The Birmingham age-herald., 1906-10-31
IN HOTEL LOBBIEs
Halloween Customs.


 Halloween comes once more. Tomor- 1 row will be All Saints day. or All Hal- lows, which means that this eve Of the feast is Halloween.
 As the years roll on and generation succeeds generation, the popularity of this strangest festival of the year is not diminished jot, and the boy of other years who now, as a reversed grandsire. leans upon his stick and tells of the sports of his youth is not beyond an in- terest in the night when spirits walk," ]" said an old citizen.
 "The origin of Halloween seems to be disputed, some authorities claiming that it is survival of the old Roman satur- nalia, or feast of Bacchus, while others say that 1t sprang from a religious festi- val of the early Christians, and others still that 1t had it's source in the mystic rites of the Druids in their sacred groves.
 Tn medieval times, under one name or another. 1t was pretty generally ob- served throughout Europe. and in several lands Is supposed to have been the occa- sion for the presentation of miracle plays.
 '"The youngster of today observes 1t very much as the youngster of fifty years ago did, only living as he does in an age of imagination and invention, he is able to avail himself of more diversified means of trapping the unwary traveller, and in one way or another calls upon the powers of nature to assist him in his pranks.
 "Jacl1-o'-lanterns still peer with eyes of fire through windows to the great discon- certion of timd maiden ladies and young children, and the young man arrayed in his Sunday best who calls upon the lady of his choice still runs the risk of getting covered with flour thrown from an upper window by her mischievous young brother.
 Primarily the customs which still cling about Hallowe en are pleasant ones There will be Halloween parties at which youths and maidens will tempt fate in one or another and scarce a one but will try to see the face and learn the name of his or her matrimonial fate
 "Bobbing for apples in a. tub of water is one of the many diversions of the evening, and is never failing mirth provoker. Seeking to eat those suspended by strings from the ceiling is another task that would try the patience and in- genuity of the average mortal.
 Apples and apple peellngs are greatly in demand. For a young girl to throw an entire apple peeling over her left shoulder is an unmistakable sign that she is in love and desires to learn the initial of the young man she is to marry, and when she looks around, half in doubt, half in fear, there, sure enough, upon the floor is the initial, and her heart beats fast as she hurriedly runs through the IFS, it may be, of her acquantances, and wonders whether it will be Homer, or Henry, or Herbert or perhaps Horace. The swain who has been together with the rest of the party, an interested spec tator at the trial, makes up his mind then and there that he is the particular IT. and promptly acts upon the belief for the rest of the evening to the unmiti- gated delight of his girl and boy friends.
 '"Tbis is a test that never fails. It is as infallibe as the responses of the Del phic oracle. which could be construed in either of two ways, according to the de- sire of the recipient