Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1897-02-14
AS To VALENTINES.
At WORK ON THE HOMEMADE
ARTICLE.
Some specimens-Anofhc Language.
Nerses-Notes About the saint-Cat-
ue-buyers-The General News
Around Alton.
Correspondence Of the Dispatch)

Who shall be my valentine?
Or II her eyes be brown or blue,
or dark her hair. or golden hue,
She whose heart is warm and true
She shall be my valentlne!
We have lost leap-year for time, but
Valentines-Day. like the grip, is an an
nual. 1t is also germane to the same
season Of vexatious weather, and once
given way to. hard to get rid Of.
Up here toward the snowbelt we do
not evade its blissful Ills. e., the fun
and frolic and doubts and fears OF the
one day set apart while good Bishop
Valentine holds Jurisdiction over loves
calendar.
The roads are nearly impossible, and
we needs must amuse ourselves indoors.
while we wait upon the National Good
Roads Congress and the almanac; so we
have put in this week on homemade
valentines.
I hatter myself that not Prang's
daintlest missives excel these native spe-
cimens OF high art i'm the highlands.
Certainly not in the matter Of originality.
After all. it IS the sentiment that takes"
1t does not so much matter about the
style; II one is young and sentimental
enough TO care FOR valentine at all.
then the deeper the sentiment the better;
the more tender the verses the more
they appear 70 please.
What that clever, albeit not very re-
fined. expression l read the other day?
Some penny-a-liner poking fun at a love-
case in the courts, said: 1T was all
nj rarf.H md aFsasf tod n
wash" and that just fits the homemade
valentine. / am sure some Of our valen-
tines were the "all-wool" article and
warranted 10 live in unfading remem-
brance upon the heart or the dear re-
ceiyer.
ANOTHER LANGUAGE
And yet IT is not always that spoken
or written words are the most potent.
There is another language filed in by
that transference OF thought about which
the savants are writing of so learnedly,
as If heart-to-heart and soul-to-sOul have
not spoken by its silent medium since
love has had n name
The most beautiful valentine I ever
handled could have had two-volume
novel written from its suggestion. il
was Of the box specimen with an outer
covering ornamented to represent pre-
cious stones. The box was a part OF the
valentine and on the lid in the centre
was a scroll for the name Of the recipi-
ent. On raising the lid a mass of lace
drapery was revealed. with a piece of
ribbon at each corner; the centre formed
an avenue toward a suggestive build
ing-a church. "Only this, and nothing
more"
Yet another, as the schoolgirls say,
"spoke n parable I'm three words. IL
was a miniature altar, smothered In
lace and diamond-dust. on which rested
a gold ring surrounded by the motto,
do you accept?'
I observe one thing along this flowery
way Of valentines: If a man gets his
sister to fix him up valentine-tor
some one else's sister-time and space
are annihilated. He'll get you anything
TO make IL out Of and do up your house
chores for n week, but You cannot put
I'm too many hearts and darts, sparrows
and arrows, in that love-message; while.
for the verses! l really don't know
if these rustic SWANS think they will
never have such gushing personal
chances, but this is the agony John
Henry handed in:
Fair Mary Ella,
/ am a fellow,
Who dares to hope
Your eyes to ope,
Unto the smart
OF his poor heart;
Who vows TO you
He will be true,
Dear Mary Ella;
/ am the fellow!
Our Alton bellies, having tried the wish
bone" oracle, are now using those fateful
remains as wish valentines" The wish
bone is dressed in gay trousers and a
cute circle cape; the fat bone at the joint
is traced with pen-and-ink features. and
then the queer little brownie is sent off
to do mischief, with this couplet pinned
TO him:
With the fondest OF wishes from my
heart 10 thine.
And may be ever thy true Valentine
OLD, OLD CUSTOM.
ST. Valentine shay dates back beyond
the landing of the pilgrim fathers in the
North and the settlement of the bluest-
blooded cavaliers Of the South. Snakes
neare refers to it as an old, old custom
when poor Ophelia sings Hamlet:
"Am I a maid at your window.
To be your valentlneY
And Charles. Duke of Orleans, was a
famous writer OF valentine verses. But
these were moderns. Away back the GUS
tom Of choosing love-partners for year
ovisted-back to the old Roman feasts,
v,ben the gallant young citizens OF Rome
indited their valentines on waxen tablets
i,h a stvlus. These ancient games, In
the month of February, were in honor OF