Evening star., 1940-10-27
By John Claeeh Proctor.

By John ClageH Proctor.
Little orphant Anni.s come to our
house to stay.
An wash the cups an saucers up, an
brush the crumbs away,
An shoe the chickens OF the porch,
an dust the hearth. an sweep.
An make the fre. an bake the bread,
an earn her board-an keep:
An all US other children. when the
supper things is done,
We set around the kitchen hre an has
the mostest fun
A-list' min to the witch tales at Annie
tells about.
An the Gobble-uns at gifts you
Ef you
~ Watch
Out!
Indeed, there are just as many
roblins today as there were in Little
Orphan Annies day, and the time
Of James Whitcomb Riley, who wrote
this beautiful poem, and even GEN.
turies before that celebrated Hoosier
poet came on earth, and they are
Just as grotesque and diabolical now
as ever, and just as destructive, too.
And one Of the things they do, out
Of which not even kid can get
any pleasure is marking up OF
houses and store windows with chalk
and soap which annually costs the
owners of property here thousands
of dollars to remove and should be
prevented.
Some years ago The Star print
ed an editorial along the lines Of
the foregoing thought, in which it
said:
Halloween, properly employed
and enjoyed, is a noteworthy sea-
son. The fun of initiating the mys-
teries of divination and noting the
antic combinations they often bring
forth is unobjectionable. There are
some sorts of mummeries, how
ever, which are neither significant
nor otherwise interesting, which
have nothing witty in them, and
which contribute only to the an
noyance of the community. Last
year and on other occasions, this
sort of horseplay has resulted in
serious accidents, sometimes in act
ual bloodshed. There is no reason
why the lives, limbs and property
of reputable citizens should be
placed at the mercy of the hood
lun element for one night in the
year any more than for the re-
manning 364.
I'm the days when Washington
was only an overgrown village, many
things of this sort were overlooked.
But we have now a populous and
handsome city, which carries upon
her shoulders a certain special dig
nifty as Capital Of great Republic.
The police regulations, which pro-
hibit dangerous mischief OF all sorts
In the streets should be strictly en-
forced, with no exception in -vor
of Halloween"
Religious Custom.
Just when Halloween first came
into existence the writer does not
know, but the reasons for its estab-
lishment are easily obtainable, for
we are told that from the begin
ming of the Christian era, and even
before. the practice of honorins
saints has been a religious custom.
Most naturally, in this respect, spe-
cial days were assigned to the Wor-
ship of each saint, and as years
and centuries passed by, it was
found that there we're more saints
than there were days in the year,
and so to take care of the overflow,
as it we're. November l was desig-
mated as day to be kept in honor
of all the saints, and 1t was de-
cided that it should be known as
All-Hallow mass, or All-Saints' Day,
and that the night of October 81,
Immediately preceding IL, should De
kept as vigil and be known as ALL
Hallow Eve.
Poring over the files Of The Star
Of half a century ago, the writer
came across an item that tells what
Halloween means and stands for,
In addition to what has already been
said. 1t follows:
"ALL-HALLOWEEN
"The Night When Fairies Hold High
Carnival and Boys and Girls Dive
for Apples.
This evening is All-Hallow eve
night, and the people who have
doorbells, and the young men whose
matrimonial fate is still undeter-
mined, had better be on the out
look, for this is the night of all the
year when danger threatens both
these interests All-Halloween or
eve is so called because it is the
night Immediately preceding ALI
Hallowmass, or All-Saints' day,
which is the first of November, and
is observed by the Roman Catholic,
Protestant Episcopal and Lutheran