The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1929, Page 186

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186

THE LUTHERAN PIONEER.

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ing through it, of course. The footpaths and narrow
‘trails were usually blocked by fallen trees, which
made riding on horseback difficult, at times even im-
possible. The chief line of communication with the
rest of the world was the river, which was traversed
in summer by canoe, in winter by skates. And how
lonesome, how secluded, how solitary, the wilderness
was! True, there were deer, rabits, foxes, bears,
wolves, etc., in abundance; in superabundance, mus-
quitoes and snakes. But it was not for their sake
that Baierlein had gone into the forest. His interest
in them was confined solely to that one thing, to
keep them away. The huts of the Indians were not
permanent dwellings, although timber was plentiful.
The lazy Indian preferred to use only the bark and
was satisfied with a hut that gave but scanty pro-
tection. In his book In the Forest with the Indian
Baierlein thus describes these huts: Bark is stripped
from the tree in four-foot lengths and as wide as is
possible to get it. To prevent this fresh bark from
rolling up, it is laid flat on the ground and weighted
down with stones until it dries out and stays flat.
These dried strips of bark were used for the sides
as well as for the roof of the wigwam. For a more
stable dwelling the process of construction was the
following: stakes were driven into the ground, and
the bark strips tied lengthwise to the stakes in
a shingle formation.
about four feet. The roof was built in a similar
manner. The framework was made of poles, to which
the bark was securely tied. In all Indian dwellings
an opening was left in the peak, about two hand-
breadths, to let out the smoke. In one of the walls
a small opening was left ‘to serve as entrance into
the wigwam. In the better homes a sort of bench
was built, which ran the entire length of two sides.
This bench served as chair, table, bed, etc., for the
entire family.

From Wigwam to Blockhouse.

It was a hut of this kind that the chief had built
for Mekadaekonjeh (black coat), his “brother.”
Baierlein writes that the first night, after a con-

‘tinuous ride of two days through the wilderness, he
slept exeedingly well on this hard bed. It was fine
. again to be alone, to escape the close observation of
_ the natives, to observe the stars through the opening
in the roof. But it was not so fine to do without
chair and table, to try to protect books and clothing
from every little rain, to fight off the hungry dogs,
_ to sit around the camp-fire with the Indians and
"reach into the community pot and take out the un-
" seasoned and half-cooked stew. Only a burning love

This was the wall — height:

for Christ and for the unsaved gave him strength
and courage to remain and endure and to count these
things as nothing. His bride, too, who after her
marriage shared his wigwam, also cheerfully shared
his hardships and burdens and proved herself to be
a true help-meet to him in his difficult calling.

Some time later a number of Frankenmuth
friends visited Pastor Baierlein and, while there,
helped him in erecting a blockhouse. This was the
first blockhouse west of Saginaw. This house con-
tained two rooms, the smaller one of which measured
101814 feet and served as bed-room and study,
while the larger was 1814 feet square and was used
as a living-room, church, and school; it was also
cellar, pantry, and kitchen. Primitive, yes, and
crowded, but quite an improvement over thewigwam.
Baierlein gradually won the confidence of his charges
and also made rapid headway in his language studies,
even though he could not entirely dispense with the
help of an interpreter. Fifteen to twenty children
regularly attended the school, and their desire to
learn of things, a desire that, of course, varies in the
individual, aroused the hopes of a bright future.
It was a difficult, but also a hopeful beginning.

(To be continued.)

Items of Missionary Interest.
By the Eprror.

A New L. L. L. — Early in November a meeting
of ladies from various cities of our country effected
the temporary organization of a Lutheran Ladies’
League corresponding to the Lutheran Laymen’s
League. Another meeting is to be held in the near
future, which it is believed will be attended by ladies
from many parts of the country.

Victims of Superstition. — Writes a foreign mis-
sion secretary: “In a Korean mission hospital I saw
a girl of sixteen with a frightfully swollen jaw. It
was caused by the native doctor’s piercing it with
a big flat needle to drive out the demon that had
made the tooth ache. The needle, being the same
with which he had been piercing all manner of
tumors and ulcers, of course infected the jaw, caus-
ing extreme agony and resulting in necrosis of the
jaw-bone, a considerable part of which our doctor
told me he would have to remove. In the same hos-
pital I found a young man suffering tortures with
his leg, which the native doctor had pierced to expel
the demon and from which our doctor was preparing
to remove several inches of dead bone. This pierc-
ing is common medical practise in the Far East, and