The Lampasas Daily Leader (Lampasas, Tex.), Vol. 29, No. 249, Ed. 1 Saturday, December 24, 1932 Page: 6 of 8
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themselves introduced the practice
now generally prevalent of indulging
in a last fling in preparation for the
morrow’s disagreeable business of
turning over a new leaf. They have
revived the old pagan ceremony, ex-
fore the year was out announcements
were made* of the engagement of
Madge and Tom.
© by McClure Newspaper Syndicate.
(WNU Service;
New Year’* Note
As a rule there’s nothing new about
a New Year’s party except the New.
Year.—Woman’s Home Companion.
Take out and take in,
Bad luck is sure to begin,
But take in and take out,
Good >uck will come about.
“Twenty-six,” said Peggy. “And 1
shouldn’t wonder if you’d better re-
member that, because you’ll have to
men are scarce and we need you in
the bunch to piec&fout with.”
“Bobby, dear," resumed Peggy, “I’ve
fmmwsM'-*' yp
THE LAMPASAS LEADER
A Toast to the New Year
i
mm
9R0K
MARK
JUDSON went down to
breakfast New Year’s morn-
ing with his shirt cuffs
dangling. He had watched
the old year out and the new
year in at his young sister’s
. party and had promised to
go skating with the “crowd”
by nine in the morning.
“What in thunder do you mean by
Bwiping my cuff buttons, Peggy?” he
said to his sister.
“Only this,” cooed Peggy, who was
eighteen and uncommonly pretty. She
held up her hands, showing the cuffs
of a blouse of masculine cut. “I
needed them, dearie, so before you
were awake I came in and got them.
Don’t be huffy, sweetheart, it’s New
Year’s day.”
“Well, you needn’t be so absurdly
good-natured,” growled Bob.
“No, dearest !”\said Peggy. “But
It’s New Year’s day and I've made
pome resolutions. One’s to be very
good-natured. And I’m beginning on
you. I have made put some for you,
too,” she added.
Tom read in small, rather childish
writing, these resolutions thought by
Tom and Madge at No. 26 Bedford
Street.
his little sister to cover his besetting
sins:
Not to flirt.
Not to be scrappy.
Note to be late for dinner—“It an-
noys cook so.”
Not to be hoggish—This had spe-
cial reference to neckties, fountain
pens, cuff buttons, etc.
Not to get engaged before the next
New Year’s day. “Because .unattached
asked some of the girls to come in this
evening to practice a new dance step.
We’re a man short. ' That is we are a
girl extra. Sally’s bringing her cousin,”
she continued.
Bob’s social engagements in his own
and his sister’s set kept him until
darkness had begun to settle. But, as
he reflected, it was only half past five,
and with half an hour to get home and
dinner at half past six, he would be in
good time. He could boast to Peggy
that he had kept all his resolutions at
least for the day.
He was aware of the fact that there
was a young woman walking hurriedly
beside a man on the opposite side of
the street. Then he saw the young
woman quickly cross the street. She
waved her hand and fairly pounced
upon him with a “Why, Marmaduke,
dear, how glad I am to see you!”
Tom remembered the first resolu-
tion given by Peggy, “Not to flirt.”
“I thought it was you, Marmaduke,"
said the girl, walking beside him and
laughing gayly. “Of course, you were
,on your way to our house. We half
expected you, but I didn’t know you
would come this way.” It seemed to
Tom that the girl was talking very
loudly. And then in an aside she said,
“Marmaduke Butler’s your name.”
Then Tom realized that the man
who had been talking to the girl had
caught up with them.
“Say, who are yqu?” said the young
man, well dressed, but with his hat
drawn over his eyes.
“Why, I’m Marmaduke Butler,”
stammered Tom.
“I don’t believe it,” snarled the
stranger. “We don’t neither of us
know her. And I came along first.”
Tom did not wait to know what was
coming next. He shook off the girl’s
hold, his fists clenched and his muscles
tightened without volition. The next
minute he had struck out toward the
annoying stranger, and with the third
blow the stranger was prone on the
path.
