Republican news item. [volume] (Laport, Pa.) 1896-19??, 1899-03-30


llNNNA VI7aM AngloSaxon Eas-
| NI0&zk 1VVNtNMz6Ez tre or Eoster, and
sEaA the German Os-
1EN tern. The Easter
feast was in an
cient times devoted to Eastre, the God
dess of Spring, and the whole Easter
month was set aside to do her honor.
Socrates attributed the introduction of
the festival of Easter in the church to
the perpetuation of an old usuage.
| The observance of Easter dates back
to about the year 68, at which time
there was much contention among the
Eastern and Western churches as to
what day the festival should be OBJ
served. It was finally ordained at the
Council of Nice in the year 325, that
it must be observed throughout the
Christian world on the same day. This
decision settled that Easter should be
kept upon the Sunday first after the
fourteenth day of the first Jewish
month, but no general conclusion was
arrived at as to the cycle by which the
festival was to be regulated, and some
churches adopted one rule and some
another. This diversity of usuage was
put an end to, and the Roman rule
making Easter the first Sunday after
the fourteenth day of the calendar
moon was established in England in
669. After nine centuries a discrep-
ancy in the keeping of Easter was
caused by the authorities of the Eng
lish Church declining to adopt the re-
formation of the Gregorian Calendar
in 1882. The difference was settled
in 1852 by the adoption of the rule
which makes Easter Day always the
first Sunday after the full moon which
happens on or next after the twenty
first day of March. If the full moon
happens upon Sunday, Easter is the
Sunday after.
Pretty customs which have obtained
in recent years are the decoration of
the churches on Easter Sunday, and
the sending of gifts of flowers to ones
friends. to invalids, and to the hos
pitfalls, and the distribution of the pot.
ted plants used in the church decora-
tions among the sick members of the
congregation. Another custom has
obtained, which should not be allowed
to degenerate into extravaganza. and
that is the sending Of gifts at Easter.
Among all the quaint ceremonies
which characterize Easter Day the
practice of giving presents of eggs is
doubtless the most ancient, as we'll as
the most universal. Eggs have been
associated with Easter always. The
Jews believed them to be emblematic
of the Passover; the Egyptians held
them as q emblem of the renewal of
the human race after the deluge, and
the Christians as the symbol of the
Resurrection.
In ancient times the eggs would be
boiled hard and dyed, then clergymen
and layman alike would play ball
with them, and after much sport
eat them.
The simplest method of coloring
eggs is to use the aniline dyes. or to
coat them with metallic paint and
frost them with diamond dust, or to
cover them with gilt, silver or colored
paper. To make an Easter egg with
fancy head. blow the egg hollow
benzine to make the color take. Then
give it complexion wash to suit the
character. Then hold the egg with
the small end down and paint the
face. When this is done glue the egg
into hole cut in piece of card
board, placing tissue-paper hat on
its head. A pen-wiper may be at
tached to the card
Egg caricature is another popular
idea in Easter-egg decoration. Pre-
pare the eggs as before, and paint
upon them a caricatnre of a man,
woman, child, crying baby or
Brownie. Spool thread of either
black or yellow may be attached by
little wax and will serve as hair. The
funnier the faces the more delighted
the children will be.
A simple way by which the little
folks, unaided, may prepare Easter
eggs for themselves and their little
friends is by tying up each egg sepa
rately in a piece of bright-colored
silk or cotton. having previously
pasted on the surface OF the egg some
little design. Have the eggs boiled
slowly for half an hour and then set
aside to cool. When quite cold unite
the covering and the eggs will be
found nicely colored and with an i'm
preston of the design clearly repre-
nted. These eggs may be placed in
egg cups which have been lined with
fringed tissue paper, and placed upon
the breakfast table on Easter morn
ing.
There are countless other Easter
conceits, such as nests, birds and
chickens, all of which may be evolved
with little ingenuity, and will bring