The Plattsmouth journal. (Plattsmouth, Nebraska) 1901-current, February 12, 1903, Image 2

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IN LINCOLN'S BIRTHPLACE.
WINNJNGr A JAWSU1T
A VALENTINE PARTY
INCIDENT IN LEGAL CAREER o
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
HOW TO CET UP AN ENJOYABLE
ENTERTAINMENT.
1 V
Womain Living in Now England Whose Father Was Born In the
Historic Lo Cbin Stories of the Early Days.
Lincoln has been dead thirty-eight
years. 1
Most of those who personally knew
ftim have alw passed on Into silence,
and. like Washington, he has become
In the popular mind a sort of mystical
figure, associated with a bygone ago of
dramatic heroism a patron saint.
Although New England loved IJn
roln as much as any other section of
the country did. when It came to know
him. yet he was always regarded as a
characteristic product of the pioneer
country, and. although efforts not alto
Ret her successful have been made to
show that he was of I (Ingham ances
try, never till now has Massachusetts
been conscious of the presence in this
locality of any living connection be
tween the Immortal rail-splitter and
iir own soli.
Nevertheless for seventeen years
one of the environs of Boston has har
bored a woman who makes he proud
boast that her father and Abraham
Lincoln were first cousins; that both
were born in the same rude log cabin
in Kentucky, but three months apart,
in 1Sl'., and that she herself is a
grandniece of Lincoln's mother, the
famous Nancy Hanks.
She is Mrs. Nellie M. Moore, who
was burn not many years before the
outbreak of the civil war, in the then
exceedingly primitive town of Frank
ford. Mo., and has been for three
month? past a resident of East Pep
percll. Mass.. where her husband.
Charles W. Mcore, Ij engineer in a
mill.
W'hm asked to define her relation
ship to the martyred President, Mrs.
Ms.ore said:
-My father. William S. Hall, was a
son of Martha Hanks, sister of Nancy
ilanks. who married Thonuas Lincoln
jnd became the mother of Abraham
Lincoln, ira. you see. my father was
first cousin and I was second cousin to
the President.
"My grandfather, who married Mar
fia Hanks, was Levi ILilI. and they
in 1 Thomas and Nancy Lincoln were
vin? together in the little log cabin
La Rue county, Ky.. in 1809, when
Abraham Lincoln was born there. My
father was born three months later in
the rame cabin."
When questioned as to the antece
dents of the Hanks, Lincoln and Hall
families. Mrs. Moore says it is a tradi
tion of all three families that they
emigrated together from New Englana
about 200 years ago to Pennsylvania,
from there to Virginia and later to
Kentucky,' as they eventually did to
Indiana and finally to Illinois and Mis
souri. She has been for some time
engaged in investigating the possible
early connection cf the families with
New England, and intends to prepare
a genea'cgy embodying the results of
her labor.
Continuing her story of the vicissi
tudes cf the Lincoln, Hanks and Hall
families. Mrs. Moore says:
"My aunt, Rosanne Hall, who rode
from her home in Maryland to Ken
tucky behind her husband on his horse
told " me that there were Quakers
among my ancestors, as there are said
to have been in the Lincoln family.
She also said that my great-grandfather
was killed by the Indians at the
same time that Abraham Lincoln's
grandfather was. while they were
clearing the ground to plant corn, on
their arrival in Kentucky. It was she
who told me my father was born in
the Lincoln log cabin.
"My grandparents, Levi Hall and
Martha Hanks, both died of the milk-
MONUMENT FOR LOC CABIN.
Spot
Where Lincoln First Lived in
Illinois Will Be Marked.
The Illinois State Historical Society
muhine a movement to erect a mon
!
ument on the site of the log cabin in
Ilarristown township. Macon county,
which was the first home of Abraham
Lincoln when he came to Illinois. No
body knows what has neoome of the
famous old structure. It was a hut of
one room, about fourteen feet square.
It had loose boards for a loft and a
clapboard rocf. The logs were chinked
with mud.
The old structure first attracted pub
lic attention when it was sent to the
Centennial in Philadelphia in 1876. It
was
brought back from tnere. ana a
cabin.
which was said to be the same
vaa on exhibition at the World's
ne.
Fair in Chicago, although Its authen
ticity was disputed at the time.
