Milford chronicle., 1959-02-13
FEBRUARY DAYS

February is a month with many interest
ing days. Perhaps the day which over
shadows all others is Lincoln's birthday.
That falls on January 18th. However the
young people might think Valentines Day
is more romantic
ST. Valentines Day is a moving holiday
and this year falls on Saturday. 1t always
falls on the 14th of the month. English
literature, in the tradition of Chaucer, con-
tains references to the day as sacred to
lovers. There are three different Saints as
sociated with February 14th and three
theories concerning which is the right Saint.
The day between Lincoln's birthday and
Valentines Day, February 18th, is remem-
bered as the birthday anniversary of Talley-
rand who was born in 1754.
The battleship Maine" was sunk on
February 18th, in 1898, and Susan B. An
thony was born on that day in 1920.
The next day. February 18th, is remem-
bered for several things. Fort Donaldson
surrendered on February 18th, 1862. On that
day in 1897, if you follow your history,
Phillip Melanchthon was born. The 18th is
also the birthday of Cushing Eells, a mission
AIRY to the Indians in the Northwest and the
founder Of Whitman College at Walla Walla,
Washington. He was once characterized by
DIR. Theodore Munger, distinguished Con-
gregationist, clergyman, as ''the greatest
saint of modern times.
Eells was born in Massachusetts on
February 10Th, 1910.
The 17th of February is also day of
memory as far as the War Between the
States is concerned, for Charleston was evac-
uated on February 17th 1865. That was the
twilight of the Confederacy and only two
months before the surrender of Robert E.
Lee at Appomattox court house.
ST. VALENTINES DAY
Despite popular conceptions in various
sections of the country, there is no general
agreement as to the origin of st. Valentines
Day as we observe it today. Perhaps the
most logical explanation of how the name
Valentine came to be connected with day
on which lovers send tokens to one another
lies IN its connection with prevalent belief
in Europe in the Middle Ages.
Literature of this period beginning about
Chaucers time, shows that the popular con-
ception was that the birds began to mate on
February 14th Thereafter, English litera-
ture frequently mentions the day as sacred
one for lovers This was how the day was
connected with lovers. The name itself could
have come from either of three great Valen-
tines.
One was a priest in Rome, another
bishop in Terni, and third of which very
little is known. Perhaps various people con-
nected various saints with the day, but the
day was always February 14th and the
connection with the lovers probably began
during the Middle Ages, when the popular
belief about birds was connected with human
lovers.
From this beginning, the custom of OBJ
serving st. Valentines Day has grown into
one of the most beautiful customs especially
for younger people, in the United States and
elsewhere. In this country, young lovers ex-
change Valentines greetings and presents,
and there is an air of romance aboUt the day
which does the hearts of young and old much
good
@xg@&~
WHAT DO YOU READ?
The reading habits of the American peo-
pie give reason for genuine alarm scholars,
intellectuals and those who ponder the ma
tinn,s future We are in short qnino down