(M if mm Sws
irnTYIXO the large peninsula
at tho northwestern corner of
France washed by the Eng
lish channel and the Hay of
Biscay Is ft rugged country,
with rt'pped Inhabitants, who are less
French than any other people of the
republic, Brittany has no political ex
istence and la not even represented on
some modern maps, because It termi
nated Its Individual career In the clos
ing years of the eighteenth century;
but the Bretons, differing In ancestry,
language and temperament from their
neighbors, have held aloof and main
tained their racial characters In a way
almost unparalleled In European his
tory. Fierce wars have left their scars
nnd the concomitants of modern civili
zation have made their enduring lm-
By Hugh M.Smith
Deputy Commttttoner
U.S.Mureau of frte fieri e&
. C J; si
s, . ssssiks
I
life1? f I1 14-1 u7 .,
sife,, 'HfwMwi fry
m mi mi
than the entire state of Maryland.
The abundance of stone everywhere
nnd the scarcity of timber In many
places have determined the huildlng
material for most of the houses,
churches and other structures In
Brittany. When for any reason build
ing stone is scarce or otherwise lack
ing, the people have often had re
course to the prehistoric monuments
for their homes and churches.
The churches afford most fascinat
ing material for the 6tudy of the ar
chitect and the antiquarian. Begin-
t i.
1
W fLCT 02AROti BOAte W PORT y
It was the scene of tho most atrocious massacres,
nnd In 1793 fully 30,000 men, women and children
wero here butchered.
' Every observant traveler soon realizes that the
dominant note In the Breton character is the univer
sal and ineradicable belief In a higher power, which
Is not only worshipped, but is regarded as influencing
nr determining every incident in their daily lives.
Most pecullrtr religious superstitions are current;
witchcraft, charms and antidotes are believed In, and
Talrles and other creatures of a childlike imagination
.iere have a very real existence to both young and old.
All of the people are now nominally Christians, but
nruidlsm flourished in some remote sections as ia
V
7iV ;W
V- . , i 4i(r UF .
It a:P' I'll j I
SSm Crowes I ?9r j I
Hi ll "m- I
I Pl
As es
it
Cart fn Preps ring Fe4.
In recent years scientists fcnv
proved that the value of food la meas
ured largely by Its purity; the re
mit Is the most stringent pur food
laws that have ever been known.
On food that hat stood out promi
nently as a perfectly clean and pur
food and which was as pur before
the enactment of these law at . It
could .possibly be la Quaker Oats;
conceded by the experts to be tba Ideal
food for making strength of muscle
and brain. The best and cheapest of
all foods. The Quaker Oats Company
ia the only manufacturer of oatmeal
that has satisfactorily solved the prob
lem of removing the husks and black
specks which are so annoying when
other brands are eaten. If you are
convenient to the store buy the reg
ular size packages; If not near the
store, buy the large alze family pack
ages. 1
FOR WET FEET.
press on people nnd country; but so
niuch of the ancient customs and land
Imnrks has survived that Brittany la
still a well-marked geographical and
(ethnological entity nnd bids fair to re
main such for many generations.
I TlUs isolation of Brittany from the
remninder of France, while at the
same time the province la compara
tively easy to reach nnd traverse, has
for many years made It a popular holi
day and vacation resort for Parisians
land Londoners and has attracted the
inotlce of regular travelers and tourists
who, having "done" the Alps, the Rhine,
the Norwegian fjords, the Riviera and
hc European capitals, are seeking new
worlds to conquer. Artists of all lands
have likewise found this a most agree
able field for work and recreation. The
popularity of the region Is attested by
n score of modern books of travel,
some written nnd illustrated by clever artists,
describing tho quaint charm of country and
.people and always giving the reader a keen
desire to go and see for himself.
Some years ago I was privileged to visit
Brittany in the interest of the bureau of fish
eries and the personal observations 1 then
made incidental to the special inquiries In
hand form the basis for these necessarily des
ultory remarks
j The orlglnnl name of Brittany was
Armorlca, which was changed In con
sequence of extensive immigration
from Great Britain in the fifth and
sixth centuries. The Armorlcan tribes
formed a part of that race of which tho
Irish, Highland Scotch and Manx con
stitute one division and the Welsh,
Cornish nnd Breton the other. The
Celtic language there spoken at tho
present time is divided into three or
four rather distinct dialects nnd is un
derstood, if not actually used by a very
large percentage of the native popula
tion. Many of the older Bretons, can
not speak French nnd in 1002 it was
found thnt tho French language was
unknown or unused by 700,000 of tho
people. The government now requires
the learning of French by the young,
so we may expect the gradual disuse"
nnd final death of this ancient tongue.
Taking a brief glance nt tho history
of Brittany, we may note that at a very
remote period this country beeamo
thickly settled by a dark-skinned
people thnt, starting a westward mi
gration from somo part of Asia, left
monuments along their route through
out central and northern Europe and
only ceased their wanderings when
stopped by the sea in Scandinavia, Ire
land, Great Britain, France, Portugal
and Spain. In prehistoric times the
conquered this early race, nnd then came tho
tfloman conquest and tho Roman occupation
'of Gaul until tho fourth century, up to which
time tho peculiar religious practices of the
aboriginal raco appear to have flourished un
molested by either Gauls or Romans.
