davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
New-York tribune., 1919-05-18

three inches long, to which is attached
stone or other heavy object, such as
hammer or an ax-blade. Before the
beginning of the performance the win
dow has been covered with a thick
skin or blanket. All the people take
thelr seats IN circle about the sha-
man as far away as possible from the
centre of the house, leaving him in an
rnoccupied circle of perhaps ten feet
IN diameter. The lights are put out
and the house is so dark that one can
see absolutely nothing Nevertheless.
every one leans forward and closes his
eyes tightly. If there are any children
present an older person sits behind
each> child and holds his hands over
the child's eyes.
The moment after the light goes out
the shaman begins to chant q magic
song. Presently he says: "I do not
teel SO heavy now as I usually do.
Somehow it seems as If were not sit
ting very heavily upon the floor. Now
| am becoming as light as a feather
Now l am beginning to want to rise
like dry stick in water"
All these things he says in a low
and indefinite tone of voice, speaking
we'll IN his throat so that it is difficult
to judge just how far away he is, but
OF course thus far every one knows
exactly where he is, for he remains
(by his own account) in the centre Of
the circle where he was when the
lights were put out.
New-York tribune., 1919-05-18
New Beliefs
Gladly Added

The belief in the spirit fight is aS
strong as ever at Point Barrow after
more than ten years os Christianity, as
the belief in witchcraft was in England.
after more than ten centuries Of Chris
tianity
At one time made short stay az
Point Atkinson, where a village Oh
Christianized Esquimau had gathered
around the wintering place Of p
.whaler, the North Star. The shipN
master, Captain Matthew Anderson, and
l talked much with young EsquimauI
who had lived long in the house oa
the Church of England missionarga
Mr.. Fry, and who was considered pyI
the rest of the Esquimaus TO be an snA
thority on the doctrines of the Church.
l asked him whether he believed nDI
countrymen were able TO fly to tnsl
noon, or from one village TO anotneI)
magically. He said, and there wen
half dozen other people in the hou"
at the time who agreed with him, tas'
the fact of many people being able '0'
fly to the moon was a matter Of con-
mon knowledge, just as their aoi'"
to walk on snowshoes or to snare pta.'
migan was matter of common know
edge. We asked the boy to spech'|
some of the people who could do th's!
and he named among others AluaiuAl
at whose house l would sleep on my
way west the first day after leaVinsl
Captain Anderson's place. Dc a'saI
specified a young man whom | kneSl
we'll, named Kublualuk, who had io"s|
been in the employ Of the mounted p0'
lice at Herschel Island. 4
Alualuk, he said, had unfortunately
embraced Christianity and had s'heY
then ceased to fly. but Kublualnh' La
thought, had not yet been conver'eo
and would still have his old powers
There were others who could do IL to0'
some of them right in the village Dc
side US; but he thought that perhaps
mono of them would fly even II asked
them to, because they now understood
that to employ familiar spirits II
wicked and that q man cannot emp''s
them without endangering his pres
poets OF salvation.
Copyright 1912. by vnh3slmur stcfans'
New-York tribune., 1919-05-18

Ting down; now I am down on the
floor; now you may open your eyes and
light the lamps" The lamps are
lighted, and 10! there sits the shaman
exactly where he was when the lights
were put out three-quarters of an
hour before.
Some one now unties the .shaman
and he relates to an attentive audience
his adventures on the spirit flight. He
went to the moon and approached the
house of the man in the moon. He did
not dare to enter, but waited outs de
until the man in the moons wife came
out, saw him and invited him in. Short
ly after the man in the moon himself
came home from caribou hunt, bring
ing with him a backload of meat and
number of marrow bones. A meal
was prepared Of caribou meat, and
after that the three Of them cracked
marrow bones until the broken bones
lay In large heap on the floor.
The man in the moon said that last
year the caribou hunt had not been
very good in the moon, but this year
1T was much better; the caribou in the
moon this year were fatter than usual.
which was no doubt due to the fact
that the summer had been cool and
there had not been very many mos
quitoes.
The man in the moons wife also
joined in the conversation, saying that
they had already secured an abundance
of skins for clothing for the coming
winter, and that as for sinew with
which to sew they had enough already
for two years. She inquired for the
shaman's wife, whether his little boy
had begun yet to kill ptarmigan.
whether the people in the shaman's
village carefully kept all the taboos
and who it was that had broken some,
for she knew from the vapor arising
from the village that something was
amiss.
The shaman had answered her oues-
tions to the best of his ability. He re-
GREETED that certain young woman
had been very careless in sewing Carl
bou skin soon after the killing of
white whales, and various other things
of this sort the shaman was compelled
reluctantly to tell, for he was a truth
ful man and must speak out, although
he was ashamed Of his fellow country
men and would gladly have been able to
conceal the facts from the moon
people.
Time Is not measured the same way
IN the moon upon earth, the shaman
tells, and really he had been in the
moon long time, although on earth
it seemed but a short while that he
was away. He had fingered, feasted
and talked, but finally his visit was
at an end, and he started OFF, promis-
ing the man in the moon to visit him
again next year.
When the shaman's narrative is
over a general discussion takes place,
in which both mon and women Join,
and finally when tho crowd gets tired
and sleepy they dispense to their own
homes.
This that we have described ia not
one Of tho most wonderful miracles.
New-York tribune., 1919-05-18

