Evening star. [volume], October 25, 1931, Page 7, Image 81

About Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972

Image provided by: Library of Congress, Washington, DC

                
number of house* In Washington mid to be
haunted, and many people believed It to be
true What was largely responsible for this
belief was the fact that as soon as a dwelling
became vacant, the boys of the neighborhood
began trying out their bean-shooters to see
which one could pop out the largest number of
wlndowpanes, and soon they were all out, and
then some one started the report that the
house was haunted, and it was hard to get a
tenant who did not believe in spooks, for in
one respect, at least, houses are like people—
when they loee their good reputation it is
hard to recover it.
BUT witches or no witches, spooks or no
spooks. Halloween has for many years given
the people—especially the younger ones—a
greaj amount of pleasure, attending masquerade
dances and parties given by the many organi
sations of the city around 50 years ago, In cele
bration of this popular occasion.
Louis Bartels, at 809 E street northwest, and
L. Moxley, 608 Tenth street, were then the
popular costumers, where we bought our false
faces and whatever went with them, and
Ixmis G. Marini, Flora C. Dennison, later
Flora C. Dyer: James G. Gill, Pistorio St Proctor
and George T. Sheldon were of the dancing
teachers who usually had a big night on Oc
tober 31.
Once in a while a party would hire an
omnibus frem one of the big livery stables here
and take a trip into the nearby country for a
dance. Os course, the roads were not as good
then as they are now, and sometimes they
were stuck in the mud and had to walk home,
but “when love is young all the world seems
gay,” and who irlnded such a thing as a long
walk with his best girl?
An idea of what one of these trips some
times meant, is told in a clipping from the
Washington Chronicle of 1871. given the
writer recently by Mrs. Frank K. Middleton,
who was. prior to her marriage. Miss Ella
King Clark. The item reads:
RURAL MASQUERADE.
1 ' ('PEAKING of this sort of entertainment,
we have to record a most charming and
successful affair at the country residence of
Mr. Clarke, on the Bladensburg road. About
30 merry masqueraders started from Mr. Frank
Middleton’s, in Michler place, taking an om
nibus. full of life and agog for fun. The
dresses of the ladies were all elegant and in
excellent taste: but we may be pardoned if,
among all of the lovely ladies present, we
individualize as prettiest a very few. Miss
Hoge represented a Tambourine Girl, and cer
tainly never appeared to better advantage.
Miss Roache was Pocahontas, and we felt sure
from various signs that there was present a
John Smith whose life she may not have saved,
but whose heart she had certainly taken. Mrs.
Middleton was th<r ‘Girl of the Period.’ But
the trump card of the evening was Miss Noyes,
who as Queen of Clubs, all triumphant, swept
before her the King, Queen and Knave of
Hearts and held them captive. When women
admire women there must be more than or
dinary beauty and intelligence, and the Queen
of Clubs possessed both in an eminent degree.
The ladies, with their fancy dresses, were hid
under waterproofs, while the gentlemen made
a very complicated business of it by wearing
part of their everyday wear with the masque
rade dresses in which they were to appear.
The effect was really funny, making some of
the gentlemen look as if they had got hastily
out of bed and put on only their boots and pea
jackets. One was reminded of the Arab Ross
Browne met In the dessert, who had nothing
on but a bell-crowned hat that he walked
about under with all the composed dignity of
a United States Senator.
“But alas for the vanity of human wishes!
The company did not take into consideration
the public improvements and the fact that a
six-horse omnibus could about as well be driven
into heaven as out to Mrs. Clarke’s with 30
people in it. After leaving the corporation line
the omnibus encountered a heavy sea of mud
and tossed and pitched in a most frightful
manner. Sometimes the straw was on top.
sometimes the cushions and occasionally the
passengers. The embraces were promiscuous,
the screams continuous and some profane lan
guage broke out now and then when a mate
masquerader's head came in contact with the
roof of the stage.
