Newspapers / The Alamance Gleaner (Graham, … / Jan. 16, 1947, edition 1 / Page 2
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I Colorf ul Seminoles Cling To Ancient Tribal Customs By BAUKHAGE News Ammiytt mod Commentator. WNU Service. Ml* Eye Street, N.W., Waihinftoo. D. C. (Tiit it tit frtt tf two sriicltt on tit tltct tf pottutr condition! on tit motl mitmmdtrttood of Amtrictn ciliztnt?lit Stmimolt indiont, with Mr. Btmkhtgt rt ?porting from brtt-homd oittrvttitn.) Somewhere North of the Ever glades : ?The sun Is setting over flat stretches of saw-grass, making a feathered silhouette of cabbage palms on the far . horizon, dropping a tint of lilac among the water hyacinth in the pond at my feet where lazy, hump shouldered Brah man cattle cool themselvea. Rig id white cranei stand undis turbed by us. Above, great hawks wheel and, as we pass, a bevy of snipe Baokhare rises like black and white confetti tossed in the sir by a giant hand. Back at the turn of the road that leads to the attractive headquarters building of the Brighton Seminole Indian reservation, smoke curls up from beneath a fire of logs in a palmetto thatched cooking "chikee" of one of the Seminole camps. Here live three generations of a single family group?yet a fairly large seg ment of the entire Seminole nation, for there are only 825 of them in all Florida. Like most tourists when I first came to Florida, I was startled to meet face to face these women in ? their gayly colored skirts, their high bead collars, their astounding hair dress; the men, less gayly clad but still with their gay kerchiefs and cowboy hats; the solemn children, replicas of their mothers in their its and customs of the Seminole in this short span as have the weight of economic conditions?the depres sion followed by the high demand for labor during prewar and war periods. For more than three quarters of a century no Seminole has owned land, his possessions were limited to a few cattle and hogs running wild in the swamps, end to what personal property he could store un der the palmetto roof of his open faced hut in the Everglades. Today there are three reservations. Wil liam Boehmer, Indian agent at Brighton, saw that venture rise from its inception. He tells me ev ery family on that reservation owns a car and one family boasts Ave. Radios are common as are elec tric flashlights and kerosene lan terns, some knives and forks and other practical gadgets and a lot of store food and canned goods. However, there has been no change in housing styles. Before the origi nal deal was closed in 1938, one of the Seminole leaders first made sure that living habits should not be interfered with. He was quoted as saying: "Indians must live in air and sun shine. Must dress as their fathers dress." But additional opportunity for em ployment has brought about a de sire for an education. As nearly as I could learn, education to the Sem inole means learning to speak Eng lish and perhaps to read and write it. Because the Seminoles_are nat urally intelligent, it is no trick for them to learn if they want to. But the labor demand likewise has in terfered with the process. When the family gets a special job picking tomatoes the children go along and pick, too. There are no penalties for being absent from school. With the shortage of teachers of every kind it is unlikely that the Semlaoies cluster around ehikee la uttre costumei deep la Fler ida Everflades. bright, flowing garments?shopping i at the Five and Tea! i It is hard to believe that these ! gayly clad yet modest folk, so un- , warlike that only three (so far as i I know) enlisted in World War II and none were drafted, once defeat ed the United States forces in three wars stretching from the time of the Revolution until almost the end i of the last century. By then, with their Chief Osceola tricked into capture while at a peace parley, all but 150 of the Semlnoles were dead or had yielded to mass deportation to the West. But the 150 never gave in. Because of that fact the tradition has grown that they are still at war with the United States. It is true that no formal peace treaty ever was signed?they have had no chief since Osceola died in captivity?but the Seminolea have full citizenship. However, they made their first formal and voluntary move toward reconciliation