The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1892-07-11

The SGsnunesurs OF Crsppiss . Common
Practice.


The dsnumesurs OF Crippiss Common
Practice.
The Paris Gingerbread Fair, a IL In
called, which ID held every spring In the
Faubourg st. Antoine and the Place dc In
Nation, II notorious for the number OF
natural and artificial phenomena exhib-
tied there to the public. This year their
number has been greatly increased by the
arrival of about twenty culs- de- jatte, who
are wretchedly lodged In huts on piece
of waste ground in the Cours dc Vim
cennes. These cripplcs, whose minute
shriveled-u up legs are curled up on the
boards on which they sit, form colony,
which calls to mind the Cour des Miracles
of former times. Every morning they all
issue forth, propelling themselves with
their hands, to take up their places at tho
fair, there to await the pence which may
be thrown to them by the compassionate
passers-by.
Their aspect is 20 pitiful that 1t is said
many of them make a real harvest, which,
however, of course, goes to the beggar
farmer" It appears that twenty or
thirty years ago the cul- jatte were
almost unknown in France, and that
these deplorable-looking cripples are the
product of what may be called an indus
try. Almost all these numerous deformed
little creatures come from Spain, and
more especially from Tolosa, or the neigh
borhood situated at about fifteen miles to
the south of st. Sebastian. They are the
outcome of the abominable practices OF
beggar "farmers," who seek their VIC
Tins among the children Of the peasants.
When there is a weakly boy in the family,
they persuade the parents that he can
never be anything but burden to them
unless they consent to have him trans
formed into cul-de- jatte, and promise to
pay them trifie day so long as the cul-
de- -jatte is left with them.
The operation to which the unfortunate
creature is subjected is as effectual as 1t is
simple. The legs OF the child are so
tightly compressed that the circulation
of the blood In them Is stopped. Little
by little the legs wither away, and the
cul- de- jatte is manufactured. In 1887 M.
Waldeck Rousseau, the Minister of the
Interior, prohibited the introduction OF
these Spanish culs- de- jatte into France,
but it Ia estimated that recently 800 or
400 of the poor creatures cross the frontier
every year. They are now seen in almost
every town in France, and have got as far
north as Belgium. To be q cul- de-jatte
must be profitable trade for the beggar
farmers who manufacture them and bring
them from Spain, as these traders pay the
parents of the poor cripples pittance OF
only hfty centimes to one franc day for
their hire.-London Standard.
or Feminine Interest.
Women are now employed as stenogra.
piers in the Parliament at Copenhagen for
the first time.
An English governess is hereafter to
educate the daughters of king Of Siam,
and she will be rewarded therefor with
salary of $3, 800 year and residence in
the royal palace.
Women's success In literature is shown
by the fact that Marietta Holley, Maria
Parton, Mrs. Southworth and Mary j.
Holmes have all made respectable fortunes
with their pens.
Several young women in the South
Jersey town of South Seaville havea wood
saving club which has raised $25 this
winter for church purposes by reducing
cord wood to kindling sizes at 81 a cord.
They just gossip away and saw wood.