The exact size of the old cabin la la
doubt and for seine time efforts have
been made by historians to determine
the spot. It is now practically settled
that the cabin stood on the spot now
occupied by an oi l farm hcuse on the
6cr?5gln farm, near Ilarristown. Just
sick. In Indiana, in 1818, about the
same time that Lincoln's mother,
Nancy Hanks, and her uncle and aunt
Sparrow died. All were burled to
gether in rude coffins eonstruced by
Thomas Lincoln, who was now a wid
ower with two small children. After
Lincoln became President, someone
erected a monument over his mother's
grave in the wilderness, but Aunt
Roseanne told me that the selection of
the grave for the monument must
have been mere guesswork, since none
of the graves had ever been marked,
and there was no means of identifying
any one of them."
Coming to the subject of the migra
tion of the survivors of the three fami
lies from Indiana to Illinois Mrs.
Moore says:
"Joseph Hanks, who taught Thomas
I Incoln. Abe's father, the carpenter's
trade. Just 100 years ago. was one of
the first settlers in Illinois, having
gone there from Kentucky about 1820.
It was his son, the famous John
Hnks. still living in Missouri, who In
1830 induced Thomas Lincoln, Dennis
Hanks and my father to pull up stakes
and also remove to Illinois, where Abe
was destined to achieve that fame that
gained for him the Presidency.
"Having arrived in Macon county,
111., the party, which numbered thir
teen, settled for a while. My father
and Abo Lincoln were in their 21st
year, and they, with John Hanks, Abe's
second cousin, built the log cabin
which some say was exhibited on Bos
ton Common thirty years or more ago.
They also split the famous fence rails
at that time, samples of which did
much to arouse the enthusiasm in the
Illinois convention in 1860, which se
cured the Presidential nomination for
Lincoln.
"After serving as major in the Black
Hawk war, in which Abe Lincoln wa3
captain, my father became one of the
earliest settlers in Missouri, and dur
ing the greater part of his life kept a
tavern, first at Hannibal and later at
rrankford.
"I often visited around among the
Hankses in my childhood, too. and my
especial favorite was Grandma Hanks,
as we called John Hanks' mother, who
lived in what is now known as Quincy,
111. I used to hold her skein of yarn
for her when she wound it into a ball,
and during the operation she would
tell me stories of her early life in the
pioneer days in Illinois.
"One story was in regard to a fresh
et such as used to come almost yearly
to those who lived along the river bot
toms eighty years or so ago. Grandma
went several miles down the river on
a raft, one day, to the mill, to have
some corn ground, leaving the chil
dren in the log house. The river .had
been threatening to rise for several
days, but the children well knew from
former experiences, that if the river
invaded the house they were to climb
up on the roof for safetj.
where the ancient old structure is now
no one seems to know. For many
years after the Lincolns vacated it the
cabin was used as a schoolhouse.
There are several of the old-timers of
Macon county who attended school
there. They say that an elderly lady
named Macintosh was the teacher. No
body has been found who knows what
became of her.
Harristown's first white settler was
a relative of Abraham Lincoln. He
was William Hanks, who located on
section 23 in 1828. Three years later,
according to a Macon county histori
an. "Mr. Lincoln, John Hanks, Mr.
Lincoln's father, and John Johnson.
Mr. Lincoln's step-brother, erected v.
log cabin on section 28 in the edge of
the timber along the Sangamon river."
It Is hoped soon to agree upon a de
sign for the monument designed to
mark the spot where the cabin was
constructed.
Hi3 Solitary Childhood.
Of all the years of Abraham Lin
coln's early childhood we know almost
nothing. He lived a solitary life In
the wends, returning from his lone
some Httla g3mes to his cheerless
The river ro:?e while grandma was
away and she toiled laboriously to get
home as soon as she could. When she
got nearly home she found ever thing
afloat, and as she passed a tree that
was well submerged she thought she
heard a cry from the branches. She
paddled to the tree, and there found
her baby, John Hanks, afloat in his
cradle, which had been washed through
the door of the cabin, and had drifted
about till it found lodgment in the top
of the tree, where his mother found it.
'Another of her stories was about
Guinea niggers. I suppose you don't
know what Guinea niggers were, do
you? Well, they were not uncommon
in the days when slaves were brought
Irom Africa. They were very small
in stature and very unprepossessing
in appearance and they were said to be
cannibals.
