The copper country evening news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 18??-1907, 1897-11-16
TEMPTING FRENCHMEN
.uey ARE FOUND IN NUMBERS IN
oowN EAST LUMBER CAMPS.
cnr,ous Spell Cast Over Men by n Sud-
Noise-Once dumped" They Are
.,,..,,,s For Life-How Some Men Act
,,,,,.n Under the Influence.


coreful student may search all the
- that have been published on patholo-
and find not a word about the jumping
Encbmnn so common in the down east
,i.,,her camps, and he may question the
, naD, doctors i'm private or hospital practice
i.hout learning why an otherwise sane
WI rioorous man will make n fool of
sI',solf and submit to indignities that
"a,ld anger a dog and not have the abili
=. 60 enter q protest against his torment
Tho obedience of the domestic ami.
ais comes from education, and every
sten In the process can be understood east
10 With the jumping Frenchman it is
different. Ho may be powerful man and
stranger TO his associates, yet in one
'rinute the smallest lad in camp may
hmm him, and when he Is once jumped
he is usually slave for life.
No person is SO puzzled by this strange
manifestation as the one who exerts 1t.
% simply cries "Boolp or utters any kind
% a veil over the Frenohman's shoulder
from behind the Frenchman jumps as far
as be is able in the direction he Is facing,
vells "Boo!" in reply as loudly as he can,
and from that moment the victim Is un-
able TO do anything which is opposed to
easily name the causes to which this habit
IA not due. 1t is not telepathy, for the
very name implies that the impressions
ara gained from some source outside the
1--WE senses, while the only way to bring
the iumper under the influence Is to yell
at him. He Jumps because of the noise. 1t
Ia not due to mesmerism or hypnotism or
clairyoyance because in all OF these the
subiect is not brought under control until
after q moro or less extended period Of
time devoted to rubbing his head or to
making mystical passes over him, as If the
operator were charging up storage bat
terry. The jump is not only involuntary,
but instantaneous.
In December, 1895, John Ross of Ban
cor had 32 men in one of his camps on the
west branch of tho Penobscot. Among
them were nine French Canadians, of
whom six were jumpers-jumpers who
had for years been known as such. The
other three had never shown any symptoms
of the habit, though they had passed sew
eral seasons in the woods. The chief jump
or in camp was little dark faced man
named Hilare lie Roy, whose existence
was made wretched by the jokes his COM
panions played upon him. If he was eat
ing his supper and had his tin dipper fill
ed with hot tea half way from the table to
his mouth, some one would cry. drop
it," and the tin with its scalding contents
would fall upon his legs. They would yell.
"Throw it." when he was chopping, and
his ak would go sailing off into the BUSH
es no matter whom or what 1t hit.
command to climb tree, to jump through
hole in the ice or to sleep out in the how
ell with the horses could not be disobeyed
- l. Co. IL Ia,,
GUS the task or who told him to do 1t, LIE
Roy at once left all work to make the at
tempt. One cold night bobcat was heard
scratching around on top of the cabin.
"Get up there and drive him away" said
Hilare's bed mate, and half clad as he was
he went aloft, while tho cat hurried away
to the woods. Jump" ordered the fore
man, as HiIare stood on Che peak Of the
roof Repeating the word of command,
like q sailor, he pitched himself among
tho brush and snow 90 feet below. The
crew come running out with lanterns, to
find poor Hilare lying insensible. "Oh,
that is too bad," growled an old teamster.
"Oh, that is too bad," replied tho five
Jumpers who stood by. "Ah mon Dieu"
howled Hilare, recovering his senses "Ah,
mon Dieur' yelled the five old jumpers
and the three Frenchmen who had never
jumped before "Ah, mon Dieu! All, mon
Dieur' they cried, jumping and leaping
in every direction, like young frogs after
summer shower
They hoped about from knoll to snow
drift and from snoydrift TO stump, yell
ing at the top of their voices and jumping
higher with every yell, slappng one an
other on the backs and bowling like
wolves, until Hilare was carried Inside
and made comfortable. 1t was an hour be-
fore they were quiet enough to go to bed,
and during that night and for many
nights after If man cried, "Mon Dieu!"
at any time every Frenchman in camp
would leap clear over the deacon seat. The
three Frenchmen who had not been afl1ict-
ed before were made jumpers by this
event, and remained jumpers while they
staid in camp.
1t took considerable diplomacy to avoid
lawsuit in Old Town last summer, and
the whole trouble grew out of making
Frenchman jump at a time he wanted to
DO on his good behavior. Joe Kyah went
to church one Sunday for the purpose OF
having his firstborn christened. After tho
ceremony the whole party moved out or
the church, Joe walking ahead proudly
and carrying the baby. "Throw it'll" cried
ayoung man behind who knew Joe's fail
Ing. Throw it!'' echoed Joe, and the ba.
by was landed among clump Of goose
berry bushes in yard near by. Several
who were in the party resented the trick
SO much that the childs mother made
complaint to local Justice The joker
who had caused the trouble finally had the
proceedings quashed by buying the baby
silver mug and paying costs of court.
The medical books give me no light on
the subject, and 1 have studied them all.
The jumper is native of the region cast
oil Montreal, and he may BIO n Frenchman,
New Brunswick Orangeman or Nova
scotia Scotchman. The habit seems to run
In families and Is no doubt some obscure
disease of the mind that has not yet been
studied or defined. 1t Is allied to epilepsy,
though not nearly so dangerous. 1t may
DO that the ancestral French settlers were
so bitterly prosecuted by the Indians that
ior years they jumped ut every sound I'M
I'll the practice was transmitted to the of
spring. Then these intermarrying with
The immigrants from the British isles have
produced the jumpers of today. My OBJ
~ ha hoI vtx mn