Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-02-17

They are extremely musical, for one
| thing, and there is at least one singing So
| ciety in every Finnish city and town. Once
| year the singers hold a great reunion,
much like German Saengerfest, under the
| auspices of the Kansanvalistus Seura, or
| Enlightenment of the People Gathering. At
| this great musical meeting the local bodies
| sing in competition, prizes being awarded
| as at a saengerfest; there are also great
| choruses of a thousand voices or more,
! both women and men taking part. The
| Kansanvalistus Seura is held in August
and its location Is shifted from year to
year. The singing is always in the open
! air and attended by great concourse of
people.
| May is great day in all parts of the
grand duchy. AT Heisingfors it is given
| over to the students, who appear on the
| streets wearing their snow white velvet
! caps early in the morning, and go about
town all day long and till late in the even
| ing singing student songs, while all the
townsfolk give up their pursuits to listen.
Christmas is another big day, of course,
but the great national fete is on Sliding
day lin Finnish. Laskiainen), which comes
| on the second Tuesday in February. Then
all hands, rich and poor, young and old
turn out on skis or with slcds, and snow
shoe races and coasting are in order. Mid
summer day, June "A, is another great &C.
casion. Then the day is longest, while the
night is shortest, and undoubtedly the cele-
bration thereof is a survival from pagan
times. Then great bonfires made of light
wood, tar barrels and the like, are burned
on the submits of the hills, while girls and
boys and young men and women dance
round the fires and play games from the
beginning of the twilight to the coming of
gray dawn.
There are also noteworthy harvest fes-
tivities, but these have no special date,
extending over the entire harvest season.
The same spirit of mutual helpfulness OBJ
tains among the Finnish farmers that used
to be characteristic of the farmers here
in colonial days. All hands who are able
to help in the harvest turn out and go from
farm to farm. gathering in the crops. Often
the neighborhood band of harvesters will
number forty or fifty persons. men and
women and boys and girls. They will gem
orally accomplish the harvesting on a me-
Diminished farm in less than one day.
wages not being thought of, since those
who are helped today in turn help others
tomorrow. While the harvesting is being
done in the fields a great feast for the
harvesters Is being prepared in the house,
and when the work is finished all hands
turn to and eat and drink. Later there Is
dancing, and games are played songs are
sung and courtships go on among the
young folk. while the old folk visit"
Long Days and Short Days.
Away to the north the sun never sets in
summer and the days are tremendously
long, even SO far south as Hesingfors,
where in late June and early July the
darkness lasts only two or three hours.
Then the farmers begin work by or
o'clock, and rarely leave off before 8 or 10,
except to eat. In midsummer they never
get along on less than four meals, often
taking five, two being largely composed of
meat. And of course their hours of sleep
are as brief as their hours of toll are long.
In the winter. when the days are short,
they make up amply for their lack of sum-
mer Sleep
Shooting is a favorite and necessary
sport, owing to the prevalence of big game
and Firms generally are almost as good
marksmen as the Beers. The speeding of
horses is another amusement in which they
take delight. especially in winter, when
time is plentiful. The Finnish "ice sulky'
light runners which a high seat is
perched-is curious-looking contrivance.
Much of the cloth made into wearing ap-
parel for the farmers and their families is
spun and woven at home by the women in
the long winter evenings. and the oid-fash-
Toned hand loom Is still to be seen in many
Of the low but roomy Finnish farm houses.