The Thibodaux sentinel. (Thibodaux, La.) 1905-1912, 1909-10-02
rArroolNa our OF sTYtE.
Cd Facts About a custom That 10 Re-
Nrred TO IN the Bible.


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 eby pune.
turing it and inserting coloring mat
| ter. The practice Of tattooing arose
| among primitive people in many diff
ferent ways. With some 1t was Q
| mark which served to signify subor.
| dination to chief, very much as
farmers at this day brand their cat
tie. Among the Sandwich islanders
it 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 it has sur
vived in modern times. has been the
result of a 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
by their captors when they were. TAX
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 SEN
fences. 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 TIN.
faithful" Born under an unlucky |
STAR" "Glory, honor, fatherland,' and |
"All for the fair" 4
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
ion hunt. while his back was orna.
nented with representation of
cavalry charge. AS the process OF
,attooing is painful, the man who bore
,hese works of art must have suffer.
ID greatly.
Many men who have had the backs
# their hands tattooed In youth, and
AVE at that time regarded the decor.
tions as something to be very proud
i, or who. an workmen, have been
'roud to bear the emblem OF their
rade, have very earnestly wished, in {
eaching maturity or In working their
ray to wealth or social position, that
hey might be rid OF the marks which ,
hey took such pains to get, but the
1arks remain tenaciously and indi.
ate with almost perfect certainty that
e who bears them was either q very q
polish boy or that his early life was i
assed among bad associates or In a b
lenial occupation. +
There are, however, fewer and I,
ever men who bear sich decorations. ,
nd 1t Is probable that tattooing will,
efore many generations, disappear
nong enlightened people.--pittsburg =
azette- Times.