New-York tribune., 1869-01-01
NEW-YEAR'S
NEw-YEAR's DAY IN AMERICA.

s t collar rs and drag us away intothe past with
-, as the door closed upon him forever Lase hignt
.sa ho,,s in many steeple played MN CUT by hali
'no or less after 70 o'clock midnight he was as
,ns ont on old wear as any of the old years that
p''s oroy before he was born. "lhe King IS
saad-lonp live the Kingw And so' year out anu
- in. no interval between the years; nNe
.ounc wear on the Threshold eio '"0 ~
of the old one has well ''i'i'"eu 'io"'
8, This makes the position .o,! em-
b,rrassing one If there were 6 pf f6e coming YEAR
"a 70 sneak between the going anu d ,0 Collect one
20 10 speNo o,s might sit awhile ana coliec. o1es
thoasbts before getting over one better than
little stranger S SfaT which Ih is usually the first sauta
nn ard by him from human voceppe Is rs 'luo rue
that many personswoaon 1non the yonng New-Year the
most peiSI he arrives They smile upon many other
% zoo but their smiling upon the New-lea Is OF
d an ;tb the remarkable smiling of old Mr.. Pick
pp;ck ON that memorable occasion wheh ne sot rs
tight as his own, pantaloons, and e"erNescing si
WIN - s"'b human kindness. addressed sue
cession of bland smiles to the .ii,perIunroa@9ie @
old eight-day clock IN the corner. Sul,i9 s sie
moIe nv heart that STOLE goes the ola song; out IL
snoei n s,d that more brains than hearts are pur-
ioned and spirited away by the potent II MOI sweet,
smiles tLat are smiled by the reveiers at the New
Ringing the Old Year ont and the New Yearin is an
old English custom and is almost the only notice
fsstiva the New Year is more generally and jovially
observed in the United States and Canada than in
any other part of the world. Nowhere. perhaps. Is
IN welcomed in with more set hospitality than here
in New-York The rural districts TO the north west
of U.s. though. have the advantage over us. mostly.
of real white snow about this time - none
of the pepperand-salt mixture with which
we fellows here generally throw dust in the eyes of
the pesky little year that comes pecping in orr
keyholes No completeness can belong to the New
Year carnival unless there be sleghing. The merry
tinkle of the seigh-Sells is far more appropriate
mS with which to rermiste the n mn1shg u, I'm IN OF the
peal that shakes tue tower yonder. and makes
the window-panes of half the houses in the city
culver. Go North. if you would see the New Year
come in with all his glory The frost-fairies write
his name on tho window -panes there. with their
crystal fingers. and when he comes he makes Won
minded thermometer qnitc ont of sorts clad as he ls
in the skins of Offers and in much peltry OF
thinks There 1ack can ad be little doubt that
it was from the old Hollanders fovefathers de
rived the idea of making festival of New-lears
bay. in Germany it is not celebrated as festival;
aud. although In many parts of France show Is
made of glonfying the occasion by the distribution
of JoR-bOns. and such like childish ceremonies. the
auniv cTsary gets tame and cold welcome compared
with It's reception here 1t is quite safe TO fancy that
old Pstrus Stnyvesant left many dot on the frozen
ground with his timber tOe-or on the snow, proba-
bly for thev nsed To get their snow more regularly
two centuries ago than we do now. as chronicles tell
cidedy there is a flavor Of Dutch herrngs about the
New-Year. Personfying New-Iear INTO smul-
of we ss h fS ns
anker of schnapps sticking ont of one pocket. and
keg of smoked eels ont of the other. Hendrick Hud
son and his jovial crew. of Hollandcrs surely kept
New Year up there in the Catskills, drinking him in
with much pure old GIN and broken Dutch. Here
everybody Is brisk on New-leaTs Day. The thing
the anniversary is observed with greater zest i'll
States and localities than IN Others. yet thereis
current change. even though luncheon be not laid
out upon the sideboard or eggnogg smoking tor all
In many places and in the cities and towns Of
New York State above ALL the celebration of the Nav
Year amounts absolutely TO carnival. Here, during
the last week of the Old Year. all the town is alive
with toy-shop traffic The fancystores are
even more lavish and brilliant in their display than
they were at Christmas. for it has long, been the
usage here for everybody who can possibly afford 1t
10 6gy present, however small, for somebody
slse The range of the New-Year's gift is a
wide aud extremely varied one We have cog
oreseutsd TO young lady no longer since
than yestereven. 1t is true that the great ORR
sDta trunk bearer merely beast Of gutta percha
Or so,ne such stuff. IN miniature and that the lady
recipient of it vet good long sevenyear spell
entls snnny side of her first teen strolling IN the
city Yesterday. full grown piano walking up
tbedoor- steps of goodly though by mean pala al
msnsioa Obviously il was making New Years call
and came to stay, and we could fancy now deity us
the glory of the donor aud the welcome of the com
ing year. Between q silver water-ptcher apd
policy Of life insurance there does not appear TO be
any earthly association and yet we have seen both
Of them fguring upon their list of New-Year's |
eadnSI The gift custom has its drawbacks. thodgh
sorry TO record that Newly Tears Day has made
nni>snce Of the usually mlld and alable small |
boy who domDeers over the honse next door 10 |
where We sit writing Very loud in the morning air
came tho drumtaps OF that metainorphosed urchn. |
Very Ianeh louder and still further from anything
resenb bhAg music, the metallic shneks that shat
Ter the atnsphere air from that dreadful trumpet |
's ptessnsea v him by some generous 9ut ieeble,
minded frend Of the family. Friend. did we say |
save US froM Nlch friends! Hast thou hated |
Patsnsailias on thy list Of foes. tip his little
eoy with q tin trumpet at the New-fear.
Loifr near the premises, and gloat over the dis |
eoidsit bursts Of hjdeOus noise with which the once
ese lul house is rendered iitolerable. 1t will
perey soothing to your miDd-becausc you can get |
Mta ear-shot IN a moment. II will smooth your |
sntfy into the New-Year. and strew your pathway |
snh The sweet 1owers of revenge. The pranciDg |
ocpede has for the first time made its appear
voc on the giftlist of the NewYear Let the happy
seeisef of Il beware lest he fall while taking his |
m eater with it on the first day of the year. The
ssl would be an inauspicious one for the lap?ed |
asying and Fall. To-day the walking doll will |
aekfore IT, on the greensward OF many private |
~sstlo-table. the little baby carriage with It's |
saeas charge Other novelties in the toy line will
JJsazet the minds of many thousands OF young rev.
aenln the kew-Year saturnala- The carnival Of
,.ss fnaeks and bon-toms will be very rife and
%xes in the bazaars.
heir incest morning apparel arrayed Will set
sEE EE iabes-and some of them their caps-for the
49, 49, who will call. And let the man who calleth
- - ealler,D says Observation-Disclosures. bOtw VIII
IN sesnghout this rushing. rafting, coaching, Jost-
M VT day OF the young year that comes 20 US
an ne Yry suggrstiye name OF Eighteen nixtys ~
t~Ii !asttfrlly will the collation. be lald on tnSS
Ssks. Sk many house where comfort Of every KIND
~ mrchasable with money has its proper cor,
10 SSevcral years ago prophetic psnIais ussu 10
NJ rvlct that the custom OF open mouse a. S .hs
iar was dying cut. and that 1t soon wonid
edss - dead as doornail,D or words 10 tnat
the quite the reverse, o. fascinating Dlsma, Just