The Madisonian., February 10, 1914, Image 5

About The Madisonian. (Richmond, Ky.) 1913-1914

Image provided by: University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY

                
T H E M AD ISO N I AN
HIS FIRST
NOT OBSERVED AS
IN THE OLD DAYS
St. Valentine Is Now Neglected,
Compared to What Was Done
. Some Two Centuries Ago.
HE sending by mail of em
bossed tokens of love or
friendship is about all
there is left of the ancient
customs of St. Valentine's
day. The windows and
play counters of our book
' stores and bazars are filled
at this season of the year with exam
ples of art and near-art to an extent
that should please every sort of taste in
regard to valentines. There is a day
or two of fun and merry chatter when
the tokens are received, or of even
more boisterous mirth if the valen
tines are "comic;" "here and there a
valentine party is given by the young
people, then the celebrating ceases
and is forgotten.
Not so a couple of centuries ago.
Then the festivities were much more
in the 'character of observance and
ceremonies. The origin of St. Valen
tine's day is credited to different inci
dents. One writer of ancient social
customs says that it originated with
Mme. Royale, daughter of Henry IV.,
of France. The lady, having built a
splendid palace near Turin, desired to
name it for some good saint, and final
ly chose St. Valentine. Thus the ed
ifice was called "The Valentine," and
at the initial entertainment given in
the great drawing rooms, Mme. Roy-
ale conceived the idea of causing her
guests to -pair off by means of a lot
tery. Ladies Drew From Lot.
The names of the men were writ
ten on slips of paper and folded. The
ladies then drew fromu the list, and
whoever each one drew was to be her
"valentine" for the space of one year.
At the various balls which this gay-
spirited young princess gave during
the season it was understood that each
lady should receive a bouquet from
her chosen lover, and that at every
tournament the trappings of a knight's
horse should be furnished by his allot
ted lady, with this provisio that the
lady eventually receive whatever prize
he might win. Mme. Royale, however,
would not herself enter into thi3 lot
tery, but reserved the privilege of
choosing her "valentine" independent
ly. Doubtless it is true that this lady
did originate this costume at her pal
ace in Turin, but it is also quite as
true that this was not the real origin
of St. Valentine's day, for it is alluded
to by English poets before her time.
Lydgate, a monk, who died in the
year 1440, and who has been described
as "the poet of his monastery," wrote
a poem in praise of Queen Catherine,
consort of Henry V., of England, in
which he mentioned the observance of
St. Valentine's day and the custom of
"drawing lots."
Indeed, this custom seems to have
been a very ancient one, and contin
ued to comparatively modern times.
An equal number of young men and
women would meet together on the
eve St Valentine's day and hold a lot
tery, in which the names of both men
and-women were drawn; thus each
maid and bachelor would have two
"valentines," who were required to
make mutual gifts. This, of course,
occasioned any amount of mirth and
Bome funny situations.
, Other Superstitions.
One superstition which held good
until quite recent times was that the
first young man or young woman one
chanced to meet on the morning of
Valentine's day would be one's valen
tine. Other' superstitions included
mystic rites, particularly in Scotland,
which enabled maidens to learn who
would be their future husbands. About
the middle of the eighteenth century
one young woman according to the
historian of social customs of that
time wrote as follows:
"Last Friday was Valentine's day,
and I'Jl tell you what I did the night
before. I got five bay leaves, pinned
four of them to the four corners of my
pillow "and the fifth to the middle, for.
If I dreamt ot my sweetheart, Betty ,
VALENTINE
said we would be married before the
year was out. But to make more sure,
I boiled an egg hard, took out the
yolk and filled the egg up with salt,
and when I went to bed I ate 1L 6hell
and all, without speaking or drinking
after it, and this was also to have ef
fect with the bay leaves. We also
wrote our love names upon bits of pa
per and rolled them tip in clay and put
them into water, and the first that
rose was to be our valentine. Would
you think it?. Mr. Blossom was my
man, and I lay abed and shut my eyes
all the morning til he came to our
house, for I would not have seen an
other man before him for all- the
world." . '
Children Chanted Songs.
