The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1902-03-19
BILL ARP TALKS ON MARCH
He Does Not Like the Month
of fB1uster How the Month Got
its Name

ohDiuSlST -ItOW the month Go
it's Name.
Atlanta o institution.
= March has no friends. 1t is q dis
agreeable, uncertain, clustering month
1t was named for Mars, the God OF
War, who was the son of Jupiter ant
was always hunting around for fight
He was believed to be the father OF
Romulus, the founder of the Roman
Empire, and hence was held in great
reverence by the Romans. March was
named for him. Those old Greeks and
Romans had no weeks-nor days of the
week-no Sundays or Mondays or any
other day, but they dividel time by
Calends and Ides. The Calends were
The first days of the month and the
ldes were the fifteenth. All the inter-
mediate days were designated by these,
as for instance, the third day after the
Calends of May o the fifth day before
the Ides of Ma ch. The Roman senate
always began its sessions on the Ides
of the month, except that after julius
Caesar was murdered the anniversary
of that day the ldes of March were OBJ
served as a sacred day.
want the young peope to know
and re member that we got our months
from Roman mythology and The days
OF our weeks from the scandinavian
mythology. Now listen to part of
this wonderful story, for it is classic
and more fascinating than the Arabian
Nights. Two thousand years ago it
was the faith and religion of millions
of people. Jupiter was the god of the
Greeks and the Romans and Wooden
was the god of the Norsemen, and
each had son who was the god of
war. There was the son of Wooden.
Wednesday was named for Wooden and
it was originally Woden's day. Thurs
day was nameu for Thor and Friday
for his mother. Each of these mythoi-
ogies had hades or internal region
for bad people and evil spirits. Pluto
presided over the one and woman
named Hela over the other. That is
where the word Hell came from. 1t
seems an awful thing to put hell IN
charge Of woman, but they SAID that
no man was as bad as bad woman.
Her father was named Loki and she
had two brothers. One was serpent
so big and 80 long that it wrapped
around the world and then swallowed
its own tail. The other was wolf, so
strong that he broke the strongest
chains just like they were cobwebs.
Then Wooden got the mountain spirits
to make another chain and they made
it of six things. The noise made by a
cat walking, the beard of a woman,
the roots of stones, the breath of fishes,
the smiles of bears and the spittle of !
birds. When the chain was finished |
it was as small and smooth and soft as
a silken string, but no power on earth |
could break 1t. And so they chained
him and killed him. But listen what |
kind of home Miss Hela had. Hun
ger was her dining table. Starvation
was her knife. Delay was her man
servant-Sloth her maid servant. A |
precipce was her door step. Care her
bed, and Anguish the curtains to her
bed chamber. No wonder she was
cruel and always wore astern, unhappy
and forbidding countenance.
This is just a sample Of their mythol-
ogy. 1t fills up several books. Now,
where in the world did that people get
all these wonderful stories. Away
back in the ages they must have had
poets more imaginative than Homer.
Some of our most learned men say
they got the foundation of many of
them from the Bible. For the story
goes that away back in the ages the
people got so bad that Jupiter got
dreadful mad with them and resolved
TO destroy them. So he summoned all
the gods to come TO him, and they
came from all parts of the heavens,
travelling on the milky way, which is
the street OF the gods, and after taking
counsel together they determined to
destroy all mankind and start with a
new pair. So Jupiter was about to
launch red hot thunderbolt at the
earth and burn it up, but one of the
gods told him that he had better not,
for he might burn up heaven, too. So
he concluded to use water instead of
fire, and then came the flood which
drowned every human being except
Deucalion and hls wife, who were good
people. They escaped to the top of a
mountain called Parnasus and were
saved.
That is very much like the Bible
story of the flood and of Noah and
Mount Ararat. And just so they got
Hercules from Samson and Vulcan and
Apollo from Jubal and Jubal Cain,
and the Dragon from the serpent that
tempted Eve, and the giants who tined
to scale the walls of heaven from MINI
rod and his tower. Every great
heathen god had favorite son just as
our Christian God has Son. There
is something sublime and comforting
in even believing or imagining that
great and good being is somewhere in
the heavens overruling the earth and
its people, prospecting the good and
Furnishing the evil. The fact that this
all powerful being is invisible makes
His existence the more impressive.
Jupiter sat entbroned on Mount Olym
pus, Wooden had beautiful palace of
gold and silver at Yelhalla and it could
only be reached by walking on rain
bow. And we pray to our God, say
ing: "Oh, Thou who dwellest in the
heavens," and not in the temples made
with hands.
History gives no account of any peo-
pie who did not put their trust in some
God, and this proves our confession of
weakness and our need of strength from
some supernatural divinity. The mole
cultured AMI enlightened we become th,
more conscious we are of our weakness.