We are forced to the conclusion that the drilling implement used must have been a needle of copper, or more probably of the hard outer wood of the Southern cane tipped with quartz, or fed with sand. The borings are about as true in direction and form as the best modern appliances could make them.
It is worthy of note that these highly wrought jasper ornaments have been found in that portion of Mississippi once occupied by the Natchez, that these aboriginal people were more or less familiar with Mexican or Aztec art and customs, and that carved and polished workmanship in hard stones was not uncommon among the aborigines of Mexico and Central America.[68]
SUGGESTIONS TO LOCAL HISTORIANS.
BY FRANKLIN L. RILEY, PH. D.
Local research must precede the writing of general history. It discovers and renders available the materials from which history is made. For this reason the local historian largely determines the character and extent of all history. The facts with which he deals may be considered as mere historical digits, yet in the aggregate they represent the entire life of a people. In fact their true value is not fully revealed until they are tested by their relation to State history and to still larger movements. The apparent insignificance of the local annal disappears when it is recognized as one of a thousand threads out of which is woven the great and beautiful fabric of human history. Hence, as has been truly said, "local history is not isolated; it is a part of State history——indeed of national and world history."
One of the most pressing needs in Mississippi is a more efficient organization for local historical work. Societies should be organized in the various historical and intellectual centers of the State. Such an organization has been effected among the students of the University of Mississippi. The formation of similar societies throughout the State would awaken an interest in Mississippi history. This should not be limited, however, to our institutions of learning. It is also desirable to enlist in the great work of perpetuating our history the many noble men and women who have helped to make it.
Another great need is a system for the proper direction of the various lines of research that should be followed out in the State. The best results can accrue from such organizations only by a system for the unification of efforts and the preservation of results. Without such a system the results achieved by the historical renaissance upon which we are entering will be largely lost. This necessity is shown by our past experience in work of this kind. In 1876 many counties of the State, acting in accordance with a suggestion of the President of the United States, held centennial celebrations, at which were delivered many addresses of historical value. With the exception of an incomplete collection of these addresses which were gathered into the archives of the State Historical Society upon its organization, several years later, these contributions to our history have either been lost entirely, or are not now available to investigators. By having a common place of deposit for these results of historical investigation our workers will be able to learn readily what has been done along various lines of research and will often be saved a duplication of effort.
Plan of Organization.—The charter of the Mississippi Historical Society gives it authority to establish branches in the various counties of the State. In order to put such a scheme into practical execution, the Executive Committee of the Society has adopted the following resolution, looking toward a unification of all the historical work of the State: