The Birmingham age-herald., 1919-05-07
MEN, WOMEN
 AND THINGS

Unless you have lived in the country you have never paid much attention to farm. I am sure you know something about them. This is not to be religious story so please read it to the end.
 
 The city preacher is not interested in them for he has to preach on them as on the first, second, third or fourth, but there is a custom, at least among the Baptist ministry in the country to claim the fifth Sunday for their own, and the right is generally recognized by the churches.
 For this reason in nearly every one of the 80 or more Baptist associations in Alabama, fifth Sunday meetings are ar ranged as it gives the various preachers an opportunity to come together to carry out a prepared programme along denomi- national lines. Frequently the meeting runs for two days beginning on Saturday
 
 Now, fifth Sunday meeting is an event in any neighborhood and usually draws the people for miles around, as it gives them an opportunity to hear all of the preachers who have churches within the bounds of the association in which they live, and frequently visiting ministers Of distinction in the general work of the de- nomination attend to set out their special claims.
 Now, I am past master when it comes to attending associations and fifth Sunday meetings for it was a part of my busi- ness as editor of the Alabama Baptist for r years to be present to take part in them and look out particularly for the interest of the state organ of the de- nomination, and to assist in the various discussions on the programme. I look back on the years spent in such work as among the pleasantest and most profitable in my life, not from financial point of view but as giving me an ac- quantance with hundreds of preachers and thousands of laymen throughout the
 
 hundreds of christian homes One of the | reasons I held on to the Alabama Bap- | tist so long was because I hated to give up going up and down the state and meeting the good men and women. | But as I said at first did not sit down to write q religious story but rather to call attention to some interesting facts about the way fifth Sundays seem to play hide and seek in the calendar. Unless your lAttention has been called to it. as was mine by my good friend pr, T. w. Palmer president of the Alabama Technical In- stitute, at Montevallo, I did not know that in February, 1920, there will be five Sundays.
 ] Now, a great many who know about l ieap year have never associated it with 1 fifth Sundays, yet it plays big part l in the matter. suppose it means noth- I ing to the young folks who read that there will be five Sundays in February. 1920; in fact I doubt if any unless they are over 50 years of age pay any special attention to it, but if you will recall it the same thing happened in February. 1880.
 | expect some of the older men and women will remember that it set all ot the funny paragraphers in the press to writing humorous paragraphs, and there were also some editorials and quite |, few informing articles giving the req son for it; but for fear those who read them have forgotten them md for the benefit of the younger generation 1 will let drop a few hints about the question. l
 Now. just a bit about leap year so that you can better understand the situation and be able to check up on the matter of fifth Sundays. The astronomers of EJulus Caesar, 46 B. C., settled the solar year at 365 days and hours. These hours were set aside. (Here we see that the Qld Romans practiced thrift even in saving hours to be used at future time) and at the end, of four years made day which was added to the fourth year. l (Better buy some thrift stamps)
 The English name for the bissextile 1 year is an allusion to the result of the 1 llnterposition of the extra day; for after 1 the 2sth of February date Heaps over | inc day of the week on which it would fall in ordinary years. Thus a birthday on the 10th of June, a Monday, will in the next year, if a leap year, be on the 10th of June, Wednesday. So if you were born in leap year you will have to be very careful about checking up on it or vou may celebrate it either too soon or too late.
 Of course, every intelligent person knows that a fifth Sunday February comes ordinarily every 2S years. The I,rreeularity this time was due to the facs that 1900 was not a leap year. The year aOoo will be a leap year so the cycle 2S wears will be undisturbed until 210O when there will be another interval of 40 years, so again in 22O0 etc. However the interval in non-leap year periods will not always
 he 40 years. A little calculation will
 show that five of them will be 40 years and two will be only 12 years, an average of g years as it should be-
 It ought to be an interesting puzzle for boys and girls to figure out the re- currence of the fifth Sunday in February