St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1886-11-24
SWISS LACEMAKE RS.
They Begin the Business as soon as
They Can TOddle.

4
They Can TOddle.
Every little toddling in Switzerland, says
Detroit Tribune correspondent, must earn
| its living as soon as it can lisp its own name,
either in some work or in taking care of one
younger than itself. All along the roadside
through the valleys are little board shelters,
where, Oh shelves thus protected, wood
carvings and Swiss lace are offered for sale.
or little, bright-eyed, slender-limbed
channels, tended by some child, is to be
seen for few centimeS, to be added to the
store which is to keep these people from
starvation during the long winter. for
which they must look out with care. Under
one of these sheds to-day l saw two little
girls, who had it in charge, and stopped to
speak to them. Both were making lace,
their little fingers flying so that l could
hardly see them. as they handled the bob
bins, any more than the SpOkes of wheel
in full motion, and the smallest of these
children was no larger than are
most children at years old in our
country, hOugh she told me she
was s. When l patted the little head and
expressed surprise that such little thing
should be able to make lace so nicely, the
older sister told me with loving pride that
Anna had earned her own living by lace
working already for two years. They
begged me to buy the piece L saw her max
ing. for there are five of u.s." they said,
two younger than we are, and we are sehr
arme tres pauvre, very poor" they said,
trying in three languages to make me
comprehend the situation and induce ME
to buy. Both could read and write, they
told me.
'And where is your mother?" I asked.
She was in the field, and their father was
''trager," i. e., one who stays about the
hotels and gets any job that comes TO hand
of carving people, afraid or unable to go
up the mountains on horseback or on
mules. up in a chair set upon litter, borne
by two such men, for eXactlys the same
price as is paid for horse and the one man
who leads him up with the man or woman
on his back. Or ''trager" carries up their
trunks upon his shoulders while they thus
ride up borne by other ''tragers." The sis
tiers begged me to buy, assuring me again
that they were very poor; they wanted to
| get some breakfast, they said.
"And have had no breakfast yet?" l
asked. for it was now past II O'Clock.
''Sehr wenig" they said, very little.
The mother could not give theIn anything
til is morning; she must go to the field. The
elder seemed mOther-like, most anxious
that the little one should make sale of her
lace, though Anna said: You see. hers
is nicer than mine, for she is older, you
see. and can make much nicer lace than l
can; of course, my lady, it is better that
you buy hers than mine"
| thought of WordSworth'S idyl, 1--WE
Are Seven" The beauty of their kindli-
ness and love for each other in their pow
erty. if not of face or feature, made me
glad" Both were eXquistely clern-face
and hands and hair. This was also neatly
cOmbed. There were no bangs falling over
their foreheads, but every hair was drawn
back and fastened. as though not stray
hair should blind their eyes or hinder them
in their work. We drove back through this
valley. and the sun had long been out of
sight behind the high western mountains
when we passed their little stall. But both
were there. still at work. their little fingers
| flying no less nimbly than in the morning
when first saw them. They recognized
me-, and bowed and smiled gratefully for
| the poor small purchase l had made of
them. l dare say it was the only sale they
had made during the day. Dear little
| Swiss lacemakerS, in the valley of Later
brunnen! You gave me far more than l
| did you in the few francs paid for your
| lace.