The herald., 1896-01-02
ENJOYED THE NEW YEARS
How the Old Spanish Families Spent
the Day
Dinners at Which Friends and Relatives Were
nade Weicome-The Passing of
the Old Regime

New Years day passed off very quietl,
in Los Angeles, and aside from the suspen
sion of business, there was little to REMIND
the average citizen that it was holiday
The banks and public offices were closed
| it is true, as was also a great majority oi
the business houses, and during the after
noon Sunday quietude prevailed. Many
people went out to Westlake park to wit
ness the shooting exhibition of DR.. Carver
and the act of his wonderful diving horse
Lulu, and those who had seen those feat
ures distributed themselves among the
other public parks and resorts of the city
| The old custom of keeping open house
has fallen into disuse, and comparatively
few people received. So far as was no.
ticed, no baskets were hung on the front
| door knobs for the reception of cards.
Among tho old Spanish families the day
was observed with dinners, at which the
members of the families and personal
| friends made merry and spent the after
noon in pleasant social intercourse. This
is comparatively recent innovation in
| this important element in Los Angeles So
ciety. In the old days. before the advent
of the railroad, when intercourse with the
outside world was uncertain and the facil-
tiles were limited. New Years day was of
nized as holiday, and it is more than
probable that but few of the inhabitants
knew just when the day arrived. All the
holidays were prescribed by the church,
the padres keeping the records and making
the announcements. For instance. Los
Angeles had it's saints day, San Luis OBJ
served the natal day of its patron saint,
San Diego did the same, and so on through
out the category. These days were always
observed as fiestas, when horse racing. the
national sport, was indulged and the entire
time given up to merry-making and feast
ing. The calendars were of course sent
out from Spain, and as this was before the
era of steam vessels, their arrival was
wholly dependent upon the whims
of wind and weather, consequently
all dates we're made more or less
problematical, and in the city archives
of Los Angeles today the entries are made
in a way to cover these contingencies. For
instance, in the old Spanish records of the
pueblo government. or even after Los An
geles became a city, the entries are made
to cover all contingencies. To illustrate:
If a resolution was passed granting any
right or privilege to any one. it was always
put, "June 10, more or less" or "January
l, more or less" according as the calendar
when it arrived showed the resolution was
passed.
This was not such a long time ago; in
fact. it is within the recollection of men
who have not yet passed middle life, and
illustrates the rapidity with which things
move at the latter end of the nineteenth
century. Less than twenty-five years ago
the people of Southern California we're liv-
ing IN state of Arcadian simplicity. The
Spanish don, with his thousands of acres
of land, his countless herds of cattle and
horses, his great bands of sheep, was, to
all intents and purposes, monarch of
all he surveyed: His word was law,
and he not only interpreted the law
but made it. The greatest event of the
his sack of gold, when the herd was cor
raled, and the gold passed piece by piece
as the cattle were drawn from the corral
and changed ownership. Money was
plenty, and everybody was prosperous,
! even if everybody was not rich. But
things changed. The Anglo-Saxon came
in from the East, customs changed, notes
and mortgages took the place of the mans
word, not necessarily of honor, and the do
minion of the country passed into other
! hands. The cattle went, then the lands,
and on New Years day, 500, the number
of the original owners of the land in the
| Italy of America can be counted on the
! fingers of tine two hands. with the thumbs
to spare. But the descendants of the old
settlers are philosophers. The latch-string
! is on the outside as of yore. and even if he
| does not fully realize New Years day as a
| holiday. he recognizes the fact that the
new man recognizes it as fiesta, and he,
| too, makes merry and extends the "glad
hand" to all mankind, according to his
! means.