New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1905-05-21
La FHLLE DU REGIMENT.
French Army to Lose Most Pictur-
csque Feature-The Cantimcre.


class that for the last hundred years have played
an important and certainly a picturesque role
in the military history of France, will be mus
tered out of her army. They the
tinieres or vivandieres. of the various regiments
and battalions who first made their appearance
in the of the great revolution of 1888 and
have ever since that time fitted, so to speak,
all over the French battefelds of Europe, tend
ing the wounded. feeding the hungry, moisten-
ing the parched bps of the dying from their
ready little barrels Down to the which in
augurated the Third Republic in France the
vivandiere a bird Of gay plumage-a pc
cular mixture of the Sister of Mercy and of the
opera bouffe queen, but possessing all the ster-
ling qualities which uphold sinking energies and
infuse life in those who are wearied unto
death-namely, resolution. courage bordering on
temerity, and complete devotion to suffering hu-
manity. And she presented q chic and brilliant
figure she marched past with her regiment in
short skirts long red trousers If she belonged to
the infantry. top boots IL attached to the
airy, her hat jauntily cooked side, with
her little barrel hanging from her shoulder by a
strap, sometimes by tri-color scarf, the barrel
always containing reviving draught of cognac
for her children" So she called the soldiers
OF France-S
No better description has been given Of
the vivandiere than that to be found in Ouida's"
the heroine is the true type. If somewhat poet
lied, of this vivacious, merry. plucky, I'M
daunted and sometimes mischievous member
of the fair who for a hundred years
has followed the French army to glory, and
sometimes, alas, also to defeat Truth, how
cver, compels me to add that l have never
been fortunate enough to encounter in real
life vivand5 IS beautiful and fascinat-
ing as those .ootght favorites whom I have
seen on the stage in the role Of Cigarette IN the
dramatized version Of "Ouida's" novel All the
cantinieres that have come under my notice
have been rather mature women, who usually
went among the officers and soldiers Of the
regiment by the name OF La Mere so-and-so;
that is to say, Mother Blank" They all had
9 tendency to be what the French call -hom-
masse," that is to say. rather masculine, and
good fellows In their speech. their manner
and their readiness to become the conhdante Of
the personal troubles and miseries OF every ono
Of the soldiers whom they regarded more or
less as children. In need of parental advice and
consolation The vtvandiere was not only ma
ternal. but also paternal, In her attitude toward
her "boyA-~ And yet no matter how mannish
she might otherwise be In her garb and in her
bearing, there was always peculiar and strik-
ing touch of feminnity In the dainty, ribbon
trimmed snlan apron with pockets that formed
an Indispensable feature OF her uniform, and In
the gentleness of her touch and voice in reliev-
ing pain and suffering.
Since the with Germany, thirty-fve years
ago, the costume of the vivandieres has lost
much Of the somewhat theatrical characteristics
which distinguished it in the reigns of the first
and third Napoeons and likewise while King
Louis Philippe the throne, and the vol
luminous braiding and feathers in the hat gave
way after 1870 to a rather sober uniform of
dark blue, piped with red. Gradually, with the
growing perfection of the ambulance system
and with the improved and modern methods of
keeping the troops in the field supplied not
only with food, but also with non alcoholic
drink, the services Of the cantiniere have be-
come superfuous. They are no longer needed
at least, that is the opinion of the medical
thOrities, OF the commissariat department and
of the "oficiers superieurs' of the French
army, the rank and file of which, however will
sorely miss this almost invariably respectable If
perhaps rough tongued, specimen of womanhood
the only matronly influence with which many
of the soldiers came into contact from the time
they joined the cOlors until they completed their
views and military pageants, will certainly re-
gret the disappearance OF the yivandiere.
One Of the most remarkable of these can
tinieres, differing. it must be confessed from the
ordinary run of them. was Louise de Beaulieu
who died only few years ago in rather impov-