This quaint letter shows how the
idea. of the powers of St. Vanentine
were appreciated by the maidens of
that time. It was customary in the
olden times for maidens to hang their
shoes outside the window on the eve
of St. Vanentine's day in order that
their love affairs should prosper, al
though the explanation of this-belief
is not given. Children also went about
chanting songs about Valentine and
collecting coins as their valentines.
The valentine gifts of those days
were sometimes very costly, including
jewels, rings, brooches, sJken sashes,
or belts with begemmed buckles, silk
gloves with rich embroidery, and other
expensive presents which a man might
make to his "valentine."
St Valentine's day wan alluded to
by Shakespeare and Chaucer, and one
of the earliest known writers of valen
tines was Charles, duke of Orleans.
Drayton, a poet of Shakespeare's time,
also wrote charming verses along this
theme. .
What connection the martyred Bishop
Valentine has to do with these cus
toms, whose ruler seems to be Cupid,
would puzzle the saint himself. The
death of the good bishop, which oc
curred in the third century, was a
most cruel one. He was first beaten
with clubs and then beheaded. Thus
it seemf paradoxical that the com
memoration of him should be observed
in the gayest of fashions, and always
in conjunction with the pranks of the
little god of love.
Many learned historians have given
considerable time and investigation to
the origin of the romantic observance
of St. Valentine's day, but the secret
is still a secret the real mystery is
still unsolved.
TWO VALENTINES
t.
I sent my love a valentine.
And with it sent a kiss.
It bore the message, "Be titou mine,"
And looked about like this:
My love sent me a valentine,
". But oh, the saucy miesl
Instead of saying, "I am thine
It looked about like this:
Many Customs of the Day.
The making of ;paper valentines be
gan In Germany quite a long time ago,
but In many partis of the world peo
ple . still weave couplets of flowers and
wreaths of leaves for valentine. The
Balkan States have many pretty and
graceful customs, connected with the
giving of flowers on St Valentine'
day. , . -
How to "Eat
the Word of
God
By REV. JAMES M. GRAY. D D.
Deu of Moody Bible Inrtitutc
Qiicaao -
TEXT "Thy words were found, and I
did eat-them: and Thy word was unto
me the joy and rejoicing of my heart."
Jeremiah 16:16. .
There is a great
differen ce be
t w e e n "finding"
the word of God
and "eating" it,
and it is the man
who eats it that
gets the benefit
out of it. Eating
makes digestion
and assimilation
possible, and
when these func
tions are normal
in their working,
the result is
health, and
strength, and all
the usefulness and joy of living.
But eating comes first, and the eat
ing that counts is that which has ta
ken plenty of Jtime - for mastication.
You must retain the food in your
mouth, and get the full taste of it, and
let it mingle well with the saliva, and
chew, and chew, and chew,' until the
least possible amount is left to swal
low. The man who . does this has
learned one of the great secrets of his
physical being. He has learned how
to keep well, and how to eat almost
anything he likes without ill results.
Keeping the food in the mouth is the
key to it all.
Something like this is true in the
higher realm. Usefulness and joy. in
the spiritual life depend on spiritual
health and strength. But these in
turn depend on the spiritual nourish
ment one takes its kind, its quantity,
its condition. The only nourishment
for man's i soul is the word of God.
"Desire the sincere milk of the word
that ye may grow thereby,'' is the in
spired exhortation (1 Peter 2:3), and
the more you get of it the better, al
ways provided that you can digest and
assimilate it.
Here comes the thought of eating
again. Holding the wcrd in your mind
is like holding the food in your mouth.
That is how to get the full taste of it
Prayer does in the one case what the
saliva does in the other. Turning it
round and round, thinking of it from
this point of view and that, asking
questions about it, taking it - to- your
parents, your Sunday school teacher,
your pastor, searching its meaning in
a commentary, all these things corre
spond to the chewing that makes good
digestion and assimilation. ,
What I Got One Day.
The other morning at family pray
ers I read this verse in Proverbs 18:
10. "The name of the Lord is a strong
tower: the righteous runneth into it,
and is safe." I at once fastened it
correctly in my mind, and as 1 walked
down-town to my office, I.kept "eating"
it, turning it over and over, and get
ting such a sweet taste out of it and
such a sense of strength and spiritual
satisfaction.
