The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1904-05-17

',l..l,yisi II ls caNiA PP EAMS.
lIo.l rs III SPurcll as s-a an Old New
or e.e 1isssS CiSssfc IA.

g,oa rs Etis SPurc1lz an ~ an Old New
Drle. tn,ss ca ~ .5
Ia gniappe sfs b purely local Sinstitu-
ton. and 1leword ftse1 Is :l#i oc:iIizeG
enc. fg1if wing n bonus genera in
Kind. givenS TO a customer. vi III each
purchase some triflinS article :,dde:
g1-:, tousIy. to a purchase in the retail
shops of the city or the public markets.
For the origin of the custom Of Civ
ing ..Iagniappe" and the history of the
word one must 20 back to@the eitriy
colonial traditions of Louisiana Tie
old creole legend runs that when Lou
isian;t was ceded to Spain the Spanish
vendors opened their shops in tie
French quarter side by side with, the
old French marchands. \ great rivalry
sprang up between item.
In the quarter lived AN old Spanish
gentleman who had Il pet monkey.
Whenever he went to make his pur-
chases of groceries or provisions he
took his monkey with him. Joco. as
the monkey was called, was great
thief. While his master would be
making his purchases he would quickly
seize upon the nearest articles that suit
ed his fancy, nuts, fruits, candy or tho
like, and eagerly devour them.
He was SO quick and dextrous that
lie would have the article between his
teeth before his master or the vendor
would =be aware. Now. the colonial
Spanish had a provincial word, ':el
niape," signifying one who is skillful
or dextrous. Joco became SO well known
in the stores for his great dexterity in
grasD!ng whatever came in his reach
that the Spanish. like the French. fond
of giving nicknames. called him ''El
Niape."
Whenever the old Spaniard. who was
very liberal in buying. would appear
with his monkey. as he would conclude
his purchases the marchands would
hand him a stick of candy, handful
of nuts or the like, saying, 'Thls is fol
Eel NiaDe' The little children, seeing
the monkey get bonus of candy, fruit.
etc. thought they ought to have some.
too. and would hold out their hands
after every purchase for eel niape."
The custom grew, and as the two
races. French and Spanish. amalgamat-
cd the creoles softcned the old term 'ei
nnpc'' in the half French, half Span
ish, ''lngniaDpe," the term used today.
The pleasant institution Of this petty
sratuity was looked upon as such Il
gra cious and kindly custom that it took
firm root among the various nationali-
oA1N@NAA"'
or the American occupa ton. Bold must
be the vender who would refuse in New
Orleans to give ''lagniappe" to the lit
tie child who holds out its hand in con-
tident expectation. In many shops 1t
is used to encourage custom. To such
an extent had this gone some years ago
that q bill was introduced into the leg
stature to abolish '.lagniappe.",
There was such q hue and cry in IA
vor of the old custom that the bill was
postponed indefinitely. It was declared
ia gniappe'' was one Of our own Loui-
siana institutions, peculiar to ourselves.
q generous old time custom that in its
open neurtelness had nothing in com
mon with the mercenary spirit Of the
age.
Other things might go. but ''la GNi-
appe'' must stay. And so it did. kind
" relic Of a day that is gone, custom:
that often puzzles the stranger. but
which has only to be explained to make
him more than ever pleased with the
warmth ana the glow that come from
the heart of this Franco-Spanish city
in the bend of the crescent.-New Or
leans picayune.