Metropolis weekly gazette. (Metropolis, Ill.) 1???-19??, 1918-02-22

tE@-AR"~
May comes next. With - and az al
ditiouxl sunday not ofher.ise erle-
brsiea thus actually TYING Novem ~
In the num,er oi says ei"sssl 80 Isl
ness. March. on the other Esna -
Tie longest all srouud bus ne-s
month. having only 10 holidays ThAs
NJ least tuo-ihlrtis OF every monih IA
terferes with The free play VI inter
national business
Even such generally observed feSfi-
walls as Christmas aud New Years
Day cunt he depended upon by the
banker without consulting the inter.
national caiendar.
New Years Das is the only holiday
universally observed. But. alas. il
falls on ~ different dates IN different
parts Of the globe. and some countries
observe more than one 81 them An
exhaustive study OF these New Year
celebrations would give one pretty
fair knowledge o. The ancient history
Of the world curiousiy enough one
OF our own states Massachusetts dees
tot maize Ills legal holiday. thoag1
her cilizens generally observe H.
Where ckistuas Is Not Observed
Christmas bay. due Ia is rph .au :
significance. j. MOI 50 generally elY-
ser, ed as New Years Day Il bas.
moreover. only ibfee different ia -.
Il was uut generally observed on De
ceinher - unfn The fourth century.
The early church hack ne airy ~
thcuiic know ledge rs "a the date II
ehriSis birth celebrate. il without
uniformity In alas, April and Janu-
airy. The Armenian Church still o.
serres January q Wig the pee@e.s.
hlF dale waA iially selected is u.cer-
tain. Some see IN II displacement
of the liomafi Snturnalia; others de-
clare II a survival OF the Feast OF the
Winter Solsii,e. and still others point
10 its culnei,ience with the old Ger
man YnleIlle Feast. Countries where
the old style calendar prevails still
celebrate January 7.
I'm the Puritan days Scotch Pr~shy-
terians and English Non-cenforu'ists
rejected Christmas Day aIfogeiher az
"sasoriRg Of papisrry," and IN New
England Thank sgIsiRg I,ay was de
vlsed 10 replace IT, II seems cuff
oas thing thar there are today Christ
fian countries where II 10 sei ell
served legally. such are Nsrrsy.
Panama. Peru. Portugal sad the
ssaih Afriess raiss.
The last SAWED. however. stib Oh
serves the old English issilfafisn af
Hoxlug i,sy on llecemiI~r "a This
vss the flav ~hes the English gentry
having hsd their Own chrfsItHss reir-
hraiiop The day before. tnrHra their
attention 10 the poor by rrrs-n,las
them With cbr1sfmss sax~s Tie day
lai~r hersme The day fer general CIV
inx ~ Christmas gifis
Portugal prsps Trsdltisns
The only country On ssrth Tuay
a., rhosr holidays reveals Hfiis of is
palitical. rsrinl ar religious arig'n IL
Portugal The first attempt TO eSfab-
lish republic In Portugal was made
on January ~ 1891 This IL rrnest'
ed In lts calendar OF hal DAYS whi"h
rims. "Jsnnarv |. dedicated 10 mi
yrrsai brotherhood: January 81, del
ieafea 10 the memory Of all ttinse VII,
fought and died TO establish the re-
public ia Portugal: uay &. In mem
orv ~ the discovery ~ Brazil by the
Portuguese lunr ~ municipal holi-
day al Lisbon. June "a municipal
holiday NJ Oporfo: October .. The
date ~ the establishment OF the far-
tngliese republic: peeember |. Flag
Day. 10 commemorate the independ-
ence OF the country: December -.
Family bay"
These brief Mutations on holidays
iauch only their distribution and
dates Back ~ these lies wide neld
nllcd With quaint and curious Infor-
piaiion relating to the manner OF Gel.
| ebratlrs them