El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1914-01-02
Ancient Almanac Passing
Forecasts Year in Advance and Sig
nificauee of Dreams No
Longer Attract People.
- By Frederic j, Haskin-
nuINGTON ID q IL

{
/ mans attention The fact that he is
creature of superstition. These pub
/ lcations are almanacs They are cir
cu1ated free IS advertising mediums,
and are sold in large quantities as
/ counendiums Of statistics and mis-
( celIaneous information. Some score
of years. ago, every home had its al
manac upon the parlor table beside
pilgrims Progress and Tuppers
| +'PrOverbial Philosophy" In recent
! years, calendars and almanacs of more
/ accurate Information are being &C
/ cepted but the old-fashioned almanac
/ PERSISTS with peculiar force
The average almanac has always
| been filled with e"usefur' information
| from its chapters on the interpreta-
/ ton of dreams to its department on
] nativities. Besides these valuable
! features, the usual calendar contains
/ venerable jokes that lose nothing by
| being told again; rules for the culture
/ of garden fruits; and exact formulas
/ for the Warding off Of ghosts and evil
! spirits One formerly learned, also,
I from his almanac the best amulets
| against malignant Influences and the
! right charms to wear for protection
| against disease.
/ 1t was long the rule in the publica-
! tiOn Of almanacs to make these pam
| phlets receptacles for the collective
all the ages of man. Adherence to this
] rule has not been without its effect
| that of making the almanac the most
/ widely appreciated type of literature
| yet devised The appeal of the al
manac has been made direct to the
| Druid ancestor in each of us; and such
| appeal never fails Of eiciting warm
| response.
The First American Almanac.
The first of these popular handbooks
appeared in this country in 1888. It
was called AN Almanac calculated for
| New England, by William Pierce,
Mariner" 1t was printed by Stephen
Sayre in Cambridge, Mass, and was
probably the first printing to be done
in the colonies, preceding by a full
year the famous Bay State Psalm Book,
or the New England version Of the
psalms, which was published by the
same printer in Cambridge
Besides embodying The now calen-
dar, the almanac was, at first, chiefly
designed to carry predictions of the
| weather, and it thus came naturally
| by its other superstitiOns. When the
editors of these works became fully
1 conscious Of their ability to predict
the weather a year in advance to the
complete satisfaction of their readers
/ they became more spirited and as
signed the meaning of a cankered rose
/ bud in a dream. From this, it was but
short step farther to the determine
4 ton of whether a brown or black
spider, worn in a hazel nut suspended
from the neck, is the most efficaciOus
IN warding off rheumatism.
Ancients Had AImanacs.
Although the almanac as an extern
sive compendium of facts and other
wise, begins with the discovery of the
printing press, something akin to the
almanac was In use among all the
civilized nations of antiquity, both Of
the east and west There are examples
Of. some OF these manuscript almanacs
from as early as the twelfth century
preserved among the library collec-
tons Of Europe.
French Have Queer Ones.
Among the French. the almanac has
developed the greatest number of va
rieties. There are almanacs cOmfque,
picturesque, dramatiQue, critiQue, lu-
natlque (many other lands have had
almanacs of this character), prophet
1Que, chantOn, SatiriQue, demOcratiOue,
aStrOlOglque, anecdOtiQue, du labOreur,
oes danes, des muses., together with
large number of sub-vaTieties.
1t is, also, probably in France that
aStrOlOgy began its conquest of the
almanac, with the result toward the
beginning of modern times of the de-
VelOpment of the almanac as the Of
f1cial organ of the occult. Yostrada-
mus, noted French astrOlOger, began
the publication of an almanac bearing
his name in 1850. From the date of
this publication, it has been the recOg-
n1zed function of the ordinary almanac
to teach the unknOWable and to ex-
plain the uneXplainable
Deal in the Occult.
The occult nature of these publica-
dCns has been the strongest element
of their popularity. Although polite
society Is firmly convinced that it has
outgrOwn astrOlOgy, black magic and
klnd cred, sciences, the almanacs pages
OF folklore are the relishes by which
1t maintains its present wide circula-
ton in competition with the free cal
cndar, which is scattered over the
land each year by insurance companies,
manufacturing, banking and real estate
concerns for purposes of advertise
ment.
Influenced by the spirit of scientific
awakening, and its accompanying
IanauclSm for facts and TRUTH which
began to spread among the people dur
ing the latter years of the eighteenth
century and the beginning of the nine
Ieenth, class of publishers developed
determination to reform the accepted
plans for the compilation of aImanacs.
They determined to make these works
scientific, and respected as sources of
authentic knowledge
IN the accomplishment of their re-
form, they filled their almanacs with
statistics, geographic and astrOnOmic
notices, selections from classic aU-
Inors, bright bits of verse of all times,
sage reflections upon life and rules
of proper conduct, and a miscellany
of other facts, including advice to ag-
riculturists.
The Almanach de Gotha. in Ger
many, is one of the most celebrated of
reformed almanacs. It made its first
appearance in 1864. and has been pub
hshed and enlarged continuously ever
since. This almanac has come to be
recognized as an authority upon the
genealOgv of the royal and noble fam
lilies of Europe. On account of this
feature it is almost as well known in
this country as abroad. It's lists of
officials and its statistical informa-
ton upon the governments of the world
make it a valuable work of reference.
AstrOlOgers Founders of Almanac.
AsTOlOgers also were the founders
OF the English almanac, of which they
had almost monopoly of publication
for about 200 years. One of these
renowned editors was William Lilly.
who began the publication of his
Ephemeris in 1914, The almanac of
Francis Moore, Physician" issued by
a quack doctor ana master magician
of Westminster. also Won a large
place in the peoples affections This
impOstOr began his career about 1893.
Many copies of these early almanacs
are preserved in English libraries, and
their values are estimated in vast sums