The daily morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1883-1899, 1896-01-05
LAST OPPORTUNITY
Seven Years Must El0pSe After $500
Before Another Lean Year,
CuRIosIrrEs OF CALENDAR
This Year Is the Last Chaaec for Monica oi
This Geaeratiou Nho Mould Noe

itants 81 human existence ConstlvrNl
from a purely SECULAR standpoint, it gtds
fair to continue It's career Tor cycles 10
come. Whatever may he the ,diOsyNl-
craSicS ~ a few women n more men,
who dtd or didn't the great majority ac.
ccpt tho law OF marriage as necessary.
Eighteen hundred and pincty-siN IS the
I ~allyiug time Isl the century for Spiustcrs
lmmemori0l use a,copis 10 NomcA In
leap year the rEht to usurp mans priv
\ lcge and WOO her \ flushing ma.o, Eor
the year enc motto would Nc Woman
proposes. man ~iisposes,"
Hitherto in the annals OF oar century,
the leap year rccouts show nc CNtrO0v-
binary results from the ]spiustcrs' Ct-
/ forts Eightcephupdrcd and nIHoty-siN
will, however. more than compensate Ter
past failures Splnstcts Will array thcw,
selves Tor a supreme cudcavor
In the ordinary leap year tho woman
hauily moves into the work With all hec
rowcrs concentrated rhnrc g. the Turk
inx suspicion % another leap year TO
come ir this he unsuccessful. and the
secret expectation hat In the Intervening
time some man may woo her IN view
Of these things she prosccut,s her un-
dertaking without the desperation born
cf lack Of hope IN the future, In other
wouis, she is unnamed
We have changed an that Tor the leap
wear lSS6-or. rather tGS calendar MAX
crS changed Il for us centuries aga The
year lN6 IS not 10 be- AN orFNNry leap
year. In &c spirstcrs must lead a torlorn
hope. They must mass their forces Tor
one great final assault upon the citadel
Ct masculine Indifference TO their wins
SomencSs,
Establishments. st~rategy-tye. force.
49,. ,A.-v - ..,FAa.l 80 -..a H. 80.
the gaining OF succsss-the gaining NJ "A
man. The reason Of the vast inheritance
OF the year to Spinstrrs IS found In the
fact that It has no successor until lsL
When the bells ring Ia the yya~ lNI
their clamors will toll the Inability %
women to propose gor seven years. IN
other wouls, the year 1870 viii no; be a
leap year. There will he seven years
without any grant ~ special privilege TO
the fair sex.
Bachelors who love their liberty must
beware. FOR never before IN their history
were the signs OF capture so alarming
The new woman has plans for the New
year. looking toward a nan now man
or an "old ma Not only will N,
new women themselves present a daunt-
less phalanx Of Amazcui8n wooers. but
the emboldened effect of their example
on their less a~sertivc sisters will be such
that any bachelor had best beware the
shyest maid. or he may lose his hand. it
not his heart. seven years without OPP
portunity means for the ordinary spin
ster no other opportunity. She will be In
the retired list when another leap year
comes. II Il Is 90 Dee don al all 10
must he done Quickly-the getting Of 4
husband. An arts, has conceived Of the
! symbolic splnster. lariat in hand. watch
ing for the moment when the fearing
map may be caught by It's c~ling.ng loop,
The picture is the precise representation
OF the fact.
The spirstcr will employ force to the
utmost. The unwilling strands Of the
lariat will be hurled by no wayering hand
and there will be no escape for him over
whose shoulders the resistlesS moose falls.
The spinsters will look In the glass and
see there in the shadow pictures con-,
jured up by sorrowrul anticipation. the
pictures or spinsters seven years hence,
when the battery OF charms will De rout-
ed by the arms OF Father Time. Spin
sters will not fail In 1886 if their utmost
strength can avoid defeat II. after an
they do fail. they viii anath"mauzr the
calender makers.
II is a curious prank those same calen-
dar makers have played. on the women
NlFttLlNs anu bN N'AF men lAtA.lf'alNr
The Introduction OF an additional day
into the calendar once In four Years Is
Necessary to prevent the average year
from being too short Al the salrc time
ii makes the average year q little toe
long. This additional length is so slight
that it accumulatcs very slowly N-ytFT
theless Il does accumulate. AMI by tht
end OF "a century IL amounts TO nearly a
day. For that reason once N a hundred
years the additional dag which marks q
year as leap yeas g. omitt-l. and the
average length % the years Is reduced.
The English law determined ir 1851 IN
reforms in the calendar. and from those
We draw and use. The original determi-
nation Of the calendar was made by the
pope. and afterwar1 IL was adopted iy
all the countries except Russia and the
East. From January T.. lil4, the civil
year was made TO begin on that date.
and not on March l.. as many had 81.
In the same year eleven days were dropp-
ell from the calendar, from the third 10
the thirteenth. inclusive. so that what
would have been the fourteenth became
the third.
iWth this change effected the remain
der Of the calendar followed IT'S usual
course. BY this change the day which
would have been December - heaal .e
January g. II was from this hat trC
latter derived lts meme Of O!d Christr as
Dav.
The further regulation Of the calendar
occurred IN emitting the year 1870 rom
the number Of leap years. Therefore in
1891 Old Christmas Day fell on January
8. and from that time until this that is
the day OF the month called by that
name.
In Riders British Merlin fer $50, we
find It stated that 1917 is not to B.. 70 lear
wear. while 1871 is 10 be the III 70 3 ar
after bissextiie. or leap year, dni tH'
first year Of the twentieth century. For
this century the first leap year was IHl
which Is described as such in the cal.
manacs which were then current.
One old almanac for 1900, NcOre's,
names the year as the fourth after lis
sextIe. or leap year, and then state
that in spite Of its being the fourth year
from leap year. 1896. the month Of Feb
ruarY had only twenty-eight days. Fol
lowing his fashion 1902 Is called the sixth
wear after bissextile, and LOB the sew
enth.
Curious as al This appears TO rs, It r.
precisely what we will soon do. Through
cut seven years there will be no Febru-
airy - after 1896. All Of the births 6nd
other events which occurred on that un-
fortunate day Of the month will have 10
opportunity to celebrate their anniver-
sary. Tina eccentric date, February y,
will Their have an opportunity for re-
nown brought on b. It's absence.
The calendar adjustment by which
these matters were arranged reaches for
ward to a distance that is startling to
one whose term Of life is the seventy
years Of man. It declared that the years
1900, 1900. POO. POO. or any other hun
dredth year in time to come shall consist
OF 3G5 lays and no more. But the fact
also remains that this adjustment Of the
calendar was not quite accurate. The
one day omitted once in the century
made the average day a little too short.
To remedy this defect the adj Istcrs
made the following exception 10 the rule
making the hUndredth years Of &j days,
except every fourth hundrcdth year be-
ginning with the year 90J0. These years
will be leap years, that Is, the years 2DCg,
240, 300, 300, will have a February a.
PUT their dave are not OF great concern /