WE OWE THE LIFT TO SAVAGES.

Rodney and Otamatea Times, Waitemata and Kaipara Gazette, 8 October 1913, Page 7

WE OWE THE LIFT TO SAVAGES.

We seldom realise how many articles of supposed modern invention have been handed down to us from savage tribes. The lift, for instance, is not generally known to be of savage origin. Then the Indians of Central and South America have for many centuries past effected cotton-weaving by means of a loom almost as highly finished and as elaborate as our own. Yarn or true cotton fibre is made by the Indians of • Guiana-, and woven into hammocks of * most lovely hues and . patterns, which have been-copied by us. Felt was first made by Polynesion savages. They , manufactured coverings for their houses, blankets, carpets, and" many other household articles so excellently that bur felt goods have never yet surpassed them. From the inner bark of a certain kind of tree the Hawaiian natives produced material so soft- and fine that garments oould easily be made of the same. The people of Tahiti invented mortar by bringing up lumps of coral from the sea, burning it, and -mixing the lime obtained with sand and water. This mortar was then found by the ingenious savage to be an excellent substance for plastering up, the holes and crevices in the rocky walls of his house. Panama hats, water-tight; baskets, tobacco pipes, and ploughs are numbered among the many useful articles that owe their origin to the ingenuity of the savage".