The Columbus journal., 1908-04-22
.DAYSs0 DISASTER
TERAa .alAck" APPLIED TO VA
nous PERIODS or history.

Chiefly Understood In This Country In
Its Application 70 the Financial
Panic Of Friday, September -, :.
1853, In wal Street.
The designation Of Black Friday
Is popularity supposed to be restricted
to q certain day In the financial his
tory Of New York. but in point Of fact
II has been. applied to number Of
days at various times in history. As
used In the records of stock specala-
ton IN Wall street. 1t is applied TO
two days. The first was Friday. Seps
TENDER "a. 1869. when q panic was
caused in the money market by the
joint efforts of Col. James Fisk and
Jay Gould to corner the gold mar
ket. the price Of gold going up to
163 Is. and large number Of financial
concerns undergoing heavy stress.
The name Black Friday Is also ap-
Piled to September 10. 1873. when the
great financial crash In the stock ex
change preceding the panic Of that
year occurred.
In the financial history Of England
May II. 1866. is designated a. Black
Friday. as on that day began . dis
astr0us financial panic, which was
brought about by the failure Of the
firm Of Overend, Quincy & Co.. in
London. who we're afterward tried and
acquitted Of conspiracy to defraud.
In ecclesiastical history the Roman
or Western church has frequently des-
ignited Good Friday n Black Friday.
a. on that day oil clerical vestments
and altar draDeries are strictly Of
black. The term black-letter days Is
applied to minor holidays and saints
days whose names appear on calen-
dars in black letters instead Of red
letters. as do the high days and holy
days. In the English calendar GER,
tain black-letter days have been re-
tanned because they mark civil dates
of importance. such as Hilary term
and Martinmas summer, or because
they commemorate some public bene-
factor.
The name Black Monday is given in
English history to Easter Monday.
April H. 1860. when Edward Ill.
lay with his host before the city Of
Paris, and the weather was % stormy
and bitter, cold that many men died as
they sat on their horses. The term
was afterward extended to include all
Easter Mondays. and 10 80 used by
Shakespeare. In The Merchant of
Venice" in the line Then 1t was not
for nothing that my nose fell a:bleed-
ing on Black Monday last" Dickens
refers to the schoolboy custom Of re-
garding the day for returning to
school after the long vacation AZ Black
Monday, and an article in Household
Words mentions the due observance
of the ancient Institution of Black
Monday" the eve of which was kept
on the Saturday night, when the
school box was packed. In Irish his
tory the term Black Monday was ap-
piled to the day when a number of
English were slain In . village near
Dublin in 1909.
Australia has q Black Thursday in
its history. the name being given in
the colony of Victoria to Thursday.
February s. 1851, when the most ter
rible bush fire ever known in the his
tory of the colony ragged over an inl-
mense extent of territory and the heat !
was felt far out at sea. and birds over
come by It fell on the decks of coast
ing vessels. The loss caused by the
was exceedingly great.
Black Saturday was the name given
in Scotland to August 4. 1921. when
the parliament. sitting in Edinburgh,
certain articles Introducing
Church Of England practices in the
churches Of Scotland which we're op-
posed to the religious convictions. Of
the Scotch Presbyterians. The vi0lent
storm which occurred ut the
time. with much lightning and great
was held to be . manifest
token Of the displeasure Of heaven.
50 far as the records show, no other |
day Of the week has had the adjective
black attached to It. Red-letter days
are any lucky. fortunate or suspicious
days. and are 20 called because in the
older liturgical works the greater holy
days are designated by red letters.
Dickens makes one Of his characters
In BLEAK House" say: 1T is the old
girl'a hirth6av and that IN tho. urost,
est holiday and reddest letter day in
Mr.. Bagnet's calendar" Charles !
Lamb. In his Oxford in the Vacation"
writes: The red-letter days now be- |
come. to all intents and purposes,
1ead-letter days."