The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1920-10-24

arrived. China was Inhabited by abo- |
riginal tribes, which We're pushed /.
south and west just as the Indians |
were driven westward by the white |
men when they advanced across the
American continent The remnants
of these ancient tribes, such as the
Lolos. Mosos, Lsos and others, are
rapidly disappearing and yet almost
nothing is known of the origin, life
or customs.
Although many of the aborigines
were scattered among the mountains
of Yunnan and Kweichow and along
| the Tibetan frontier, the Lolos still
maintain an independent territory in
/ Szechuan, one of the richest and
most populous provinces OF China.
No Chinese is permitted to cross
the invisible lines of their king
dom" without the probability of in
| curing a violent death. Continual
raids are carried on back and forth
along the border. Perhaps the Chi
nese will capture score or more
of Lolos who have ventured to glimpse
the world beyond their wild hills and
valleys. In retaliation, a few nights
later, the Lolos will burn whole
Chinese village, kill all the men and
carry the women into slavery. Thus
the Lolos have earned a reputation
as barbaric savages. And yet a
French explorer who crossed their
territory, properly "chaperoned," re-
ports them to be "A charming people,
of hospitable temper and high men
tality. He is one of the few scientists
who have penetrated the land of the
Lolos and live to tell the tale. Mr..
Andrews. who has hunted with Lolos
in Yunnan found them independent,
to be sure but delightful in their
native courtesy and simplicity.
He SAYS: 1T is impossible not to
be interested in this strange peo.
pie. They are totally unlike the Chi
nese, for they are tall and slender,
with long faces and patrician noses,
and they show every indication Of
Caucasian blood. If they have it,,
where did it come from? This is
one of the questions that should be
answered before the Lolos disappear,
as the other tribes are rapidly doing y
There are many reasons why Cen
trail Asia has remained scientifically
unexplored for so long time. II
is remote and difficult of access that
the cost of conducting work on a
large scale is enormous. Moreover,
the country and its inhabitants pres
.lf,sn n1IA 90 n
research. Not only are there vast
intersecting mountain chains water
less deserts and treeless plains, but
in many parts the climate is too
cold for effective work in winter. In
some places the natives are exceed
ingly suspicious OF foreigners; reli-
gious superstitions greatly handicap
research and make il decidedly dam
gerous The Chinese have many
superstitions regarding the ground.
The feng shut, the spirits of the
earth, wind and water, must always
be favorable before a burial takes
place, and it is exceedingly unlucky
to disturb the ground in the region
of a cemetery. Though our palaeon-
difficulties in the more settled por-
tions, they can probably overcome
them by tact and n proper under
standing of the situation. Those in
charge Of railroads and other COM
\ mercial projects that have involved
digging in China have always been
able to compromise with protesting
| 4l.Atr
within the past ten years a very
great change in attitude. In Tibet
conditions are even more difficult.
All the gold in the country belongs
to the Lama church and the natives
can conceive of only two reasons
why foreigners should come to their
country--either as gold-seekers or as
missionaries.
Obtaining the animals for the
groups in the Hall of Asiatic Life
will furnishs excitement enough FOR
the most blase sportsmen. In a cor
ner Of the Cobb Desert are few
: herds of the only living wild horses
= Moreover, horses, asses and antelopes
, can be run down in motor cars, las
soed by Mongol cowboys and some
? Of the specimens brought back alive
TO the New York geological Park
Not far from this particular part OF
e the desert, mountains tower to
0 height of fifteen thousand feet, where
. there are bighorn sheep and ibe1
that have never heard the cracl
p Of high-power rifle. on the Tibe'
tan steppes are enormous yak, snow
leopards. giant pandas and beaut
= full golden monkeys with blue, upturn'
g ed noses: some of these species arr
- among the rarest and least known
70 animals of the world. In China Il
- the takin, a creature with a veritabl'
= golden fleece" a strange ox-ike ami
i NAL that roams the highest mountain
= valleys and that actually represent
an intermediate stage between tn
i antelope and the goat. IN the for
a ests Of Manchuria is the long-haire'
G tiger Of the Amur river tige
e larger and finer than the royal Ben