The Brunswick news. (Brunswick, Ga.) 1901-1903, November 02, 1902, Image 7

Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page.

SUNDAY M€rRNINC\, PICTURESQUE NEW ZEALAND. BY SIDNEY DICKINSON, E.R.G.S. WHENEVER Nature pre pares a continent for the abode of man, she puts beside it some conspicuous Island. Europe lias its Great Britain; America, its Cuba; Africa, its .Mada gascar; and Asia, its Japan; and we shall find, in every instance, that either —~ ■ ~ ~ ■ : . •. . ••• •• . . , • . ' . ' .' > ■ ■■■ ■ ■- ■ ' v ' MAORI CHIEF ANI) HI T. in natural beauty or in developed strength of national character, these islands exercise a strong influence up on the mind of the sympathetic trav eler. The great island continent of Australia is no exception to this gen eral rule. If we compare her with Europe, then shall we find in New Zealand the Lesser Britain of the SKELETON OF “MOA,” AN EXTINCT NEW zeai,ant> ntr.n. southern seas. It is a very strange rind Interesting country which lies al-, most beneath our feet- a country com- | parativeiy little known as yet, but coming yearly into better knowledge i because of its unexampled beauties , and as a resort for tlie invalid, the i tourist and the pleasure seeker. It has a stern, rugged coast, of vol canic origin; the whole stretch of this j " v I SPECIMEN’ OF MAORI TATTOOING. coast Is cut out into deep and channels, hollowed out in caves, wrought in shape of pinnacles and spires; no coast is more fantastic, none is more dreaded by mariners. The great attraction of the North Island of New Zealand, and one of the world's most remarkable wonders, is found in the iiot lakes—certainly one of the strangest and weirdest regions on the face of the earth. The entrance into this country is through a land of broad and rolling fields, lin gering rivers and jagged mountains. The soil is used chiefly for grazing, and a large population is moving al ready into this beautiful region and doing extremely well with dairy farms and fruit on-hards. Scattered about through the country are native villages, and upon the hill sides may still lie seen the palisades by which the ancient fortified forts were defended. In the native villages of to-day appears the granary, used in common by all the members of the tribe and upon posts in order to preserve the store of maize and sweet potatoes from the ravages of rats. Upon which animals the Maoris take revenge by serving them up in a nutritious fricassee. As for the na tives themselves (who are called tire Maoris), let ns intrude for a moment upon the privacy of this chief whom we here see enjoying a virtuous repose at the door of his hut. This chief at tained considerable fame a number of years ago as companion of that no torious Chief Tekouti in his historic raid against the undefended inhabit ants of Poverty Bay, where more than two-score men, women and children were massacred. It is not a great many years ago that a worthy chief, having conquered a number of his enemies in battle, bad his prisoners ranged in a row on the ground before him, and, with his greenstone war club, dashed out the brains of two hundred and fifty of thorn with his own hand, then threw aside his blood-stained weapon and said. “1 am tired; let the rest live,” and ordered the carcasses dragged to the ovens. The Maoris have lost very much of tliplr former skill in architecture and i:i artistic (' ■coralion. To observe of what the former race was capable, let its look for a moment upon this carved front of one of the Maori inoet- iug houses still found here and there about the N’orth Island. It is very curious, interesting and artistic, too. THE BRUNSWICK DAILY NEWS. in a rude decorative sort of way. The figures here are quaint, pot-bellied monstrosities and goggling eyes of uiotlier-of-pearl and hands so imposed as to suggest tile pangs of stomach ache. These figures are not ideal, but are, in point of fact, the portraits of deceased ancestors of the tribe, and ap peal' in the Maori eye as authentic likenesses. Maori tattooing is something re markable and stiil further illustrates tile very curious ideas of beauty prev alent among these people in the an cient time. As tile Maoris gave over lighting the causes for these hideous disfigurations (whose purpose was to strike terror into the heart of an en emy) passed away. In order to ap preciate tlie full extent of a tattooed warrior’s countenance, however, you must imagin'' the owner of it over six feet high and nearly naked; his fea tures distorted with rage and his tongue hanging out; loud yells issuing ' ;v/>~ • : I ' '-C ' . . * VA-V- . , DAUGHTER OF CHIEF, SHOWING FEMALE TATTOOING. from his throat; arms flourishing bat tle-,tx and war-club, and the whole stupendous aggregation coming down in your immediate neighborhood at the high rate of twelve good English miles an hour. The ancestors of these Maoris were an interesting and intel ligent race; and the present degrada tion cannot lie too much deplored. This gentleman was a king, and his name was as elaborate as bis facial adornment, namely: Tawhaio Matu tiere