The weekly register. [volume] (Point Pleasant, Va. [W. Va.]) 1862-1909, 1908-03-25
Leap Year.
a RIsToRY or THR OBJ DAY.
Not Every Year DiviDible by Four
10 Leap Year.


ophy of leap year or how there
comes to be an extra day-the 29th
of February - every leap year.
Some even supposed that leap year
was instituted by the Goddess We
nus only to confer upon ladies the
privilege of popping the ques-
tiop," or that February has 20 days
that it might have a chance at the
luok of odd numbers.
Our OWL year is founded upon
the period of the revolution of the
earth about the sun. If the natu-
raj year had exactly 865 or 866 days
days there would be no trouble
The civil year would ACCORD with
II and represent precisely the same
period of time. But the natural
year cannot be divided into an ex-
act number of days. The natural
year oonsists of 266 daye. s hours,
48 minutes. 40 ITO seconds.
Julius Caesar in AZ B. O., made
the fret reasonable and substantial
reform. He saw that the natural
year was about 1851 days long. II
the OWL year be 1865 days, it is a
quarter of day short of the solar
year; four OWL years would,
therefore, lose just one day. he,
therefore. ordered that every fourth
OWL year should have 866 days.
This originated in leap year and
the Goth of February
This formed very satisfactory
solution for a great many centuries
If the solar year were exactly 1851
days there never would have arisen
any occasion to reform the Julien
calendar. But that the fact is that
every Julien year got in advance
of the solar year 10 minutes; in a
century this amounted to nearly
day.
The difference was getting to be
important when Pope Gregory
XIII came into power. In 1877
Pope Gregory XIII approved and
ordered that ten days be dropped
from tho calendar in order to bring
the vernal equinox for all time on
the 21st OF March. To prevent
discrepancy in the future between
the solar year and the OWL year IL
was found that If only these oen.
tennial years of which the numb Der,
after suppreSsing the two oipheTR,
is divisible by four, be regarded as
leap year, the purpose is aooomp-
lished. That is, centennial yeare,
suof as 100, 1900 and 1900, while
divisible by four, are, nevertheless,
uot leap years, but 1000, 2400, are
What is the origin of the gallant
and delicate privilege which lie ex-
tended on leap year to the fairest
half of oreationp Myth and his.
tory both have something to say
on tho matter Myth refers it to
no loss a parsonage than st. Pat
rick, who was proposed to on leap
year by Saint Bridget. But Saint
Patrick had taken vow of oelli-
bacy; 30 he had to patch up the
as best he could with q
kiss and silk gown.
And ever since then, oonoludes
tho legend, which. it 10 needless to
say; is not found in Butler's "Livee
of the Saints," or in any other
work of psychological authority, if
a man refuses leap year proposal
he must pay the penalty with a
silk gown and kiss.
So much for legend. And now
for history. In the year 1888 the
following law is said to have been
passed in Sootland:
1T is Statnt and ordaint that du.
ring the reign of hir maist bleasit
Megeste. for ilk yeare knowne as
lepe yeare. ilk mayden ladye of
bothe high and lowe estait shall
hae the liborte to beBpeke ye man
she likes, albeit he refuses to talk
hlr to be his lawful wye. he shall
be muloted in ye sum are pundis
or less, as his estait may be. except
an avis gif he oan make it appeare
that he is betraithit sne other wo.
man he then shall DO free" A few
years later similar law was passed
in France and received the approval
of the king. It is also said that
before Columbus sailed on his fa-
nous voyage a similar privilege
was granted to the maidens of &C.
ma and Florence