The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1909-09-22
TATTooiNe OUT OF STYLE.
Cd Facts About Custom That 10 Re.
ferred to In the Bible.

One of the customs of the past ages
which is now going out Of use al
most entirely, is that of tattooing, or
marking the skin indelibly by punc-
| turing 1t and inserting a coloring mat
ter. The practice Of tattooing arose
| among primitive people in many dif-
ferent ways. With some 1t was a
mark which served to signify subor-
dination to chief, very much as
farmers at this day brand their cat
| tie. Among the Sandwich Islanders
1t indicated the district in which the
person lived. With many others 1t
had religious significance, and sac
red emblems were marked upon the
body.
Some superstitious service Of the
| dead was evidently Indicated in early
| Bible times by tattooing, for the book
Of Leviticus contains this command:
"Ye shall not make any cuttings on
your flesh for the dead, not print
any marks upon you"
Among other people tatooing has
been resorted to from shee vanity,
and the practice, so far as 1t has sur
vived in modern times, has been the
result of mixture of vanity and SUI
| perstition. Occasionally the dime
] shows" and the "side shows" contain
tattooed man, some Of whom were
willingly marked over their whole
bodies, while others were tattooed
| hy mfr ,t,bn 20 r.
en- prisoners in savage wars.
At the present day it is sailors
and soldiers, among civilized people,
who practice it chiefly, and their arms
and the backs of their hands are Of
ten decorated with anchors, shields,
and all sorts Of fantastic devices, or
with religious emblems.
In Europe workingmen frequently
decorated their arms with entire sem
tences. Some one of the great iron
works at Neuilly, France, has been
observing the tattooed arms Of the
workmen and has found upon them
the following sentences, the first
three being very common among
French workingmen:
mo luck" Child of misfortune"
"Thin for life" Death to the un-
faithful" Born under an unlucky
STAR" GLORY, honor, fatherland," and
"All for the fair"
Many representations of clasped
hands and emblems of occupations,
such as hammers, squares, compasses,
of anchors were also found
Some extraordinary tattooing has
been observed among the native re-
cruits for the French service In Al
geria One soldier had tattooed upon
his breast an elaborate picture of a
lion hunt. while his back was orna-
mented with a representation of a
cavalry charge. AS the process OF
tattooing is painful, the man who bore
these works of art must have suffer-
ed greatly.
Many men who have had the backs
of their hands tattooed in youth, and
have at that time regarded the Decor
ations as something to be very proud
of, or who. as workmen, have been
proud to bear the emblem of their
trade, have very earnestly wished, in
reaching maturity or in working their
way to wealth or social position, that
they might be rid of the marks which
they took such pains to get, but the
marks remain tenaciously and indi.
cate with almost perfect certainty that
he who bears them was either a very
foolish boy or that his early life was
passed among bad associates or in
menial occupation.
There are, however, fewer and
fewer men who bear such decorations,
and it is probable that tattooing will,
among enlightened people.-Pittsbur
lGazette-Times.