The St. Charles herald. [volume] (Hahnville, La.) 1873-1993, 1885-05-30
HAHNviLLE LOUISIANA, SATURDAY, MAY 30, 1886.

ter all the hen roosts of France were
ransacked for the largest eggs, which
were brought as a tribute to the King.
At the conclusion of the Easter high
mass in the chapel of the Louvre, lack
eys brought into the royal cabinet pyra-
mids of gilded eggs placed in baskets
adorned with verdure, and the chap
lain, after having blessed them, dis
tributed them in the presence of his
Most Christian Majesty to all the per-
sons about the court.
The idea of fabricating imitation eggs
in sugar and pasteboard is of later ORR
gin; but their manufacture has now be-
come, and especially in France and
Germany, a source of important traffic.
In Paris, that city, as Beranger says,
'full of gold and misery" the splendor
and luxury of the Easter eggs are al
most fabulous. A few years ago a
Partisan house furnished an egg which
was destined as present for an infanta
of Spain at cost of twenty thousand
francs ($4,000). 1t was formed
of white enamel; on it's inside
was engraved the Gospel for Eas-
ter Day. and by an ingenious mocha
nism little bird, lodged in this pretty
cage, sang twelve airs from as many
fash enable operas. In Germany the
tastes of the people are more simple
and their means more limited than
those of their Gallo neighbors; conse-
quently the cost of an Easter egg, even
when most gorgeous with colors and
gliding, seldom exceeds two or three
gulden. A curious custom prevails
90 oh Sc 70
find the explanation. Hares are, in
the popular belief, transformed for the
nonce into oviparous animals, and in
the pastry cooks windows you may see
animals of that species as large as life,
modelled in sugar, and sitting upr' ght
in nest, surrounded by any quantity
of eggs. The fresh, supplemented
German children believe implicitly in
this producing power of the hare,
and when about Easter time they see
one running across the field they clap
their hands and shout after it: "Hare,
good little hare, lay plenty of eggs for
us on Easter Day!' 1t is the custom
in German families on Easter Eve to
place sugar eggs and real eggs (the
former usually filled with .bonbons or
tiny playthings) in nest, and then
conceal it in the house or garden in or
der that the Young ones, who always
rise at break of day on that important
morning, may have the delight of seek.
ing and finding the hidden treasures.
Throughout the north of England
''pace eggs"-that is, eggs hardened
by boiling and tinged with the juice Of
herbs-were wont not only to be eaten,
but played with in the fields, as though
they were balls or bowls. 1t was Gus
tomary in the Lake district and Other
places to send reciprocal presents o.
colored eggs to the children of familie.
between whom any intimacy existed
The names of persons and the dates O
particular events were sometimes in
geniously inscribed on the shells, Sc
that the eggs served as souvenirs. L
appears by royal roll in the Tower o
London, that four hundred pace o.
paste eggs were in the time of Edward
the First purchased for distribution t.
the royal household, having first beer
boiled hard and covered with leaf gold
Sometimes eggs were blessed in guam
titles for distribution throughout tn,
kingdom. The form of conservation APP
pears in the ritual of Pope Paul tn
Fifth. The Greeks also make present
of colored eggs and cakes at Easter. Il
Russia, according to the Able d An
teroche, in his Journey 10 Siberia"
routine of extensive visiting is adopted
An egg is given and exchanged at eac
visit. People" he observes, Ego t
each others houses in the morning an
introduce themselves by saying: Chris
is risen. The reply is: Yes, He
risen They then embrace, give eac
other eggs and drink a great deal c
brandyr Brooklyn Eagle.