••VA/HEN about three mres out, which they
made in a heavy headwind, the lee
ward lead-horse broke his jib-boom, commonly
called the single-tree, and, swinging around,
fell athwart the larboard wheel-horse, bringing
up the vehicle so suddenly that the passeng_*rs
were all made seasick. The tackling was re
paired as well as the foul weather would per
mit and the stage proceeded until it ran into
a mud bank of unknown depth, where it stuck
fast. All hopes of extricating the vehicle died
out in the endeavor, and after brief consulta
tion it was resolved that each gallant should
take a lady in his arms and wade ashore. This
was all very well for the ablebodied young men,
who rather liked it, but for the weakly, under
sized masqueraders it was decidedly trying.
They continually tell down, but compromised
by either going to earth in a sitting position or
falling under.
“The omnibus, lightened in this manner, was
pulled out, and eventually this gay party, the
gayest we ever knew, being so under such ad
verse circumstance', arrived at their place of
destination. It was late when they got there,
it was later when they left, and late next
morning when they returned home. The earlier
risers of Washington city were startled by the
appearance of an omnibus and six horses so
covered with mud that the original material •
was not visible, and crowded with people in the
mo6l extraordinary attire. Some thought <t
sightseers from the interior of Maryland, others
a delegation of Indians from the Far West
come on to see their Great Father; but the
newsboys and agents of the Daily Chronicle
rushed back to the office with the startling in
telligence that the Ku Kluxers had come. There
Is nothing that so alarms the Daily Chronicle
as the Ku Klux organization. We wish some
thing could be done to allay the intense alarm
of our neighbor on this subject. We fear that
the Sunday star. Washington, d. c, October 25, 1931.
Tip
w yp ' - , * y
Drawing reproduced from an old copy of Harper'* Monthly.
Arresting a witch in JSctv England in the early colonial days.
something serious will happen to this intel
lectual organ.”
THIS trip might easily have been repeated
with the same results 10 or 15 years later,
for the roads around Washington had under
gone but little improvements during the mean
time.
Incidentally, if our friends who are getting
up the forthcoming Halloween celebration for
the District of Columbia could obtain such a
bus as Mrs. Middleton rode in 60 years ago.
they would surely feel themselves fortunate
and would no doubt have a great time.
Indeed, these good people are working hard
to make this event, set for next Saturday
night, a success in every way. If you do not
already know, this celebration is being spon
sored by the major civic and business bodies
of the city and plans are being worked out by
a committee which includes William A. Rob
erts as general chairman and Curtis A. Hodges
as general secretary and the following sub
chairmen: Arrangements, J. L. Gammell;
Parade, W. I. Swanson; Local Organizations.
L. S. Trundle; Lights and Decorations, E. C.
Graham; Prizes, A. K. Shipe; Music, A. C.
Case; Costume Planning, Mrs. E. K. Peeples;
Parent-Teacher Organizations. Mrs. Giles Scott
Rafter; Children’s Activities, Mrs. E. C. Rittue.
The Federation of Citizens’ Associations is
represented on the committee by its president,
Dr. George C. Havenner, and William A. Rob
erts: the Board of Trade by A. C. Case and A.
K. Shipe, the Chamber of Commerce by Ed
ward Goring Bliss and William C. Miller and
the Merchants and Manufacturers’ Association
by William E. Russell and Dewey Zirkin.
E. C. Graham, in addition to his other duties,
will have charge of the lighting arrangements
along Constitution avenue and he will be as
sisted by A. E. F. Horne and G. A. Ford of the
Electric League. Miss Bess Davis Schreiner Is
taking care of the publicity end for the celebra
tion, and if it is not a great success we will
have to blame it on the weather man.
The evening’s festivities will start with a col
orful and gay parade on Pennsylvania avenue
and will eqfl with a dance and carnival on Con
stitution avenue between Fourteenth and
Seventeenth streets. There will be bands of
music and prizes galore, and if the young folks
attend, maybe some day, when they grow old
and get in a reminiscent mood, they may have
the pleasure of telling their grandchildren all
about Washington's big Halloween celebration
on the new Constitution avenue beneath which
once flowed old Tiber Creek.
The boosters say that it is hoped to renew
this event every year until it becomes as identi
fied with Washington as the Mardi Gras is to
New Orleans or the Round-up is to Pendleton.