but merely the commonest one and the
best attested. Some miracles, such as
the walking on water, are of rare oc-
currence, and only few people have
seen them. Raising people from the
dead IS also rare thing. But every
man and woman you meet can attest
the genuineness of the spirit fight.
for they have all been present when
1T was done Besides that, such things
are a matter of common knowledge
among the people. You might as we'll
try to convince an Englishman that
balloon flights have never been taken
in the British Isles as attempt to per
suade an Esquimau that spirit flights
have never occurred in the Mackenzie
delta.
One day when I was explaining to
my Esquimau that there were noun
tains on the moon and going into de-
tails of the moons physical charac-
teristics the account I gave did not
coincide with the opinion held by nv
Esqulmau listeners, and they asked me
how l knew these things were so.
l explained that we had telescopes
as long as the masts of ships and that
through them we could see the things
on the moons surface. "But had anv
white man ever been to the moon ."
was asked, and when l replied that
no one ever had, they said tt At while
they did not have any telescopes as
long as ships masts, yet they did have
men, and truthful men, too, that had
been to the moon, walked about there
and seen everything and they had come
back and told them about it. With all
Difference to the ingenuity of white
men, they thought that under the cir
cuin stances the Esquimaus ought to be
better informed than the white men
as to the facts regarding the moon.
New-York tribune., 1919-05-18

the minds Of the Esquimau such be.
liefs as we have described you would find
Gas have found upon occason) that
you would succeed no better than did
Mark Twain's Yankee in his crusade
against Merlin. But if you concern
yourself not with the unteaching of old
beliefs, but with the teaching Of nsE
ones, you will find an easy path before
you. The Esquimaus already believe
many mutually contradictory things,
and they will continue believing then
while they gladly accept and d,voutly
believe everything you teach ta,m
They will, as the Christianized Arctic
Esquimaus are in fact doing, continue
believing all they used to bslisvs and
will believe all the new things On VI
of that.
New-York tribune., 1919-05-18
r1ts tor Sale After July 1?-Ask the EsQui1ns

kat?" (that being the Mackenzie River
name for familiar spirit).
eyes. | don't see why I might not.
am getting to be an old man now and
shall not need their services much
longer. Besides, have had my eye on
you for long time and shall be glad
to have you for my successor I think
| might let you have my Polar Bear
spirit"
"That would be kind of you, but
don't you think you could spare your
Tide Crack spirit?"
"Well, no; that is the one that in
tend to keep to the very last. It has
been very faithful to me and useful,
but If you don't like the Polar Bear
spirit you might have my Indian
spirit"
AND so tho bargaining goes on, until
finally It Is decided that the young
man buys Raven spirit for an umiak
tskin boat). freshly made Of FIVE beluga
(white porpoise) skins, twenty sum-
mer killed deer skins, two bags of seal
oil, green stone labret, and things of
that sort without end-giving a new
boat, in fact, loaded with all sorts of
gear.
The young man now goes home, and
presently, using the appropriate for
mula given him by the shaman, he
summons his familiar spirit, but the
familiar spirit refuses to appear. The
young man then goes back to the old
shaman and says to him: "How is this
The spirit which you sold me has not
come" And the old man replies: "Wcll.
l cannot help that. I transferred him
to you in good faith, and if you are
one Of those persons with whom spirits
refuse to associate, that Is thing
which I cannot help. I did my part in
the matter"
In our hypothetical case we have
supposed the young man to go back to
the shaman to complain over the non
arrival of the spirit. AS matter of
fact, 1t is only once or twice In a gener-
alton that such thing takes place.
When he once has publicly paid for the
spirit the young man has everything
to lose by admitting that he did not
receive It. He cannot get back what
he paid for It; he cannot have the ad
vantage Of being considered a shaman.
and he will lose social standing through
the publication Of the fact that the
spirit refuses to associate with him.
AS a matter Of practice, therefore,
the purchaser will pretend that he re-
ceived the spirit, and he will announce
that fact. Some time later sickness
occurs In family or valuable article
Is lost. The young man is appealed
to, and in order to keep up the de-
ception which he has begun by pre-
tending to have received tho spirit. he
goes into az good an imitation of a
trance as he can manage, for he has
from childhood up watched the sha-
mans In their frances.
II he succeeds in the cure or what
ever the object Of tho seance may be.
his reputation is made, and If he does
not succeed nothing is lost, for 1t is as
! easy tor An Dsouimau to explain the
New-York tribune., 1919-05-18
Spirits for
Sale

