'm portant thing in a naval vessel, be it a craft of the largest and heaviest class, it is proposed to seek to get this speed without giving up the big guns Indeed, the quest of the hour is for that ideal compromise vessel that will have the speed of a cruiser but the hitting power of a ponderous bat tIeship-
 Rapid Progress In Gun Making.
 If the recent story of American gun making is a chronicle of short cuts to efficiency so might it also be said that the whole modern history of Yan- kee ordnance manufac cture has in voIved an advance by leaps and bounds. As late as the year 1884 the United States was entirely destitute of modern artillery and, worse yet lacked the means of manufacturing it. Then, all of a sudden, the powers Ethat be finally got busy and the Presi- dent sent abroad a board of army and navy officers who were told tol find out how our cousins on the other side
The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-05-15
the Atlantic managed their gun

of the Atlantic managed their gun making.
 The establishment of Uncle sam's two foremost gun factories may be traced to the activities of these globe trotting ordnance inquisitors. They visited Russia, France and England and as result of their recommenda- tions the Government made the be- ginnings of the great naval gun fac tory on the banks of the Potomac river, at Washington, D. C., and the big ordnance manufactory at Water yliet on the Hudson. As sort of annex to the big gun factory at the national capital is the proving ground located at Indian Head, Maryland, to which the big guns are conveyed by voyage of two dozen miles down the Potomac in order that they may be formally tried out ere they are placed on permanent sentry duty .adoat or ashore.
 The buildings at Washington cover forty seven acres and they are con the provision last year of a new foun- dry that is up-to-date in all respects and capable of turning out castings of the largest size in steel, cast iron and bronze.
 Building Up A Thunderer.
 Perchance every reader of this has heard of the wonders of the shrink ing process in big gun making when a. 16-ton metal Jacket is fitted with in four one-hundredtts of an inch over a tube and welded by shrinkage, and yet this masterpiece of delicate work executed by asbestos-g1 worknen is merely the most spectac- ular. feature of a series of industrial processes every one of which is a marvel in it's way. The operations of turning and boring might impress the chance visitor almost as deeply did he realize how a miscalculatfon of a fraction of an inch would play
The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-05-15
Leeend or The Mosquito.


 Their legends are almost innumer- able, but the one of the mosquito seems most reasonable, especially when one is suffering from the sttngs of that insect. As told by an Indian, it runs as follows: "Once upon a time there was a wicked spirit who took the form of huge spider and who would swoop down and suck the life blood from mems bodies, leaving them like the empty shells of the flies which have been sucked by the spider Men suffered long and their cries aroused the sympathy Of the good spirit, who built a great fire and pushed the spider into it. Being inn mortal, the wicked spirit could not be wholly destroyed, so he shriVelIed and shrivel1ed until he became a tiny insect and in this shape escaped from the fire and has ever since enjoyed tormenting people in the form of mosquito. singing as he stings and dropping into the wound an inhnites- simaI coal from the fire in which he nearly perished.''
 According to Indian tradition they all, at one time lived in a beautiful land where there was abundance of hunting. Then the flood came which swept over the earth. After tt had subsided the boats rested on the hunt ing grounds-some where fish abound ed, others where there were bears or wolves, and from these fish and animals they took their new crests- They settled on the land where their boats came to rest and formed 9 new tribal relation.
 Each tribe has its particular cere- montal over the dead. The Indians of the far North wrap their dead in canvas or other covering ana raise them on sc&ffoId to protect them from wild animals. Several tribes of Southeastern Alaska practice a crude sort of cremation, and after burying the ashes leave the effects of the de- ceased in a box on top of the grave. These graves are never robbed. When a chief dies his body is laid out in state with all his belongings spread about him. He is dressed in his royal radment and placed on a. bed of state with blankets draped around the room. Food is provided for the mourners who come in large mum Pers. His gun is always placed upon his grave
The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-05-15
Uncertain Origin of the AIaskaAborig zines Their Manners and Customs Wholly Different From the Redskins ofthe West
Copyright, 1916, by The International,
 Syndicate.