'"The name of the Lord," " said I,
"why that means the Lord himself!
He is a strong tower." "And the
'strong tower?' In olden time that
was a place of defanse and protection
like our forts today." "The 'righteous
runneth into it.' Who can the righte
ous be, save those who are made
righteous through receiving Christ by
faith as their righteousness?" " 'Run
neth,' there is the thought of haste
because of pursuit by an enemy," and
Paul's word came into rr? mind, "We
wrestle not against fles.. and blood,
but against the rulers of the darkness
of this world, against spiritual wicked
ness in high places." '"Runneth into
it and is safe. O, the security and
peace of the believer who puts his
trust in God!" ;
But that was not all. Before the
day was over I needed all the strength
I got out of it. There were trials that
day, the enemy was on my heels, and
how glad I was to run, and to inow
the place to run to and be safe
What the Prophet Meant.
, I think this Is what the prophet
meant when he said : "Thy words were
found, and I did eat them; and thy
word was unto me the joy and rejoic
ing of my heart." And this is why 1
urge every Christian to memorize a
portion of the word of God every day.
It gives' his soul something to feed
upon, and the more he feeds upon, and
digests and assimilates it, the greater
is his spiritual strength, and joy. and
power, and fruitfulness in the Lord.
Let me illustrate this. :' The next
day after my experience with Proverbs
15:10 I was at a prayer meeting, and
being suddenly called upon to give a
word Of exhortation, I had anv opportu
nity to pass on that verse to three or
four hundred other people. And to
how many more will they pass it on?
They were all bible students preparing
for Christian work in the uttermost
part of the earth. Can you compute
the number of souls to whoin they may
pass-it on in a lifetime, and who, in
turn, may pass it on, and on and on
while the age lasts!, And all because
of that one little bite of truth I got
that morning, and because I held it
long enough to chew it well! Memo
rize the bible if you want:tc be blessed
and become a blessing.
LACE-B0RDE5ED ;
BRIDAL VEILS
IN FAVOR TODAY
BRIDAL veils of tulle are never out
of fashion, but sometimes they
share honors with veils of lace or net
bordered, with lace. The liking for a
cap drapery on the head has rather
favored the lace-bordered veil, al
though the tulle veil is draped cap
fashion also. "
Laco veils are not always long;
those of a yard and a half, falling
above the knees at the side are liked,
especially when the gown is lace
trimmed.
The cap drapery admits of consid
erable variety In arrangement. The
frill, formed by lace edge, may be of
even fullness all around and fall over
the forehead, or it may be placed at
each side and the frill turned back
from the forehead, or it may be ar-
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ranged at the top of the forehead,
leaving the sides almost plain. The
arrangement depends upon which way
best becomes the bride.
In the picture the fulness appears
at the side, with the border turned
back over the forehead. The crown,
or puff, which results from making
the frill about the face, falls back. If
it is more becoming, the cap portion
may be supported by small wire loops
at the front, and made to stand.
One of the prettiest arrangements
shows the frill of even fulness all
around and tacked to a circlet of
white, silk covered wire, to hold it in
place. This wire circlet is placed on
)Y way of departing from the close-
D to-the-head hairdress some of our
modern goddesses have dared to com
bine the old classic Psyche knot with
a strictly twentieth centuTy arrange
ment of the front hair. An example
is pictured -here, and the effect is
rather pretty It is better from the
front than from the sides, because in
the modern hair dress the brow is
more or less covered. The line is not
so good, therefore, as in the classic
model. , , .' .
The Greeks covered the ears (or
most of them), but did not bring the
hair out over the cheek as in the pres
ent mode. A prominent actress, who
gives much thought to dress, is respon
sible for this mixture of styles. Many
centuries apart, the ideas are not too
Incongruous, and the resulting coiffure
has found a number of devotees.
i The arrangement is simple enough.