“Take me home,” whispered the girl,
hoarsely. “It’s 26 Bedford street. Can
you find it?” They hurried on. The
man was soon following them again
as they proceeded.
Tom stood with her on the porch
of the house marked 26 until a servant
came to the door. “May I see you
again?”
“Oh, no,” said the girl. “It would
seem as if I had been very impertinent
if we ever met again. But I shall al
ways be grateful.” Then the door
closed and Tom in much confusion
traced his steps homeward. It was a
quarter to seven when he reached
home.
“Tom, you have broken one of your
resolutions the first thing,” chirped
Peggy.
“I’ve broken more than one,” said
Tom dismally. “I’ve flirted with a
girl, knocked a man over, I’ve felt as
if I wanted something all to myself,
and if 1 get half a chance I’ll be en-
gaged before next year. Say, Peggy.
Sally lives somewhere in Bedford
street, doesn’t she?”
RING OUT, WILD BELLS
T} ING out, wild bells, to the
wild sky,
The flying cloud, the frosty
light;
The year is dying in the
night;
Ring out, wild bells, and let him
die.
Ring out the old, ring in the
new,
Ring, happy bells, across the
snow;
The year is going, let him
go;
Ring out the false, ring in the
true.
Ring out the grief that saps the
mind
For those that here we see
no more;
Ring out the feud of rich
and poor,
Ring In redress to all mankind.
Ring out a slowly dying cause,
And ancient forms of party
strife;
Ring in nobler modes of life.
With sweeter manners, purer
laws.
Ring out false pride in place and
blood;
• The civic slander and the
spite;
Ring in the love of truth
and right,
Ring in the common love of
good.
Ring out old shapes of foul dis-
ease,
Ring out the narrowing lust
'of gold;
Ring out the thousand wars
of old,
Ring In the thousand years of
peace.
Ring in the valiant man and free
The larger heart, the kind-
lier hand;
Ring out the darkness of the
land,
Ring in the Christ that is to be.
—LORD TENNYSON.
see Sally’s cousin home. You see, she’s
the extra girl tonight.”
Then the telephone bell rang and
Peggy was absorbed for many min-
utes. She burst in upon Tom in the
dining room, where he was finishing
dinner alone. “Tom, hurry. I am
•afraid you’ll have to get Sally and her
cousin. Burton James was going to
meet them here and they were coming
alone, but the cousin—Madge is her
name—had the most awful experience,
perfectly awful. A man followed her.
They walked along and then he took
her arni, wanted to make a date with
her 'and everything. Madge didn’t
know what to do, it was so dark and
lonely. But she says the nicest man
came along and saw her difficulty and
knocked the man down and took her
home, then left without letting her
know who he was. Wasn’t that splen-
did? Now the girls are afraid to come
alone for fear that other man will
meet them.”
Of course, Tom hastened to 26 Bed-
ford street, and of course the affair
rinonod into n mmiintp. and lonar hp.
ODD BELIEFS
ABOUT FIRST
DAY °F YEAR
O OPEN a bank account at
New Year’s was considered
lucky In Old England, the
custom growing probably
from the belief of many
centuries that whatever you
do on the first day of the
year will be an indication
of what will happen during the months
to follow. So deep seated was this
superstition in the minds of men that
even after the festival was declared
a general holiday, many clung to the
old-time belief, and to insure work for
the coming year would set the pace b.i
spending at least an hour or two in
some useful pursuit.
The first day of the year has been
more generally observed than any oth-
er holiday, and over a longer period,
as well, its observance dating back to
the Druids in England and to ancient
Babylon when it was made an occa-
sion for a celebration lasting from ten
to twelve days. With every nation
this holiday has been considered a
time for the expression of good will
and the renewing of old friendships.
