Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1913-02-14

. And don't you know that the girl
of hundred years or more ago
bobbed her curls in delighted en-
barrassment over the little token?
Full well knew she the name of the
gallant sender, though twas only to be
read between the lines. How carefully
was it placed among her cherished
little personal belongings, to find its
way at last into this lively present
day, to face the smiles of the ;rrever-
ent and the wondering sympathy of
those that ever love q romance.
place it back In its little square
box, and almost see pair of dainty
hands encased in snowy wrist ruff1es,
reaching out to claim it, and in the
air there's a fragrance, as of the
roses of yesteryear.
How would such a love offering ex-
cite the risibilities of the modern
maid? For her the hopes are full of
satin handkerchief boxes, painted
candy receptacles and elaborate bas
kets of fruit and flowers, tied with
expensive ribbon
Pereiyaps valentine must be fine
enough to parade before the other
girls, and excite their envy. Senti-
mental verses have quite gone out
of fashion. Percival knows the maid
too well to risk being laughed at.
or having the stanzas read aloud
with much eloquence at meeting
of her pet card club.
And yet there are few souls
quite untouched by the hurry-scurry
of modernity; who love truly in the
old-fashioned way, and whose love
and pride are one Never was there
q happier woman in the world than
she who unexpectedly received this,
lied to cluster of red roses, but
@ short, short time ago:g
These roses are fragrance, and
beauty and life,
Just as YOU are my sweetheart, and
comrade and wife"
Heart Guided This Pen.
Perned straight from the heart
those lines, and aren't you sure that
she'll treasure them forever?
st. Valentines day is the anniver-
sary of st. Valentine, a martyr of the
Christian church of the third century.
He was a Roman bishop, who re-
manned steadfast to the Christian
faith during the prosecutions under
the Emperor Claudius. and for this
he was cast into prison and subse-
quently beheaded. While in prison he
is said to have cured the keepers
daughter of blindness His martyr
dom is supposed to have taken place
on February IA, about the year go.
1t is said that the custom of send
ing love tokens on this day has no
actual connection with the saint,
whose name was probably introduced
through some mistake. Some declare
that the old Norman word "galatin,"
meaning a lover, was often written
and pronounced "valentin," and
through natural confusion of
names Saint Valentine came to be
thought Of as the patron saint of
lovers.
Another explanation is that observ-
ances of the day are a. survival of the
old Roman festival of the "Luper-'
calia." celebrated about the middle of
February in honor of Pan, the god
of shepherds and country people, and
Juno, the goddess of marriage and
the guardian of women. At this fes-
tival it was the custom to put the
names of young women into box.
from which they were drawn by the
men as chance directed. This custom
continued after the advent of Chris
tianity, and it is probable that 1t at
last became confused with St Valen-
tines day. as the two festivals came
so near together, and that naturally
the missives drawn from boxes came
to be known as valentines.
Whatever the cause. isn't it for
tunate that this particular saints
name became associated with these
love messages? They might just as
easily have come to be known as
sw,thins, or GATHERINGS, or bonifaces,
or ignatiuses.
AT first these valentines We're
made by the hand of the sender, and
the effectiveness of the gift depended
largely on the writer's artistic ability.
Books of sentimental verses suit
able for valentines became vastly
popular. The first of the kind was
printed in 1897. Among the titles of
these flowery affairs were THE
Ladies' Polite Valentine Writer"
1.-THE Bower of Cupid" THE Gentle
mems New Valentine Writer" and
'Cupid's Annual Charter"
About 1900 the FIRST manufactured
valentines made their appearance,
and very soon they took the place of
the homemade articles. Plain little
sheets with crude wood cuts were
they, but shortly there appeared
more and more elaborate paper con-
fections of silver paper and lace, so
fashioned as to unfold again and
again, with a fresh message at each
turn.