New-York tribune., 1896-11-30
THE uODERA i'!DIiNS.
THE PICTURESQUE rErNcH-cANApIAN SQUAT
TIERS ~ MAINE.
From Tie Lewiston Journal.

From The Lewiston Journal
Not long ago rode across fion 'Arihou 10 roy
Kent Ia IT," nigh. ~ morning "t""'" w. W.
vi.n - rough ol.aring KID oui her" and tlerr
and d,soatc Win H'n,i Si"nis NJ ,t. l... @
,noiirl 10 the women and chdi"r WHO ar" ID. n
10 run affairs The men are away in th' "oo!s Tor
th. winter li'r'. several famih'- n,'.n' ."- ..'
I'm the lire.s' house ga littl" a"ttlrmrnt. ih'i'
,rI.r ,h. frn,,t nf IN. forest. They AZ" active.
too these women fox. who are lcft behind 70 n'ii
NOV w,rr ont long before the sun. ch"pping thc
wood for thc breakfast hr" lugsint nay Tor me
dcving potatoes out OF the hii-oT-inisS garden
One portly Frcnch-canadiar mother. with hardy.
brown face. Wa milking th" 90" IN inc front
yard occasionaiN squirting "n," m I'm, i
The baby Wa little fussy- with ih" cold i'rhdi',
but the stream ~ milk always seemed I" sooih'
/ don't believe from what saw that morning
that the women in this Addml'sS fhrr oi nam
will have any time this winter to study frliain'n
tary law or 10 follow q course Of ChauiAuqu'
reading 10 form any club.
Iui they'll have = good time ana th'y Wont h'
les hommcse'' smiled housewife whcr" ""
begged Il glass Of milk "Oh zcy good ms hu..
hans he good wan. mais'-fln expressive shrnS "f
The shoudors-"shc wan awful cater"
So I judge that IN, madam" was enjoying q
winters rest. so far as the cooking board was
The women do not need books or p.pera ior IN
tertainmcnt. Th"y ar" hot r"hd'rs. Th'y Ike Ia
r9ch and rock and ,aik and tak in'ermina
choruscs. tell stories and then talk. talk. rock and
talk.
the Torihrrn Maine townships that wcr, bid i'm
by Spectators at ridicuousy meagrc prices the
prontably. Now. If you own timber Land in Northern
| Maine and an inerlopcr comes in and settles
| TO point your finger ana order that individual Off
| He may go he may not lie may stay for years
| improvements on the property. for which the land
no al sl<t uVaQ
| alpropriated by sInaticrs. who quietly, but non'
| the less 'nectually. got settlers claim on the
| law that the land owners gave il up as had joi
Nearly all the French Canadians. who live along
in the ccaring4 on the Caribou T. ort Kent Road
| squattcrs. who practically sure Of retain
| ing their Land. IN. prorrictors OF the townships
ever the subject g. mentioned, but cJcctmcnt costs
TOO much And then TOP n rsery instance %
sqrattcr for whatever improvements had been mad,
| isn't worth the outlay. SO The sluatter remains.
The nomenclature In the Madawaska region is
! rames are rather romantic when looked at in print
| but when the Madawask skan prOnounccs them the,
cstly seems though the Acadian rule OF pro
nunciation is to make the sound ugly as posi-
| slurring Of mclodous syllables jars riibcr Vet
this isn't as bad as when some proud old Acadiar
like man in bob-acd child's sui.
DO you suppose ha a If my name were Niche
Tario? or II my fathers had brought from IN,
France OF the seventeenth century the quaint Ole
| rame Liable I'd have some rude. iconoclast sur
! ring II over as 1.a Dby-sOund suggestive Of IN,
sop OF curdled milk?
No. by the spirit of EvaNgeine'
Then, there's Sirois that the Yankees pho
Of charming sccne-that's twisted into Boiler an,
has done his work Duncan Sinclair is the biz m a,
of ST. John planta ton and his name looks impres
sive. But how commonplace is Dunk Sinkcr,-
! yet that's how you'll always hear his name i'm th
Madawaska region.
| Only once In a while Is there an Acadiar nam.
that preserves its full flavor In pronunciai lion .r,
| resists the surrlng OF the prOsaic Yank Arch
| ambcault successfully resists and do Rourgoi,
| and laferrier. but even those Will be apt 10 M
clipped into meaningless English words as TN
revolution in language and education progresses II
| the ST. John Valley.
Never twit n Canadian on his language or slich,
| ingly compar" IL with modern French. When I'm
| French refugees came to America in the seven
| tcenth century they brought their language in f.
| quain; purity OF old form-the French language o
| that century.
| The French Of Canada still speak the langua e.
OF sixteenth century France with It's archaic forms
he Paris Frenchman understands the lnngue viii
our Anglo Saxon tentimes great grandfather True
the Canadian French have supplied IN their speeci
| Indian names for some objects that were never
heard OF In France. but the language itself Is jus
as 1t was spoken by the chevalers OF 200 years ago