The ordinary Mackenzie River sha-
man has about half dozen familiar
spirits, any Of which will do his bid
ding. When engaged in some such
thing as tho finding Of hidden ar
ticle tho shaman will summon these
spirits one after another and send
them out separately in search Of tho
lost article. Evidently man may be
able to get along fairly we'll with Ave
familiar spirits, though he may be In
the habit Of employing six. exactly as
we can dispense with an extra servant.
A shaman may be old and decrepit or
for soms other reason may be what we
should call "hard up" This is a pro-
pitious occasion for some ambitious
young man to obtain familiar spirit,
Hc will 90 to the old nhaman, and
soma such conversation as this will
tnko places
"Win .yon ssll sns one IL yeus ksyu-
New-York tribune., 1919-05-18

failure Of shamanistic performance
as 1t Is Tor us to explain why a PRAYER
is not answered. 1t may have been be-
cause some other more powerful
shaman was working against him. or it
may have been for any one of thou
sand reasons, all of which are salts
factory and sufficient to the Esuuimau
mind.
The fact that most things have a re-
llglous or supernatural explanation i'm
plies that few things have natural ones.
The miracles of the Esquimau are like
ours IN being of supernatural origin,
but they differ from ours in being OF
more frequent occurrence. 1t would
surprise most of US to see miracles
happening all around US. 1t is not so
with the Esquimaus. They expect them
continually, and when any one tells of
having seen or heard of miraculous
thing, there is only unquestioning be-
lief, for it is but the narration Of mn
expected occurrence and an ordinary
one
Apparently, miracles may happen at
the lnstigation of uncontrolled spirits,
but certainly over 80 per cent of them
are directly ascribed to the activities
Of spirit controlled by some shaman.
The list Of the different kinds and
characteristics of miracles would be
too long to recite. We shall describe
merely what, among Mackenzie River
Esqulmaus, at least, is the commonest
OF all miracles, the best understood and
most universally vouched for the
spirit flight in which the actual BODY
of the shaman flies to some distant
place, sometimes to neighboring viii
lage, often to 4 far country, and most
frequently of all to the sun. to the
moon or to the bottom of the sea.
There is also another kind of spirit
flight In which the body remains in it's
place and the soul alone goes abroad
These two sorts Of spirit flight differ
essentially in this: That while the
first must be performed in darkness
the second can be managed in DAYLIGHT
The bodily shamanistic flight takes
place usually at night in winter and
in the dark of the moon. The event is
announced beforehand and all those
who desire to be present gather in the
clubhouse or the largest available pri
vate residence. AS is always the case
in the Mackenzie River houses. there
is one window at the peak of the "cot
tage "-shaped roof, and directly under
this, near tho centre of the floor. sits
the shaman, usually wearing no clothes
except knee e-breeches, although he NAV
be fully dressed. Two or three mon
who are skilled in the manipulation of
ropes take a long thong and tie and
truss the shaman until, humanity sneak
ing, it Is impossible for him to move.
Usually one feature of the tyinr ia
that blight of the rope is passed un-
der HIS knees and over the back Of his
neck and the rope drawn tight until
his chin rests between his knees.
New-York tribune., 1919-05-18
The Shan1an
ASCendS

