The Red Cloud chief., 1889-02-22
THE Fasnon ~cseoLes..
Some Of the PeculIarities q Thu Slmpls.
Minded People.

NAsDncss HeOPsCs
The French CreOles OF the lower
class are a hand-to-mouth class OF peo-
pie, purchasing the stick o. wood to-
day ard the handful of herbs that are
to cook and season their pOtage. filing
their small market baskets with in.
Vulnerable pinches Of this, that and
the other, laying in a few sous O.!
sugar and coffee at q time. and-going
next day. for three hundred and sixty
five days in the year, and doing iden-
tically the same thing. in s9cula
saculorum. Dislike to the accumula-
ton Of household goods. to well-stored
cellars and pantries. to generous
abundance. TO picturesque profusion,
to the essentials Of a large-handed
hospitality even within the narrow
limits Of their neighborhood acquaint-
ances. an ant-like economy and alb
stemiOusness. a curious juxtaposition
Of eternal self-restraint and a passion
for sensations, cOlOrs, sounds. per.
fumes, fantastic sensualities, an in
slinct for microscopic money-getting
welded to an instinct that has filled
New Orleans with noble institutions
for the poor. the blind. the sick. the
world weary; q passion for novels and
for splendid churches, . fond en-
durance of rigors of cold and hunger
for the brilliant effiorescence of care
meprenant and carnival, q voluntary
exile from all laughter and joy that
their feet may twinkle a night or two
On the mirrored floors of the masQue
balls down in Chartres and Royal
streets; such are the fragments of
sweet and bitter herbs that 20 to
make up part Of the paradox of Creole
character and communicate to it an
indefinable piquancy and strangeness
by their thick bars of light and
shadow.
The chief charm of the character is q
touching gentleness and benignity that
blends all other characteristics and per-
the whole constitution OF the
Creole. There is something
tender. dreamy about the
race, a remnant or recollection OF
and better days. an aroma of
exile coming from old colonial times, |
when SO many emigrated from the gay |
To the trackless wilderness |
of Louisiana. seeking their fortunes.
Disappointment seems to have i'm. |
pressed itself as a trait Of heredity on
their spiritual make up; q brooding
has spread from the luxurious
climate through the limbs and consti-
luton Of the immigrants. the advent
lrOus spirit of the marvellous brothers
Bienville, lberville and Sauvalle, laid |!
under perpetual embargo BY a Chinese
wall of swamp. bayou and bogue, has
sunk into a curious psychological
numbness and content with surround. |
geography. exploration. litera-
ture. research. travel (beyond the in
transit to france once in q
lifetime) are unknown luxurics to these
folk. and in their way they
are as still in their sunny corner as the
alligator that haunts their !
streams. |
The customs. games and sports Of
these exilcs are full of "reminiscences
Of the ~fatherland. mingled with odd
accrc;iOns and aftergrOwths. a clinging
conservatism. u poetic susceptibility.
There are songs and Christmas customs
smacking OF Gascony. Provence. Cham.
payne. San Domingo. Franchc- Comic.
such as linger in Canada and form
touching links with the folk over the
sea-. a. Harrison. in AutrefOis.