The Elk Mountain pilot., 1919-10-23

along the Hackensnck river. Having satisfied
their appetes the scouts turned In" for the night
Scout Coyte awakening opposite his face
Il small thick bundle, coll. Very quickly he
realized that 1t was venomOus snake of the
copperhead variety. and instinctively he thrust
his arm upward TO protect his head and neck. He
had not done so too quickly. however. for the
reptile had sprung forward. burying Its fanEs
deep into the protecting arm. Withdrawing
quickly and wrixgiing OF into the shrubbery along
the river bank.
Young COyte awakened his companion and they
improvi>ed tourniquet from his handkerchief and
II small stick Realizing that the wound not
flowing freely enough he cut into and around the
bite until 1t bled prOfusely. Emptying the contents
OF cartridge into the break In his hesh he ap
piled fume to the powder and withstOOd the tenn
porary pnin. 1t later determined that he had
successfully Offset the possibility OF fatal result
through his commendabe presence Of mind. He
had burnt all truce of poison completely from his
and In n few days was again back Mt his job
the worse for his experience.
1t is II principle of the boy scout movement to
avoid secret ceremonies and limitations High
tensioned limitations are dangerous to boys in the
adolescent stage. The virtues Of the ceremony
carried out. however. by the scout council for
Delaware and Montgomery counties. Pennsylvania,
obvious. Its thrills real and yet reason
able. that 1t can readily be used,
Their camp site was occupied many years
ago by the Cnnmi tribe OF Indiana This tribe
had an initiation ceremony for Its young men
which hns been preserved up to the present day.
Scouts who have taken camp hODors by doing 4
specified amount of work In scOutcraft given
this Initiation under the direction Of r. Harring-
ton and Alonson Skinner Of the Institute of Amer
lean Indians of New York The ceremonies
performed by Amos Overload, Sioux Indian con-
nected with the institute. They are described as
follows:
Ceremonies Of Initiation.
The ceremonies should begin before dusk and,
with the fasting, etc. should last about % hours.
The first thing before beginning the ceremony 10
to make Indian "sweat house for publication.
then build large fire some distance east Of its
entrance and to heat II stones varying from the
size of cOconut to that Of mans SKULL Two
forked green sticks should he provided to roll the
hot stones into the sweat house: also two large
earthen Jars Of wnter should be placed at the
back of the sweat house opposite the door. to-
six inches long. When all is ready the chief.
the sweat house and addresses the candidates
lined up stark naked before him. He makes
speech to them. something like this:
My sons about to take you a little way
along the Unami trail to show you the ways of
the Lena PIE grandfathers. But first must
purify ourselves outwardly by the sweat bath,
inwardly by the black drink (made of herbs), for
such is the custom that hns been handed down to
u.s. When has been purified in these ways the
powers of nature will look upon l,im with favor,
and the winds will whisper sweet words In his
ears-nll will help him to endure the trials that
be his tomorrow"
He then goes into the sweat house and seats
himself In the bnck opposite the door; the cnndi-
dates follow and seat themselves around the
sides The Oshkosh roll the u hot stones Into a