Wo read that in 383 Maximilian, son-in-law
of Octavlus of England, and his nephew, Co..
nan Merlndec, went over to Armorlca nnd en
deavored to displace tho Romans, This ven
ture cost the lives of some 15,000 soldiers.
Then Maximilian took over a huge army and
eventually overcame the Romans. Conan be
came king of tho country, which he called
Little Britain, or Bretagne, and, making his
capital at Nantes, he invited his countrymen,
who were then very hard pressed by the Scots
and Flcts nnd Saxons, to come over nnd Join
him. Manythonsanda responded to this and
subsequent Invitations and by the time of Co
nan's death, in 421, Christianity, that had
been Introduced with the Briton immigrants,
had been established and paganism almost
abolished over a large part of the country.
In the middle ages the dukes of Brittany
vnr,.tand semi-royal prerogatives and the
people had a separate parliament for many
..,- nrpeedina- the French revolution. At
the outbreak of that momentous struggl th
3S -VAs
The Chick What's the matter? -The
Duckling You'd cry, too, If
your ma made you wear overshoes
when you went swimming.
Laundry work at . home would b
much more satisfactory if the right
Starch were used. In order to get the
desired stiffness, It Is usually neces
sary to use so much starch that th
beauty and fineness of the fabrlo is
hidden behind a paste of varying
thickness, which not only destroys th
appearance, but also affects the wear
Ing quality of the goods. This trou
ble can be entirely overcome by using
Defiance Starch, as it can be applied
much more thinly because of its greaV
r strength than other makes.
A Rude Suggestion.
"Why," asked the acquisitive young
student, "do they call pretty women
'peaches?' "
"Because," growled the sour old
bachelor, "pretty women are the fruit
of mischief."
Wasn't Settled.
Caller Why is your servant going
about the house with her hat on?
Mistress She only came this morn
ing and hasn't yet made up her mind
whether she will stay or not. Har
per's Weekly.
Bretons lived up to their rep
utation for conservatism and
remained loyal to the mon
archy and forcibiy resisted
the establishment of the re
public long after the other
parts of France had accept
ed the new regime. This
sanguinary chapter In the
history of tho country has
W J U fe", r - "
a fit)
1 ( ti! i vjil
v rri
JTQRETOt PtMN7& COrMGE
&..; 'JA W, ' -t
GOtfO TO WAGKET rs
Gauls been vividly portrayed In Balzac's etirriog
novel, "The Chouans."
Tho Britons, at first friends and kindred
of the Bretons, eventually become tholr hered
itary enemies. For centurk9 the British pri
vateers and naval vessels ravaged the coast,
blockaded tho harbors, bombarded the towns,
landed fighting parties and the long-continued
and deep-seated animosity thus engendered
still abides In this land, where changes in
hnblts and customs and sentiment occur very
slowly. t
Tho present population of Brittany is about
3,260,000. The principal cities are Brest, the
great naval port of France, beautifully located
on ono of the best harbors In all Europe;
Rennes, In the interior, brought prominently
to the world's notice some years ago as the
scene of Dreyfus' first trial; and Nantes, on
the Loire, the largest and ono of the most In
teresting places In all Brittany. Its chief at
traction is its hoary age and romantic history.
It Is mentioned by Caesar, Pliny and other
writers of their tlmo and was a city of note
long before Caesar divided all taul Into three
parts. In the middle ages It was ono of the
most valuable possessions of tho seml-royal
dukes of Brittany and when. In 1409, Anne of
At Brlttsnv here wedded Louis XII. it passed to
the crown of France. During the revolution
as the seventeenth century, and It is an Inter
esting fact that the veneration accorded the
heathen deities In the earliest centurls of
Breton history was easily transferred to the
Holy Family and the Christian saints when
the new religion reached the country. In no
other part of Europe, If Indeed In any other
part of the world, has Christianity nbsorbed
so much of earlier creeds, and It requires no
particularly astute observer to appreciate that
many features of Breton religious practice to
day are relics of prehistoric paganism.
it is easy to understand how the supersti
tious temperament of the Bretons has been
developed by their isolated geographical posi
tion and the Impressive character of the coun
try, by their distinct language and by their
being brought constantly in contact with those
strange megallthlc remains which are here
more numerous than anywhere .else.
A sympathetic foreigner has given an ad
mirable estimate of Brittany and the Breton
character that should always be borne in
mind:
"Those who would wish to see Brittany as
she really Is must not look at her wild and
barren plains, her bleak, dreary mountains,
her dark and sombre forests, her stormy and
rock-bound shores nnd her lonely, lovely val
leys with the hasty glance they cast on any
other passing landscape, with the hard prac
tical eye and fastidious tastes of modern trav
elers; they must think of her as the land
that has been consecrated by the earliest feats
of chivalry, perhaps the only spot In the mod
ern world that has preserved In her legends
untarnished the 'eternal youth of phantasy.
