The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1899-02-13
ST. ALENT|Nt IS BUSY
Postofice Employees Looking for
a Heavy Day.
MEANS SMILES AND TEARS
A New Explanation OF the Origin of st.
Valentines Day-Things Which
Happened When Butte
Was Young

The postoffice employees anticipate
heavy rush in their line of business for
to- morrow. Something less than mill
ion or two Of valentines will pass
through their hands. Some persons will
be made happy Tomorrow upon the ar
rival of the carrier and others will won
der what they have done to merit such
frightful imposition. Many envelopes
will be consigned to the waste basket
without having first been opened the
recipient adopting this course to avoid
being shocked by the contents. The
the envelope handed to her by the post
man and she may smile or she may cry.
1t depends upon the characters inscribed
upon the bit of paper within the enVel-
ope The very small and awfuly tough
school boy will get even on his whole
life by sending to his rival valen-
tine of 'horrid pose and devilish hue.
The little girl sees cartoon which she
believes to be the proper dose for her
real small schoolboy admirer and away
it goes through the mails and when the
boy receives it his heart expands, he
grows two inches in every direction and
forgets to carry in the wood and coal;
he now realizes that he is recognized as
a living, essential creature on this big,
hard world It's his first valentine.
The windows of the stores which carry
all kinds of valentines are lined with
flaming cartoons and delicate valentines
many of them are the creations of
skill and ingenuity. Some are expensive
and beautiful and many are cheap and
not little bit pretty. They all go to
make up collection from which the
multiplicity of ideas may choose.
The origin of st. Valentines day has
been the subject of articles which have
annually appeared in print for years
past. One day ST. Valentine lost his
head--it fell from it's resting place just
after the broadaXe struck the block. 1t
was on the 14th of February, many
years before slough was introduced in
the house of Lange. Ever since that
day the citizens Of Butte and their an
cestors have observed the day in va
riety of ways. nor,
OF late years, that is since Columbus
babe adieu to Isabella and Ferdinand,
Valentines day has been devoted to
making merry. There's usually dance
in the evening, sometimes three or four
in one city. When Butte was young
and everybody sent everybody else a
valentine they used to meet in Loeber's
hall on the evening Of Valentines day
and there try to pick out of the crowd
the persons who sent the pictures. The
plan was for a young man to walk
around the room and look every wo-
man in the eye, until he detected the
guilty one. If the culprit confessed she
was to pay the forfeit by dancing the
mnuet with her detector. the others to
look on. Gradually, as time wore on,
it became the practice for all the men
to start out at once upon assembling to-
find the girls who posted the valentines,
until now it takes the dignitied name of
grand march, the initial number of the
dancing programme.
This evening in Butte there will be
several balls and parties. Teutonia
lodge No. 2, O. II. S, will give mas
querade ball in Renshaw hall. The la
dies of the Curtis block will entertain
their friends with a ball: there will be
dancing in Centerville, Walkervile and
Meaderville. The smoke promises to
keep out of the way and allow the
young and old folks to enjoy themselves.
Dealers report heavy sales in fancy
and hgh-priced valentines, but state
that it is difficult to even give away
any large number of the seriously
comic affairs. There will be many a
sleigh ride to-day and tomorrow,
weather permitting.