and co operation in 1930. A group of Sem inole leaders, meeting with Amer ican officials in the Everglades, then asked the government for schools, hospitals and better horses and cattle. A program immediately was drawn up and entered into with good will on both sides, but it is a ques tion whether this step has had as much influence on the life and hab Barbs... Every time I go to Florida I wish 1 had studied palmistry so I could identify the trees. It's baud enough to distinguish a pepper tree from a senator even if you are familiar with the berk of bath. see Being In the dec house may be ?n embarrassment hot it's be tier thas> a park bewch. Apd with all its dteaa^tilasft as o est crowded as some K*. &A,., ... i rapply ever will quite reach the demand even on the part of the busy Seminole*. The school in the Ever glades is closed at present. Undoubt edly when conditions change and the Seminole again is confronted with Job competition the govern ment will be called upon to furnish the White Man's learning in larger doses and with fewer interruptions. In any caae neither prosperity nor education has as yet caused the Seminole to complain about his housing situation. A few modern houses built on one reservation were left unoccupied, except for on* porch. There is nothing wrong with a Seminole chikee. A chikee really ought to be translated "room" in stead of "house," since there are as many separate chikees as required for each family. They are of two different types, one for cooking and on* for sleeping and living. They consist of a thick palm-fan roof with low-hanging "eaves" supported on poles and rafters. There are no walls in the living hut but there is a platform a couple feet off the ground and usually a bunk-like bench which can be used for the women as a work table, a* well as for sleeping. These dwellings are airy all right and would be damp during a long sub-tropical rainstorm if it were not for supplementary tarpaulin or can vas screens. Ness Eat Food Of White Mam What the White Man calls prog ress has done more to affect the eat ing habits of the Seminole than our cultural activities have affected his viewpoint. Draining and lumbering in the Everglades have sharply re duced food sources?dried creeks and ponds, cutting timber and for est fires have killed off wildlife. But the accessibility of the grocery Daxer* Drtaa. oe?i, CQOM, ftyfV, ijm* Md ciniitd fruit*. JAPANESE EARTHQUAKE, TIDAL WAVE AND FIRE ... A striking photograph made aa the town ol Shingu, Japan, horned after the earthquake and tidal wave had ? truck parts of Japan. People fled from the town to the beach flats In foreground leaving the Are to eat the heart out of Shin go. Hundreda died In coastal communities and thousands were rendered homeless bp the Japanese disaster. ANTI-GOVERNMENT DEMONSTRATION IN TOKYO . . .General view of the riant demonstration .tared by Japaneae labor anion In Tokyo to protest (overnment policies and demand ouster of the Yoshida cabinet. The demonstration, held in front of the Imperial palace, was the Merest in the Japanese capital since the May day parade that drew censure from Gen. Dour1** Mac Arthur. Many Red Oars were carried by the demonstrators. HAW COT AT FOUK MONTHS . . . Stephen AprtcUaao. Breeklya. N. T., a mlfhty J?M| maa of fear months, la ectttne his first hair cat. His mother keens him fat food humor with his diet sf mHk white Tarry the barber carries so. Stephen actually was bored with the ?l"tllw. Tarry said Store was the yooafest casiomer he had ever orroed sad abont the hairiest aaa to clip. Usually mast bays yet their ?rat barber ohep hair cat after they hare reached rips ace af ewe year. hm aucx cm orun...tto p??i?i m< la h?mimi m hM I M (NT ?? pkk Mts Stick Cklcfe at 1N1 mi ?H pra "All or the TEAK . . . Secre tary at State James F. Byrnes, whs was recently selected by Times magazine as "the man at the year." The selectien was made an the basis sf eststandinc wsrk dene by Secretary Byrnes dnrtnc United Na tions' meetings. niNCZ-g TXACHEB . . . EU*m Wk O. TUNt, FMtoii tpM?. wka l?Hi, tlw Ii lniM^ Jumm ' ****? BIO FARMS VS. SMALL FARMS WASHINGTON. ? Inside fact behind the senate small business committee's release of the report on sinall-scale and large-scale farm ing is that the report had been sup pressed for nearly two years