la- Puke-Puke to I'awa to Korate te a’Pot atu u te Whcreo-Whoiy-o. Finally we came to Oxford, tlie. ter mination of the railway line; atul after a uiglit spent, in a very comfortable hotel, we took our seats on the top of one of Carter's line of American-built coaches to undertake the thirty-four , miles’ drive lying between us and Lake Rotorua. About the third of this distance lies through the ‘‘Eleven Mile Bush,” where we catch glimpses of pleasant scenery. As we approach the town of OUinemntu, which lies up on the shore of Lake Rotorua, we be gin to discern the odor of sulphur. Our road into the town lies between two streams of nearly boiling water; and in the fields upon either side in numerable steam holes blow great masses of vapor into the air. De scending to the shores of this curious lake, we find ourselves walking about in a vapor bath. All around 11s and close at our feet, as we step gingerly along the narrow pathway, tlie shal low water of innumerable springs boils and bubbles and the air is filled with tlie sound of its simmering. If you have any curiosity to know how it feels to have your leg boiled, step but one foot off the narrow pathway and you may make that addition to your store of useful knowledge with surprising suddenness. A place like lids is, of course, a per fect* godsend to the Maoris. They can FRONT OF TRIBAL ASSEMBLY' HOUSE, soak (hcmsolvos ail day in the warm weather; cook their meat and potatoes simply by banging them in their nets in the corner of a boiling spring, and live as happily, lazily and uselessly as the pigs that share their houses and fortunes. All you have to do 10 launder clothes is to soak n garment in a hot soda spring and then wash it out. in warm, clear water In another spring, and there you are. Even if a Maori has but one garment, lie is not abashed. 11c washes it and hangs it on the fence and sils down in the cos tume of the Greek Slave unlii it dries. Each of. these Moating black heads you see ia (ho warm baths will have a black pipe in its mouth; and if the weather is foul, you may see indivi duals holding umbrellas over Y.cir heads. Near by is the great geyser of Wlia karewarewa, rising from a cone like tin' most exquisite corn), by which you can climb to the mouth of tins crater. There is a dull, thumping sound far down below. You look over to see wind is going on; a spurt of hot steam close to your nose suggests caution; you draw back, and a bushel of dia monds are thrown into the air and rattle down the sides of tin* cone, li is nothing but drops of pure hot water; but it looks like diamonds in the sun light. Then there is a smblcn roar; llie air scintillates; and it attains as if nil tile jewelers’ slums had been ex ploded at once. I have seen many manifestations of Nature in my time; but few where she displays at. once her power and licr beauty so com pletely as in this great geyser. A good many naturalists are of the opinion that the giant bird of New Zealand, tint imm (generally believed to be extinct), may still bo found some where among tin? fastnesses of (be mountains, such as we have now seen. Well developed specimens of tills fowl, like the one whose skeleton is here do pick'd, are about thirteen feel it height. At sight: of such, no doubt, the hunter's jaw would drop. Ids arms fall down; while as for the nioti, he would undoubtedly gallop off ns rap idly in the opposite direction, for ac cording to the local tradition these birds were very timid. It is supposed -in fact, it: is known- that within Hie last hundred years the,:,. Ifirils have been alive and walking about in X'ew Zealand. During my visit there I was presented with a thigh hone of one of these birds, which thigh hone was half as tail as myself.—Scientific American. The “L'nil#rf;roiiinl’* in Sint; Sin^, I was particularly interested in the Underground Tunnel, for 1 immediate ly perceived its great usefulness. Tins was the secret system by which con traband articles, such as whisky, opium and morphine were brought into the prison. When a rogue is per suasive with the coin of the realm he can always find a keeper or two to bring him what he deems the neces saries of life, among which are opium, whisky and tobacco. If you have a keeper right you can lie well supplied with these little things. To get him right it is necessary to give up a cer tain recognized percentage—about one fifth—of the money sent you from home. This system is worked in all the State prisons in X'ew York, and during my first terra, nine months of which were spent at -Sing Sing and the rest at Auburn, I had no difficulty in supplying my growing need for opium. —Autobiography of a Thief, in Leslie’s Monthly. FORESTRY A f(EW PROFESSION OFFERS. FJNE OPPORTUNITIES IT IS IN MANY RESPECTS AN IDEAL PURSUIT \ . IT AFFORDS FREE AND HEAL THFUL OUTDOOR LIFE IT IS NOT CROWDED . y„ IT PROVIDES CHANCES FOR WEALTH .