PjF course, this reminds the writer of the
' s - >/ outstanding event of this nature, of a
strictly local character, of which he has knowl
edge. It was the great celebration of February
20 and 21, 1871, known as the Avenue Carnival,
held immediately after the repaving of the
Avenue from the Treasury to the Capitol with
wooden blocks. This occurred in the closing
days of the administration of Mayor Matthew
G. Emery, who was succeeded February 28 by
Henry D. Cooke, who took office as Washing
ton’s first Governor.
Up to this time Pennsylvania avenue had
been a veritable mud hole, being made espe
cially so from the way it was cut up by the
passing over it of Army wagons and other Army
equipment during the Civil War. Although this
pavement, as many know, did not prove suc
cessful, yet at the time it looked beautiful, and
tlie people were delighted to know that Wash
ington had at least one street of which it might
feel proud; hence the celebration. It was a great
affair. There were foci races, goat races, wheel
barrow races, horse races, fireworks in the eve
ning, and altogether it was the most interest
ing, spectacular, exciting event of its kind ever
held in the District of Columbia, and what the
present Halloween Committee hopes to do is
to equal this or perhaps go it one better
But let us wander back to the old Halloween
days and let some future historian talk about
the events of 1931.
Perhaps, after all, the most enjoyable times
were had in years gone by at Halloween parties,
for here everybody knew everybody. It was usu
ally a neighborhood affair and the girls and boys
who attended were known to be respectable and
to fit in with the rest of those invited. The
games they played then, or the tricks they
played on others, were always of the harmless
kind, and quite unlike, in this respect, the
pranks played by the boys on the outside, for
their games were always too rough for the girls.
A very popular pastime at parties was bobbing
for apples. A wooden tub was generally used
for the purpose. (Os course, this was in the
days before metallic, stationary washtubs were
used, and when nearly every family kept one
or more tubs for bathing purposes, for the
Saturday night bath was then.looked upon as a
necessity.) However, the stems were taken from
the fruit and pieces of wooden toothpicks
placed on either side. Then the girls and the
boys dived for the advantage always
being in favor of the one with the longest
tongue. Sometimes the girls would not take
part in this sport, because they were afraid
they would get their hair wet, and some other
diversion was selected.
A N ax using trick was sometimes played by
' ' the use of two plates, one of which was
smutted or marked on the bottom and placed
on a table in a dark room. The other, a clean
one, was placed on a table in a room where
there was a dim light. This trick was usually
played on some boy or young man who wanted
his fortune told, and, to accomplish what was
intended, he was first given a view of the
maneuvers of the fortune-teller with the clean
plate and was then led into the dark room to
imitate the movements with the smutted one.
When he emerged into the light again he was
tr'.d to look into a mirror and his fortune would
he told, and it was then that he realized that
his face was smutted all over.
Os course, many of the amusements indulged
in resolved into the question as to who would
be married first, or if the party would or would
not be married at all. One or both of the
questions was frequently answered by placing
as many names as desired in meal balls, which
were placed in a receptacle of water, and the
naitle that came to surface first was declared
to be the fortunate one. Sometimes added ex
citement was produced when several names
started to come to the surface at once, when •
the anxiety became more intense until the
race was ended.
A similar way of finding out one's life part
ner was by writing the alphabet on a sheet of
paper and then cutting the letters apart and
placing them in a vessel of water, and the
letter that came to the top first was the initial
of the future husband or wife.
The apple-paring test is an extremely old
one. The paring of the apple is removed in one
piece and then thrown about the head three
times and dropped behind the one doing the
whirling, when it will form the initial of future
husband or wife.
ANOTHER stunt, that «u usually tried oa
the men only, was to take a cup of flour,
packed tight, and turn It cut on a plate; then
to place a gold ring on the top of the mound
thus formed. The guests then passed by the
table and each one cut a slice cf the flour away,
and this continued until the ring fell, when
. the person causing it to fall had to pick it
out of the flour with his mouth. Naturally, he
got flour all over his face, and then some one
with a concealed wet towel slapped it over his
face and added to his discomfiture by convert
ing his floured face into one of dough.
The use of a rirg in another way was also
popular at these Halloween gatherings. Here
the ring was put in the cake before it was baked,
and at the proper time the cake was sliced In
the presence of the entire party, and the one
who got the rirg was the one to be married
first, and also kept the ring as a souvenir of
the party.
