Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1913-10-21

1tuV SuA SVu IuuL Nv SSh
spirits had taken possession Of Thorn
during the paste twelve months.
In a few hundred years the festival
became one Of Thanksgiving and, wit
ches being scarce at the time, the
cclebrants looked around for some.
thing to be thankful for and decided
t. was tho harvest. For q time Hal.
loween was m International thanks.
giving day.
Unlike other holidays, Halloween
has no formal eaiGt Of a governor or
president to make IL legal. It did
have such a legal standing under the
Druids, who Invoked Samon, the lord
of death, to call together the wicked
souls in animals and punish them.
Joke on the Romans.
The Romans, to, soon after the con-
quest Of England, adopted the feast
Of Samon id a and made October 81
q legal holiday for the worship Of
Pomona, goddess of apples and nuts.
This was where the apple-ducking
idea, familiar to tho old folks back
on the farm, had its origin. OF course
no stiff necked pagan Roman ever
ducked for apples, out the small boys
Of Merry England took up the idea
as a sort of joke on the Roman holi.
day. ..,.''
Small boys with inclinations to mi.
tate the hum0r OF their forebears
have had a good deal to do with the
| Halloween customs until very recent
~.
The Catholics. however. gave. the
night its name Of All Hallows eve, Or
Hallowmass. and the occasion still is
observed as the Vigil Of Hallowmass.
or All Saints day. Some places it is
made the time for decorating graves.
Spokiness Still cllnas.
Although Halloween has long since
| ceased to be a celebration of any par
ticular event, the idea Of "spookir .ess"
clings to it even in tie eifete celebra-
lions about tle modern dinner tables.
To be sure, the night in certain Sc.
cluded portions Of Ireland is known
even now as the Cidhahe of Stamina,
or the Vigil OF SGman. In equally Sc
! cluded parts of Scotland and Wales 1t
is made into sUllrthing of a serious
frolic when bontircs are built and peb-
bles laid in the gmberS. Should IN
Of the pebbles be found out of place
the next morning, II is q sure sign
that the person who laid it there will
die during the ensuing yeur.
In the north OF England it is the
night of celebration the bounty of the
harvest and the common lame ap.
piled is Nutcracker night.
Among the supers,ltious peoples Of
the north Of Europe, the saying is
that If two children Of opposite sexes
arc born in the same village OH Hal
loween they will be partners for life.
In this manne has the evolution 4
Halloween worked out. While other
holidays and festivals have very def
mite meanings. such rs New Years,
Christmas, THANKSGIVING anA -1le
Fourth Of July. Halloween may have
about any meaning that u person in
clined toward a night Of frolic may de-.
sire to ascribe to il. There is but
ono essential which has chung to it
throughout its existence, and that is
that whatever Is done must be con
nected more or less WITH the super
natural, must bs more or less wierd
and "spooky."a /. u-
Small boys who considered that it
meant to hang Il neighbours gate high
in the trees or put the old family
hrOuglam astraddle the gable roof,
have had their crude notions sup
pressed by the police and stern par
ents until there is very little practical
joking to be encountered in the larger
cities of the country.
Storekeepers say that Halloween is
losing much OF it's old time flavor Of
frolic. So far as their business is
concerned, the celebrations run t.
ladylike dinner parties with favors in
autumnal colors, place cards Of simil'
ar hues and garlands and crepe paper
with here and there a black witch
riding on a broomstick Or a slivery
skeleton dangling on al. invisible sup
port. ~
1. o. T. M. CARD PARTY.