The front hair is trimmed in a light
fringe across the forehead, and slop
in g upward over the temples. The
side hair is parted off and rolled into
a soft twist: It is laid in a coil in
front of the ear and pinned to place
with short wire pins. The end is twist
ed and brought to tte - knot, under
Psyche Knot in a Modern Coiffure j
the outside of the cap. but. is hidden
by a close set wreath of orange blos
soms and buds, one flower set just aft
er another In a single row. This ar
rangement brings the veil into the
nape of the neck.. .
Some families possess wedding veils
of beautiful lace, and such a veil must
grow dearer with added associations
as time goes on. The wedding veil
of lace should be kept and, whether
the fashion be for long or short veils,
worn by the1 brides in the family.
Wedding dresses and veils are always
to be conservative in design, abiding
by established rules and a little above
the whims of fashion. That is, the
regulation gown has long sleeves, the
neck is covered, and the gown Is cut
in the Princess style. Round necks
are admissible, but not low necks.
Lace sleeves, and long gloves also. It
is the business of the designer or
dressmaker to bear in mind the estab
lished order of things in" making wed
ding apparel and to add little present
day touches to the plain long lines of
the regulation gown.
The cap drapery of the veil is most
popular just now, because caps of all
sorts are jgreatly favored. It is best
to arrange it on a circlet of wire be
cause it will stay in place on the head
and not become easily disarranged.
JULIA BOTTOM LEY.
Cameos in Favor.
Though the idea of using cameos as
brooches and buckles for modern at
tire came to the fore some little while
ago, the fashion is still very much in
evidence, all sorts of cameos being in
request for hat trimmings and blouse
buckles. Many people, having hunted
up their old ones, relics of a past gen
eration, are having them reset in fine
gold or silver mountings of a much
lighter pattern than the rather clumsy
originals. Even earrings are made of
very small cameos, mounted on thin
gold chains, and very pretty they are,
the delicate pink and white tintings
looking exceedingly well for day wear.
with costumes of the new dull cop
per or tango red.
Velvet Novelty.
There is a new cloth called peau de
tigre or leopard skin velvet. It is silk
velvet in light chiffon weight. There
is a moire and mottled surface to it
and although it is one colored, this
mottled effect makes it appear to be
in two shades, like the skin of a leop
ard or tiger. It is manufactured in
plum, dark blue, golden brown, tobac
co brown, taupe, white and sapphire.
Handy Skirt Hanger.
Sew the upper end of a discarded
hose supporter to a two-inch-length
of ribbon. At the other end of the rib
bon sew a large, strong safety pin.
The safety pin fastens through the
folded skirt belt, and the hose sup
porter slips over the hook in the clos
et A supply .of .these hangers made
with pretty blue or pink ribbon would
be a nice gift for a girl friend.
which it Is concealed.
All the back hair is combed bac
and tied at the back below the crown.
It is pulled out to lie loosely at the
top pf the head and nape of the neck:
The hair is then rolled loosely, coiled
in : a small coil and pinned with a
few wire pins. The center of the coil
is pulled out into the projecting knot,
as shown in the picture, and addi
tional pins placed to hold it firmly.
The new coiffures are still in the ex
perimental stage. The high hairdress
and the colonial styles are bidding for
popular favor. We know that changes
are coming because . new millinery
makes them necessary. We may be
fairly certain that high styles will be
worn, and' parfectly certain ttat coif
fures are not to be as plain as they
have been.' But no one mode has
seized the popular fancy as yet. There
fore actresses and ethers are free to
experiment and mix up the styles of
Egypt with those of the Moqui Indiana
if they wish, at their own sweet wilL
No centuries or peoples are too remote
to be without the pale of our interest
when it comes to getting ideas for new
styles. '
t- 1 . j JULIA BOTTOML6Y.
(Conducted by the National Woman'
Christian Temperance Union.)
WANTED, BOYS!
Walking down the streets of our
cities and towns and viewing the ex
pensive window fixtures of the saloons,
I can see as plain as the sign over the
door, the word, "WANTED."
Yes, wanted 11,000,000, the saloon
keeper says. It makes no difference
how I get it, but I must have it. I pay
a big revenue to our grand old gov
ernment to be protected and it must
protect me. I pay a big license to the
city, and in return it must furnish me
material for my business. It must and
will furnish boys. I can no more run
my business without boys than a saw
mill can run without logs.
