The Pensacola journal., January 30, 1918, Image 2

About The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985

Image provided by: University of Florida

                
1 r Jf-'V
. . Mr . '
I 10?
It
On(y 54 Z?ay in 1918 in
Which the World's Busi
nesM la Not- Interrupted
Somewhere by Holidays
and Sundays.
CURIOUS HOLIDAY FACTS.
There It no national legal hol
iday In the United States.
Massachusetts does not ob
serve New Year's Day. as a
legal holiday. .
Five Christian countries do
not observe Christmas as a le
gal holiday.
New Year's Day Is the only
holiday observed throughout the
world.
Eleven different dates are ob
served as New Year's Day In
different parts of the world.
International business will be
Interfered with by holidays or
Sundays on 25 i days In 1918, of
these 261 days being holidays.
This leaves only 84 days In
which universal banking busi
ness Is possible.
November, with 26 holidayc
In different parts of the world,
leads the months.
March, with 19, has the few
est holidays.
Brazil leads the nations of the
world with 84 holidays.
The United States comes next
with 54.
By GARRET 8MITH.
i
WHILE man plays or prays the
world's business will be In
terfered with on 281 days
during 1918. In other
words, there will be only 84 days in
this coming year that are not Sun
iays or special holidays in one or
more Important commercial regions
9t the earth. Nor is this an unusual
condition created by the war. We
are accustomed to jump remarkable
renditions Into the category of war
rila these days. On the contrary,
Kme of the fighting nations have for
the time being stripped their decks of
minor and unusually superfluous holl
lays. Erer since man was condemned to
earn his bread by the sweat of his
brow he has been putting In a lot of
pare time trumping up methods of
beating the game. Next to working
Into the boss's job the invention of the
holiday has been one of his ablest
little achievements this line. Like
wise ever since bosses and holidays
evolved, along about history's sun
rise, the former have , been cursing
the latter as troublesome breaks in
the year's work. By the Middle Ages
holidays had become so numerous
that they seriously Interfered with
Industrial pursuits. A valuable re
sult of the Reformation not generally
appreciated was the abolition of a
large portion of these holidays.
But as time went on political
and religious milestones accumulated
again. Today, while the year's over
load In any one country is by no
means as serious as in the Middle
Ages, the growth of international
in
finance has made the world's aggre
gate of closed days a serious factor
TTh 77
m -j m. m t.-Jt v '-n
V
9
xxV T-'X
f" S vS y$i VS&& ''S''?'" '
EI
17
77
Jul
y
an i
wa-iiiiiii . r.
and an expensive one. Not until now.
however, has any attempt been "made
to compile an exhaustive list of holl- J
days for the guidance of bankers and
merchants. This task has just been
completed by the Guaranty Trust
Company of New York city. The re
sults have been published In a book
let that should be a valuable addition
to the reference library of every bank
the county doing more than a pure
ly local business.
Importance of Bank Holidays.
Suppose a bank has a commercial
paper collectable in Peking or Athens
or Cape Town on January 5. It is
important to know whether the bank
in that particular city will ba open
that day. Does any one around the
place know whether January 5 is a
bank holiday in Peking or Athens or
Cape Town? Usually no one does.
It's hard enough to keep tabs on the
54 holidays rampant in the? United
States. It therefore becomes neces
sary to send an expensive cablegram
to get the information. This sort of
thing happens not once, but many
times, in every banking house with
an extensive foreign business. The
Guaranty "Trust Company found it
was spending several hundred dollars
a year in telegraph and cable tolls to
get this information piecemeal. That
is probably true of all the larger in
stitutions doing similar business;
hence the value of having this infor
mation compiled in advance.
Contrary to the popular notion, the
new democracies of the west enjoy a
greater number of holidays than their
sister nations of the eastern hemi
sphere. Of the 87 natio
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
a
" MX?
i sir s
mm
Derby Day, One of the Holidays of Sport-loving England.
A Quaint Chinese New Year Parade.
New York City declares a Holiday When Troops Start
for the Front.
