Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 90.djvu/256

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��Popular Science Monthly

���NEEDLE CASE

��COMB"

��The sewing materials which the Eskimo women use for their elaborate needlework

��The Eskimo Workbasket Which Is Worn About the Neck

THE Eskimo housewife wears her workbasket about her neck, which means that the Eskimo housewife is exceed ingly industrious. During the long winter months she has nothing more to do than chew blubber and make ornaments to adorn herself and her several daugh- ters. Some of the most elaborate needlework is done by these silent folk of the far North. Out of the toughest of hides and with the crudest of instruments they have wrought objects of great beauty and interest.

The illustration shows the several parts which go to make up the work- basket. The needle case

��is carved from a bit of driftwood. The thimble is formed from a piece of tough walrus hide. The comb is carved from a walrus tusk. The skewer-like stiletto is made of bone and is used for making holes in skins, as well as to close the wounds in seals and other animals, to prevent the blood from escaping. The needle is made from ivory; the thread is of reindeer sinew. The toggle is a bit of polished whalebone ornamented with bone rings.

These are strung together on a strip of walrus hide profusely decorated with ivory beads. The comb is probably used more often for getting the tangles out of ani- mals' fur than for the arrangement of the women's hair; for the custom of the Eskimo housewife is to smooth out her hair only occasionally, and then grease it so heavily with whale oil that it stays smooth indefinitely. When she is busy at other things, Madame Eskimo tosses her work- basket over her shoulder out of her way.

��Are You Tired? Then Sit on Your Walking Stick

CONSIDER all the changes which the ordinary walking-stick has been heir to. Your grandfather's stick was just a plain old piece of hardy hickory. But look at the stick which father carries. It has an electric lamp to illuminate the key- hole for him at night. It carries a cigar or two and a small box of matches in its spacious head — or tiny bottles of medicine, a dagger, a revolver or other fancied neces- sities. But with all these walking-stick accessories there is one thing father can't do with his stick. He can't turn it into a stool.

Charles Jaquet, a subject of the

German Emperor, otherwise

known as the Kaiser, has invented

a combination stool, cane and

umbrella. It is the stick of

sticks. With his cane you

need not look about you for

a seat when you are tired.

Just extend the two limbs

connected with the cane,

pull out the collapsible seat,

and sit down. The members

which act as chair legs fold

compactly against the

cane; so does the seat,

which is composed of

leather or some strongly

woven fabric.

���This is the stick of sticks. It is a combination umbrella, cane, and seat, whichever you need

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