708 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Sept. 15. 



incapable of any sort of sight, he put out his 

 hand for a nickel very readily when it was 

 extended to him. -is he began to gather in the 

 coins, quite a crowd of Indian men and boys, 

 and girls and women, gathered about him. the 

 older women exhibiting specimens of their 

 pottery. Many of them had babies in their 

 arms, "and seemed quite willing to have the 

 passengers notice them and ask questions. 

 However, they did not or wuuld not talk. I 

 tried in vain to find out what tribe they I'epre- 

 sented. They either did not know or would not 

 tell. Somebody suggested the Kodak they bad 

 seen me using: but a bystander remarked that, 

 the instant I showed it. every last Indian would 

 vanish with a hustling. I thought, however, I 

 could disarm their prejudice, and so I brought 

 the instrument and begged permission of an 

 Indian woman to take a picture of her baby. 

 So long as the instrument was shut up in its 

 case they paid but little attention to it: but 



his picture taken pro 



THE BLIND FIDDLER AND HIS INDIAN FRIENDS WHEN THE KODAK 

 SXTKPKTSKD TllE.M. 



when the lens was pointed toward them, con- 

 sternation seized upon the whole group. Tliey 

 either beat a hasty retreat or covered their 

 heads with their shawls; and when I ti'ied to 

 explain. I found they could make themselves 

 understood pretty well, whether they could talk 

 or not. The woman who had the baby said 

 something that sounded like "No, no!" putting 

 up her hand in protest, and shielding her baby 

 with her shawl. One of the passengers explain- 

 ed that they have a superstitious belief in the 

 "evil eye," and this machine was the very 

 thing embodied. Whoever it looked at was 

 bewitched, or destined to meet with misfortune 

 of some kind. Not an Indian would face it; 

 therefore I succeeded in breaking up the group 

 in a twinkling. The blind fiddler, hearing tiie 

 melee, put oflf with the rest. But he had been 

 making too much money to give it up just yet, 

 and so he rallied near the forward end of the 

 train, and his friends gathered about him. I 



confess I felt a little guilty about it, but I did 

 slip up and catch a picture of a part of the 

 group Ijefore they knew what I was doing. 

 Here is the picture. 



You will notice that every one, except the 

 little chap with the calico shirt (excepting the 

 tiddler, of course), has either covered his head 

 or turned his back. Some of the young squaws 

 would be tolerably good-looking if they would 

 keep tlieir faces, and especially their noses, a 

 little cleaner. Instead of covering themselves 

 so as not to feel the chilly morning air of win- 

 ter, they seemed to prefer getting out into the 

 sunshine. Then if the sun is not warm enough, 

 they stand (or. rather, sit) and wait for it to 

 get warmer. If, in consequence of the chilly 

 air, their nostrils become clogged, they do not 

 take the trouble to blow their noses, but just 

 let the accumulations run down their faces — 

 ■■ letting Nature have her own way," as some of 

 the bee-friends put it. Sometimes when it be- 

 comes very obnoxious, the 

 mother will take her fin- 

 gers and give the child's 

 nose a squeeze. She does 

 not wipe her fingers or 

 nose with her apron or 

 dress, as her more civiliz- 

 ed sisters do, but she just 

 lets it dry on. Please ex- 

 cuse me. dear friends, for 

 telling these unpleasant 

 things ; but it serves to 

 give you an idea of the 

 habits and ways of the un- 

 trained savage. Before I 

 brought out the Kodak 

 they seemed very pleasant 

 and sociable among them- 

 selves. A young man of 

 eighteen or twenty sat on 

 top of the picket fence, 

 and leaned over so he 

 came quite near a rather 

 pretty-looking squaw; and 

 right before the groups of 

 passengers they carried 

 on quite a little flirtation 

 — that is, it seemed to me 

 it might have been " quite 

 a little flirtation " if both 

 parties had only had de- 

 cency enough to wipe their 

 noses. My hand would 

 almost instinctively keep 

 going into my pocket witli 

 the view of loaning one 

 of my soft silk handker- 

 chiefs. Finally somebody 

 brought up an old chief 

 who was willing to have 

 rovided I would pay him 

 something for it. He shook hands, and seem- 

 ed real glad to see me, and he conversed quite 

 freely— that is, to the extent of his vocabulary, 

 which seemed limited to a few broken common- 

 place sentences. As he looked a little more 

 respectable than the rest I naturally took him 

 to be the chief of the tribe; and when I asked 

 if I might take his picture (touching the Kodak) 

 he assented with just as great affability and 

 condescension. But he immediately put out 

 his hand for the pay in advance. I gave him a 

 dime, but he signified that that was hardly 

 sufflcient for such a distinguisned personage. 

 He did not say " Big Injun " in words, but his 

 manner put it with great emphasis. Then I 

 gave him another dime; but still he shook his 

 head. Then I threw in a nickel more to make 

 it an even quarter. But when he found that 

 that was the most I could be persuaded to give 

 him he pulled his shawl over his head and beat 



I 



