The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1918-03-01

important TO know whether the bank
10 that particular city will be open
that day. Does any N around the
Ilace know whether January 5 Is a
bank holiday In Picking or Athens or
Cape Town? Usually no one does.
les hard enough TO keep tabs on the
"a holidays rampant In these United.
States. 1t therefore becomes neces-
sary to send an expensive cablegram
to get the information. This sort OF
thing happens not once, but many
times, in every banking house with
an extensive foreign. business
Among the holidays established by
custom the occasion Is generally the
anniversary of In important political
event or the birthday of q national
hero. Such holidays are therefore To-
cal. while church holidays are for the
most part general. The former class
prevails in the newer and more dem
Ocratic countries, while the older ones,
cOnfine themselves largely to thet
church fas;S and festivals. !:
Where Holidays Are Thickest. :. /,
Contrary 10 the popAA- notion, ne.
new demoSrdcies of the west enjoy a
greater number of holidays than their
sister nations of the eastern hemi-
sphere. OF the o. nations or depend
encies listed Brazil leads, with 81
holidays. The United States, with
"a, is, a close second, although she,
unlike Brazil, practically ignores the
church days. Another popular delu-'
Si6h is shattered when we find that
France has only Is formally observed
days and Italy only 23. I'VE had sup
posed the Latins always .outdid Us In
this p%articulaE. Among the other bel.
ligerents Germany. 1t is presumed,
wifi observe e-taysnext Year. Gfeat.
Britain 16,-Japan Ii .s41i Hussia%Fs
in. most OF a@se ceuntates ~nuunsguEs
local holidays ordinarily observed.
have been abandoned during the war. !
The study of holidays is 9fascinat-
ing to the historian; = Those of our.
own country offer n particularly rich
.feld. If one knew the meaning. of. all
the half a hundred days Celebrated In
the United States, with the collateral
eventS connected with each. he wSofd
.be.xell verSet.jn the nat5onis.hiStory.
One. Of. the first surprises. il store
for such a student is lo.learn that the
United States has no naffonar:"holi-
day. The reauer>M Nh at once think
''of Fourth of~53uly arff. of tire .Presi-
dents ThankSgiVingx proclamation.
But not even these are national. Acts
of Congress and Presidents pro-
nouncements in this respect apply
only 10 the District of Columbia and
the territories. The states usually
follow suit, but as d matter OF Gus
tom only and not Of law. Here is a
chance to win some bets from your
friends.
Americas Red Letter Days.
American local holidays are rich in
historical significance. OF such are
the concentrations Of Bunker Hill
and Bennington and New Orleans and
San Jacinto; the all but forgotten
Fast Day of New England. still sur
viving In New Hampshire; Patriots
Day in Maine and Old Defenders Das
In Baltimore. Pioneer Day in Idaho
and the various Admission Days pop
ular with other Western states, Con
federate Memorial Day in the South
together with the birthdays OF Lee
and other heroes OF the Confederacy.
Two states have independence DAYS
of their own. Texas observes aer sep
aration from Mexico on March .
North Carolina commentaries. the
Halifax independence resolutions on
Apri! II and the Mecklenburg decia
ration on May ~.
II remains for Frederick county.
Md. TO celebrate all alone fhe repu
diation of the stamp act. one of the
most local celebrations OF IN impor
tant national event on record.
Among the favorite months for hol-
idays the world over November leads,