The next stage of the performance
Is that the shaman, still speaking in
the manner of ventriloquist, saws:
"Now I am beginning to rise: now I
am going to fly in circles slowly lust
above the floor; now I am flying fast:
now | am flying faster" Presently the
people begin to hear a whizzing noise.
This Is the stone or ak which was
attached to the loose rope-end. The
shaman is now flying in circles so fast
that the centrifugal force makes the
hammer on the rope-end produce a.
whizzing noise. If any one were to
open his eyes, even little, to see what
was going on the hammer would strike
him in the head, killing him instantly
Consequently, the louder the whizzinr
noise the more tightly is every eve
squeezed shut and the moro firmly are
the hands OF the parents held over the
eyes of their children.
While the hammer still continues the
whizzing noise the voice of the shaman
Is heard to say: Now l am rising
above your heads; now am getting
near the roof; now I am about to pass
out through the window" Then the
voice grows actually fainter and fainter
as the shaman rises toward the roof
and flies out through the window, and
finally the whizzing noise dies away
in the distance.
For half an hour or more the au-
dience sits in absolute silence with
eyes shut, and then Is heard again the
shaman's voice: NOW I am coming
IN through the window; now am set
New-York tribune., 1919-05-18
Miracles a Matter
OF Course

On the other hand, II I told them
there we're ten carbon In band I saw
ana they later on discovered there
were only FIVE, they would be d,sin-
ciined to believs mo II told them
there was but ono god. Tho reasoning
would simply be this; "He did not tell
ss tho truth about tho number Of
caribou, therefore how can we rsly-on
New-York tribune., 1919-05-18
Getting Ready
To Fly

When tho tying is done there is al
ways left over q loose rope-end about
Evening capital and Maryland gazette. (Annapolis, Md.) 1910-1922, 1919-06-25
MRS. GOLDSBOROUGH
SEEKS ABSOLUTE DIVORCE

Mrs Ida b GoIdsborough, 0f Beth.
seda, Montgomery county. who on
May rs, 1914. was granted limited
divorce from DIR. Martin W. Colds.
borough. OF Cambridge, Md, on the
ground Of cruelty, has fled suit In the
Circuit Court for an absolute decree.
The latest bill alleges desertion and
sets forth that they were married Au.
gust ., 1895, and lived together until
June 6. 1912 They have two children,
Heath p. Goldsborough and Phillips
Lee Goldsborougb aged is and lg
years. respectively The suit Is
brought through Robert B. Peter. at.
torney.
Mrs. Goldsb0rough IS q daughter Of
I. Heath Dodge, Of Bethesda. Doctor
GoIdsborough is younger brother OF
former Governor Phillips Lee Colds.
borough and held an Official position
at Annapolis during the latter's adj
ministration. He made no contest to
his wife's irst divorce action and is
not expected ID fight the present pro.
eeedings.
Evening capital and Maryland gazette. (Annapolis, Md.) 1910-1922, 1919-06-25
g TIngDAFD BIZ RS
HOLD LAST 81 TIlSG
or PIX EMIT SEASON
Hfhllcal Rfeale Held ~ Ysamg Ladies
in Old FashHenea Gardem
Az sAAefsn@

with is old fashioned garden as i
setting amid its box hedges ald nod
ding phiox and niarigold blossoms the
young ladies IL The STANDARD Bearers.
i Missionary Society of the First Meth
odist Episcopal Church. hold their last
meeting 81 the season yesterday at
Acton the home of AErs. Kadesch.
The meeting took the form De i
biblical Picnic al the menu vas
chosen 4 Ia scriptural reference The
idea had III inception with the sn-
perinIendans VI the young ladies, Miss
Nellie Dadds. wliO arranged the pro-
gram. and gave i talk Oh Out W Doors
with the Missionaries. taking for her
theme India. the out of door mia
sionary field She referred to the
great missionary workers She rarely
taught iii the temple or synagogue. but
On the hillside and mountain top.
After the business meeting social
afternoon was enjoyed, and the Stand
ard bearers adjourned To meet again
HI September next.
Evening capital and Maryland gazette. (Annapolis, Md.) 1910-1922, 1919-06-25
VOLUNTEER FIREMEN
GIVE CRAB FEAST
FOR EX-SoLDIERS


Il was i happy thought that prompt
ed the members OF No. 2 Independent
Fire Company of the City Volunteer
Fro department to entertain their
fellow members who have returned
from overseas and III the camps ard
environments, having answered the
cali Or their country
This entertainment took the form Of
i crab feast aud WAS held on Sunday
at "The Island IN the Severn. the
beautiful spot in Round Bay owned BY
County Commissioner, James a. Wal.
ton, who gave its use for The purpose.
The firemen hosts and their guests
left IN the morning with an abundant
supply be crabs, and sandwiches Of MI
kinds, soft drinks, cigars and ciga
rettes for days outing returning III
the evening at 10 o'clock greatly
pleased with the trip. A portion Of the
Naval Academy orchestra accompa-
MED the party and enlirened the DC.
casi0n with delightful music. All par.
Elephants expressed themselves de.
lighted with the cutting and the ser
vice men were especially apprecia-
tive of the motive that prompted it.
Evening capital and Maryland gazette. (Annapolis, Md.) 1910-1922, 1919-06-25
SUI R COURSE FOR
school. TEACHERS

