Baxter Springs news. [volume] (Baxter Springs, Kan.) 1882-1919, 1913-02-06
CUPID'S ESPECIAL DAY
IS THAT OF GOOD ST.
Valentine. =

4
has decreed that on st. Valen-
tines day those of opposite sex
shall exchange missives and epistles.
either comic or sentimental, In which
the foibles OF the receiver or the love
Of the sender are set forth in prose.
In verse and in emblematic picture.
Now there Is no custom without a
reason, but the reason for this can
not be found In the life of the good
saint who IL made to indorse this Gus
tom with his name.
He wrote no love song!
mo one rises to accuse him Of cast
Ing sleeps eyes on any Roman
maiden. He was a bishop or pope OF
Rome who stood steadfast to the
faith during the Claudian persecu-
lions, and for that faith was cast into
Jail. where he cured his keepers
daughter Of blindness. Honi soft Qul
NAL y pense! It is the pleasure OF
Cupid, blind himself, to bring upon
his votaries q similar blindness. not to
cure II.
Nor was there anything comic or
sentimental in the fate Of st. Valen'
tine when the miracle was made
known to the authorities. They first
beat him with clubs and then be-
headed him. What was left Of him IL
preserved in the Church Of St
Praxedes at Rome, where gate, now
known as the Porta del Popolo, was
formerly named in his honor Porta
Valentino, or Saint Valentines gate,
says William 8. Walsh in his "Curiosi-
ties of Popular Customs"
Bailey's English Dictionary (1721),
under the subject of Valentines, says:
about this time Of the year-Febru'
ary-the birds choose their mates, and
probably thence came the custom OF
the young men and maidens choosing
valentines for special loving friends
on that day"
Francis Douce (1S07), discussing
the same subject, says: 1T was Gus
tomary to put the names Of young
women into a box. from which they
were drawn by the men as chance ID.
rected and the Christian clergy, md
ing 1t dificult or impossible to ex'
tirpate, the pagan practice, gave 1t at
least q religious aspect by substitute
ing the names Of particular saints for
those Of the women"
But see how strong is the old
Adam in the hearts Of the unregen-
crate" comments Mr.. Walsh. WAN
ton youth was not satisfied to imi'
tate these holy fathers and ballot for
ghostly partner In heaven. II
longed for tangible flesh and blood
here on earth-hesh and blood Of that
delightful variety which has spice
Of the devil in 1t and is known as
woman.
'In the latter part Of the sixteenth
century" according to Rev. Albain
Butler) "the church, in the person OF
st. Francis de Sales, once more
stepped in to sanctify the rites Of st.
Valentines day. st. Francis severely
forbade the custom of valentines or
giving boys in writing the name OF
girls to be admired and attended on
by them, and to abolish It he changed
It into giving billets with the names
Of certain saints for them to honor
and initiate in a particular manner"
But in the end the boys and the
girls triumphed over the saint. Nay
the girls triumphed also over the
boys, wrestling from them their ex-
elusive privilege Of choosing mates.
Othella sings:
Good morrow, tits st. Valentines Gay.
All in the morn betime.
And q maid at your window
To be your Valentine.
Last year an irate old maid who
had been the recipient Of a comic
valentine which had stung her to the
quick repaired to the factory. where
II was made, with a rawhide and a
limb Of the law. She demanded the
name Of the person who had sent her
the Objectionable missive. In vain
abe was assured that the factory was
the last place in the world to learn
the name Of the sender. When told
that the factory sold comics by the
hundred gross to jobbers who, in turn.
sold to wholesalers, and then supplied
the retailer dealer who vended to In
dividual customers. she swore round
".
Many clever young people in'society
with artistic and literary ability write.
paint and otherwise decorate the val
entines they send to favored ones. In
some instances a part Of the decora-
ton consists of Jewels, diamonds.
pearls or other gems, and the In
trinsic value Of the bauble Is thus en-
HANGED.
Valentine parties are still in popu-
lar favor, and those who have not