Carnival in Nice - .
French Citizens celebrating the Fall of the Bastile.
New York City's Financial District Decorated in Honor
of h Fareisrn Var Mission.
Feast of Corpus Christi, Cathedral Square, Bogota.
A Venetian Holiday Regatta on the Grand Canal.
encies listed Brazil leads, with 84
holidays. The United States, with
54. is a close second, although she.
unlike Brazil, practically ignores the
church days. Another popular delu
sion 13 shattered when we find that
France has only 18 formally observed
days and Italy only 23. We had sup
nctfui th Latins alwajr" outdid us m
77
w7
5" ! ( " il
."3 fj
ft
3rfc
li
6
IN
this particular. Among the other bel
ligerents Germany, it is presumed,
will observe 20 days next year. Great
Britain 16. Japan 15 and Russia 17.
In most of these countries numerous
local Jnolldays ordinarily " observed
have been abandoned during the war.
The study of holidays Is fascinat-
A Q fV5 irigJi. T1" of our
r
Aft
? '3:
'Ft
fUSf
O
I - : - : - : - : - : - :: - ::
1
own country offer a particularly rich
field. If one knew the meaning of all
the half a hundred days celebrated in
the United States, with the collateral
events connected with each, he would
be well versed in the nation's history.
One of the first surprises in store
for such a student is to learn that the
United States has no national holi
day. The reader will at once think
of Fourth of July, and of the Presi
dent's Thanksgiving proclamation.
But noi even these are national. Acts
of Congress and Presidents pro
nouncements in this respect apply
only to the District of Columbia and
the - territories. The states'-usually
follow suit, but as a matter of cus
tom only and not of law. Here Is a
chance to win some' beta from your
friends. '
Of the 54 holidays of the United
7 ma
a jb?ok f.'.i...,
is it CI s'
It i'r .
M4
- : - : - : - : -:-'-:'.x-:-' .-w?: ::: jr-,t:-..
States only 12 are observed generally,
and some of those, like Memorial Day
and Arbor Day, fall on varying dates
in different states. ; Thirteen South
and Central American countries share
our Columbus Day with us. There are
29 other countries with Independence
Days, though not one falls on our
Fourth of -July. In fact, that date la
unique In not being celebrated any
where else on earth for any occasion.
excepting little Panama, which shows
its grateful friendship by observing
our Independence Day as well as two
of her own. Several other countries
have more than one Independence
Day on their calendars.
America's Red Letter Days.
American local holidays are rich la
historical significance. Of such are
the commemorations of Bunker Hill
and Bennington and New Orleans and
San Jacinto: the all but forgotten
Fast Day of New England, still ur-
viving in New Hampshire; Patriots'
Day In Maine and Old Defender's Day
In Baltimore,, Pioneer Day In Idaho
and the various Admission Days pop
ular with other Western states. Con
federate Memorial uay in tne Boutn,
together with the birthdays of iee
-4- .
and other heroes of the Confederacy.
Two states have Independence Days
or their own. Texas observes her sep
aration from Mexico on March 2.
North Carolina commemorates the
Halifax Independence resolutions on
April 12 and the Mecklenburg decla
ration on May 20. f f. Y;
It remains for Frederick r county!
Md., to celebrate all alona the repu
diation of the stamp act. one of the
most local celebrations of an Impor
tant national event on record.
Among the favorite months for hol
idays the world over November leads,
with 28 out of Its possible 30 days.
May comes next, with 25 and an ad
ditional Sunday not otherwise cele
brated, thus actually tying Novembei
in the number of days closed to busi
ness. March, on the other hand, la
the longest all around business
month, having only 19 holidays. Thus
at least two-thirds of every month in
terferes with the free play of inter
national business.
Even such generally observed festi
vals as Christmas and New Tear's
Day can't be depended upon. by the
banker without consulting the Inter
national calendar.