"Grandma said that in her youth she
knew a young couple who bought a
pair of Guinea niggers. One day their
little child disappeared and it was
never seen again. They afterward
found that the cannibals had eaten
the child, and they were hanged for it.
"Grandma, like most of the Hankses
and Lincolns, was an ardent Metho
dist. In her old age she always lrnit
ted just so much on a stocking every
week day. One morning she was in
dustriously engaged in the perform
ance cf her allotted stint, when some
of the younger folks came in with their
best clothes on.
" "Why, grandma! What are you do
ing?' somebody asked. 'Only knitting.'
she replied, with some surprise. 'What,
knitting on Sunday, grandma?' 'Is
this Sunday?' asked grandma, in
amazement. When convinced that it
was she unraveled every stitch she
had done that morning, in order to
atone as far as possible for her dese
cration of the day."
Mrs. Moore describes having seen
with some amusement Abraham Lin
coln making a political speech in Mis
souri, arrayed in a long and exceeding
ly crumpled linen "duster," and a tall
hat of ancient pattern. She says that
when Lincoln was nominated for Pres
ident his humble relatives among the
Hankses held up their hands with
amazed incredulity ana exclaimed with
practical unanimity: "Abe Lincoln for
President? I don't believe it!"
"There was always something queer
about the Hankses," she says; "for al
though they were among the earliest
settlers in Illinois and had their pick
of the land, and plenty of it. and some
of them had large, productive farms,
yet every one of them turned out as
poor as Job's cat.
"My mother owned slaves before the
war, but my father never did, nor did
any of the Hankses, and for that rea
son they were called 'poor whites' by
their neighbors' who had sla ?s. All
tue Hankses were stanch supporters of
the union during the civil war." Bos
ton Globe.
home. He never talked of tho;e days
to his intimate friends. Once, when
asked what he remembered about the
war with Great Britain, he replied:
"Nothing but this: 1 had been fish
ing one day, and caught a little fish
which I was taking horns. I met a
soldier in the road, and having always
been told at home that we must be
good to the soldiers. I gave hiru ray
fis- "
This Is the only faint glimpse, but
what it shows is rather pleasant th&
generous child and the patriotic house
hold. But there is no question that
these first years of his life had their
lasting effect upon the temperament
oi this great mirthful and melancholy
man.
He had little schooling. He accom
panied his sister, Sarah, to the only
Schools In their neighborhood, one
kept y Zachariah Riney and another
by Caleb Hazel, where he learned the
alphabet and little more. But of all
those advantages for the cultivation
of a young mind and - spirit which
every' heme now offers to Its children,
the books, toys, ingenious games and
daily devotion ef parental love, he
knew absolutely nothing.
Simple Scheme Evolved in His Shrewd
Brain by Which He Saved His Client,
Duff"- Armstrong, from Death on
the Callows.
There have been so many garbled
versions of the famous incident in
Abraham Lincoln's legal career In
which he by an almanac saved the
life of a man charged with murder
tiat it is appropriate just now to nar
rate the correct one. as told by R, W.
Armstrong, a barber of Mason City,
who is the son of the man defended,
and who was known as "Duff" Arm
strong. He is very familiar with the
case, as but a short time before his
father, who, by the way, is still living,
had related to him the exact facts iu
the affair.
In all the histories of Lincoln and
in most of the school books it is told
how Lincoln defended Armstrong and
cleared him by proving that the moon
was cot shining when the murder was
committed "by the light of the moon."
The father of Duff Armstrong was
Jack Armstrong, who lived near New
Salem, and who was the leader of the
"Clary Grove" boys. He it was who
had the celebrated wrestling match
with Lincoln back of the old store at
New Salem.
Afterward they became great
friends. Trie home of Jack Armstrong
and of his wife Hannah was always
open to Lincoln, and he visited there
many times.
It was during the summer of 1857
that Duff Armstrong, with a number
of other young fellows, attended a
camp meeting twelve miles south of
Mason City. The young fellows were
drinking, as was the custom of those
times. Duff became involved in a
quarrel with a companion named
Metzger one nigat a short distance
from the camp meeting. Duff claimed
that he struck Metzger with his fist
just under the eye. The stories in so
many books that he used a club or
slingshot or other weapon, he insists
are false. The next morning Metzger
was out and around, but it is pre
sumed that he caught cold in the in
jured eye. At any rate, the injury
affected his brain in some manner,
and he died.
