The Cheyenne daily leader. [volume] (Cheyenne, Wyo.) 1870-1884, 1881-02-15
VALENTINES.
some Facts About TheirsOflnia an
CustoM-EdifsFiai Secrets

.t.#F.- -
Yesterday being st. Valentines,s day
and generally observed, every well
regulated newspaper must have some
thing TO say about il. You see itdoesn't
do 10 allow such an occasion TO pass By
~unprofted. Most people don't know
anything about the origin of Valentine.
Hence a little article, learned and wise,
and didactic withal, passes very smooth
ly with readers. And the fact of the
matter is that sswe d. literary fel-
lers, " as the elder Cameron would say,
know mighty little Of the day ourselves.
You will understand that we modestb
disclaim carrying about a cyclopedia of
knowledge, and we therefore leave facts
and figures for the books. Unfortun-
ately, there is a popular impression that
3 newspaper IA knows everything-a
handsome fallacy. We know precious
little more than our libraries. Anxious
lnquirers write to a newspaper to learn
some important point. The editor con-
suits his libraryan and the answer is given
Without libraries we'd soon lose our
lofty reputation, you perceive.
Now, MS to this matter of st. Valen-
tines day: Not one editor out OF seven-
teen million can sit down calmly and
write off the facts and dates. He must
consult his books. That's what we pro-
pose to do now. We're no better nor
smarter than our brethren elsewhere,
even II we do make such a claim occa-
sionally, so Wen not ignore the general
custom of writing out of a cyclopedia.
Here goes:
But first, let's determine what CYCLIC
pedia We will choose. We have John
sons, Zell's, Appleton's and Britannica.
Now, If we had but one it would be
much easier TO make a choice. As it is
we will simply gather facts from them
all and arrange them in a brief manner.
Hence the work of so doing is called
editing. Anyone can see at a glance
that 1t is far easier to edit out of q book
than out of ones head. At any rate
Saint Valentine according to some Of
s'us literary f~ellers' was a bishop, or
n canon, or a son-of-a-gun, who had
his head chopped off in Rome for his
stubbornness in the reign of Emperor
Claudius, about the year A. d. 270. He
twas Il man of most admirable parts"
says Wheatly, and of course he alludes
to the time before the parting of the
head and body of the late Mr.. Valentine,
land so famous for his love and
charity" continues Wheatley, "that
the custom of choosing valentines upon
his festival took its rise from thence"
Although Wheatly doesn't say SO in
distinct terms, it is plain that the GUS
tom of church festivals did not originate
with Valentine. He has enough on his
memory now, and the world should not
lay the sin of church festivals with their
homeopathic oyster soup, at the tomb
and bones of Valentine.
Some suppose that the custom OF
sending valentines originated with the
birds selecting their mates on Valen-
tines day. Whether any birds selected
their mates on yesterday in these parts
u special reporter couldn't learn. II
any one saw such an occurrence they
will please report the fact at once to
this Office.
There was a custom in the years
agone among the young folks to as
semble On the eve of st. Valentines
day, and, after the names of all the
ladies' and gentlemen present were writ
ten on separate slips and shufled to-
gether each person drew one. This
caused many marriages, but IA finally
abolished because it FASTENED matters;
the young fellows lost all the fun of
courtship. Comic valentines appeared
in recent days; first as burlesques, and
then as libels. People who de-
sire to hit an enemy, do Sc under cover,
mt q cost of five cents.
Locally, st. Valentines day was well
observed yesterday. Holt and O'Brien
were busily engaged all day in selling
valentines, and the p~ostoffice clerks
were active in distributing them. They
estimated that over 800 Of these mis-
sives passed through the office yester-
day; n third of the number being love
affairs, while the others were of the
comic order.
Most of the patrons were young folks,
although one could see elderly people
coming out of the post Office grinning
or scowling, as the appropriateness of
the valentine seemed to strike them.
Well, after all, the world moves on
as usual to-day. People who were
made happy or angry yesterday are for
gotten to-day, and the latter can
cher ish avowals of vengeance to be re-
deemed on next Valentines day, and
the busy world wots not of their can
cerous feelings.
More Discoveries In sweet water.
LA BARGE, SwEETwArER CO., Feb. s.
TO the Editor of the Leader.
Since last writing we have received
another assay which is still further
evidence of the richness of our still I'M
developed silver mines. The assay was
made this time oil a piece of groupings,
and yielded eight dollars and five cents
per ton, and u trace Of gold, which We
consider as very favorable. We have