The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1872-11-12

"Some merry gentle, country folks
Together did convene,
To burn their nits and pou their stocks,
And hau their Halloween"
This anniversary of the ''Auld Lang Syne''
festival, was pretty generally celebrated in
town last evening, in the peculiar manner
that has ever marked its recurrence. Out
doors. gates were unhinged, door bells were
pulled, stumbling blocks tripped unsuspect-
ing pedestrians upon the sidewalks, or if they
escaped these dangers below, their hats were
knocked off by strings tied across the side
walks above. A gentleman residing on Main
street fell over wash tub upon entering his
own domicile, and had hardly ceased rubbing
his shins before peck of potatoes battered
down upon his defenseless head There were
hundreds OF other similar experiences in
town, but we have no time to speak of all
the tricks played which the occasion makes
allowable, though some of the most ludicrons
are
WORTH MENTIONING.
A young man of our acquaintance who
prides himself on his make up" called at
the house of an acquaintance for an evening
visit, and found several young ladies assem-
bled there, all deeply engaged in trying to
peer into the future by the aid of such agen-
cles as tradition has named as potent but
facts have marked as ''too thin'' None of
the girls in the party were willing to undergo
the ordeal of walking backward down the
cellar stairs, with candle in one hand and
mirror in the other. Our friend thought he
would like to see his future wife, and amidst
the admiring remark Of the girls at his cour-
age, prepared to go cellarward His face
blanched little as he began to descend the
gloomy stairway amid the whispered utter
ances of his friends. He stepped firmly, how
ever, with the candle held closely in one
hand and the looking-glass in which the re-
Election of his future wife's face was to appear
in the other, but when about half way down
the stairs, a horrible unearthly Shrek came
from below, which sent the feminine crowd
around the entranceway to the cellar, pre-
cipitately to the parlor. At the same time a
something which our hero afterward described
as being
THE DEVIL, RUSHED BETWEEN HIS LEGS'
Though naturally brave, this was too much
for him, and he dropped both candle and mir
ror, and losing his balance, fell head first into
barrel OF apple butter clear to his arm-pits,
and no sooner had he escaped from the but
ter barrel than he stepped on potato that
was lying on the cellar bottom, his foot slip
ped out from under him, land he sat down in a
crock of lard, at the same time hitting his
head against a swinging shelf, which fell,
bringing down with it shower of doughnuts,
pickles, canned fruit and other eatabes. The
at this juncture, and escorted the young man
to the upper world, where, after scraping the
lard and apple butter from his clothes, and
combing the doughnuts out of his tangled hair
he was advised to go home The Thomas
cat, whose hasty exit from the cellar caused
the catastrophe, rubbed fondly against the
unfortunate young mans legs and departed.
THERE WERE MORE VICTIMS IN TOWN.
A young s'fellah" in his teens took some
chestnuts to the residence of his girl on Ferry
street, to tell fortunes with, upon a hot stove.
Everything worked pleasantly at first: the
Old folks went to bed early, and the young
couple sat by the kitchen stove, which diffus-
ed glow scarcely warmer than that which
emanated from their own hearts. Two plump
chestnuts, which had been named after the
two beings who were there to watch their
movements, were placed upon the heated
stove. They reposed for a moment side by
side, then the nut named "John'' began to
waltz around the surface of the stove, and
was followed moment later by 'sMary,'' the
other proxy. AS they grew warmer their
speed and eccentric evoutions increased.
and the young couple were very much inter-
ested in the final movements which were to
indicate the fate of their own hearts, when
unfortunately "John'' exploded, and a piece
OF hot chestnut striking the original Mary in
the eye, she took no more interest in the an
tics OF fortune-tellers, but sat down, while her
admlrer, in his haste to relieve her sufferings,
STEPPED ON THE CATS TAIL.
howl Of mortal agony followed, and a
moment later the enjoyment of the evening
was marred by the yonng lady's father OPEN
ing the kitchen door, and though clad in a
single and nameless garment, he insisted on
knowing il it was necessary to raise such a
hullabaloo at this time of night before he
departed. Everthiug was amicably adjusted,
however. and the remainder of ''Halloween''
enjoyed by the young folks in more quiet
mannor.
But the jokes were not confined to the
young people, We hear this morning of flax
seed emptied into beds, where it occasioned
much emotion by its resemblance to s'year-
ling bed-bugs Those who retired early
were pretty certain to find cabbage or
pumpkin between the sheets. Tempting
pieces of pie, with-dust stuffing, were gener-
ally rendered b glowing wives to their loving
husbands, and various other jokes, practical
and otherwise, were played in manner that
threatened to take from "All Fools Day. the
distinction it has hitherto enjoyed