y. ? ~ HE Alaskan Indian is so unlike
 the Red Man of our great
 West that he is probably of
 different racial stock. Many students of ethnology claim that these queer people of the North are of Asi- atic origin from the fact that their sl<iIfuI carvings and method of weav- other they must have been in contact with the Japanese race-even the fea- lures of the Chilkat tribe bear strtk- ing resembIance to those of the little Brown Men of the Orient. According to Washington Irving a Japanese junk was wrecked off Queen CharIotte's Island in 7S38, and with two excep- tions the crew either died of starva- ton or met worse fate at the hands of the cannibal natives. If one boat came from Japan there is every req son to believe that others may have crossed the Pacific years before. The topography of the country is such that in order to reach the section in which they now live in coming from the East wide rivers would have to be crossed and the heights of the rocky coast range scaled. Even with these obstacles many students of In dian life claim that they went there from a more eastern locality rather than from Japan. However, they are in Alaska. with manners and customs entirely different from any of the tribes of the States.
 After the coming of the White Man, and especially after the K1ondilxe rush, the Indians began to decrease. and the number of them has been reduced fully thirty per cent by death. There are numerous deserted villages where these people once lived strong and healthy subsisting on game and wild fruits and wearing warm furs throughout the cold season. Now they have for the most part discarded their picturesque blankets and animal skin sAcbes for gaudy. i1l-ftting American clothes of an inferior quality. Fneu- monia is common among them, being easily contracted from lack of suita- bIe winter clothing. Consumption has played havoc in their ranks, and a contag 2us disease such as measles or diphtheria soon becomes epidemic from their ignorance as to it's proper treatment. The shaman or medicine man still practices his incantations, and the mortality in some sections has been appalling.
 Various Tribes.
 The Indians are known under the general name of Thlinkets, and are divided into tribes called the Chilkats.
The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-05-15
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Stckenes, YakutatS, Haidaho, A1euts and Auks. There is nothing pictur- esque in either the dress or the make up of the squaws. The former usual Iy consists of a dirty calico or worsted dress, a greasy looking shawl and 9 the head. Many of them still cling to their moccasins. The Iabret or lip ornament is fast disappearing. but there is one woman in Wrangle who still wears it. She appears to be about ninety years of age, although the tourist is told she is one hundred and ten. This hideous face decoration is peculiar to the Alaska Indians.
 Queer Styles.
 An incision is made in the chin just below the lip and a piece of green wood forced into the hole. The wood swells and when the opening has healed the 1aboret-ai piece of aba lone shell or sometimes common glass about the size of a small spool, is often pulls the lip down, disclosing ragged teeth. But the laboret was at one time a mark of wealth and uni versaI1y worn. Rings through the nose were also in fashion anong both sexes, but this custom has entirely disappeared. Cheap American jew elry has taken the place of these once prized ornaments and fancy brac acelets and rings with colored glass setting adorn the arms and hands of the Isquaws.
 Women Have Rights.
 The ambitions of the suffragists have been carried to the fullest extremes among the Alaskan Indians. The women do all the bartering and trading, and the children take the crests of their mothers=indeed, the members of the fathers family are
The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-05-15

mechanism, the. putting in place of
 the business end of the "peacemaker'
 and then, provided with a portion or it's mount, the weapon is ready to go
 to the trial ground for it's proof firing. The mere handling of one of the
The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-05-15

Saving Time and Labor In the Making of Heavy Ord nance . Lessons of the Present War Taken To Heart lnGun Making Cooperation Between Private Plants and Government Work
 shops Tricks of the Trade.
The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-05-15
Various Tribes.

The Indians are known under the general name of Thlinkets, and are divided into tribes called the Chilkats.
The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-05-15

hasIA Quickened Demand For Big Guns that The United States
The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-05-15

' HE Alaskan Indian is so unlike the Red Man of our great
 West that he is probably of a
 different racial stock Many
The evening herald. (Klamath Falls, Or.) 1906-1942, 1916-08-23
DANCE

WE ch,'eets sserey 10 shs nome u
.As svrs e~vpcsW,ss ~
The evening herald. (Klamath Falls, Or.) 1906-1942, 1916-08-23
Claimed England Saved
the U.S.Cotton Industry

18th the king signed the order in coun-
Gil declaring cotton contraband.
mo panic followed. What we had
done was not generally known and the
strength OF cotton In the open market
must have been mystery to the spec
uiators. In the FIRST week cotton went
up cent. Within month It was up
3 l.2 cents. So the planters received
$60. .0Ov.0 more for the crop that year
tnan they would have received In nor.
NAL times"
is the British government ready to
follow with the same action for the
1876 crop?" was asked.
ut looks AS II the 1916 crop would
be able to sell itself without British
MD" said Rose. Rose. an EngliAh sub
ject. has been in the cotton business
ali his life. He added In conclusion
that every bale Of cotton that has been
sieaed BY the British has been paid
10, and no shipper has lost money ex-
cept possibly on cotton for which he
would have received an exhorbitant
pi oft II he had gotten It to Germany.
Instead OF Its being seized by the Brit
lsh. Every bale seized. he said, has
been sold to spinners in England and
not II single bale remains in storage.
The evening herald. (Klamath Falls, Or.) 1906-1942, 1916-08-23
United Press Service.

H
WASHINGTON, Aug. 20. - Uncle
Sam will put a vocational course Of
training In every high school in the
country II bill that has Just passed
the senate also passes the house Of
representatives. Indications today IKE
that the bill will become law soon.
Tho bill was introduced simultan-
eously in both houses by Senator Hoke
Smith and Representative Hughes.
both Of Georgia. 1t Ii an elaboration
OF the federal aid system by which the
United States government annually
contributes nearly 100000 10 each
state for the maintenance Of agricul-
tural colleges and experiment stations.
as well a. four million. one hundred
thousand dollars to carry on the rural
extension system Of vocational instruc.
tjon for farmers throughout the coun-
try.
The proposed law is the result 0f .
steadily growing conviction that the
prospective farmer. or. nowadays. the
scientifc agriculturfst. should be ex-
tended the opportunities Of m agri-
cultural schooling 1t an early age ans
not be compelled to attend the agri.
cultural college for the rudimsnts Of
his trade.
II has been felt that . large proper
ton Of boys destined TO make their liv.
Ing from tho soil are unable to afford
a college education and need high
school credits for college entrance any
how. ~
Eighteen states now extend aid to
their high schools for courses In agri-
culture. the mechanic arts and home
! economies. Minnesota annually ap-
p:opriates 100000 for this work.
To standardixe and nationalist the
Eigh school aid work the SMITH Hughes
bill provides that the United States
shall share in the payment Of salaries
to state teachers. inspectors and d.
rectors in state high schools. II also
provides for the federal board Of vo.
cational education.
This board. which would consist of
the Commissioners Of Education Of the
United States as chairman and -four
members to be appointed. (not more