Wanted. $1,000,000. and to get this
amount of money 100,000 boys must be
sacrificed. What kind of boys are
wanted? The boys who have made a
failure at everything they have under
taken? No, the boys of worth and of
high birth and good parentage. Most
desired is the boy whose parents have
faced the .financial difficulties of life
and started the boy out well equipped.
It makes no difference how his mother
worked and contrived; it makes no dif
ference how his father toiled in both
heat and cold, all the liquor trade
wants is to get the boy started down
the toboggan slide of life and strip him
of money, honor and virtue before he
realizes his true condition. Mrs. Cora
Wright in Union Signal.
RED RUM MURDER.
A barrel of whisky contains some
thing more than an ordinary barrel
of the same size; for, in addition to
the regulation forty-two gallons, it
contains:
A barrel of headaches, of heartaches,
ot woes;
A barrel ot curses, a barrel of blows:
A barrel of tears of a world-weary
wife;
A barrel of sorrow, a barrel or strife:
A barrel of kll-unavailine reexet:
A barrel of cares and a barrel of debt:
A barrel of hunger, of poison, of pain:
A barrel of hopes ever blasted and
vain;
A barrel of falsehood, a barrel of crieis
That fall from the maniac's lips as he
dies ;
A barrel of poverty, ruin and blight ;
A barrel of terror that grows with the
night.
A barrel of crimes and a barrel ('
groans;
A barrel of orphans' most pitiful
moans;
A barrel of serpents that hiss as they
pass
From the head of the liquor thut
glows in the glass.
Beware, all men of the glass!
A FAILURE IF.
A judge of Knoxville, Tenn.. when
&sk?d if prohibition had failed In
that city, Answered: "If larger and
more regular attendance at Sunday
school, preaching and other services
in our churches; if a larger and more
regular attendance at schools, by better-shod,
belter-clad children; if $-10.-000
more for increased room, better
equipment and better-paid teachers:
if sixty per cent, decrease in arrt-st h
for drunkenness and kindred crimes,
if a decrease even greater in the per
cent, of murder and all grades of
criine; if $J,000.000 spent for neces
saries is less helpful than the tam"
assort spent for liquor if these
things Indicate failure, then prohibi
tion has failed in Knoxville."
GP.EAT CRISIS.
Health boards, arrned with police
authority, eradicate the carriers of
typhoid and quarantine the victims',
but alcohol, a thousand times more
destructive to public health than ty
phoid fever, continues to destroy. Al
coholic degeneracy is the most im
portant sanitary question before the
country, yet health authorities do r.ot
trenched in" politics. We are face to
face with the greatest crisis in out
country's history. The alcohol ques
tion must be settled within the next
ten years or some more virile nation
will write the epitaph of this republic.
Dr. T. Alexander MacNicholI.
OUR VITAL ASSETS.
Taking the estimate of the money
value to society of the average human
life as $2,900, Dr.. David Starr Jordan
reckons our "vital assets" at approxi
mately -two hundred and fifty billion
dollars ($250,000,000,000)., The phys
ical wealth of the United States he
places at one hundred and ten billion
dollars ($11 0,000,000,000). Speaking
of the attention given to the preserva
tion of ibis physical wealth, ha in
sists that "even the most arrant
materialisi must admit that the con
servation of forests or the eradica
tion of disease among cattle and
hogs is not to be compared in ' im
portance with the conservation of "hn
man life." .. - , ' - - ' -, ":
SALOON A MURDER MILL.
In 1909, Jefferson county, Alabama..
In which is located the City of Birm
ingham, was without saloons! ' That
year the county had 130 murders. In
1910 city and county were still under
Prohibition and the number -of mur
ders was 138., f In 1911 the city, and
county were without saloons for nine
months, had saloons the last three
months, and the jiumber of murders,
for the year was eighty-eight. In, 1912,
the first full year with reopened sa
loons, the number of murdara In Birrn
! tsogham and Jefferson county was 306.