New Year's Day Is the only holiday
universally observed. But, alas. It
falls on 11 different dates In different
parts of the globe, and some countries
observe more than one of them. An
exhaustive study of ..these New Year
celebrations would give one a pretty
fair knowledge of the ancient history
of the world. Curiously enough, one
of our own states, Massachusetts, does
not make this a legal holiday, though
her citizens generally observe it. .
Eleven New Year Dates.
January 1 is observed as New
Year's Day in every country In all
Europe except Bulgaria. Greece, Rou
mania, Russia, Servia and Turkey; in
all European colonies In Africa and .
in Liberia and Morocco; in every 1
country and colony in North, Central
and South America and in all parts
of Asia except Asiatic Turkey and la
Australasia. "
In Bulgaria. Greece. Roumanla,
Russia, Servia and Turkey the old
style calendar prevails and. the. New
Year begins accordingly on January
14.
The Japanese New Year-does, in
deed, begin onJanuary-l, but It Is
also celebrated on the 3d and Sth of
that month. - ; -
Then" there are the Hindu .New
Year, on April 13; the Chinese New
Year, February 11 to 14 (which, by
the way, is a legal holiday In a part
of the United States Hawaii); the
Annamite New Year, February 1?
and 18. and the Second Annamite
New Year. June 19; the Tarsi New
Year, September 11; the Persian New
Year. March 21 to 24: the Moham
medan New Year, December 10 and
11, and the Jewish New Year. Sep--
tember 12. 13 and 14". It is a ur-
prise to learn that the only nation on
earth making the Jewish New Year a
legal holiday is Turkey.
New Year's Day was celebrated
among the moet.ancJent nations Th--
old Roman New Year began March 1.
but In reforming the calendar Jultu
Caesar designated January 1 a tin
year's beginning. I
Where Christmas Is Not Observed -4
Christmas Day, due to Its rellgioui-
significance, is not eo generally ob
served as New Year's Day. It haa.
moreover, only three different dates
It was not generally observed on- De
cember 25 until the fourth century
The early church, lacking any au
thentic knowledge as to-the date of
Christ's birth, celebrated.lt without
uniformity in May. April and Janu
ary. The Armenian Church stilt o
serves January 6. Why the Decem
ber date was finally selected Is uncer
tain. Some see in it a displacement
of the Roman Saturnalia; others-de
clare it a survival of the Feast of the
Winter Solstice, and still others point
to its coincidence with the old Ger
man Yuletlde Feast. Countries where
the old style calendar, prevails still
celebrate January 7.
In the Puritan days Scotch Presby
terians and English Non-Conformisti
rejected Christmas Day altogether at
"savoring of papistry,' and in New
England Thanksgiving Day was de
vised to replace It. It seems a curi
ous thing that there are today Chris
tian countries where it is not ob
served legally. Such are Norway. )
Panama, Peru. Portugal , and ths
South African Union. :, 1 : :
The last named, however, stU ob
serves the old English Institution ol
Boxing Day on December 26. ThU
was the day when the English gentry,
having had their own Christmas cele
bration the day before, turned theit
attention to the poor by presentlni
them with Christmas boxes. The day
later became the day for general glr
In of Christmas gifts.
Portugal Drops Traditions.
The only country on earth a study
of whose holidays reveals little of 1U
political, racial or religious origin li
Portugal. The first attempt to estab
lish a republic in Portugal was made
on January SI, 1891- This Is reflect
ed in its calendar of holidays, which
runs: "January 1, dedicated to uni
versal brotherhood; January 31. ded
icated to the memory of all those whe
fought and died to establish the 're
public In Portugal; May . 3, in mem
ory of the discovery of Brazil by thl
Portuguese; June 19. municipal holi
day at Lisbon; June 24, municipal
holiday at Oporto: October 5, th
date of the establishment of the Por
tuguese republic; December 1, Flat
Day. to commemorate the Independ
ence of the country; December 25
Family Day."
These brief notations en holldsyi
touch only their distribution en
dates. Back of these lies a wide deli
filled with quaint and curious fnf or
matlon relating to the manner of eel
ckratlnx them.
' - 1 - n