The Billings gazette. [volume] (Billings, Mont.) 1896-1919, 1902-07-08
COAL REGION CUSTOMS
Queer Traditions Of Slavs, Rus
SLAMS, Poles and Italians.
MUCH HOLIDAY MERRYMA:INq.

~OVA AVAJ4004 "o1h0
There Are Twenty-nine Feast Day.
For Creek and Twenty.six anon
Certain Roman Catholics, to the
Despair OF Miners Wishing ia
Work-strange Marriage Rites.
Nowhere else in all the United States
are such odd customs observed as in
the anthracite coal regions by the Slav,
Lithuanian, Russian, Pole, Italian and
Hungarian inhabitants, says a Wilkes
barre correspondent of the New York
Tribune. They have been brought from
the only country and represent hun
dreds of years of tradition. The oh.
servance of them is as regular as the
holidays. The oddly is interesting at
first, but when they are SO consistent
as to celebrate all the various feast
days of their church, both Greek and
Roman Catholic, with the customs of
the old country, it is decidedly annoy
ing to the English speaking miners.
The Greek Catholics have twenty-nine
feast days and the Roman Catholics,
among the Poles, Huns and Italians,
have twenty-six, and nearly all are eel
ebrated. The result is that many mines
have to be idle because half the force
remains away from work, to the de-
spair of the operators and the disgust
of the men who want to work.
About Easter especially there is much
time spent in merrymaking. Good Fri
day is first observed with a great deal
of ceremony. In the Russian Catholic
churches there are built tombs repre-
senting the in which Christ was
laid, and these are watched for twenty
four hours by guards in elaborate uni
forms, usually red, with gold bands and
bra1ds, a big shake and glittering
sword. They are members Of military
societies connected with the churches.
-Four men form the detail on duty each
hour. They stand at each corner of the
tomb, rigid as statues, moving in
all the hour they stand on guard. Dur
ing the twenty-four hours the mem
bers of the congregation enter the
church on their knees and so proceed
all the way to the altar.
On the Saturday before Easter the
congregations take to the churches
great baskets of food to be blessed for
the Sunday feasting. The priest
sprinkles holy water over it and it is
borne away in triumph ready for the
morrow. g
On Easter Sunday the first thing eat
en- is a piece Of egg. However many
or few there are in a family-and in
of the boarding houses there are
twenty or t~hirty-only one egg. special
ly blessed, may be used. 1t is hard
boiled. and each gets a piece to break
his fast. delicate and skillful carving |
being needed where the family is large. |
All Easter is spent in feasting and |
merrymaking, which frequently lasts
all night.
On Easter Monday the women are
to throw water on the men.
and they do this with such eagerness
that the poor fellow who escapes with
out a cold is lucky. 1t is a form of
good luck and is also believed
show partiality. Thus if a young
empties a bucket of water
the back Of a young man she is
supposed to indicate her affection for
him, and if on Easter Tuesday, when
the men have their turn, a young man
a girl into the creek and drags
her out by the hair he is presumed to
much in love with her. The custom
arose from the habit of wishing a little
extra joy at the conclusion of Lent to
friends, this being expressed
among the higher classes with a deli
cate spray of perfume on a friends
or dress. The poorer classes. un-
Idle to buy perfume, used water. and
gradually became more and more prac-
-ical jokers in the use of it. The Eas-
Ter jollity lasts all through the week
following Easter.
Christmas time is another period Of
nerriment. One of the most pictur-
,sque customs then is for several men,
Known as "kosa" and somewhat sim
lar to the mummers of England. to 90
about from house to house. Their mis-
lion is to tell Of the birth of Christ,
the performance is carried on with
dignity and also much
'un. There are three Brothers of the
Church" (Starsy Bracia) to represent
he three wise men Of the east. One
carries on the end of a stick a minia-
,ure house to represent the church, to
which all must look up. The other
walk by his side and with songs
ell the story of the Nativity. They
ire accompanied by grotesque figures
to represent the devil, heather
unbelievers of all types, and these
lance and grimace and indulge in ludi-
performances to furnish the fun
or the occasion. The brothers of the
church play at trying to persuade these
lnbelievers to worship. and their eff
'orts are rewarded with money or
The money is placed ina box
nd fc 81 ,,,,,~1 g. 4 4. A L