The elder Armstrong had just died
and the mother of the prisoner was in
great trouble. She, in her poverty
and distress, thought of her old friend
and occasional boarder, Abraham Lin
coln, and asked him to defend her
boy. Lincoln willingly agreed to do
so. ine evidence seemed all against
him. One witness swore that he saw
Armstrong strike Metzger with a
slingshot and others corroborated the
tory. Lincoln asked each one how
he saw the fight, and the invariable re
ply was, "By the light of the moon."
Lincoln then produced an almanac
ot the current year and proved by it
that at the time they swore they saw
the assault in the moonlight the moon
was invisible. Lincoln then addressed
the jury, making, it is said, one of the
strongest and most eloquent pleas
ever made in that court. At the close
he turned to the weeping mother and
said: "Aunt Hannah, you can have
your boy again before the sun goes
down." And she did. for tae jury
brought in a verdict of not guilty.
Lincoln received no fee and asked
none. Afterward Armsti-ong enlisted
in the army. He was the only sup
port of his mother, the other children
being small. When Lincoln became
President Mrs. Armstrong wrote to
him. asking him to release her son
from the army that he might come
home, as she needed his services.
Neighbors told her that it was non
sense to write to the great Lincoln
about such a small matter as the dis
charge of a soldier out of such a great
army, and especially when Lincoln
was so deeply immersed in the mo
mentous affairs of state. She only re
plied : "Please God, Abe will give back
my boy to me once more." As soon as
Lincoln received the letter he ordered
a discharge made out for William
Armstrong, and within ten days he
was at home with his mother.
The President and His Boys.
It was a frequent custom of Lin
coln's to carry his children on his
shoulders, says the Literary Digest.
He rarely went down street that he
did not have one of his younger boys
counted on his shoulder, while ari
ouier hung to the tail of his long coat.
The antics of the boys with their fath
er and the species of tyranny they ex
excised over him are still the subjects
of talk in Springfield. Roland Diller,
who was a neighbor of Mr. Lincoln,
tells one of the best of the stories. He
was called to the door one day by hear
ing a . great noise of children, and
there was Mr. Lincoln striding by with
the boys, both of whom were wailing
aloud. "Why, Mr. Lincoln, what's the
matter with the boys?" he asked.
"Just what's the matter with the
who;e world," Lincoln replied. "Ive
got threa walnuts, and each wants
two."
Lincoln Letter Recovered.
Soiled and faded, torn and frayed, a
letter written by Abratiam Lincoln a
few months before his assassination
has been found in some rubbish and
papers on Broadway, New York, near
the postoffice. It reads as follows:
"Executive Mansion. Washington,
Nov. 21, 1864. To Mrs. Brxby, Boston,
Mass.: I have been shown In the file
of the war department a statement of
the adjutant general of Massachusetts
that you are the mother of five sons
who have died gloriously on the field
oi battle.
"I feel how weak and fruitless must
be any word of mine which should at
tempt to beguile you from the grief of
a loss so overwhelming. But I cannot
refrain from tendering you the con
solation that may be found in the
thanks of the republic they died to
save. I pray that our Heavenly Fath
er may assuage the anguish of your
bereavement and leave only the cher
ished memory of loved and lost and
the solemn pride that must be yours
to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon
the altar of freedom.
"Yours very sincerely and respect
fullr. "A. LINCOLN." j
The young author seated himself
with that nonchalance which may be
expected in one who is introduced by
the editor in chief to the mere editor
of a department.
"What kind of stuff do you want?"
he inquired.
"I'd take a good valentine story.
said I
At that my visitor assumed a smile
suggesting the early stage of seasick
ness.
"Oh, I say." said he. In a tone of
languid protest, "that sort of tiling's
played out, don't you think? Who
cares about valentines? There's no
romance in them any more. In soci
ety, if people notice the day at all,
they send flowers, not picture cards."
"Our circulation exceeds 400," said
I. "We have outgrown society. Give
us something about young men and
women."
The talented author blew a green
Egyptian cloud into-the air and slowly
shook his head.