by big California land interests. The very fact that the bureau of agricultural economics dared make the study was one reason the last congress cut its research funds. The study so infuriated Representative A1 Elliott, California Democrat and friend of the big farmers, that he has fought all appropriations for farm research ever since. The study was begun in the sum mer of 1944, while Congressman El liott was leading a fight to repeal the old law by which no one could own more than 160 acres of U. S. reclamation land. The study com pared two towns in San Joaquin val ley section of California's huge Cen tral valley?one, Arvin, is composed mainly of workers on large industri alized farms; the other, Dinuba, is made up largely of people who own and work their own farms. It was found that Dinuba, the small farm community, had two Independent business establish ments to every one in Arvin, the big farm community; that retail trade was: 61 per cent greater in Dinuba; that 20 per' cent more people were supported by the same dollar volume hi agri culture in Dinuba than in Arvin; that the residents of Dinuba had a far higher standard of living better streets, garbage disposal, schools, parks, public recrea tion, more churches, partieipa tion in local government, two newspapers to one. The study was recognized by econ omists as of great importance, but the pressure of large farmers and landholders was too great. It lay buried until it was brought to the attention of fair-minded Sen. Jim Murray of Montana, chairman of the small business committee. He de termined to publish it. ? ? ? SURPLUS GRAVY The comedy of errors that led to discovery of more than two million gallons of high octane gasoline in surplus military planes sold to a Jefferson City, Mo., scrap dealer caused an epi demic of red faces at War Assets administration. However, WAA chief Gen. Robert Littlejohn and his aides would have been even more em barrassed had the whole story leaked out. Besides the 5,540 planes with their (700,000 worth of gas sold to the Missouri deal er, WAA also sold about 15,000 other planes, also tanked np with high octane gas. This fact, how ever, didn't get out. In addi tion, dealers who bought the planes reaped a tidy windfall from costly radio equipment, motors and gears. ? ? ? OIL SALESMAN LEWIS In the coal and oil trade, John L. Lewis is sometimes called: "The greatest oil salesman in history." Here is the reason why: Railroad after railroad, unable to afford costly tie-ups from ' coal strikes, now is converting from coal to oil. There was a day when the railroads, deriving a tremendous revenue from hauling coal, sided with the coal operators and the min ers in opposing oil. But not now. The Boston and Maine, which, next to the Maine Central, pays more per ton for coal than any other rail road, is switching to diesel engines as quickly as possible. The Jersey Central, which taps the Pennsyl vania anthracite fields, also is going over to diesels. And the Pennsyl vania, which runs straight through the best bituminous coal fields in the East, is laying in some diesel switch engines. But the most interesting conver sions are taking place on the Union Pacific. That road has long burned oil to some extent, but it also hap pens to be the sixth largest coal pro ducer in the world, with a produc tion of 6,500,000 tons annually. The towns of Rock Springs and Banna, Wya., are almost entirely dependent on coal mined for the Union Paeifle. Today, however, those towns may become like the skeleton mining eities of the gold-rush days. For, in addition to 600 oil-burning locomotives, the Union Pacific now is converting all mainline passenger trains to oil. In addition, their "Big Boy" freight locomotives, the world's heaviest, are converting, to gether with 115 switchers and 45 diesel units. The Santa Fe also has just ordered new diesel units. ? ? ? MERRY-GO-ROUND Gen. Mark W. Clark will be with drawn as Allied commander in Aus tria immediately after the Moscow conference. He then will receive a new army post in the United States. . . . Ex-congressman Wesley Disney of Oklahoma, who lost out in the Democratic primary two years ago against Sen. "Cptton Elmer" Thom as, will try again la two years. He may face a primary fight from Gov. Bob Kerr. ? Assistant Postmaster Oeaeral&sdjtanhrae has been of- j Cmps, Consumption of milk products (not counting butter) Increased from in quarts per capita In ltOi to about 297 quarts In IMS. Cattle -Creeps' Lacking enough phosphorus In their feed, cattle may develop nu tritional diseases, (he most common at which is known as "creeps." . REFRIGERATION Aim CONDITIONING VETERANS C. L BILL or BIGHTS CIVILIANS EASY PAY PLAN THEORY A SHOP PRACTICE TRAINING INSTITUTE 3ZU Market St., Philadelphia, Pa. EVergreen 8-8455 COM SUFFERERS! /HMTstarts^ l"jOST 6 SECONDS/ a famous, prwcripOn-typc IMbEm tor wur M-A relief M from co 14 miseries. Try MS C?S4 Ta61?i. or. ? 