The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1903-04-12
Bill APPS Letter.

April has come again-a blessed month,
for IL is the first that follows the long
and dreary winter. How inspiring is the
earliest break OF spring! When nature
like a plushing maid, is putting on her
pantalets and preparing TO bang her
silken hair. what harmonious feelings
spring up in our bosom and gush forth
TO all mankind The chambers of the
soul are filled with music that is not
heard and poetry that is not expressed
The sweet south wind is breathing upon
the violet banks. Nearly 5000 years ago
Solomon felt its genial influence when
he wrote THE winter has passed-the
rain is over and gone-the flowers appear
upon the earth-the time for the singing
of birds has come and the voice OF the
turtle is heard in the land" Now, boys,
you must not imagine that the turtle
that Solomon heard was this ugly, crawl
ing hardshell thing that lives in muddy
water and lays its eggs in the sand. That
is a properly a tortoise. The turtle of
Egypt and England is the same as our
dove. 1t has plaintive, affectionate note
and is devoted to it's mate. In the
Scripture it is a sacred bird and en-
bem of the Holy Ghost. / would not
shoot them for sport and yet | read
recently where some hunters in south
Georgia killed 400 in one day. The Eng
fish poets always say turtle when they
mean dove. Goldsmith speaking of love,
saws it is ION earth unseen, or only
found to warm the turtles nest"
But Solomon couldn't write such poetry
of spring as l used to know. 1 think
that mine would suit the boys better.
Hark. / hear a bluebird sing,
And that's sign of coming spring;
The bull frog bellers in the ditches-
He's throwed away his winter britches
The lizard is summing himself on rail
The lamb is shaking his newborn tail
The darby is blowing his stubborn mule
And gaily hollers. Gee, you fool"
And all the ditry little sinners
Arc digging bait and catching MINERS
And so fourth and so fifth and so on.
Solomon dident write that, but it's fact
nevertheless.
But what about April? Two thousand
years ago it was the second month in
the year. but julius Caesar got proud
and vain and stuck another month in
and called ii July, and his adopted son,
Augustus, thought he was as good as
julius, and so he stuck one in and called
it August, and that gave us twelve
months, or $50 days, which lacked five
days of making a full year. So they had
to give one more day to each of the sew
eral months April didn't have but
twenty nine days and they made it thir-
ty. Later on old Nero, the tyraflt and
fiddler, came along and said he was just
as great a man as any of the Caesars,
and so he changed name of April
to Norenius, and it remained that way
for thirty years, until he died, and then
ii was put back to April again.
April was named from the Latin word
aperire, which means to open, for then
the earth begins to open and the grass
and the flowers to spring up and the lit
tie leaves to come forth from the buds
on the trees. The old Anglo-Saxons call
cd it Ooster or Easter month. The Dutch
called ii grass month. The foolish GUS
tom of April fooling people still prevails
in many countries among the young peo
pie. Its origin is unknown. Some say
it is a relic of an old heather festival.
Some say that in the middle ages they
acted a play taken from the life of
Christ. where he was sent from Annas
to Caiaplias and from Plate to Herod,
and so an April fool is one who is sent
all about on an errand, as for instance,
for some pigeon milk, or for book CIV
ing the history of Adams grandfather, or
to stop horseman and tell him his sad
die girth is on buckled, meaning I'M
bucklcd so he gets down to buckle it
and they run off and shout April fool.
The Hindoos practice the same thing,
but their All Fools day is the 3lst OF
March.
NY folks killed a snake in the flower
pit today and before | knew it our mis-
chievous school girl had coiled it on the
front steps and everybody who came
cried out, Here's ii snake, while the
children watched from the window. The
snake was dead, but the fools were alive.
NV wife was spending the day in the
country and knowing her horror of
snakes they telephoned her, Snake in
the flower pit and grandpa is afraid to
20 out and kill him. He says you told
him to stay in the house. What must we
do?" She answered promptly, xiii him!
Let your grandpa go out and Kill him and
look for his mate" She always insists
that every snake has mate. Maybe 1t
has. but they don't go about together.
Even the mother leaves her young as
soon as they are Matched or born and
they have to shift for themselves. Some
snakes are oviparous and lay eggs and
some are NlNlpdlouS anu "iS D"i IA ~ 49,
mother and come forth from her mouth.
But all snakes are horrid creatures and
the curse that is upon them is strong
proof of TIL Scripture: "And | will put
enmity between thee and the woman
Chat is my wife, and between thy seed
and her seed 1t shall bruise thy head
and thou shalt bruise his heel
When my wife came home they showed
her the snake lit was a striped garter
snake), and told her we couldn't find its
mate, but l am going to put this one
back in a day or two and kill him again
for a matc--hut I'll bet she won't so III
that pit any mere this summer.
But there arc worse things than snakes.