The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1884-10-31
HALLOW ZEN.
Traditions Concerning the Evening
Preceding all Saints Day.--A
Night When the Boys
Have Fun.

NlS DoIc
Have Fun.
Tonight will be Hallow Fen and there
is not kid in the city who will not be
reioiced at the fact. For weeks no doubt
many of the lively youngsters in this city
have been plotting some kind of deviltry
to be executed tonight. No one will OBJ
iect to the boys having fun so long as
they keep within bounds, and all good
boys will do this. This thing of taking
off gates, changing signs and removing
wheels from wagons may be awful funny
for some boys, but good boys will not in
dulge in such senseless sport. We sup
pose Bridget and Kate will be called to
the door many times this evening to ads
nit imaginary visitors and if they should
hear pattering footsteps going down the
street and should find horse hair or bit
of Irvine tied to the bell knob they will
know that the boys are out celebrating
All Hallow Fen. If you should happen
to turn corner sharply and be suddenly
confronted by hideous pumpkin face
with a lighted candle inside the pumpkin
do not run, for if you do the crowd of
Youngsters who are concealed near by
will give you the grand laugh.
No doubt your cabbage will come up out
of the ground and be piled in front of
your doors tomorrow morning, for the
cabbage patches have strange fascina>
ton for the boys on Hallow Fen These
are little annoyanCes which the Older
people hate. There are many ways of
concentrating the festivitv without
violating law and propriety, but the av-
erage boy would rather resort to vandal-
ISM it seems.
Uallow Zen is the night before All
Saints day, which festival is celebrated
on November list. The festival of All
Saints was instituted by Pope Boniface
" in commemoration of ali the saints.
Hallow Zen is supposed to be the night
when all the witches and devils in the
universe are let loose. Hence the origin
of the outlandish customs that prevail on
this eventful evening.
In England for many years it has been
the custom for the people to hold little
family parties on Hallow Zen. These
parties are very pleasant affairs, as rela
tivcs and friends gather around and re-
late stories, crack nuts and have good
time generally. The youngsters find
amusement in ducking in a tub of-water
for anapple, or chasing one around stove
pipe as it swings suspended by string.
In Scotland however, the celebrating of
the event took an entirely different turn
and the most fiendish and wild orgies were
| instituted favoring more the superstitous
rites of Paganism than a christian festi-
val. The superstitions were of a varied
character. Among the most prominent
was the silly idea of one discovering one S
future husband or wife by means of weird
charms. A girl who wished to determine
this momentous problem, would get a
pint of flax seed, and as the clock toled
the midnight hour, she would so back,
ward and forward sowing the seeds,
repeating some incarnation, when her
future husband would suddenly appear
moving down the grain as it came up
There were many otEer wild and equally
foolish superstitions in vogue at the time
of which we write-the beginning of the
present century-but they have been al,
most entirely eradicated. Many stories
are told of these midnight performances
of superStitious people. While the SUI
perstitious part of the celebration of Hol-
low Fen has almost disappeared. the
young Americas of the present time per
petuate the deviitry part by their wild
pranks under the cover of darkness.