The effort to demonstrate the kindly
spirit led to the1 custom of making
gifts, often very expensive jewelry and
large sums of money. But it was not
necessary to remember one’s friends
in that lavish way for custom«'made it
possible also to express good wishes
in a fitting and very humble man-
ner.
Almost every nation has welcomed
the New Year with some form of cere-
mony, not, however, on the same date
or in the same way. The Druids cele-
brated the New Year on the shortest
day of the year, the time, in tfleir be-
lief, when the sun, which journeyed
away from earth during the cold
mopths, turned homeward bringing
with it sunshine, light, warmth and
good cheer. The superstitions that clus-
ter around the day began away back
in the time of these sun worshipers
when the priests led the people to the
forests of the gods for small sprigs
of mistletoe which would bring them
health and prosperity for the year.
So important was the event the peo-
ple marched in processions to the
groves, led by the priests, selected for
the sacred duty of cutting the mistle-
toe, being armed with sickles of gold.
And just as primitive man made his
plans for the beginning of a New
Year the Mexican. Japanese, Chinese,
Persian, Turk, in fact, every nation on
the globe followed in his footsteps,
each celebrating according to his own
ideas and customs.
Omens of good and bad luck have
always been associated with the New
Year, all founded more or less upon
the belief that supreme power was
vested in an unseen deity who could
bring good luck if properly appeased
or mete out punishments. The Ro-
mafis named their New Year in honor
of Janus, the two-faced god, who had
the power to look back over the past,
and also in a prophetic way could look
into the future. He wa^ represented
with a key in his hand symbolizing his
power to open doors, and gateways,
and this holiday was one of great gay-
ety lasting several days. The festival
was not observed in midwinter, but in
the spring, when the Roman year be-
gan, and had only ten months. Later
when two months were added to the
calendar, January and February were
placed at the beginning of the year,
the New Year was celebrated on the
first of January.
Among the old superstitions are
many quaint customs that have been
observed for centuries and have come
down almost to this day and age
Among them are the following:
To bring good luck one must weai
something new on the first day of the
year, according to old English custom.
In some parts of England and Scot-
land it is supposed to be unlucky to
leave a house until some outsider has
first entered it.
There is also an old superstition
concerning the weather told in an old
legend as follows:
“If New Year night wind blowetl
\ south.
It betokeneth warmth and growth;
If west, much milk, and fish in the sea,
If north, much cold and storms there’ll
be;
If east, the trees will bear much fruit
If northeast, flee it, man and brute.*
It was considered unlucky also foi
one to make a present on New Year's
until one had first been received. At
old saw pertaining to this custom is
How
Times Have
Changed—
HE custom of celebrating the
advent of the New Year is
sunk in antiquity. Let us
glance down the centuries
toward some of the first
stunts in which the populace indulged
and see if we aren’t inclined to draw
a breath of relief as we exclaim, “How
times have changed!”
Long, long ago, before the dawn of
civilized stomachs, it was a good old
pagan custom for the people to cele-
brate the New Year by gathering in
the open where they circled around
two wild boars that tore each other to
bits. The meat of the dead animals
was then divided between the people
to feast upon, the best pieces being
reserved for those highest in author-
ity. It’s a far cry from the midnight
supper of today with its carefully
chosen hors d’oeuvres to stimulate the
flagging appetites of guests whose
stomachs revolt at the sight of spilled
blood.
In old Scotland a more savory diet
was enjoyed on New Year’s eve when
people thronged through the streets
between twelve and one o’clock at
night bearing steaming kettles of
spiced ale, known in that day as the
wassail bowl. As they passed each
other on the way to visit neighbors,
they stopped to give and take sips, so
that their spirits were mounting high
when they arrived, to be generously
fed on buns and cheese. This pleas-
ant custom persisted for many years
until it was abused by the wild youth
of the land who took advantage of the
occasion for the commission of law-
less acts.
At one time the New Year was cele-
brated by the giving of presents just
as Christmas is today. Gloves were
a popular contribution to a lady’s
wardrobe because of their rarity. If
the gentleman was hesitant in select-
ing the gloves in person, it was per-
fectly proper for him to give money
for their purchase, which was known
as “glove money.”
