St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1896-11-28
swAopLlMo CLOTHES.


0WAOO6uVvO O1Ob0SSs
Provinces ef Hsaoeo.
in France every mother. to whatever
class she belongs, may say. in speaking
of her laby's outfit:
And BY the weight Of an the skeins I
wrought
kept the measure OF my loving thought:
Among the broken threads serene Il ran
A2d. interrupted oft. anew began
! know nothing more perfectly
French than this little piece Of humbl.
and exquisite poetry, showing the
stitches that keep . dream imprisoned
70 purely n snowy linen; moth ng more
hotherly than the lsst wish Of the care
full embroiderer, who bids bird build
ing its nest pick up bits fallen from the
finished work, and mix them with :ts
own materials, SO as to keep and pro-
tect the impatient wing that il grow
ing. That growing wing II threat
ened with many an embroid-
cred and beribboned bond both
n the present and in the future, yet
less hedged in than in the past. since
people have begun to bring up their
children more accounting to English NO
tionS.
The swaddling- g-clothes are no longer
a tight-fitting az. . sheath: the cap
which covered the bald little head. and
farmed it 20 prettily with its ruche, has
been given up; the lace pillow for the
lolling head to rest on has been ban
ished: yet. in spite Of all this, the infant
in the early stages Of its life Is sort Of
bundle, very much like . bolster, from
which two arms and = wrinkled little
face protrude. The advantage Of this
system il that the child in very easy to
but il has its critics, who
maintain that the natural condition Of
the spinal column il not . straight and
stiff line.
Paris has made many concessions,
ard the swaddling il less rigid; but the
provinces have not followed suit, while
in the country everywhere newborn
infants are tied up a. hard and fast -
ever. In the south of France they 20 to
the length Of putting this papoose in
the bottom Of q basket, where il il kept
in place by strong bands passed zigzag
from head to foot. This il how we pre-
pare our sons for making use Of their
However. leading strings have
been given up; that is one step towards
progress. Twenty years ago they we're
still considered indispensable-at least,
people thought so-and there
was no end to their intricacies.
1t il quite remarkable that swad-
bands and various other
letters are the only essentially French
that have ever been made
to . baby's equipment. Although
fashions in general have for centuries
been promulgated in France. clothing
everyone q Ia Francaise. yet the fertile
t1agination which could do this
stopped short at children's clothes
Look 1T the paintings and cngravings
Of the seventeenth and eighteenth
and see the little creatures
who, as soon as they gave up their
plumed bourrelets and long tulle
aprons over . blue or pink dress,
against which jewel hung instead Of
} teething-ring, had to wear uncom-
costumes, the miniature re-
productions Of their parents clothes.
Little girls. particularly, were put into
bodices and sumptuous
robes, which necessitated lessons in de-
pertinent to be properly worn, and-con-
the dancing-master was one
II the first professors employed.
1t needed the revolution Of simplici-
y brought about by the influence Of
Jean Jacques Rousseau before chit
lren could be comfortably clothed
yirls in muslin slips and heelless
hoes, boys in short jackets borrowed
rom English styles. Ever since then
Ne have followed English fashions for
,ur children, and now America lays
lown the law, with its blouses: iss
quilted. somewhat oldish winter apats
to the ankles; it, pref P6
an caps trimmed with fur, 9tk6G
lines preferable to the immense. c.
bonnets copied after KAte|
But I am anticipating; We arc still at
he swaddled infants long claok. In
very Catolic family infants are con-
ecrated to wear white; that Il to say,
,laced under the protection Of the Holy
7irgin by . vow which does not permit
he child to wear any colors but blue
md white, those Of the patron saint
or fixed period. usually year or two.
ometimes longer in the case Of girl
This must be some remnant Of chival-
ous times. Of service professed by . /
might for his lady when he wore he.
olors. for it is not, properly speaking. .
tsadition.-Th. Bentxon, In
CENTURY.