The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1913-09-29

the shells on the floor of the sacred ed-
 flee, pTovided-and this seems an in1-
 portant proviso-the clergyman is in-
 clined to admit the validity of this an-
 cient custom.
 In the good old days in England and
 colonial America, the person who did
 not go to church was likely to be
 thrown into the donjon keep, or be
 exposed to public ridicu1e and ripe
 vegetab bleS in the pillory or the stocks.
 Heretics and inf1dels were burned at
 the stake, and witches were hanged
 Sermons were 1nterminab1e affairs, be-
 ginning at fhstly and ending with
 about four hundred and forty -hfthly
 with each proposition designed to
 prove the utter unworthiness of hu-
 manity for anything short of an eter-
 nifty in hell. A spirit of solennity and fear brooded over the meeting house,
 and the congrega tion hardly dared
 breathe while the minister thundered
 forth his message.
 But once & year, on the Sunday pre- ceding MichaeImas, the congr ega tion
 was permitted to relax. Crack-Nut
 Sunday was a day of joy. Each wor- shipper, no matter how old pious, went to the meeting house with bags or pockets filled with nuts. Many took with them hammers, stones or other nut-crackfng devices. When the min ister began to preach, the congrega- tion began to crack nuts. Shout as he might, the clergyman could not make himself heard above the racket. The preacher warned his audience of the
 wrath to come, and painted hell in bright and 1urid word-pictures, but his audience paid no heed, but calmly cracked and munched their nuts.
 The origin of this remarkable cus- tom is, the police court reporters says, 'sshroUded in mystery" In some undef1ned way 1t was supposed to hon i4I, A1 ra1 The militant saint is mentioned five times in the Bible and always as en- gagged in battle.
 While the chara racteristices of St. Mi chaef are such as to endear him to the Irish people, 1t is the Italians who now most generally celebrate his festival, which begin on the evening of \the twenty-eighth of September and con- tinues through the following day. In all of the important centers of Italian population in America, as well in Italian cities, the banner of St. Mi chae1 is carried in procession tomor- row, and devout Italians who have in- voked the aid of the saint during the year pin their offerings to the banner.
 It is the custom of Italian Catholics to pray to St. Michael, the Archangel for favors or the curing of ills The petitioners whose prayers have been granted must tender some gift to the saint on MichaeImas Day. The result of this custom is the collection of a considerable sum in cash, while those who have no money, but have prom 1 ised an offering to St. Michael, often give rings, brooches, earrings or other articles of personal adornrnent.
 It was Michael, according to the l account, who was the gem era1 of the army of the Lord in the l war between the heavenly hosts, when | the proud and rebelIious Lucifer was defeated on the celestial battle-ground 1
 Today marks the tercentenary of one of the most important events in 1 human history-the inauguration of l the first general water supply in the l city of London. The water-faucetl l and the hydrant of today represent | humanity's best bulwark against the | scourges of fire and plague. The problem of providing cities with a sufficient supply of pure water was one that baffled the best minds for centuries. Sir Hugh Myddleton, the greatest engineer of his time, solved 1t for London and the world.
 As early as the thirteenth century } limited supply of water was brought to London by the Cheapside conduit | and a system of 1eaden pipes Only a 1 few wealthy people shared in the benefits of this innovation. The popu ace had to descend on the wells scat tered about London, private ctSternS. ,he river and other sources where the water was contaminated by the filth of a city without any adequate sys- ,em of sewage disposal. Water car -iers went through the streets, and a majority of London's population de- pended upon them for their supply.
 It was in 1909 that Sir Hugh Middleton undertook the gigantic ask of conveying New River water to London from ChadweH and Anwen in Ierfordshire. Great natural diff | ,ulties and much opposition hindered he work, but the project was carried o completion at an immense expense, md on Septem Der 29, 1913, the water vas turned on and the system was inaugurated. The water vas distributed through the streets in pipes made of small elm trees, cut in ix-feet lengths, drilled, and one end apered so as to fit into the bore of he other. Four hundred miles of ;uch pipes were laid. Small leaded pipes were used to convey the water nto houses. The supply was insuffi- ient, however, and it was not until he great plague" of 1884, and the great f1re'' two years later, resulting n the death of 100000 people by dis ase and the destruction of 14,000 louses by fire, that Londoners were ully aroused to the necessity of the xtension and improvement of the