When pins were first invented, about
the beginning of the Sixteenth cen-
tury, they were an even more accept-
able gift in feminine circles. They
were rough hand-made pins, but were
considered rare pieces of workman-
ship compared with the skewers of
bone and wood then in use. If money
was given for their purchase, it was
known as “pin-money,” a phrase which
has clung to the language, and con-
notes money used for any extras, pins
or other.
In early America the New Year was
celebrated with the simplicity that
was part of the times. With no steam
cars, motor cars or telephones, peo-
ple had to depend on stage coaches
and ox teams for transportation. It
was said that it was of no use to sit
up and watch the old year out as the
“clocks did so 'vary that they knew
very little of the crossing.” So the
settlers celebrated by making multi-
tudinous calls the next day, jingling
merry sleigh bells and shaking off
snow on the door step. Refreshments
consisted of great slices of cake,
doughnuts, coffee and cider. The cus-
tom of making wholesale New Year’s
calls persisted for many years. Only
a short time ago it was still the fash-
ion for families to hold open house.
The Chinese are said to celebrate
New Year’s in the most unusual fash-
ion of all. They actually feel com-
pelled to pay off their debts before
they can be at peace with the world.
Of all the customs of various nations,
this is perhaps the one most worthy of
emulation.—Indianapolis News.
Old
New Year’s
and the
New
New Year’s
ASSACHUSETTS made New
Year’s a holiday long after
the American custom of
New Year’s calls, which
justified its observance, had
gone the way of the polka and the
hoop skirt. There is nothing American
about the carnival-like merry-making
which nowadays welcomes the new
year. Or can it be that even this is a
metamorphosis of the watchnight
meeting of 40 years or more ago? To
deacons and elders, to all anxious
heads of families, it used to seem
fitting to spend the last three hours
of the year in singing lugubrious
hymns and giving thanks that they
had been singled out for preserva-
tion when so many had been removed
by an equally discerning Providence.
But to the young the watchnight
meeting was always a dreary service,
only to be endured in view of the
joys of the morrow. And when the
life and color were taken out of the
observance of New Year’s itself, there
seemed little sense in ushering in a
day of gloom with a still gloomier New
Year’s eve. So they left the watch-
night meeting to those who found no
more pleasure in their days, and for
cept that no miniature skeletons are
passed round at the feast to remind
them that they are mortal. Nothing
in this modern New Year’s eve aban-
don, however, commends it as a sub-
stitute for the old and gracious cus-
tom of paying and receiving calls, a
custom whose desuetude was hastened
by the prodigious growth of the large
cities in the 25 years following the
Civil war.
As people’s acquaintances increased
numerically their circle widened geo-
graphically. Horse-drawn vehicles
were still the indispensable ways of
getting about A gentleman who In
1869 could call upon 100 or more
ladies and find room in himself for
an equal number of cups of coffee
or glasses of sherry, was compelled,
in 1S79, to reduce his calling list by
half; he could not get all the way
round, even if his brains and his
legs held out. As it became apparent
that either the custom or its observers
must shortly perish from the earth, the
custom languished and died. Such of
the old observers as survive spend the
day sadly. There is nothing they can
do to make them repentant. There is
no pleasure in making good resolu-
tions which you can’t break if you
try.—Boston Herald.
A TOAST
What though the waves of yes-
teryear
Return upon our beach,
And come again and slip away
Forever out of reach
Let’s reignite the torch of days
And hail the new born year-—
Old Father Time’s young progeny
Is worth a rousing cheer!
—A. C. CLAPP, in Chicago Daily
News.
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The Lampasas Daily Leader (Lampasas, Tex.), Vol. 29, No. 249, Ed. 1 Saturday, December 24, 1932, newspaper, December 24, 1932; Lampasas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth894329/m1/6/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Lampasas Public Library.