Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1884-02-14
ST. VALENTINES DAY.
Origin of Its Celebration, and How IL VIII DC
ybserved.


observed.
Valentines Day, says Cnauloers'
was formerly celebrated IN Ehg,anu,
Scotland, and In different parts Oh tne
continent, particularly Lorraine anu
Maine in France, 10y very Iecuias
and amusing custom. On the eve w
st. Valentine, a number young loihs
maids aud bachelors-wou as
semble together and inscrlbe upon nv
tie billets the names oil an tquhl num-
Der of maids and bachelors oil lnelI "c
uusintancc, throw the Whoie lu.o q
receptacle Of some sort, anu tuei ui""
them lottery wise--care, ol COURSE ue
In, t,ksn that each should draw one
ofthe opposite sex. The person thus
drawn became ones valentine. OF
course. besides having got a valentine
for ones self, one became, by the uni
versatility OF the practice, some other
M rsou's valentine; but, as Nilsson, a
learned traveller in the early part OF
Last century, remarks, The man
stuck faster to the valentine that had
fallen 20 him, than To her to whom he
had (alleu.n These imaginary en-
gagements, rs may readily be supposed,
often lead to real ones, because one
necessary consequence of them was
that for whole year, bach
elur remained bound to the
service of his valentine, some
what after the fashion of q
medieval knights Of romance to his
lady love. The connection of the Gus
tom with ST Valentine Is purely acci-
dental. In the legends of the difter-
eut saints of that name no trace oi the
practice pecula, to the llth of Febru
airy il found. Ii has been suggested
that the custom may have descended
to us from he ancient Romans, who,
during LupJrcdiiT, celebrated III the
month of February, were wont. among
other things, "to put the nam of
Young women into box, from which
they were drawn 10y the men, as
ch ,nce directed" aud that the
Christian clergy, finding 1t
difficult or impossible to
eXurpate this pagan practice, gave II
AT least "a religious aspect, by suhsti-
tutiug the names of particular saints
for those of the women and 1t Is Ger
tainly Il usage more or less widely tx
tended in the Roman Catholic church
to select, either on ST Valentines day
or some other, Il patron saint tor the
year, who Is termed valentine. But
it is far more probable that the Gus
tom of choosing valentines is IA relic of
that nnture-reigion which WAS un.
dnubtedly the primitive form of reli-
Iion ia Northwestern Europe, as else
where; and that 1t sprung
from II recognition of the popularity of
the season. Hence the explanation
that about this time of the year the
birds change their mates and thence
probably came the custom of the
young men and maidens choosing val
rutines as special loving friends on
that day"
There does not seem to be very
general observance of the cu-tom OF
sending valentines in this city this
year. Yesterday, however, the stores
seemed To be somewhat crowded with
purchasers. Most of those bought
were the common kind, to be sent by
children or To tease. a reporter,
while standing in the postoilice yes
terday, noticed one gentleman direct
eight different comic valentines To one
of the officers of the city. He said he
wanted him to know that the COW
ordinance was not popular with the
people. Children busted themselves
gleefully over the counters on which
the valentines Were displayed, and
sought out the most hnrried Of all the
pictures. Fine valentines did not
| seem to seem to sell very well AS
this is lrap-year, the young ladies
should remember their privileges ON
this particular day and exercise them
like the birds The wnuld-be Bene
diet club should not be forgotten.