Idaho County free press. [volume] (Grangeville, Idaho Territory) 1886-current, 1889-02-15
ABOUT TATTOOlNG.
A Once Popular Custom Which Has Lost
Its Hold of Late Years.

A Once Popular Custom Which Has Lost
Its Hold of Late Years.
One OF the customs of the past ages,
which is now going out of use almost
entirely among civilized people, is that
Of tattooing or marking the skin indel-
IDLY .hy puncturng it and inserting a
dark coloring matter. The practice
of tattooing arose among primitive
peoples in many different ways. With
some it was mark which served
to signify subGrdination to a chief,
very much as farmers at this day
brand their cattle. Among the Sand
wich Islanders it indicated the district
in which the person lived. With
many others it had a religious signific-
ance. and sacred emblems were marked
upon the body.
Some superstitious service of the
dead was evidently indicated in early
Bible times by tattooing, for the book
of Leviticus contains this command:
"Ye shall not make any cuttings in
your flesh for the dead, nor print any
marks upon YOU
Among other peoples, tattooing has
been resorted to from sheer vanity;
and the practice, so far as it has sur
vived in modern times, has been the
result of a mixture of vanity and
superstition. Occasionally the dime
shows" and the ''side shows" contain
a tattOoed man, some of whom were
w fY11 rnl hot. L.
bodies. while others were tattooed by
their captors when they were taken
prisoners in savage wars.
At the present day, it is sailors and
soldiers, among civilized people, who
practice it chiefly, and their arms and
the backs of their hands are often
decorated with anchors, shields and
all sorts of fantastic devices or with
religious emblems.
In Europe, workingmen frequently
decorate their arms with entire SEN
fences. Some one at the great iron
works at Neuilly, France, has been OBJ
serving the tattooed arms of the work
men, and has found upon them, among
many other inscriptions and emblems,
the following sentences, the first three
being. it seems, very common among
French workingmen:
No luck" Child of misfortune.'
Thine for life death to the un-
faithful Born under an unlucky
star" GLORY, honor, fatherland. .
"All for the fair"
There We're also found many repre-
sensations of clasped hands, and en-
blems of occupations, such as hammers,
squares, compasses or anchors.
Some extraordinary tattooing has
been observed among the native re-
cruits for the French service in Al
geria. One soldier had tattoued upon
his breast an elaborate picture of a
lion-hunt, while his back was orna-
mented with a representation of a
cavalry charge. AS the process OF
tattooing is painful. the man who bore
these works of art must have suffered
greatly.
Many men who have had the backs
of their hands tattooed in youth, and
have at that time regarded the decora.
tons as something to be very proud of,
or who, as workingmen, have been
proud to bear the emblem of their
trade. have very earnestly wished, in
reaching maturity, or in working their
way to wealth or social position, thai
they might be rid of the marks which
they took such pains 10 get. But the
marks remain tenaciously, and indicate
with almost perfect certainty that he
who bears them was either very fool.
ish boy, or that his early life was
passed among bad associates or in d
mental occupation.
There are, however. fewer and few.
er men who bear such decorations, and
it is probable that tattooing will before
many generations disappear altogeth.
er among enlightened people. = Youths
Companion.