St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1886-02-14
MISSIVES OF LOVE.
st. Valentines Day and the Oppor-
tunfty it Offers
BashfuI Lovers to Make known Their
Hearts Secrets.

$40 A. ID. All authors who have written
on the subject agree that the Rome re-
ferred to was not in the state
of New York, but in Italy.
Mr.. Valentine was a strong
minded man, who never allowed his
children to wander around his neighbours
watermelon patch after dark. Some
biographers say that he was canonlzed. put
others deny that he was ever shot, and say
that he was bebeaded per order of Mr..
Claudius who was at that time running the
empire of Rome according to Marquis OF
Oueensberry rules Before he lost his head
Valentine was in the habit of giving fes-
tival once year for the benefit of the poor,
and on those days the young people OF
Rome and the surrounding country would
choose valentines, which, being properly
translated, means beauX.
Mr.. Valentine isn't reported as having
made any kick against this habit that the
boys and girls of the Italian peninsula
got into, and somehow the custom crept
along down through the ages to the present
day and this morning stares US in the face
like mouldy and time-worn ghost more
than 2, 900 years old. But this particular
ghost is more popular with the people than
the average spectre. Everybody halls its
coming with palpitatiOn of the heart and st.
Vitus dance, especially that portion Of the
human race which wears its hats in church.
They grasp the feshless hand of the annual
eidalon and tickle its beardleSs chin, as
they impiant fur-lined kiss on its Sunken
cheek and invite it in to tea. They like it
because it always brings more or less dec
laration Of feryid love with it and several
bottles Of eau de cologne besides other little
nick-knacks Indispensable in the tboudoir Of
every
WELL-REGULATED LADY,
who enjoys the ''pinl Of condition" AS
this blusnless ghost Of the past has chosen
Sunday as the day for his call this year,
it is probable that the bric-a-brac and hand
PAINTED etcetera, that he invariably brings
with him as tribute to his entertainers, will
begin TO pour in before tomorrow, as eX-
press wagons and mail carriers have
fallen into the habit, so vigorously
oDposee by newspaper men of
subiecting themselves to penal seryitude
but six days in a week. The numerous
manner in which the ladies pass the next
twenty-fOur hours depends upon the
amount Of chloroform that is administered
to them. A dose of from eight to ten
ounces will probably keep them quiet until
the door bell is rung by the postman Mon
day morning, then all perishable goods
such as glass vases, statuary and frail fur
niture that happens to be located be-
tween them and the door should
be carefully removed to curtal expenses.
A large fire should be built in all the stoves
and furnaces in the house and all the drafts
pulled wide open. for when woman opens
the front door and levies on six-pound
valentine. she will invariably stand right
there and allow the entire Northwestern at
mosphere to bvouac in the house, while the
door stands wide open and with flushed
cheeks she reads:
"Sweetest one. I'm stuck on thee;
please excuse my rind)
And quickly say that thou wilt be,
Ny darling Valentine"
JOE.
If Joe is considerate enough to send
two-cent stamp he usually receives an i'm
mediate reply, if not, he is obliged to wait
a day or two, in nine cases out of ten, I'M
less he can be caught by telephone.
The styles i'll valentines this year are
about the same as they were Saturday, Feb
ID, 1885. There isn't any material differ
ence excepting the change of date. They
all breathe of love several degrees
ABOVE BLOOD HEAT
and promise eternal constancy. Some of
them are small. Some OF them are large
but the price can't be guessed from their
size. 1ElH valentine sometimes costs
great deal more than one that covers space
11X13. 1t all depends upon whether it bears
the picture of a sweet little bunch of For
got-me-nots. hand painted, or portrait in
which the mouth is so wide open that the
department of the interior of the person
who wears it can be plainly discemed.
The former usually surprises the pur-
chaser to the amount of IS cents or
dollar, while the latter only pulls his bank
account for 1 or cents. Many of the de-
signs are beautiful. One, and about the
only new feature noticeable, is q beautiful
landscape painted in Oil On birch bark. with
the corners and edges rolled, Then there
is the pale blue or pink oval cushion, on
which is painted pastoral scenes of charm
ing conception and execution. Cards wear
ing manufactured flowers and fringe Of
various colorS are common, and last years
stock i'll this line could be worked off ON
the customer without awakening a suspi-
cion that he or she were paying their money
for secondhand or back-number goods.
The trade tniS year has not been so brisk
as it was last and the custom of sending
valentines seems to be dropping of" said a
Third street dealer yesterday, ''but there
are still many people who adhere to the old
custom and keep it up. The greater part
of our trade comes from people from
the country, young people, l
might say, for the old folks
since they have chosen their valentines for
life have given up sending sweet-scented
billet douX in disguise. When they marry
they always select some little card that is
cheap and intended for children. You can
always detect the young man who is in love
with some girl and hasn't the courage to
tell her, by the manner in which he APP
proacheS the counter and looks through the
pile of goods. Generally his upper lip is
covered with weak growth of hair that
looks like the spray from soda fountain
lie steps up, asks in a hesitating
voice ii we've got any valentines and when
they are shown to him, he smiles In an
accidental sort Of way and goes through
the whole pile before he makes a selection.
Then there are generally two or three be-
tween which he is unable to choose until he
has half shut his eyes and moving his hand
over them, suddenly on one which he picks
up, reads the verse. bushes, asks you how
much it is, tells you to
WRAP 1T UP,
pays for it and putting it in his pocket
walks slowly out as if he was hardly salts
fed with his choice.
So far as can be ascertained by close in
vestigation, the comic valentine is in the
greatest demand. The present generation
seems to be inclined to humor, and thou
sands of these cartoons were sold in the
city yesterday to be worked OFF on people in
every grade of society. Probably there is
hardly man engaged i'll business in the
city who will not receive before the sun
sets tomorrow one of these highly colored
eXtravaganzas calculated to buriesque him
in some way and automatically many a