The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1901-04-14

den put the peas anu onions. Inc mowers
make no progress There is mo sweet
south wind to breathe upon them-no
sunshine. On Monday the grandchildren
imposed upon me with their Hindoo
pranks. They gave me cup of chocolate
with whipped cream on top, and it was
nothing but soapsuds. l pretended 20 re
fooled, but l wasn't; / paid them back
in various ways. The Hindoo started
this childish custom away back in the
ages, and it still pleases the children. And
now Easter day is at hand and that is
another name that came down from the
Pagans Ostera was their goddess of
spring and it was corrupted into Estera.
How these old heather names do stick to
us. The names of the days of the week
and of the months came from them. SO
did the planets and the consultations.
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 K1ox,
and he said Pascha. But there is reason
for calling it Easter. for the coming OF
spring--the opening of the earth and the
flowers is mathematical Of the resurrec-
tion-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 so they observe
1t.
Now l 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
1I1nsoya
of the Savior's long fast, and 1t ends
with Easter, and the communion and 9TH
er rejoicings. AS the old-time almanacs
would say, 'about this time look for
Easter hats and flowers and fnery."
Christmas is another festival day that is
common to all Christian nations. There
are many other days dedicated to the
saints, but in course Of time it was found
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 the Roman Catholics for
the souls of the dead who are in purga-
tory. It seems that about 900 years ago
a pilgrim from the holy land found a her
NIT in Sicily who told him of an opening
between the cliffs of the mountains near
by that communicated with hades where
Pluto lived and +hnt he could see the
sulphurous smoke rising and hear the
groans of the lost souls who were being
tormented IN hell and he had known
some of them to escape through the pray
ers of the priests and this made the devils
very mad and he could hear them ours
ing the priests with awful imprecations.
The pilgrim told all this to the abbots
and monks. and they had n day set apart
to pray these lost souls out of hell or
hades or purgatory or whatever it is
Besides these international days there
are national days in every country. Here
we have the Fourth of July and Washing
toms birthday and Decoration Day and
some others. Germany celebrates the
birth of Calvin and Luther and the kaiser
Scotland that of Sir William Wallace and
Bruce and John Knox. In old England
they celebrate the queens birthday, Mag
ma Charter day and Waterloo day and
May day. May day is the happiest of all
and has been long remembered in verse
and song and in dancing around the May
pole. Tennyson wrote a sad, sweet poem
called the MAY Queen" Mexico cele-
brates all the Roman Catholic days and
has one other that the rabble call Judas
Iscariot's day. 1t is the next day after
Easter. On the beautiful trees in the
piazza or park they suspend pasteboard
images of Judas Iscariot-images as large
as life. with little holes bored in them
from head to foot and in every hole is
fastened a cannon cracker. At a given sig
nal the fuse in every cracker is lighted
and all of them explode nearly at the
same time and such terrific popping was
never heard outside of battlefield. and
poor old Judas is torn and rent into
thousand pieces. This is just sign Of
what they would do to him If they had
him there alive, but reckon it is more
for frolic than anything, for they shout
and laugh and dance the hornppe and
make all the racket they can.
Ben Franklin said that man was a
bundle of habits. He might have added
land superstitions, for most all people
have some belief in supernatural things.
Two hundred years ago almost every
body believed in witches. Shakespeare
wrote about them in Macbeth and
Burns in Tam O'Shanter. The Puri-
tans drowned many innocent women from
mere suspicion of being witches. The
conceited, self-righteous rascals never
accused a man Of being wizard. 1t is
the women who have suffered in all
ages. When 1 was a boy the young
people were more afraid of ghosts than
they are now.
Ghosts are very scarce in these days.
hayn't seen one in long time. In
my early youth I was the mill boy and
/ remember that one evening in the
early twilight as I was astride my horse
and grist and going slowly home neared
the country graveyard of Fairview
church and saw. or thought I saw, a
ghost ahead of me in the big road. 1t
had arms and legs, but had no head. 1t
was white and going slowly from me.
checked my horse and wondered.
started on again and got little closer
Still the form was headless. Broad
shoulders and arms akimbo. Nearer and
nearer drew to it, but it made no sign
My horse pricked up his ears as if
alarmed. The road forked not far ahead
and I had resolved that if the ghost
took one road / would take the other
when suddenly an old man stopped to
cough and took the sack from his Shout
ders and laid it upon the ground. knew
him instantly-old Uncle Tom Wilson,
fIo Yaa1,N acl~ III