Tensas gazette. [volume] (St. Joseph, La.) 1886-current, 1909-10-01
1ATToolNe OUT or STYLE.
Cd Facts About a Custom That Is 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 pune
turing 1t and inserting coloring mat
ter. The practice Of tattooing arose
among primitive people in many diff
ferent ways. With some it was
mark which served to signify subor-
dination to a chief, very much as
farmers at this day brand their cat
tle Among the Sandwich Islanders
ii indicated the district in which the
person lived. With many others it
had a 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
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 1t 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
rISuCu WOThlnSnen.
mo luck" Child of misfortune"
Thin for life." Death to the I'M
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 4 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
atoms 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 vary
foolish boy or that his early life was
passed among bad associates or in a
mental occupation.
There are, however, fewer and
fewer men who bear such decorations,
and 1t is probable that tattooing will,
before many generations, disappear
among enlightened people.-Pittsburg
Gazette-Times.