The people's journal. (Pickens, S.C.) 1891-1903, 1901-04-18
BILL ARP TALKS OF APRIL.
The Grand children Had Lots of
Fun Out of the Old Man.

Fun Out of the Old Man.
This month did not begin right
April means. to open, but it did no
open. 1t was an April fool. Nothing
shows IN my garden but the peas ant
onions. The flowers make no progress
There is no sweet south wind tt
breathe upon them--no sunshine. On
Monday the grandchildren imposed
upon me with their Hindoo pranks
They gave me a cup of chocolate with
whipped cream on top, and it was
nothing but soapsuds. pretended tC
be fooled, but wasent; 1 paid them
back in various ways. The Hindoos
started this childish custom away back
in the ages, and 1T still pleases the
children. And now Easter day is at
hand that is another name that came
down from the Pagans. Ostera was
their goddess of spring and it was cor
rupted into Estera. How these old
heathen names do stick 10 us. The
names Of the days of the week AMI of
the months came from them. So did
the planets and the considerations.
Even the prophets and Job had to take
them from the Egyptians. But the
Scotch people don't call it Easter.
They say Pascha day, or passover day.
They WON'T pattern after anybody,
but John Knox, and he said Pascha.
But there is reason for calling it
Easter, for the coming Of spring-lhe
opening of the earth and the flowers is
emblematical of the resurrec.ion-the
opening Of the Savior's tomb and His
return to bless and comfort His peo.
pie. This day corresponds closely with
the Jewish passover, and 80 they OBJ
serve it..
Now 1 want the young people to
know that Lent is another word that
means spring. 1t is preceded by that
foolish festival called mardi gras-or
fat beef-and continues forty days in
remembrance Of the Savior's long fast,
and it ends with Easter, and the COM
munjon and other rejoicings. AS the
old-tlme almanacs would say, about
this time look for Easter hats and
flowers and hnery." Christmas is an
other festival day that is common to
all Christian nations. There arc many
other days dedicated to the saints, but
in course of time it was foun,l that
there were not enough days in the
year to go round, and so the pope
stopped the sainting of so many and
had one day set apart as All Saints
day. The next day after that is All
Souls day, on which mass is said by
tho Roman Catholics for the souls of
tho dead who are in purgatory. 1t
seems that about 900 years age a pill
grim from tho holy Ia ID found a her
nit in Sicily who told him of an OPEN
ing between the cliffs of the noun
talns near by that communicated with
hades where Pluto lived and that he
could SEQ the nulphurous smoke rising
and hear the groans of the lost souls
who were being tormented in hell and
ho had known some of them to escape
through the prayers Of the priests and
this made the devils very mad and he
could hear them cursing the priests
with awful imprecations. The pilgrim
told all this to the abbots and monks,
and they had day set apart to pray
these lost souls out Of hell or hades or
purgatory or whatever 1t is.
Beeides these international days
there are national days in every coun-
try. Here we have the Fourth of July
and Washington's birthday and Deco
ration Day and some others. Germany
celebrates tho birth Of Calvin and
Luther and the kaiser. Scotland that
Of Sir William Wallace and Bruce and
John Knox. III old England they cele-
brats the queens birthday, Magma
Charter day and Waterloo day and
May day. May day 10 tho happlest Of
all and hao been long remembered in
veFse and song and in dancing around
the May pole. Tennyson wrote sad,
sweet poom called the "May Queen"
Mexico celebrates all the Roman
Catholic days and has one other that
the rabble call Judas Iscariot's day. II
10 the next day after Easter. On the
beautiful trees in the piazza or park
they suspend pasteboard images of
Judas 1scariot--lmages rs large as life,
with little holes bored in them from
head to foot and in every hole 10
fastened cannon cracker. At given
signal the fuse III every cracker is
lighted and oil Of them explode nearly
at the same time and such o terrific
popping was never heard outside of a
battlefield, and poor old Judas is torn
and rent into thousand pieces. This
10 Just q Sign Of what they would do
to him if they had him there alive, but
l reckon it 10 more for frolic than any
thing, for they shout and laugh and
dance tho hornpipe and make all the
racket they can.
Ben FRANKLIN said that man was a
bundle OF habits. lie might have
added "and supersitions," for most
all people have somo belief in super
natural thlngs. Two hundred years
ago almost everybody believed in
witches. Shakespeare wrote about
them in Macbeth" and Burns in
Tam O'Shanter." The Pur;tanu
drowned many innocent women from
moro suspicion Of being witches. The
conceited, self-righteous rascals never
accused man Of boing q wizard. 1t
10 the women who have suffered in all
ages. When I was boy the young
people were more afraid OF ghosts than