"We're going to have a lot of val
entine stuff in the issue of Feb. 13."
said I, "and most of it is rattling good,
but, of course, if it doesn't appeal to
you "
"Valentine stories! Good Lord!"
"Why, what's the matter?" I in
quired. "Now look here," said he. "I try to
keep pretty close to life; to write the
thing that is, and not the dream. Do
I make myself clear? Well, such be
ing the case let me ask you one ques
tion. In the last ten years have you
known or heard of any human crea
ture who has attached any serious im
portance to a valentine or had any
really romantic adventure connected
with one?"
"Yes, sir, I have," said I.
He shook his head slowly and sad
ly. I could have cuffed him for that
insolence, and yet his question, his
method of getting at the matter, ap
pealed to me.
"I will spin you a little yarn," said
I; "a true yarn, and not a bad one."
"Delighted," said he, lying back In
his chair and closing his eyes.
"This happened to a fellow named
Jones," said I. "He was a newspaper
correspondent in the Philippines. He
had been out there six months and
hadn't had a letter from a girl."
"Particular girl?" queried Brock.
"Any girl," I replied. "There was a
particular girl; not so very particular
either, and yet he'd have been mighty
glad if she had remembered him on
the other side of the world. Most fel
lows, of course, would have found a
romance of some kind suited to their
individual tastes an '. fancies out there,
but Jones didn't have the luck. He'd
been brought up in a little sociable
city where everybody knew everybody
else, and though he no longer had any
close relatives there very few, in
deed, on earth there were his old
friends, including some very nice girls,
whom he had traveled a hundred miles
out of his way to say good-by to just
before leaving his native land. They'd
all promised to write to him "
"Including the girl," said Breck.
"Yes," said I, "and the fact is that
a considerable package of mail for
him, sent through the publishers
whom he represented, and tardily for
warded, had gone to tne bottom of the
Pacific ocean, but he didn't know that.
"In Manila he met a young fellow
named George Templeton, from the
same town as himself.
"Templeton was a sergeant of vol
unteers, and a homesick soldier if ever
there was one. He excited Jones'
sympathy, which became acute when
Jones learntd that there was a girl at
home who had stopped writing to
Templeton for an unknown reason.
"In the latter part of January Tem
pleton's company was sent up into
the interior to a little, forsaken village
where there was a peck of trouble. A
mail steamer came in the day before
the detachment marched, but it
brought no letter to Templeton.
"A few days later Jones learned en
tirely by accident that a letter for
Templeton had really come on the
steamer and had been delivered by
mistake to a surgeon of the same sur
name. "Jones had had it in his mind to try
to it through to this place where the
trouble was. He thought he saw a
good story in it. He told the surgeon
of his intention and was permitted to
take the letter. By pulling all kinds
of --';-cc he got leave to join a small
party that was going up with dis
patches, and the result was that he
AUCTION SALE OF HEARTS.
Novel Way to Celebrate the Feast of
Good St. Valentine.
There could be no gayer plan for
celebrating the feast of good St. Val
entine than an auction sale of hearts.
Beyond suspending a sheep in the cen
ter of the drawing room, in case it is
not convenient to devote two rooms to
your guests, no arranging is necessary.
If there are two rooms employed
let the girls of the party all withdraw
into one of these, the men remaining
in the other. The' folding doors are
closed or partly drawn and the girl
whose heart is first to be auctioned
is decided upon among the ladles. The
men are kept in total ignorance of the
results of this decision.
Some one, who is a clever talker,
then mounts a chair, and, armed with
a hammer, begins to auction oft the
heart of the girl chosen. He does not
describe her in such a way that she
can be recognized, but dwells upon
her particular charms. Her wit, if
sh Is witty, her beauty If she is
beautiful, her vivacity if she is ri
tscIous, and so on.
had adventures enough to fill a book.
"He found Templeton flat on his
back and raving with fever in a quaint
century old church that had been turn
ed into a hospital. The surgeon In
charge told Jones that it was prac
tically all over; the man was as good
as dead. 'Will he be conscious again?'
asked Jones. And the surgeon said
that it was possible.
""When is it likely to happen?'