Here, It is not only 'the spirit that haunts the
lust years' bowers,' but the spirit of ages past,
that looks you In the face.
"Tho traveler must not regard the melan
choly Breton, alternately taciturn and elo
quent, simply as an unlettered and morose
peasant, but as a being cradled In supersti
tion, endowed by nature and education w.lth a
vivid imagination, with a deep, true, poetical
sense, with strong nnd gloomy religious views.
. to whom the 'spirit land' Is an ever-present, an
ever-living reality, and who idemnlfles himself
for his hard lot on earth by a constant refer
ence to the future Joys of heaven."
Brittany is a small country. Its extreme
length from north to bouUi Is only K.O miles,
and Its greatest width Is about the same. The
area Is 13,600 square miles, or a Uttl larger
.ring with the eleventh century, they
present a most Interesting record of
the evolution and progress of eccle
siastical architecture. Large castles
are rare and in practically every com-
nmnltv It is the church that is the
most imposing structure.
The houses of peasants nnd fisher
men are for the most part Bmall, one-
storied, with deep, thatched roof. In a
few places I noticed the walls formed
ontirelv of upright granite blocks
seven or eight feet high. Windows
(often without glass) are small, few
in number and not Infrequently alto
gether lacking in the poorest nouses.
The floors are of dirt, which is
often converted Into mud and re
mains so, and the interiors are usu
oiiv rhillv and cheerless. In many
families there Is a common bedroom
- tn each house, with a oea in eacn
" corner, and it is no unusual thing to
find the same room shared Dy a mier oi pigs
and perhaps several gonis.
But the leading product of the waters of
Brittany is the sardine. This country has its
mar attractions for the artist, the
archeologist. the linguist and other specialists,
and even ordinary tourists are ouen impeueu
to extend their travels thither; hut tne rea
, -i.irh nnneals most strongly to the great
est number of Americans affects not their
esthetic, artistic or scientific tastes, but their
gastronomic, through the medium of the
canned sardine. Other countries and other
tiroduce sardines, but the
orpins nar excellence comes from Brittany.
Brittany Is the center of the sardine fish
rv and has nil "of tho numerous establish-
mpnto for the canning of the fish. In an aver-
n epason the Brittany sardine fishermen
number 23.000 to 30,000 nnd catch 100,000.000
to IjO.OOO.OOO pounds of sardines, tor wnicn
thev receive $1,500,000 to $3,000,000, while the
shore Industries dependent on the fishery give
employment to 20,000 other persons, mostly
women ond girls. So Important is the sardine
that in many communities in Brittany every
nerson Is directly or Indirectly supported by
it, and the failure of the fish to come means
ruin, starvation and deatn to many people in
the more Isolated places.
Sardines are found on the coasts of Brit-
tanv throughout the year, but occur in great
est abundance in summer and autumn. The
small fish. In demand for canning purposes,
have been hatched from eggs laid in the pre
vious summer at a considerable distance from
the land and go In schools at or near the sur
face. As many as 100.000 have been taken at
one time In ono net from one school, but the
usual size of the schools is not remarkably
large.
Like other free-swimming oceanic fish, of
which tho mackerel, blueflBh and herring are
conspicuous examples, the sardine varies In
abundance from year to year and at times has
been exceedingly scarce on the French coasts.
Thus, from 1887 to 1890, there was an alarm
ing scarcity, but after this four-year period
the fish returned In as great numbers as ever.
Again, from 1902 to 190G, the sardine disap
peared nhnost completely, only to be followed
by a period of great abundance. All sorts of
theories have been advanced to account for
these periods of scarcity, which appear to be
coming more frequently than formerly.
TV TUP- SnMMFR
hlldron nverlndnlico In cailnK fnilu wild ttonmtb
palnftflacunM'rU'ncc;rouini'riBnoiiii nave on nana
I'unklllur U'e"7 Darli ). lite, afro and HK boltlM.
Also Somewhat Rare.
The best treasure among men Is a
frugal tongue. Heslod.
Lewis' Sinsle Binder aives the smoker a
rich, mellow-tasting cigar, one that smokes
nu tastes Dciicr man most xuc cigars.
A guilty conscience Is apt to be Its
own excuser.
i
IF YOUR CHILD
NEEDS A TONIC
if your little boy or girl is deli
cate and sickly go to the nearest
druggist and get a bottle of
Dr.D.Jayne's
Tonic
Vermifuge
This splendid tonic has beta
successful for four gtntra
tlont in making sickly children
strong and healthy, and effec
tively expelling worms.
It is like wise a natural tonic for
adults.and restoreslastingheslth
and strength to "run-down"
systems by toning up the stom
ach and other digestive organs
Sold by Jill LruggUtt
3 Mists, 50c. and 33c.
Dr. D. Javnt'i Expectorant it th
tno rel iabl remedy for Coufhi,
Cold, Croup. Whooplnc Couzh.
BronchititaDdPlturia.
