Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-09-14
Ancients of Americas

copper south Of the Rio Grande. for the
art of smelling, casting and beating In
dies was we'll comprehended in old Mex
leo. These things, however, we're best
understood m Peru, whence the United
States imports thousands Of tons OF
copper in our times. For smelling the
medieval Peruvians used cylindrical pot
terry furnaces known as guayras. Hav-
ing no bellows. the furnace men exerted
their own lung power through copper
tubes. Some ores, especially silver.
needed more heat than could be blown
by human bellows, and for these ores
hopper.shaped furnaces were built ca
windy hills.
There can be no d. lot that the =
VANS knew how to make bronze hV
mixing copper and tin. And both PERU
VANS and Mexieans were infinitely cum
ming in the arts of casting, soldering,
hammering and inlaying gold and Eii-
yer. From one Peruvian pyramid
plundering Spaniard took gold and sill
yer objects valued at 4,450, 1874 Spanish
dollars. The gold and jewels which the
Peruvians raised as q ransom for their
last Inca, Atahualpa, in the vain hope
OF saving him from the Spaniards, was
estimated as having been worth $15,-
100000. As for the Chibchas Of Co
lombia, they had so much gold that
their life was almost q realization OF
| bAlE UALdNAkAx1b OTEdkIl8 Ok bIlG &NdI1~
ciouS Spaniards. Rumors of the wealth
of the ChibchaS may have been the
origin Of the Spanish legend of Fl Do
rado-a country so rich that its men
wore golden an. r
In the United States at present In
dustry engages the attent'-- of some
what larger number of people than agrt-
| portions were about the same in ancient
America. The chief commercial prod
uets which involved some element Of
manufacturing or artificial treatment
were rubber, cocoa feathers, paper, tex-
tiles and pottery.
Rubber CIassed American Product.
Rubber, Of course, Is an American
contribution to civilization. Most Of the
rubber came from the region of what Is
| now the Mexican states of Vera Cruz
and Tabasco. From here probably came
the Oldest pieces Of rubber ever found,
which were dredged out Of the sacred
pool at Chichen liza, Yucatan, into
which virgins were thrown as sacrifices
to the gods Of rain. Rubber also was
used for incense, to tip DIR lsticks and
for waterpoOrnng, as we use 1t today.
Cocoa was raised In large quantities
| In Central America and shipped UP and
down the coast Featherwork was done
with q skill which would be the despair
/ Oh I10dEEn GObtu11GI OE dcCe1 dtOI
| Feather moSatcS on cloth were made IN
both Mexico and Peru, but Mexico was
the leader and her elaborate products
were exported over wide radius The
feather mosaic idea was taken up en-
Enthusiastically by the ancient basket
manufacturers of California, who, In
cidentally, made the loveliest baskets
the world has ever seen.
AS for the paper manufacturers Of
khnaa Aavg ffaatp HyVatIlqb aQn1IipaA raw
material from what probably was the
most valuable plant the ancient world
possessed. This was the agave, which
gave the first families of America not
only paper but cloth, rope, mats, dem
tai hoss-and the contents of the cup
that cheers. One variety of agave gives
the world siSal fiber, with which the
farmer in the United States binds up
his grain crops. The production OF
sisal from the henequen plant has made
Yucatan the RICHEST portion Of Mexico
with the exception Of the Tampico oil
district.
The Spanish discoveries frequently
spoke of mcqueen" cloth as one Of the
chief products of Yucatan. Henequen
fiber also was used then as now to make
hammocks, but Of course, the develop
ment Of cotton was one Of the chief
triumphs of American agriculture, as
the production of lovely cotton fabrics
was the outstanding glory Of early
American textile workers.
Tax Paid In Cloth.
What the Spaniards thought of Maya
textiles Is indicated by the fact that the
levy which Spain made on Yucatan was
ordered to be paid in CLOTH And 1t Is
on record that they mistook the finest
Maya cotton for silk!
As for Peru, the Incas forced their
afIhiaatn 10 nav al tayoe and fr4aQ fF
good cloth. The climate of the Maya
country Is so damp that only two or
three pieces Of Maya textiles have been
discovered in even tolerahly fair condi-
ton, but the Maya fabrics were as good,
or even better than, those Of Peru, and
textile experts have said that Peruvian
tapestries are Sin class by themselves
not only as compared TO other textiles
of this land, but as regards those OF
any other people"
The chief economic and social In
terest in Peru was the textile art, the
blanket and the clothing business. Not
even in Lawrence, Mass, or Paterson
N j., Is so high percentage of the
population concerned with the textile
industry as was the case throughout the
vast Inca empire.
The making Of ceramics was the Sec
ond greatest manufacturing interest In
the Western World.
Those foster ancestors" of ours were
traders and manufacturers as well as
farmers. They knew the uses of credit
as the supporting fabric for the life Of
q commercial nation, and the loans
were made without excessive interest.
They even had their rotary clubs and
their chambers of commercei And trade
guilds-in the medieval European man
ner-were very common. 1t Is no exc
aggeration to say that ancient America
was built by business men.