40HK Mi 1AM OoM ?? (HBDssr-cisa u 4tr?et?4. ??? CLASSIFIED DEPARTMENT APTOS, TBOCES A ACCESS. JEEP TOPS FOB SALE Mads of beat malarial: mildew and water proof: nra real at ant; Olive men. Top with eide curtains, three windows and no doors $45.00: top complete with five win dows. two doon $60.00. 25% deposit with order. Will ship Immediately. Make your Jeep cozy for winter. SOUTHERN TENT A AWNING CO. MS S. Mini St.. Charts tic, N. C. Ph. 6 MM BUILPINQ MATERIALS Ceacrate Black Machine. Elaetre-Pae. all automatic plain pallet block machine, elec tric-air operated, air hoist off-bearer, au tomatic pallet feeder, no cumbersome cams to wear out. chrome-plated reversi ble liners. Makes 2 blks. st s time. SSOmMQ per hr.: makes any size, shape blk. on 1 set pallet. Price $0,800. Del. 4 wks. Full partp. Write: Jee. P. Bellek. Eastern feleetre-Pse Dtstrlb.i P.O. Bex 1SS WNU. Ceplay. Pn. BUSINESS A INVEST. OPPOB. CONCRETE BLOCK MACHINE. Appley Little Giant Concrete Block machine, makes B sizes of blocks. In 9 months 1.000 of these machines have been sold. Price $005. Del. 2 wks. For compl. details write: JOSEPH P. BE LICK P.O. Bex 1U WNU - - Cepiay. Fa. HELP WANTED?MEN I SALESMEN?Crew Managers, to organize crews for fast selling book deal, paying So I commission on each $9.05 sale. Apply or write to MB. MITCHELL WEBNER, 1*37 Market St., Fhlla., Pa. Fsundry Opportunity?Molders. Squeezer Operators. Trainees. Apprentice training under G.I. Bill. Flynn AEmrtek Co., Grant It Bd. A Western Md. B.B. west ef 4300 blk. Bolsterstewn BO.. Baltimore (13) Md. HELP WANTED?WOMEN NURSES. New salary plan for staff nurses at Jewish Hospital. $1440 to $1080 per an num with full maintenance or $1800 to $2040 per annum with meals and laundry, but living out Higher rates for night and special assignments. $500 life Insurance policy free. Liberal retirement plan. Ap ato Director ef Nursing, Jewish Hespl YerkATaber Bds.. Philadelphia 41, Fa. MISCELLANEOUS PILATE'8 BEPOBT ON CHRIST'S Crucifixion. Remarkable document. $1.00. Publishers, 717 ?. 17 St.. LaCrssae. Wis. CHRYSLER MARINE ENGINES Immediate deliveries most all models. JOHN HUGHEA CURTIS. Distributer West Nerfelk ... Virginia CHRYSLER MARINE DDE8EL8?Imme diate delivery 3 models. JOHN HUGHES CURTIS. Distributers, West Nerfelk. Va. NEW It K. W. heavy duty Onan electric plant powered by Willys Jeep engine. De livers 110-220 a. c. with IJ volt d. c. out let. Completely equipped with Spare parts. List price over $2.000.00?our price S8M.06 L ?. b. Norfolk. Call or write BUSS EQUIPMENT COMPANY tot W. 21st St.. Norfolk, Virginia. Beauty and Health By Simple Exercise Gfjyo fWORE W1HTJ \/f IDDLE age often begins at the ivl waistline. You can beat Fa ther Time at his own game, how ever, by exercising those fatty pads off waist and hips. The ton ing-up will improve your entire figure. Maybe unattractive "dowager*# hump" or a bulging abdomen la adding yean to your appearance. You can correct these posture -faults through exercise, too. ? ? ? Whatever your figure problem?waist, hips, posture, bust. legs, chin?our Week ly Newspaper Service Booklet has result getting exercises to help you. Send 25c ?win) for Beauty and Health Throneh Simple Exercises to Weekly Newspaper W. 17th St., New York 11. N. Y. Prtnt name, address, booklet title. tsw GRANULATED SOAP W ?^1 Far fiae Uaadtriag. ? I Will ?a?fc veadca is 10 lb. can 304 per lb. 110 lb. fan 2S4 per lb. oibiai P.O.B. " Sand cbedc or nootjr order le? PAL PRODUCTS CO. BBOOKLTN ? 11?: ? ilf ~mfilRIHiiniiili"' srvOT'fflgH-:; _
The Alamance Gleaner (Graham, N.C.)
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Jan. 16, 1947, edition 1
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