New-York tribune., 1908-05-02
THE PASSING OF MAY DAY.

III at least three major senses the present
generation has seen remarkable changes in the
character or IN the observation OF May Day
TraditiOnally it is day of May parties" with
troops of romping children clad in white and
decked with flowers, on the lawns or in the
woods In some years within remembrance
such festivities have perhaps been possible and
seasOnable but in the majority both health and
comfort would have required May Queen to be
equipped with furs, macintosh and galocheS.
Perhaps the change is not permanent. There are
plausible theories of climatic cycles, and Of
these years we may again get around to May
Day weather Of the legendary kind. For the
present our capriciOus meteorOlOgy prescribes
May parties in the open for about thirty day 5
after date.
From the domicliary point of view, too, May
Day Is not what 1t was-pralses be. Once in
this bailiwick the day presented to the wonder
ing gaze of gods and little fishes the astonishing
spectacle of mutitudinOus MariuS amid the
ruins of carriage The rule of changing tables
at progressive euchre was not more imperative
than that Of changing tenementS on the first OF
May. Housewives were in despair and the
strong man of the house sought refuge In a RES
taurant, while the truCkman lorded it as one to
whom the fulness Of the land belonged by in
alienabe right There was no need of such an
orgy of migration, of course any more than
1t the fashion, that was all for which
reason we may be grateful that fashions change
and that now it is quite permissible for a fam
lily to move at some other time than the first OF
May, or indeed, not to move at ALL and yet to
be able to retain their standing in the church
and not be Ostracized from our best society
Nor should overlook the third great
change which yesterdays record more than
ever emphasizes, to wit, the fading of the Red
- H. Il .II
offensive pinkish hue, Not many years ago
May Day was more dreaded by European gov
ernments than all the rest of the calendar put
together. The Reds were sure TO be out in
force. There were ominOus demonstrations
and it was good luck If there not barri-
cades and bombs Princes pOtentates and DOW
ers were in a nervous tremor of apprehension
for weeks in advance, while the practical guar,
dians of society were busy massng and dspoS-
ing troops to the best advantage and when the
day ended without universal cataclysm there
a profound sigh of relief and the estab-
lished order Of things felt to be safe for
another year But all that, too, Is past Now
we hear it is true, of large meetings and long
professions and longer speeches. but it is added
that there no disorders" There is now
really no fear Of disorder on May Day. or OF
anything more serious than the "shOoing' OF
straggers off the grass. The crimson tints. the
lurld shadows, the oppressive apprehenSiOns of
the old May Day, have vanished
On the whole. then. by at least n two-thirds
majority, the changes have been for the better
and a contemplation Of them with the steam
heat still on, confirms confidence In the optimis-
tic theory of human affairs. In two of the three
respects the changes have been entirely for good.
In the third. well, 1t really doesn't greatly mat
ter whether the children celebrate May Day
in April or in June. They will have good
time all the same And, anyway. was the ira
ditiOnal May Day ever generally and habituallv
observed on the actual first day OF May, at least
In this part of the world: