The Weekly Kansas chief. [volume] (Troy, Kan.) 1872-1918, 1880-10-28
ALL HALLOW EVE.
Some Account Of n LOST FestivaI-Old Time
Observances of this VI ystie Eve.

Cbservances oil TINS uysue Eve
Sunday is the last day of October, and that
| evening is All HallOw Eve, or Halloween. Pos
sibly very few readers of the Chief know distinct
| ly what is ment by this term. 1t is clearly
relic of Pagan times for the church has no OBJ
| servance which could have originated such ex-
| traordinary notions, or such remarkable prac-
| tees those by which Halloween is distinguish
| ed. There is really no night in the year which
| the popular imagination has stamped with a
more peculiar character. The leading idea res
peGting this festival is that it is the time, of all
Others, when supernatural influences prevail; 1t
is the night set apart for the universal walking
abroad of spirits, both of the visible and nvisi-
bile world, for one of the special characteristics
attributed to this mystic evening is the faculty
| conferred on the immaterial principle in human-
| ity to detach itself from its corporal tenement
aud wander abroad through the realms of space.
|, That night every person can call spirits from
| the vastly deep by simply availing himself OF
herself of the privilege.
! All over the world there will be remarkable
uniformity in the freside customs of that night,
and we cannot better interest the many readers
of the Chief than by giving them a peep into
the ways by which this festival has been and
still is observed. First of all, nuts and apples
are everywhere in requisitiOn, and consumed III
immense numbers Burns has some capital verses
on the subject. Ii is still a custom in Ireland,
when the girls would know if their lovers are
faithful. to put three nuts upon the bars of the
CRATE naming the nuts after the lovers If a
nut cracks or jumps, the lover will prove I'M
faithful; if it begins to blaze or burn, he has a
regard for the person making the trial. If the
nuts named after the girl and her lover burn to-
gether, they will he married.
As to apples an old custom is that of hanging
up stick horizontally by string from the cell
ing, and putting candle ON one end and an
apple on the other. The stick being made to
twirl rapidly, the merry makers in succession
leap up and snatch at the apple with their teeth,
| no use of hands being allowed, but the candle
often comes aronnd before they are aware, and
scorches them in the face, or anoints them with
grease. The misadventnres of course occasion
abundance of laughter But the grand sport
with apples on Halloween is to set them afloat
in tub of water, into which the Juveniles by
turns duck their heads with the view of catch
ing apple.
Young people in Scotland, at midnight go out
hand in hand, blind folded, into the garden and
each pulls the first stalk or weed which he meets
with. They then return to the freside to in
spect their prizes. According as the stalk is big
little, straight or crooked, so shall the future
partner he. The quantity of earth sticking to
the root denotes the amount of fortune or dOwry;
and the taste of the pith denotes the temper.
Finally the stalks are placed. one after another,
over the door, and the Christian names of the
persons who chance to enter the house thereaf-
ter are held in the same succession to indicate
those of the individuals whom the parties are to
marry.
Another ceremony is to have three dishes ran
ged on the hearth, one filled with clean water,
one with foul, and one empty. The parties, blind
folded, advance in succession, and dip their fin
gers into one. If they dip into the clear water,
they are to marry maiden; if into the foul, a
widow; if into the empty dish, the party will re-
main a bachelor an old maid. As each person
takes his turn, the position of the dishes is
changed.
These ceremonies are all of light sportive
kind. but there are others of weird-like and
fearful character. One of these is the celebrated
spell of eating apple before the looking glass,
with view of discovering the inquirer's future
husband who it is believed will be seen peeping
| over her shoulder. Another is TO wet shirt
sleeve, hang it up TO the fire to dry, and lie in
| bed watching it till midnight, when the appari-
ton of the individuals future partner for life
will come in and turn the sleeve. Popular belief
ascribes to children born on Halloween, the pos
session of certain mysterious faculties, such rs
that of perceiving and holding converse with
supernatural beings. 1t will be recollected that
| Sir Walter Scott makes of this circumstance
| in his romance of ''The Monastery
1t is true that in this busy and practical world
All Hallow Eve is a lost festival. 1t would have
come upon our readers Sunday night with scarce
ly thought of its presence, had not seen
proper to jog their memories. The jolly enjoy
ment of the snap apple, the dives in the tub of
water after apples, the nut cracking, the illu
minated turnips, the practical and harmless
jokes, seem TO have no place in a community
beset by eager and noisy politicians, each bent
on carrying his own point and his particular
favorite. The people are just now bothered
with bewildering multiplicity of sensations, ON
the eve of an important election, perhaps on the
eve of losing all that we had roundly paid for |
to a railway corporation, and all engaged in the
most sternly practical duties of busy life But |
our readers will find that they take no bet |
ter recreation from the constant labors and anxi
cites that wear upon their minds and physical |
frames than by night of such jollity in the home
circle hearty celebration All Hallow Eve |
represents 1t refreshes far more than billiards. |
or the theatre, OF an evening with all its crush
ing experiences at some grand ball. Ii makes |
one ga child again Just for to night"
We have often thought that if we had more |
evenings like that, and if they more relg- |
iously observed and celebrated we would have |
fewer jaded business men; fewer dyspeptics, less |
unhappiness, less feverish haste to be rich less
unhealthy speculation, and more general diffusion
of the domestic virtues. While of course, it |
would not be panacea for all our woes, Burns |
two lines
And mony lads and lassies' fatss
Are Tiers that night decided,
might be capable of wider Interpretation than |
the Ayrshire ploughman intended There is no |
doubt that in the boisterous and romping. but |
rational enjoyment which this Eve gives coun-
tenanee to, there lies the germ of a remedy for |
most of the evils of our home life. The German |
element among can teach us useful lessons in |
this regard, and although that evening will |
probably not be celebrated by many of our citi- |
zens, we are fast learning its useful lessons.
Tow rite for the 4AflaRtic Monthly, and have |
his SEVENTEEN birthday celebrated is the highest
distinction New England literary man can /
hope for. BY the way, nothing is said of the /
ages of the female writers. Gail Hamilton has |
no birthday.
A recent visitor to Thomas CARLYLE was dis
gusted : vacancvf NJ nerable sage engaged in |