The ring played an important part in de
termining one’s fate, when three saucers were
used. Into one was place a gold ring, indicat
ing marriage; in another ashes, signifying early
death, and in the third water, denoting single
blessedness. The one whose fate was to be
determined in this way was blindfolded and
turned around three times before being per
mitted to make a choice. While this was go
ing on the positions of the saucers were
changed and then the person thus hood
winked was told to put his or her hand into
one of the saucers and the fate of the party
was revealed.
of the methods of getting advance in
formation upon the future—which accord
ing to present customs, and for obvious
reasons would not exactly fit in today—was
known as the petticoat spell, tried as a means
of finding out who some particular lady’s hus
band was going to be.
Upon going upstairs for the night the
inquisitive party recited this verse:
“Halloween e’en night I go to bed,
I put my petticoat under my head,
To dream of the living and not of the dead.
And dream of the one who I am to wed.”
The maiden was then supposed to advance
toward the bureau and look into the mirror
Then, after preparing to retire, she must walk
to the bed backward and snugly tuck the
garment under her pillow, and she was not to
speak to any one from the time she entered the
room until morning. And the next morning
if the dream pleased her, she probably told
everybody, and if it did not she undoubtedly
kept it to herself.
In an old book, entitled "Ye True Art* to
Read ye Future,” is the following: “If a maid
would know ye name of ye man she to to
marry, let her on an Hallow even steal out to
a lime kiln and throw therein a clue of blue
yarn, still holding to ye other end. Presently
ye end on ye kiln will be sharply pulled. Then
ye maid must say, ‘Who holds?’ Whereupon ya
voice of her future husband will pronounce his
name, both ye Christian and ye surname."
The only trouble with this method of seek
ing information is to find a lime kiln around
Washington. Years gone by Edward Godey
had a lime plant at Twenty-seventh and L
streets, and no doubt there were others not
far distant, but now it might be like hunting
for a needle in a haystack. Perhaps it would
be best to try some other way of getting the
desired information.
Here is one from “Old Father Time’s Bundle
of Faggots Neatly Bound Up,” in which we are
told that an infallible means of getting a view
of your future husband or wife is to go to bed
on Halloween with a glass of water, in which a
small sliver of wood has been’ placed, standing
on a tab'e by your bedside. In the night you
will dream of falling from a bridge into a
river and of being rescued by your future wife
or husband, whom you will see as distinctly
as though viewed with waking eyes.
IN another old book called “Ye Mysterl* of
' Ye Wytrhe Craft” there Is given a charm
‘by which a maid may know if ye man she
loves be true ” To perform this the maid Is di
rected to “pluck at midnight on All Halloweve
two monthly roses with long stems, naming one
for herself and the other for her lover. She
must then go directly to her sleeping room
without speaking to any one and. kneeling be
side her bed, must twine the stems of the two
roses together and then repeat the following
lines, meanwhile gazing intently upon the rose
named for her lover:
‘Twine, twine and intertwine,
Let my love be wholly mine.
If his heart be kind and true,
Deeper grow his rose’s hue.’
“If her swain be faithful the color of the rone
representing him will grow darker and more
intense.”
Os all the many Halloween spells and charms
associated with nuts, one of the oldest is that
which prevails in some of England’s northern
counties, and which is to the effect that if a
young man or woman will go at midnight on
Halloween to a walnut tree and walk around it
three times, crying out each time “Let him for
her) that is to be my true love bring me some
walnuts,” the future wife or husband vin be
seen in the tree gathering its fruit.
It is said that if a young woman stands be
fore a mirror as the bell tolls midnight she will
see the figure of her future husband.
There are several other ways suggested for
getting the foregoing Information, such as
standing before a mirror as the bell tolls mid
night and of eating an eggshell full of salt. To
those in dead earnest, the writer would rec
ommend the latter.
Bart on Citrus Fruit Off
THE care taken by citrus fruit growers at
Onb* and the Isle of Pines has at last
received its reward and the embargo against
shipment of the fruits into the Southern States
has been lifted. The careful packing which
has precluded any possibility of fruit fly infes
tation and citrus black fly has met with the
approval of the Department of Agriculture of
ficials. ,
7