The Washington times., 1923-05-12
GIRL OF JUNGLE
0UT-FLAPPERS
FLAPPER
South American Maidens Beat
Bohbed Hair and Short
Skirt BoIdness.
BY ARTHUR 0. FRIEL, :.
Author of .''TIRer River" and Other

|
NEW YORK, May 12.-The flap
pers Of the jungle today outflappel
the American flapper. Their fashions
are always years in advance of ths
latest Paris or New York flappel
style, down to bobbed hair and the
shortest of skirts. In fact, some Of
their quaint flapperisms are ultrE
daring.
Awhile ago, for instance, our
vivacious, up.to-date flapper joy
ously rushed to have her hail
bobbed. Still more recently. she
shortened her skirts to the knee
or whereabouts. She thought she
was doing something new. Little
did she realize that down in South
I America were maidens who had
beaten her to both ideas by many
long moon; who, in fact, had sc
far surpassed her In the short
skirt style that the most daring
Northern miss would collapse II
called upon to appear similarly
CARRIED in public.
Garments Of Beads Only.
i Furthermore, in recently adjoining
her gowns with beads our sub-det
and deb were away behind the
jungle lassie. The latter after view
j ing the beaded dress of NORTH
j American girl. probably would laugh
i at the poverty Of her visitor. Fol
i the maid of the tropic wilderness
will not be satisfied with beads
4 scattered over cloth, her garment
Il must be of beads only, if you please
Il And as for rouging her cheeks
i Miss Jungle Girl was doing thai
centuries ago.
i Not that all girls in the tropic
labyrinth are SO stylish. Over IN
the Tiger river country of Eucudor
where the headhunters prOwl, the
/ average young woman is very
backwoodsy. But then again, there
is little Miss Uayungomo, whom ]
recently visited at her home In the
unexplored mountains OF Guayana
in Venezuela down near Brazil. She
is the one who antedated our tap
per by untold years in bobbed hair
beads, rouge, and so on.
Guarded BY Man-LiIIer.
) This little Iady-she is usually
not much over five feet tails
more difficult to approach thar
even the haughtiest girl of our 5owr
land, for the stranger, who. would
enter her presence must first trave
more than { q thousand miles uI
dangerous rivers, and he must also
pass inspection by her relatives
who are adept in the use of blow
Iguns and poisoned darts. She lives
in the forest. clad highlands where
are born the rivers Ventuari and
Caura, known as rnan-killers
Though she is not so pale as most
North Americans, she Is fully al
fair-skinned as many a South
american white.
When I called on this jungle
flapper and her family, she and al
her folks were quite interested in
me. I was the first North Amer
lean ever seen there, and I happen
lalso to be blond, which made me
Iall the more a freak. For that
Imatter, my success in penetrating
into the heart Of Uayungomo land
probably was partly due to the
fact that ! was obviously not 4
lSpaniard. About two centuries age
lSpanish soldiers went into that ger
eral region and treated the Indians
with cruelty. After awhile the
concerted attack and annihilatins
their oppressors. Since that time
they have not welcomed visitors.
/ Has But One Garment.
i AS the main excuse for mans ex
istence is to furnish woman with
the things she wants, however, the
IUayungomo men have managed to
obtain beads for their mates. Some
times they get them by trading
blowguns to other Indians nearer
civilization, sometimes by gathering
Icrude rubber and selling it to deal
ers. The beads thus acquired are
of the same size used in beaded
bags here, and from them the jun.
/ gle damseI makes her single gar
ment-the guayuco. This is not
only shorter than any skirt yet
worn on the street in the States
but it goes only halfway around
When she allows it its full spread
it is somewhat like the famous uni
form Of Gunga Din. When she is
working she usually tucks up its
lower corners, thereby achieving n
her fig leaf.
Rouges Her Cheeks.
Bead necklaces, too, are favored
by our Southern friend; sometimes
with a pendant, more often without
Another little adornment very fash
ionable in the jungle set is the
beaded arnAlet worn just below the
shoulder. It is dark blue Or black
and very effective on the clear
light skin.
Powdering her nose is a habit
with which she declines to be both.
cred, but she rouges her cheeks
whenever she feels so inclined. The
rouge comes from the seeds of a
common shrub named onerta, which
bears fuzzy pods containing tiny
scarlet peas.
These, dried and crushed and bot.
tied in little gourds, make the
rouge powder Sometimes she also
makes wavy streaks on her body
but her sisters usually criticise
this, on the ground that 1t makes
her look overdressed.
Bobbing her hair is, as aforesaid
an ancient custom to her. Her
people long ago learned the use
of scissors, and there is usually a
pair in each community. This
habit, incidentally, marks her as a
lady of high degree in Indian circles
as the more lowly aboriginal gir
let's her hair grow long and hang
any old way.
So let not the spirit Of our flapper
be proud; for verify. in feminine
fashions there is nothing new be
meath the sun.