• IT DEALS WITH NATURE S GREATEST BEAUTIES IKSaSSSSiI NEW profession lias been opened in the United gj Ira States. It deals with a S3 fc-i fjj subject that is not. only (jjj aa j!j| vital, but oue whose vast yN importance to both per- SsEsSlissS™) son,al and national inter ests has become thoroughly recognized. It is the profession of forestry. Of course, there have been forestry experts in this country for many years. But most of them were Government employes in one way or another, and Government control of forests meant generally only the conserving of tracts that wore set aside by State or Federal authority, to be immune from the lum berman 'and to be preserved us parks and forest reserves. Until the now science shaped itself slowly out of the war of conflicting in terests, forestry in the United States, as interpreted by the public, practically meant only tile question of saving American trees from the axe. But while all this superficial lighting went on between lumbermen and their sup porters on one side, and idealists and theorists on the other, the true science was shaping itself. Young men, some sent by the Gov ernment, others studying on i.lieir own account, were learning in Europe what real forestry was in the lands where, despite ages of lumbering, (he forests still stand thick and beautiful. In the past few years these men have been returning to tell America how to combine profitable cutting with profit able preservation, and with the knowl edge that shows forest owners how to draw Income from their property and yet keep it, in other words, how to eat their cake and have it too, the new commercial profession of forestry has become an important and lucrative one. In many respects it is an ideal pur suil. It offers unequalled opportunity for living a free and healthful outdoor life. It deals with nature's greatest beauties. It is a profession that is not crowded. It offers chances for wealth, since the trained eye of n forester can see chances in the wilderness which the untrained man, and even the trained but unscientific woodsman, would not guess. It is a business that promises ample salary, for tile forester can show his. employers where they can save or earn thousands of dollars that without him would bo lost. While the American forester must perfect himself In his science by study ing European forestry, American con ditions differ so radically from those of Europe that forestry in the United States is a profession of its own, and tiie American has little to fear from his older colleagues on the other side, Henry S. Graves, superintendent of working plans of the Department of Agriculture, explains this by saying that the American forester must direct his efforts, not to the immediate intro duction of European methods, but to devising systems which can be ndopt- ed by land-owners at once, and which are capable of development as (lie con ditions of the market allow them. In many eases these systems will differ radically from any practiced in Europe. A great field where practical forest ers are needed badly and at once in America is in the vast woodlands owned or controlled by paper manu facturing concerns. Many of them arc confronted with tile problem of u coming loss of their source of wood Pulp. Their one hope is to introduce such a system of lumbering that they can cut successive crops of wood every twenty or thirty years; that is, to plant trees and aid young trees now in the sections where.they arc lumbering; so that by the time they have cut their sva.v through their property new forests shall have grown up in the old sections There are millions of acres of land devoted to trees for wood pulp manu facture. There arc more millions de voted to lumbering, where practically the same conditions prevail—that is, the owners realize that they must con serve forests if they expect to get any future benefit from their property. A great proportion of these woods are on land that may never lie available for anything else. Consequently, if lum bering is done with no provision for new growth of trees, the Investments will be wiped out the moment the last tree is cut down. The -State of X’ew York now holds in reserves 1,100,000 acres of forest lands in the Adiroudaclcs, and is acquiring more as fast as appropriations can he obtained. At present the law prohibits cutting of any kind, and the system of forestry is confined to protecting the forests from fire and theft. But in time it will become absolutely noces sary to cut down a proportion of tlie older trees, not for profit necessarily, but because the science of forestry in cludes the thinning of forests in order to give the majority of tlie trees the opportunity for development that is de nied to them by the excMsive growth of the big and aged trees. It is not only the product from the forest that interests the owners to-day. They have discovered that if they leave the small trees when lumbering they can sell the lumbered tracts to sportsmen at high prices, providing the cutting has been done so wisely ns to leave real woods. To do this the serv ices of the forester are indispensable. The American lumberman, as a rule knows all about the best methods of cutting, but he knows nothing about conserving. NOVEMBER 2 Scicntiflc forestry has received h great