The Birmingham age-herald., 1917-01-07

adopt American ways
 Many of the Eskimos now speak Eng fish, and their children go to the gov ernment schools. Twenty-one schools are maintained on the peninsula, and about 800 Eskimo children attend them. The teachers tell me that the children have more than ordinary intelligence Some of them have good minds and many reach a high proficiency in reading and writing. One of the little girls recently went from here to Plattsburg, N. Y, where she en- tered the fifth grade. in a class below her in the same Eskimo school here in Alaska were two boys, one a full-blooded Esikn1o and the other the son of white man. The white boy had been to school in the states, and he thought he could easily beat the Eskimo. At the end of the first week the Eskimo was at the head of the class, and he held that place through out the year. That boy studied arithme- tic, including percentage, interest, com mission, freight and profit and loss He could calculate the cost of whalebone Ifrom the time it came from the whale until it was turned into goods and brought back to Alaska.
 I wish could show you the Eskimo babies. They are the brightest sweet est, and I might say also the dirtiest I vet met with in my travels over the world. They are full of fun and they romp about mimicking their fathers and mothers and everything else under the sun. The most of them are dressed in furs and some look like large fuzzy balls. Their parents have supersti- tion that if the children be photo graphed their souls will be under the control of the photogra pher. even ha ha far from the camera It required consid erable coaxing for me to get my Eski- mo photographs, and I was able to suc- ceed only by pointing the camera in another direction and then turning quickly and making the snapshot be- fore they understood they were being l taken.
 And still these Eskimos seem to be the soul of good nature. They are all l ways smiling or laughing They sing and they seem to be fond of music and dancing. I went last night to one of their dances held in an old schoolhouse not far from the Eskimo section of Nome. The schoolhouse has but one room about 30 feet square. It Is walled with windows, and the light of the midnight sun made the in terior as bright day. On a bench under the windows sat the musicians, eight Eskimos dressed in native cos tune, and the room was filled with dancers. The music came from drums like tambourines. each consisting of q hoop as big around as a dishpan, over which skin was stretched like the parchment of drumhead. Each man had his own drum and he pounded upon this with a 1.-the white rod of the length of walking stick. Some of the drums were larger than others and the eight musicians produced all the notes of the octave They sang as they played and kept perfect time
 The first dance was by five sturdy young men, clad in long skin boots and trousers and shirts All wore gloves of skin or fur and all were barehead- ed. The dancing was largely a series of pastures. The men pounded the floor with their feet, they sprang into the air, and swung their arms this way and that, keepting time to the music They sang the while in loud raucous tones. their voices changing in expres sion according to the story of the song Now they seemed angry. as though singing of war, and again laughing when the tale was perhaps of more comic nature Much of the dancing was like that of Russia. and one or two of the dancers natives of Siberia Later women and girls entered the | an. with baby on her back. stood In the center and like a musical di- rector led the dancing
 I cannot describe the enthusiasm of the Eskimo audience during the dane ing. Around the walls, standing up or sitting on their heels were scores of these copper-skinned people, their slanting eyes ashine and their hands clapping as they lost themselves in the music. The features of all changed with the songs. and the crowd was more appreciative than any I have ever seen at a concert or dance in the states
 After the dancing was over. we went outside the schoolhouse and had an exhibition of blanket tossing as played by the Eskimos. In this 20 or S1 of the natives surrounded a tanned walrus hide about 10 feet square. hold ing 1t low with their hands. Then an Eskimo boy jumped into the middle of the hide. He stood upon his feet and at a word they jerk ed the hide taut, sending him up into the air As he fell they came closer together and then again threw themselves back tossing him higher and higher, and continuing to do so as long as he could keep his feet. Later an Eskimo girl took the boys place and then one or two or the strangers stepped on the hide and were tossed to the sky amid the hilarity of their Eskimo friends. We took up collection ana the amount was distributed among the performers.
 The Eskimos are rapidly learning the value of money The day has long gone by when they would give polar bearskin or a bale of foxskins for a fshhook They now know the value of their furs, and bring them to the best markets. During my stay the king of the Dfomede Islands, which He in Boring strait midway be- tween North America and Asia, brought the annual fur catch of his people here Tor sale. The furs consisted of the skins of fox, polar bear and other animals, and the whole amounted in value to some thousands of dollars I watched the sale, whlch was held in the billiard room of the hotel at Nome The skins were spread out over the tables. and the old chief. clad all in furs, sat half doubled up m chair smoking an Eskimo pipe, accept ing or rejecting the bids. His face was scanned with wrinkles, as though with tattooing. and he reminded me of the Maori chiefs I saw in New Zealand His skin was dark brown but bis hair was as white as the fur of his polar foxskins; and 1t stood out like brtstles over his head asked the fur dealers as to his character. They told me he was honest and much respected. They said he was wealthy, from an Eskimo standpoint, be. ing worth perhaps as much as $10,0o0, and owning schooner that cost him 5000