" 'Heaven knows,' answered the sur
geon. " Til wait.' said Jones. And he sat
down on the foot of the bed. Of course
they tried to take him away, but he
wouldn't go, and as everybody was
pretty busy he was presently forgot
ten. "Templeton raved and tossed, and
he said some things that might go to
a feeling man's heart, considering the
circumstances, but he mentioned no
name. About 3 o'clock he became
quiet, and from that hour till morn
ing he seemed to be sinking down to
death. Then he stirred and half raised
himself.
" 'Hello, Jones, said he. Where did
you come from?'
" 'I've got a letter for you, George.'
was the reply. 'It came after you
left.'
" 'Give it to me,' said Templeton,
extending a weak, thin hand.
"He took the letter and raised It to
his breast as he sank back against the
pillow. Jones waited, but Templeton
did not move. He lay there smiling,
with the letter on his breast. The man
was dead.
"'This is a valentine that some one
ha.s sent to him from home,' said
Jones when the surgeon came. 'I
think we ought to bury it with him.'
" 'We ought to open it,' said the doc
tor, 'in ordr to communicate with
the writer. Some one might want to
know that he got it.'
"He took the envelope out of the
dead man's hand and opened it.
"'Dear George,' he said in a whis
per. 'Mail this to Frank Jones if you
know where he is, and never tell him
who sent -it. I don't know how to ad
dress him, but you can find out.'
" 'That's mine,' said Jones in a
dream.
"The doctor put the inclosure into
his hands. It was in a separate en
velope, unaddrc-sscd.
"This is a friendly loiter from a
mighty fine girl,' said the doctor. 'I'd
like to take something of this kind
with me when I go.'
"He put it back into its envelope
and laid it inside the rough woolen
shirt which was the dead man's gar
ment. "'lie has delivered jour message,
little girl,' said In, 'and he'll never tell
who sent it.'
"So that's the whole story. Jones
has come back to this country, and he
has that valentine a pretty card with
a little love verse on it, but not a
scrap of writing. Ho doesn't know
who sent it, but if he did I think he
would find that girl. I feel quite sure
that he would find tiiat girl."
"Not bad, as such things go," said
Breck. rising, "but conventional."
"Conventional be 1 beg your par
don," said I. "Why, the thing is true."
"I don't see that that helps it any,"
replied Breck. "However, that's
neither here nor there. I'm hard up,
and if a valentine story's what you
want I'll go home and see what I can
do for you. By the way, it wasn't Tem
pleton's girl, of course?"
"The one who sent the valentine?
Certainly not," I replied. "When Jones
got back to this country he looked up
Templeton's affairs a bit to see
whether he could do anything for his
family and that sort of thing, and he
happened to discover that the girl for
whose letter he had waited was really
waiting for him waiting, as I have
faith to believe, very near that rude
church in Luzon where the man closed
his eyes so happily to open the eyes
of his soul next moment in her pres
ence.
"You mean she had died," said
Breck.
"Precisely," I replied.
Breck lighted another of hi3 deadly
cigarette.
"Why can't I write this thing for
you?" he inquired.
"Not for your life, my friend," said I.
"Why not?" he demanded.
"Because I am 'Jones,' " said I, "and
at present the matter is sacredly con
fidential. When I have found that
girl I shall write the story myself."
Chicago Record-Herald.
When his wares have been suffici
ently extolled he asks for bids. Bids
can only be made by pounds or ounces
(etcetera) of love, the man who would
like to capture the heart offering so
many pounds or ounces for it. This
bidder continues for about a minute,
the heart then going to the highest
bidder.
As soon as the purchaser has been
decided upon the man who wins is led
into the adjoining room and presented
to the lady whose heart he has won.
The men who were not purchasers re
main in the outer room and do not
learn the identity of the lady whose
heart they failed to carry off.
Another heart is now proposed by
the auctioneer, and her charms de
scribed. This also goes to the man
who bids highest, who is promptly ad
mitted to her society.
The game continues until all the
hearts have' been disposed of, when,
of course, all the young people will
be together.
The man who purchased and the
girl whose heart has been won become
partners for the games of the evening.
Pink the Prevailing Color for Decora
tions "Hearts" a Good Came of
Cards for the Day Matching Part
ners for the Summer Table Th
Dining Room.
Each year finds old St. Valentine be
coming more popular, nm! hoHtewie
welcome the Hth of February, as It
gives an opportunity for novel enter
tainments. If one cares to peer Into
the annals of history It will be found,
that nearly every country has ttM own
Valentine day legends and customs.
