Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1942-08-30
One N an
WhOJuStW 0ntBe
Civilized

] on a set much less heard one. He looked
train in three decades or been in an automobile in
nearly 20 years.
It's been 80 years he went to movie and al
40 years between him and the last dance he
attended this the fact that Coudenhove hasn't
slept in bed for the last IL and have the
record of who really made good his vow TO get
away from ii all
Coudenhove is an Englishman In 1896, he took a
trip Africa The country fascinated him So did the
simple life of the natives who had about
the complexities of this modern world Then and there
everything connection with so-caed
civilization" Many hermit minded man has taken the
same pledge and gone off few months sometimes
a year Such usually come back but not Cou-
denhove. He's still deep in the ungles
Only once was this champion of getters-away beset
with doubts That in the early l900s when he de-
cided to revisit his native England TO satisfy his
mind to whether he wanted to return or not One
quick and Coudenhove Africa bound
the next boat To this day he has remained in the bush
country living among the natives enjoying their simple
pursuits and finding satisfaction in the fact that the
worries OF other men are not for him.
Among the natives Coudenhove is virtually god He
acts their doctor and counsellor And although he
know few Of the modern white mans secrets there's moth
ing Africans that Coudenhove hasn't learned He
attended every tribal and ritual
invited guest For as long as five years at time he
hasn't exchanged a word with white
Surrounded by his native servants Coudenhove has
been living in primitive sort of way like king Re
Gently his jungle retreat he wrote bookthe story Of
MY African Neighbors In 1t ne set down his own rec
ord. Among the things he listed as never having seen
planes tanks balloons buses cabs motor boats and
radios And, a ne pointed out, he has desire TO
famiarize himself with such gadges.
In the past 20 years he has spent all his time roaming
among the various tribes administering 10 their needs
and making friends AS often not, he slumbers in
the open under temporary shelter rugged up by his
native servants For a dozen years he has slept in
bed fully clothed folding deck-chair. In his
book Coudenhove docs not beray the confidence Of his
The tribal that his go untold
However he does reveal many interesting things about
life below the equator and debunks many myth about
the wildness Of the bush country.
What fascinates him most is the mysterious know
ledge of the witch doctors often they
inessthat has baffled civilized doctors for months
with simple herb Juice The Wahehe tribe for example
has for long time had for syphilis and the doc
of this tribe, he reports ugly
of snake bite just by chewing herb and letting the
saliva drop into the wound for a few hours.
Very few of the native herbs have found their
into civilized mans pharmacopoea because the jungle
DOCTORS Coudenhove points out have jealousy guarded
their secrets for generations
Native doctors are very expensive charging
Is shilinSs-and sometimes more-per treatment Con-
siderng that few natives than shilling day
these rates equivalent to American practitioner
charging SIS TO SIS visit The doctor however. is
paid in advance with each treatment Only when he has
cured the patient does he get his money No dares
the jungle medco all the natives firmly be-
lieve that, by his black magic he make them sceT
than If they don't pay up.
Contrary to popular belief Coudenhove points out,
the African native is extremely bathing three to
five times a day, and putting washing par with food
drink These habits Coudenhove asserts often prove
obstacle his treatment of their wounds He would
apply ointment antseptc to an injury and caution
against its removal But the bandage
native, regardless of how i'll weak he was,
could resist bathing at least day in running waters
streams rivers The natives wash their clothes and
utensils, however only in still waters
Another thing that Coudenhove debunked was the
stupidity of the trbesmen pointing out that the
trary, they highly intelligent They natural
linguists and pick up tongue in few weeks.
Coudenhove estimates that there 700 dialects in
Africa and sometimes tribes living only 20 miles apart
vocabularies different English is from French
Like the American Indian, however they have universal
sign language. The tom-tom jungle telegraph likewise
be understood by everyone.