impetus in the last year from the preserves that have been established by such men as W. C. Whitney, George Vuflderhilt and Dr. Seward Webb, anil i roin tlie work of foresters like Gifford Pinchot. Mr. Whitney has a great tract of 08,- 000 acres in the Adirondacks, in which he is working out the problems of for estry and game preservation. He lias already introduced moose, and at pres ent W. 0. Harris, the ichthyologist, is studying the problem of fish supply there for him. Besides his own forest ers, of whom lie has a regiment, the foresters of the United States Govern ment have been studying his tract and have laid out n method of conservative lumbering. This was done in accord ance with an offer made by the De partment of Agriculture to all owners, public and private, of forest lands, un der which the United States authorities volunteered to make studies of certain tracts which presented favorable op portunities lo illustrate forest manage ment, prepare plans for tlie work and supervise the execution of them. The owners need merely to pay the necessary expenses of the Federal em ploye assigned to the work. Dr. Webb also had his tract, which contains about 10,000 acres, examined by the Government. The Government exports went through the woods with hatchets on the face of which the ini tials “U. 8.” were cut. Every tree that was selected as a proper one for felling was blazed with this below the stump, and the lumbermen had orders to chop down no tree unless it was so marked. 'the results of the introduction of scientific methods were surprising. The net cost to the owner of going through tlie Webb tract and marking the trws was $548.79. Among the wasteful methods discovered in the tract and checked by the examination was that of leaving high stumps. The lumber men do not care to cut the trees near the ground, because the work is much harder and tires their backs. By care ful measurement, the foresters demon strated that on a tract of 40,000 acres the net loss front leaving high stumps v. as 84800, which could be saved read ily cacli year. They also drew nn n plan for cutting the tops instead of leaving them iu the woods. Asa rule, the lumbermen lop off from four to twelve feet of the tops, and this debris always lias been one of the great sources of forest fires. Lum bermen have objected to carrying the tops out because, they declared, they More unsalable waste and represented nothing hut loss, and that consequent ly it would he ruinous to go to the ex tra expense of transporting them. Tlie foresters showed that the tops that were left in t he woods of a 40,000- acre tract would lie worth S3BOO. Thus improvident lumbering not only had caused a constant menace from*fire, but actually thousands of dollars had been left in tlie woods to rot each year. Tims, with the introduction of prac tical foresters, the problem of the for ests will he in a way to be solved satis factorily and practically in the United States. Lumbering need not. be prohib ited, hut merely guided wisely, and there will he no more danger of Amer ican lands being denuded of forests.-* New York Sun. Kt-hica of Connaltatidiis. The utility of consultation has often been questioned on the score that they mean little or nothing tier the patient. The practitioner in n difficult case is supposed to need indorsement for his course, and he is sahl to obtain it in the unqualifiedly approving verdict of his counsellor. It is further claimed that Hie true ethics,of the profession admit of no other alternative. From the patient’s standpoint this is true enough, and is as if. should be in view of the necessity of preserving confidence in the medical attendant. 'J ite consultants hat e, on the other hand, every opportunity to differ in their private conference; but it Is ob viously unnecessary to do so in the presence of the family. Any disagree ment that may exist ns to diagnosis and treatment should be suitably ad justed before a conjoint verdict is ren dered, If this course is impossible each one concerted should give a separate opinion and allow the patient or his friends either to choose wliat suits them best, or seek other advice. Under no circumstances should sueli different views be offered until after the freest possible interchange of views in the consulting room.—Medical Record. A Nnv Iso For Paper. Taper gloves and stockings aye now being manufactured in,Europe. As to the manner in .which the former are made little is known, hut the stockings have been ear. fully examined by ex perts, and they are loud in their praise of them. I.et no one assume, they say, that these stocking-, because they are made of paper, will only last a few days, for they will really last almost as long as ordinary stockings. The reason, they point out. Is be cause the paper o'f which they are made was during the process of manu facture transformed into a substance closely resembling wool, and was then woven grnl otherwise treated as ordi nary wool. The price of these paper stockings is low, which is natural, since paper is much chetffcter than cot ton or wouL - - . .