Some Of the anne Arundel county
teachers are tasang advantage 0f The
six-week course for teaehers oE the
elementary schools which began yes
teraay al the State Normal Schools at
TOwson. Fr0stburg. Ocean City and
Bowie. under the supervision of the
Maryland State Board 81 Education.
al ST. Johns Military Academy, fhig
city. under the supervision 81 Anne
Arundel county, and at College Park
under the supervision 81 the Stale
hoard 81 Agriculture Courses FOR
teachers Of the high schools viii be-
gin On July 5. aud viii be conducted
al Johns Hopkins University
a total of more than 800 teachers
of the elementary schools began the
course yesterday Of these $50 are
eolored teachers. the largest enroll
ment Of coiored teachers ever record
ed In Maryland There are total of
100 coieFed teachers it present teach
Ing Id the state
Evening capital and Maryland gazette. (Annapolis, Md.) 1910-1922, 1919-06-25
SUMMER SCHOOL OPENS
AT ST. JOHNS COLLEGE

Today the summer school at st
Johns College opened under favorable
conditions The outlook Is encourag
ing. AS teachers who will take The
summer course and others are still
coming ID It Is fmpracticabIe to alp
prOxinlate the attendance.
q fair number registered this morn.
Ing, and will continue to register until
Monday OF Tnesday Of next SEX. All
parts Of the State are represented
All members Of the faculty De the
summer school were present at the
opening This morning and each gave
m encouraging talk to the students.
ST. Johns summer school promises
this year the fourth since It's lnaug-
urasson, To eclipse any of its predec-
sorg
Evening capital and Maryland gazette. (Annapolis, Md.) 1910-1922, 1919-06-25
EgTe
SAVE IaIPRaYH.E Ed CREW

va BaIkiInOreans took part iii d
ln snEdocean tw0 weeks ago
sn tbs Americas steamer Henry
Oss. Capt. yohn J0hns0n. bound
Norway. replysug 10 the distress
aia d. sinking Newfoundland
aar. pulled Oh the crew oa SEVEN
~ Iii safety The men we're landed
AZ nEs, England.
TIE Henry II Scott Ii well known
M Baistmor0, having been ovekhauled
paggowe Point last April Her
pzt assistant engineer, Al Sampson,
nma third assistant engineer, w 4.
DliangeF. are BaltimOreans.
Driven farther out to sea by storms
ben ahOus 900 rnlleg from Newfouni-
Aand. the schooner. the Mabel Davies.
90 her msaidan voyage, with cargo
of salt. began TO leak For III days
assa was tossed about. her distress sig
nais nalnoticed and her two pumps
going night and day. Tie crew burn
- the Iaat of It's OH on top Of bar
res. but there SIS no sign Of rescue.
Then one Of the men sighted the Henry
n Ecoft, which replied to their appeal
for heip, but had to stand By on ac-
c0mnt Oh the violence az the storm,
Which made tho lowering Of q life
beat impossible. AT times the schoon-
IA drtfted q half mile away, but the
crew Of the Henry +. Scott kept at Its
Task until the rescue vas made
Evening capital and Maryland gazette. (Annapolis, Md.) 1910-1922, 1919-06-25
WORK ON BULKHEAD rs
PROGRESSING RAPIDLY

Work on the balkhead al the foot of
Charles street. which was begun some
days ago Is being done quite rapidly
The only delay which the construction
company has met was encountered
Monday when ii was found that some
longer piles were needed than those
which they had on the Job. AS re
suit the driving pilings was suspend
I'd for the time 10 await the arrival Of
the longer ones. which have been or
dered and are On their way to Annap.
oils from point down the bayside.
In the meanwhile the pilIngs which
have been driven have been straight.
ened up. and the cutting Of these was
10 be begun today with the irst nov
tide, The driven pilings will BE cut
las low as possible, and the heavy cap
ping logs fastened on top Of them.
after which the space behind the
Nharflog will be filled with earth.
Materials for the Gaping arrived
yesterday on the schooner, Jennie r.
Fo0te. from Baltimore,
Dredging will not be begun until
the wharf Is all completed, Most Of
the material 10 Be dredged out is i
very thin mud which will doubtless
have very unpleasant odor, So
ST Is hoped hat the dredging will
not take a very long time after 1t III
once started The mud will be re-
moved on fatboats to point In the
bay which will be designated BY the
government, and there dumped.