The Oklahoma City times. [volume] (Oklahoma City, Okla.) 1908-1984, 1919-10-31
COOKING WITHOUT
FIRE FIRST USED
IN new ZEALAND
Maoris Learn Art Of Prepar'
ing Food on Hot Stones,

WASHINGTON, D. Gwen the
New ~Zealanders, so far out OF the
beaten track OF world events that
their institutions and customs have
developed along unique lines. and so
self-%sustaining that the world war
scarcely affected their food supply.
are not isolated enough TO escape the
universal pinch OF high living cost,
according TO recent dispatches
The national geographic society
has issued the following bulletin oon-
corning our a~ntipodal neighbor:
Imagine boot-like Italy inverted.
with the tip Of her peninsular toe
pointed toward the eastern coast OF
Australia, some 1000 mile, distant.
and you gain a picture. both in sire
and contour, OF New Zealand.
Long accounted a social science
laboratory and political experiment
station, some physical features Of
New Zealand are equally unusual.
biologists found there a t~allleSS bird.
evolutionary souvenir, they believe,
OF the now extinct wlnglcsS moa.
ranging in size from that OF a turkey
10 a super.ostrich height OF twelve
feet from head to ground. Then
there Is . caterpillar which dies but
to live again in the form OF q plant,
which blossoms and goes TO seed.
In the instep OF the island boot
i' an area equal to that OF Connect
cut and Delaware together, where
boiling springs sprout from shores OF
ice-cold lakes. Kissing pillars OF
steam and columned vapor. punc,ure
the surface, phenomena comparable
only to the s,eaming. vaporous Valley
Of Ten Thousand Smokes. near Nj
katmai, Alaska
Seldom is a clearer ILLUSTRATION 10
be had OF the effects OF geography
upon people. In fact the demon
s~tra,ion was duplicated in New Yea
land, once with the Maoris, and then
with the English oolonists, The
Maori,, among the most remarkable
Of all savage tribes, are Polyne,ians.
They came, some 500 years ago. some
say from Tahiti. and found the
aborigines 'unappe,i,ing. but, as the
event proved, not indigestible.'
The climate OF New Zealand. with
is elastic air and perpetual notion
is more stimulating than the enervat-
ing air OF mos, Poiynesian islands,
Food was not waiting TO he plucked
from trees, and shelter had to be
provided. Hence the latent instincts
OF these savage cannibals were de-
veESped here as nowhere else and.
even before the English came, the
Maori. had gable rooted houses, with
deliberately carved posts and %lirtels.
and interiors decorated with designs
Of crude beauty.
Women we're needed In the Nrug-
gle against harsher natural forces, 60
they won positions Of esteem, and
were represented in tribal councils.
They were ingenious enough 10 bake
meats on heated stones; but not too
civilized 10 roast especially tough
cuts Of human flesh on this aborigl'
nal f%irclcss cooker.
European discovery OF the Islands
is attributed TO Tasman. in lbi2, but
exploration did no, take place until
the time OF Capt. James Cook, 80
years later, while colonization wa,
delayed until twenty years before our
civil a
The island population, exclusive
Of Maoris, now exceeds a million.
The Maoris. numbering about 5000.
have risen to a position Of eminence.
being represented in the legislative
assembly, in the cabinet, and having
physicians. attorneys and other pro-
fessional men Of note among their
number