Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1918-02-24

with 26 out of it's possible 30 days 1 May comes next. with 9 and an ad- ditional Sunday not otherwise ceIe- brated, thus actually tying November in the number of days closed to busi | ness. March, on the other hand, is ] the longest all around business month, having only 19 holidays. Thus at least two-thirds of every month in- i; terferes with the free play of inter- national business.
 Even such generally observed festi Day can't be depended upon by the banker without consulting the inter- national calendar. f
 New Years Day is the only holiday l universally observed. But, alas, it 1 falls on il different dates in different 1 parts of the globe, and some countries observe more than one of them. An exhaustive study of these New Year celebrations would give one pretty l fair knowledge of the ancient history of the world. Curiously enough, one of our own states, Massachusetts, does not make this legal holiday, though ] her citizens generally observe it. Where Christmas Is Not Observed. Christmas Day, due to it's religious significance, is not so generally ob- served as New Years Day. It has, moreover, only three different dates. It was not generally observed on De cember 25 until the fourth century. The early church. lacking any au- thentic knowledge as to the date of Christ's birth, celebrated it without uniformity in May, April and Janu- :. ary. The Armenian Church still ob- serves January 6. Why the Decem- Eber uate was finally selected is uncer- tain. Some see in 1t a displacement of the Roman Saturnalia; others de- clare 1t a survival of the Feast of the Winter Solstice, and still others point l to its coincidence with the old Ger man Yuletide Feast. Countries where the old style calendar prevails still celebrate January '. In the Puritan days Scotch Presby- terians and English NonC CoEformists | reflected Christmas Day altogether as "savoring of papistry," and in New England Thanksgiving Day was de- l yised to replace it. It seems curi- ous thing that there are today Christi tian countries where it is not ob- served legally. Such are Norway, Panama, Peru. Portugal and the South African Union.
 The last named, however. still ob- serves the old English institution of Boxing Day on December 26 This was the day when the English gentry, having had their own Christmas cele- bration the day before, turned their attention to the poor by presenting them with Christmas boxes. The day later became the day for general glv- ing of Christmas gifts.
 Portugal Drops Traditions.
 The only country on earth etudy of whose holidays reveals little CT its political, racial or religious origin IS Portugal. The first attempt to estab- fish republic in Portugal was made on January 81, 1891. This is reflect ed in its calendar of holidays which runs: "January i. dedicated to uni versal brotherhood; January 51, ded- icated to the memory of all those who fought and died to establish the re- public in Portugal; May 5, in mem ory of the discovery of Brazil by the Portuguese, June 19, municipal holi- day at Lisbon; June "A, municipal holiday at Oporto; October 5, the date of the establishment of the Por- tuguese republic; December l. Flag Day, to commemorate the independ- ence of the country; December p. Family Day."
 These brief notations on holidays touch only their distribution and dates. Back of these lies wide field filled with quaint and curious infor> nation relating to the manner of eel. ehrating them