Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1878-07-28
MEN WITH QUEER NERVES.
The Jumpers of Maime-A Region la Witch
Some Startling Things IRE Seen.

New York Sun.
In February last was riding in 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 sawmill owner of
Greenville. Riding just behind us in a rude
pung were two Canadian Frenchmen, whom
he had hired to work in his mill. At the
foot of long hill sprang from the sleigh
to warm my feet by walking, and, as leaped
| out, the board seat, on the extreme end of
which my friend sat, tipped up and he fell
out into the deep snow. He jumped up and
laughed. just then I saw the Frenchmen
tumble backward out Of their sleigh exactly
as Long had done. It was ludicrous
mimickry, and I could not understand it.
We stopped their lazy horse and laughed at
them as they came up, but they only pointed
at Long, and 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 fell
lows were Jumpers
s.Jumpers?" asked: sswhat's jumpers?''
.Why, didn't you ever hear of jumping
Frenchmen?'
"Neyer in my life"
:.,rhese are jumping Frenchmen. They
tumbled out of their seat just because they
saw me tumble, and they couldn't have help
ed it to save their lives. This country is full
of jumpers
sCan' tthey control their conduct in any
way?'
ooh, yes: in most ways, when they are not
jumped; but you jump one of them and over
he goes.'
stump one of them Come, explain.
You'll have to make your joke palmer
.'No joke, 'pon honor. By jumping one
of them / mean surprising him. Startls
him in any way, and you set him going at
once. I'll show you lot of them when We
get to Greenville."
We were in the upper half of Maine.
Greenville is at the lower end of Moosehead
Lake, which is the source of the Kennebec
river, and the centre of vast lumber region.
It contains some fifty houses, among which
. are two large hotels, which are filled with
, pleasure-seekers in summer. More than
half of the lumbermen employed in the
woods in winter, l learned from L., are
Canadian French, or half-breeds, -unkempt,
half clad, and 80 ignorant that not more
than one in 200 can read print or write his
name Most of these, he said, are jumpers
he added, as he hitched the two horses in
front of a small hotel, through the window
of which we could see a dozen red-shirted
men at supper. followed him in. AS be
: entered the room he raised his hands sud
denly above his head, pointed his forefngers
at the ceiling, and said, "Sh-h!' so as to be
heard by all. The men around the table in
stantly sprang up, pointed their foreingers
: at the ceiling, and every one said "Sh-h!
9 One knocked over his chair, and some
; crockery was broken by the jog that tn
table received. The two Frenchmen, whe
5 had followed their employer, also repeated
: the same gesture and said, ssSh-hr' Th
a men around the table flushed, and thel
i turned pale, as they resumed their seats
They recognized Long as he saluted them il
their peculiar French Indian patois; but the
were surly and indisposed to talk. We 500
W withdrew.
% DWELL said Long, s'theyre jumpers"
3, ssWhat did they do that for?" I asked.
'They couldn't have helped it if their live
N had been at stake
n / wanted to investigate this strang
: phenomenon, if, indeed, it was genuine, bu
81 was to start next morning for Bangor.
20 81 have never seen any of these quee
IS creatures down along the coast" l said.
81 s.No," said Long, ':they are confined t
Canada and the frontier, mainly in tn
lumber region. There are thousands G
no jumpers in Maine. By the way, you az
90 coming back in April. Just make stay c
90 fortnish and I'll show you more jumper
than you can count, and more odd and e,
citing tricks than you ever dreamed Of
o. Jumpers come in out of the woods in tn
It's spring. and they will be loafng around hel
o. in April, drinking whisky and spending the
winters earnings"
y' promised would do it, and did.
e. staid there nearly month. What he to
u me is fact. Jumping Frenchmen are
I'd thick as dogs and they are not much mo
ne intelligent. Jumping or shouting, or mo
lst ing suddenly when startled, is peculiar
ed most of them. l have seen as many
IS. twenty five Jumpers all together. Touch OF
Sc of them when he was not expecting it,
w the neck, or even on the hand and he won
cry out, tremble, turn pale, and catch
BREATH and his crying out would be pref
certain to start the others.
'rk There are many different kinds of jun
ere ers. Some, when startled, fercely strike Q
nd in front of them, hitting whatever is in t
ate way. AS I made it my business to wat
these men, saw good deal of this hittir
most of them harmless, as they genera
struck only the air. They like to tease Q
ing another, or jump one another, as it is call
OF there.'' This is their principal source
gbt fun, and whenever there is gathering
them they warily watch to avoid jun
Occasionally man when laughing is jump
either by sudden noise or chip hitti
him on the back. Then he filings whate'
lay, he has in his hands. I saw one pouri
some milk into his coffee. l shouted to
on Sting it!' and he flung the pitcher across
room, smashing it against the wall. A &C
tod hung behind the door, but it had not b.
dis used for years on account of its startl
effect on jumpers. One day stran
rk.. tapped it. A man whom was trying
EN- talk with struck aimlessly into the air, 8
another knocked friend down into the 81
ent fireplace.
d lns Any of these jumpers can be made
strike anybody that stands near enough,
shouting to him, sHit himp' Long t
Ion me that seven were knocked down in
gay second, the general assault being induced
ress clumsy waiter dropping tray. | saw
fellow who sneezes whenever anybody G
tier sneezes or even when anybody INDUCES IL
% simulated sneeze. His nervous syst
the saams To he easily imposed on. saw