The Washington herald., 1922-06-25
South Sea Islander Unable to Convince
Natives Of Wonders of White Mans Land
Young Boston Author
Discovers Modern Ideas
In Barber Shops.

awake. but never was this time
wsarisome to me. There was much
TO see In his house. I watched
Mari. who went from room TO room
with the singing broom This
strange instrument groaned family
and as the daughter moved It over
the soft mats which covered the
floor. II there were bits Of paper or
other rubbish there. after II had
passed over them these were gone.
Several times threw small OBJ
1ecfs In its path and always they
disappeared. That IL was q broom
] have no doubt. although I could
never understand 10 strange
thing. wish that you would ex-
plain 1t to my mother. for she says
i but tell a tale to make sport Of
ner. Brooms do not sing. she says.
neither does the dust Of the floor
disappear by enchantment.
Neither will my mother believe
that In America much of the food
Is cooked at little stoves of beau
tifui silver which stand on the ia
Bile where one eats: and that IRE
without smoke is made In them
only by pushing little button"
Explains Electric System.
At this point Roaki begged me
very earnestly for confirmation, so
that tried to explain to his mother
the nature Of electric coffee perco-
iators. egg-poachers. bread-toast-
ers. etc. She listened very courte-
ously, and then asked:
where does this fire come FROM"
Through wires." said. from a
great house, where IL is made ready
for many houses all over the village
OF Frisco"
you see?" said Roaki. "She be-
lieves you no more than she does
me. Sometimes ! wish that / had
not gone to America. for my people
only smile when tell them of
these things. II would have been
better had never spoken Of them"
Poor Roakil did what I could to
bear him out, but Il was to little
purpose, for i had to explain by
making comparisons with things
known to them. and this was DIM
cult.
Even my father doubts" he went
on. when I tell him Of the great
buildings which are nothing but
houses in layers. one above the
other, to q height ten times greater
than that OF our tallest coconut
trees. I have told him-how many
timesi-that one rides from house
to house in little car along q pas
sage which Is like a street standing
on end show him the picture Of
these houses and yet he doubts that
such things can be.
mo matter. We who have seen
them know that II is true. Apati
took me each morning to one Of
he went there do not know. but
he sat for an hour or two in a beau
tifui room, talking with friends and
who were far away perhaps.
TN one corner Of this room there
was an object under a glass globe
more curious by far. thar the sing
ing broom. It made a sound like
the clocks which the traders sell
us. and a ribbon OF paper. covered
with numbers, came from the globe
and fell into a basket. Sometimes
Apau rose from his chair and
looked at the ribbon which moved
always out of the globe. into the
basket
He tried to explain this to me.
.Tika," he said. -Tika. Roaki! At
last I understood He meant TO
say Tiki which as you know. in
our language means one Of the old
heathen gods which were wor-
shipped before the coming Of the
white missionaries. And yet this
is strange. for the missionaries tells
us that you have but one god. Are
there others, then, which We know
nothing aboutT'
'T hope 1 may be forgiven by the
missionaries, but the question was
fred at me so Unexpectedly that u
was forced to admit to Roaki the
existence of other gods in America
And how could / have explained to
him the nature and the functions OF
a ticker, that indispensable piece
Of equipment in a modern business
ONCE. assured him. however. that
his friend Apati was a Christian
and only very rarely fell from grace
and worshipped the "Tika"; and he
was always sorry for II afterward.
ct know that he 10 q Christian"
he said, "for there are many Bibles
in his house. In one room there was
nothing but Bibles. shelf after shelf
of them from floor to ceiling. These
were in many different covers. and
some had pictures OF the saints,
and Of wicked men and women Of
whom we read in the Scriptures.
Modern Barser shop Ideas.
while Apati talked with his
friends. in the pleasant room" he
continued. at looked out Of the win
dows into other, rooms, which were
opposite to the one where we were:
for this great building was hol-
low in the center with layers of
houses on all four sides OF IL. In
to be shaved or to have their hair
cut with the scissors. There were
beautifully dressed women in this
house who held the hands of the
men while they were being shaved.
AT FIRST I thought that men with
family troubles came here seeking
new wives, but soon saw the wo-
men were trimming the nngernafis
of the men and rubbing them with
cloths. Sometimes three people
were busy to make beautiful the,
man in the long chair: one to shave
him. the woman to trim his finger
nails. and yet another man who
rubbed his shoes with brushes. These
men. I knew. must be the highest
chiefs of your island, but why Is
II that their finger nails must be
cut by women?
Toward the middle of the day
Apati and rode back to the earth