Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1878-08-11
The "Jumpers'' OF Name.

Ine Jumpers OF M anne.
In February last, l was riding in a
sleigh, from Shirley to Greenville. in
Maine. was a commercial traveller,
and my companion in the cutter, Mr.
Long, was an old schoolmate from New
York, now a saw-mill owner, of Green
vile. Riding just behind us in rude
pung We're two Canadian Frenchmen
whom he had hired to work in his mill
At the foot of a long Hill l sprang from
the sleigh to warm my feet by walking,
and, as I leaped out. the board seat, on
the extreme end of which my friend sat
tipped up and he fell out into the deer
snow. He jumped up and laughed. Just
then saw the Erenchmen tumble back
ward out Of their sleigh, exactly as Mr.
| Lcng had done. It was ludicrous MIN
| icry and | could not understand it. We
stopped their lazy horse and laughed at
them as they came up, but they only
pointed at Long, muttered something in
! mongrel French and shook their heads
seriously. One of them had struck on
his head and sprained his neck.
Well" said Long. I'D no idea those
fellows were jumpers"
"Jumpers?" asked; whats jumpers2'
"Why, didn't you ever hear of jumping
Frenchmen
"Neyer in my life"
"These are jumping Frenchmen. They
tumbled out of that seat just because they
saw me tumble, and they couldn't have
helped it to save their lives. This coun-
try is full of Jumpers
Cant they control their conduct in
any way?"
"Oh, yes; in most ways, when they are
not jumped; hut you jump one of them
and over he goes"
Jump one of them! Come, explain.
You'll have to make your joke plainer.''
"No joke, 'pon honor. By jumping
one Of them I mean surprising him.
Startle him in any way and you set him
going at once. I'll show you lot of
them when we get to Greenwich
We were in the upper half of Maine.
Greenville is at the lower end of Moose
head lake, which is the source of the Ken
nebec river, and is the center Of a vast
lumber region. 1t contains some fifty
houses, among which are two large hotels
which are filled with pleasure seekers in
summer More than half of the lumber
men employed in the woods in winter,
learned from L., are Canadian French, or
MISUNDERSTANDING, half clad, and so
ignorant that not more than one in two
hundred can read, print OF write his name.
Most of these, he said, are Jumpers
Nov follow me into the dining -room,' y
he, 3~I ~ j. i AZ L.
front of a small hotel, through the win
dows of which we could see dozen red
shirted men at supper. / followed him
in. AS he entered the room he raised his
hands suddenly above his head, pointed
his fore fingers at TIE ceiling, and said,
"Sh-h!" SO as to be heard by all. The
men around the table instantly sprang
up, pointed their fore fingers at the cell
ing, and every one said, ''Sh-h" One
knocked over his chair. and some crock
cry was broken by The jog that the table
received. The two Frenchmen who had
followed their employer also repea ed the
same gesture, and said, '"Sh-h" The
men around the table flushed, and then
turned pale as they resumed their seats.
They recognized Long as he saiuted them
in their peculiar French Indian patois;
but they were surly and indisposed to
talk. We soon withdrew.
SWELL, said Long, ''they re jumpers. "
what did they do that for?" | asked
They couldn't have helped it if their
lives had been at stake"
I wanted to investigate this strange
phenomenon, if, indeed, it was genuine;
but I was tostart next morning for Ban
gor.
81 have never seen any Of these queer
creatures down along the coast l said.
"No," said Long, ''they are confined to
Canada and the frontier mainly in the
numbering region. There are thousands
of jun pers in Maine. By the way, you
are coming back in April. Just make a
stay of fortnight, and III show you
more jumpers than you can count, and
more odd and exciting tricks than you
ever dreamed of. Jumpers come in out
of the woods in the spring, an they will
be loaing around here in April, drinking
whisky and spending their winters earn
ings."
/ promised 1 would do it. and did.
| stayed there nearly month. What he
told me is fact. Jumping Frenchmen
are as thick as frogs, and they are not
much more intelligent. Jumping or
shouting, Or moving suddenly when start
ed, is peculiar to most of them. have
seen as many as twenty-five jumpers to-
gether. Touch one of them when he was
notexpecting l., on the neck, or even on the
hand, and be would cry out, trembling,
turn pale and catch his breath, and his
CRYING outwould be pretty certain to start
the others.
There are many different kinds ofiump-