Evening star., 1934-12-30

WIN TG1nOOtD hueS,
And each. in ,DIispers. tells
Some strange sioeet neDs.
We are the children OF The STAR
Who bring its lights on rapid ,oings,
That so. the sun gone do,on.
No darkness peil the to1Dnl
Is toeH our mission done? Your kind eyes say:
That shall be ans,oered on Nep Year day"
A careful search of files. jackets and index
shows that not more than 10 of the local
Carriers Greetings have been preserved to
washington posterity And that The Evening
Star Is the only Washington newspaper repre-
Sented in either bound or jacketed files at the
Library of Congress. The greeting address
In question looSe-leaf one, was given to sub
Scribers on December 16 1885, when the news
paper was exactly 13 years and Is days of age.
There were verses, and appended are extracts
selected from it:
Late in the afternoon or early night,
In Summer courting some luxurious shade
In Winter, tDarm before the coal fires light,
Do 1oe inudde your Quietness NTH ,Delcome
noise,
Great Union Victory CRY the carrier boys,"
Almost as far back as American newspapers
can be traced, it was customary to publish, on
January !, q calendar of the ensuing year.
This was done whether or not the carriers
greeting was run as a broadsde or had place
In news editorial columns. These greetings"
were often used to lambast an administration,
worldly chastise q mayoralty and, on at least
one occasion, promote marriage But little by
little. art obtained over literature until today's
greeting is an artistic poster, portrait or scene,
which contains a calendar and sometimes q
short verse or two. Perhaps q century from
now some other reporter will be digging in the
Library Of Congress files for an article on the
greeting calendars Of long ago.
7rEE oldest locaI "oreetipo" uoc found a., a
- jacket in the manuscript division of the
Library. 1t is a well-preserved broadside
headed. "News Carriers Address to the Sub
scribers of the Georgetown Weekly Ledger for
January 1st, 1892" One hundred and forty
two years have passed since that particular
greeting was printed and distributed, and how
old the custom is careful search fails to
reveal Indeed, the editor or poet of the
Georgetown Weekly Ledger Is uniformed
on the subject when he writes:
"Kind patrons. your ne,osboy NTH heart most
sincere,
Presents you his ,Oish for happy Ne,o Year;
'Tts custom established, kno1D not hotc long,
Most typos to open the year Dith q song.
So according to custom take up MY quill
To shou that bear you hearty good oiH."
This rhyme attacks or lauds conditions in
Georgetown and elsewhere and plaintively
states:
Our produce consume and encourage our trade.
But subscribers like these hape In ptew
Our present dependence Is placed upon you."
In 1892 James Doyle was printer-ed Of
the Georgetown Ledger, and perhaps no edi-
tor. before or after Mr. Doyle has pushed or
promoted for circulation as did he in the follow
ing last four lines of his 1892 greeting:
"May each bachelor take an old maid BY the
hand
And no longer neglect an important command,
And Join soith the rest to replenish the earth
And giue to some hundreds good customers
birth"
In "Verses by the Carrier Addressed to Their
Patrons on the First of January, 1924" the
writer used 120 lines to express himself In
the Washington Gazette. His introduction was
novel when he wrote:
"AH hail this Delcome day. my patrons kind:
My task pursuing, DhiIe naethtnks you curse,
And cry, GOOD heapns, is this Dlat he calls
perse2"
From there he travels with Greeks, avenues
Of poplars, Spain, sires, France, freedom and
despots, ending sunny side up with:
"That's right your purse Is coming forth see.
And by your looks there's something good for
Good day. my soorthy friend. the best of cheer
Be yours, both this and each returning year.
Through each ucissitude in life, your barrier
Be heauem. ,otiIe remain your faithful
carrier.