Milford chronicle., 1958-10-31
HALLOWEEN

Roman festival of Pomona were added.
No longer of mystic significance, Hal
lowe'en in the United States has become a
night for ''Trick or Treat" This is a step
up the ladder in the progress of the human
race since it was formerly a night for all
sorts of delinquent chicanery
But back to the beginning, Halloween
was the time when it was supposed that
witches and ghosts were most likely to wan
der about The belief in Witchcraft, of course,
is old, and evidences of it are found in the
Bible. The Christian church at one time
accepted the existence of witches and con-
demned intercourse with the devil.
By the year 1900 those who were thought
to be witches were tortured and then burn
ed, often at the stake-and this is reported
to have occurred in New England, in our
own country, not too many years ago!
The practice was, however, worst in Eur
ope, where single judge in France is said
to have put to death eight hundred witches
in six years. In 1903, the Parliament in
London enacted law against intercourse
with witches.
All sorts of beliefs have been connected
with Halloween. In Pennsylvania it was
believed for many years that if one goes
out of the front door backwards, picks up
grass or dust and wraps it in paper and puts
it under the pillow one will dream with GER
tainty of what the future holds. In Mary
land girls once put an egg on the stove to
fry and opened the windows. Then the man
they are to marry will come in and turn the
egg-suppOsedly. In the South custom was,
for some years, carried over from the Druid
sacrifices Alcohol was put in bowl and
lighted and fortunes" in the shape of figs,
orange peel, raisins, almonds and dates,
wrapped in tinfoil, were thrown into the
flame.
The girl who snatched out of the burn
ing the best thing would meet her future
husband within a year.
However, today Halloween is gala
night for our children, who dress in all
sorts of costumes and go from house to
house asking fC trick or treat.
NOVEMBER, 1858
The wind from the north
Is strong and proud
And he pounds on my door
In a fashion loud
Anne Mary Lawler
1t is hard to believe that the next-to-
last month of the year is upon u.s. High
lights, of this November will be election day
on November 4th, and Thanksgiving Day,
on the 9th. In addition, many historical
memories are connected with the month of
November.
The 1st is All Saints Day, the 5th is the
day William of Orange came to England
in 1888, the 9Th is the birthday of John
Philip Sousa, who was born in 1856. In 1911
the Battle of Tippecanoe was fought, and
the Kaiser abdicated on November 9th, 1918.
Martin Luther was born Oh November
10th, 1883, and November 18th was Ar
mistice Day for many years-that day hav-
ing been the day on which the armiStice
was signed ending World War I.
Robert Louis Stevenson was born on
November 18th, 1850, William Pitt was born
November 18th, 1708, Tiberius Caesar was
born AZ B. C. on November 10Th, and John
James Garfield was born on November 19th
1881.
Franklin Pearce was born on November
23rd, 1904, and Mark Twain was born on
November 30th, 1885.
In addition, Zachary Taylor was born
,On the oath in 1884, Guy Fawkes Day falls
on November 9Th, Warren G. Harding was
born on November End, 1865-just a few
days before the Confederate surrender at
Appamatox. James Knox Polk was born or
November End, also in 1895.
Another feature of November, which
most readers will be interested in, is the
Army-Navy football game, which this year
will be played November 29th Perhaps the
most eagerly-awaited football game in the
country, it is always spirited game between
the flower of the nations youth in the Army
and Navy. Before long, the Air Force Acad1
emy will be getting into the act.
And II you want to go back even farther
on November 21st, 1902, the ships COM
pass was invented.
1S@@%
FOLLOWING THE PLAYS
If YOU are one of thoselimited-tirne sports
fans who enjoys sports but who does not
quite know what is going on when he is sitting
/, in the stands at a football game, it would
be wise to invest a dollar or so in book eX
planning some of the basic strategy employed
in today's football
For football has changed quite bit in
recent years. This year there is even a diff
ferent scoring system being used by most
of the major colleges in the country. 1t
allows a team to score two points after a
touchdown by running or passing the ball
rather than score one by kicking it between
the goalposts.
But, to get back to the basic approach,
ones appreciation of a sport in large mea-