To carry out a valentine party "a la
Denmark" would make a moat Inter
esting and pretty affair. In that coun
try of snow and Ice the little kijow
drop has from time Immemorial been
sacred to St. Valentine, and the sen
timental Dune sends his lady love
bouquet -of the immaculate blossoms,
with a card bearing an appropriate
verse. Ou the card ale as many pin
pricks as there are letters in hl
name. If the lady fair is unable tr
rightly guess the name she Ih In duty
bound to give the sender some colored
eggs at Kaster, which Is considered to
be in the nature of a forfeit. But lo
return to our party. Pink Is the color
for deoorationH, with hearts, bowknots,
horneshoes and wishbones used wher- .
ever opportunity offers. Portieres ot
pink hearts cut from a light quality
of cardboard and strung on ribbons
are very effective, with bunches of
them suspended from gas Jets, pic
tures and draped over laco curtains.
The rooms should have thu rono color
predominating, lor on this one night
in the. year every one must look
through rose colored glasses.
If cards are played the game must
be "hearts," with score curds heart
shaped and the markers bo candy
hearts with a hole In them to tie on
to the score card with pink ribbon.
The mottoes Inscribed ' n the old
fashioned candies affords much merri
ment. Alter the cards present each lady
with an arrow tied with a ribbon, the
gentleman with a bow decorated in
the name manner. The colors are
matched and partners thus selected
for Hie supper table. Willi very lit
tle trouble a heart-shaped target of
white muslin can be prepared with a
heart painted of green on the outside,
one of black, a third fit yellow, fourth
blue, llllh red. Thin will look like
a series of hearts. Fasten target
against the wall and give ach guet
a "late" card. Win n the arrows ure
shot tho color upon which they hit
determine.-! the fate of the hhooter.
For Instance, the arrow nti Iking tho
green indicates that:
"Love nnil rli lwH w:ilt. I ween,
Illrn or ln r win lilt. I In- ni -n-"
".Slioulil yoiir nir'iw irci the tIu,
Love in on ih wins for you."
"Shi- who prunes r'-lurx nil
Jl:iH lovers many al lnr e.t'.l."
"LovcI-.s.s. weeping 111 I lo triiili.
If her nrrow l-rc-M ivd."
"Into tle lil:nk.
Nary a Hiiuick."
"III! who p.'issrs oji jjikI nil
His chaiH.-o to w-il i v-ry ttnall."
A valentine dining-room is a dream
of beauty .with the walls hung with
green vines and pink hearts.- In thi
center of the table have a heart of
white snowdrops with pink ribbons
running to each plate, which is also
marked by a pink heart name card
ornamented with a bunch of snow
drops for the ladies and a pink c'arna-,
, j
ho gentlemen.
ystors or chicken in heat-
tion for th
Serve oyi
shaped pastry shells, tomato or "love
ayple" salad. Ices or cream In heart-
shaped forms and cakes In the same
shape iced in pink.
A Valentine to Paint.
This picture, prettily colored, will
make a very sweet valentine. Pain
the leaves green, the flowers yellow
with orange centers, the vine sten
greenish brown.
The cupids should be a delicate skin
color. The larger figure in the center
should have dark hair and the little
one light. One dress should be pink
and the other blue.
When it is painted cut It out care
fully, and if you have a piece of stiff
colored paper or white cardboard4
paste it carefully to this at the two
upper corners only.
The card should be an Inch or two
larger all around than the picture.
Party for St. Valentine's Day.
A novel Valentine party given last
year is available for any celebration
of the day devoted to this patron
saint. The company included an equal
number of young women and young
men, the former seated around the
room, ach having a vacant chair at
her side. To this came In turn every
young man, making In the two min
utes allotted him a proposal of mar
riage to the young woman. If she
liked the way he did It, she gave hlmx''
a little red paper heart, while, if his
proposal was not up to her standard, a
white mitten was bestowed upon him.
In the end the young man to receive
the most hearts took the prize, a con
solation trophy being bestowed upon
the uniortunite individual who accu
mulated the greatest number of mit
tens, says the New York Post. Both
mittens and hearts were concealed In 00
tiny sealed envelopes, which the r2 50
clpient was not allowed to open.'
positing them all in a little bar'
vlded for the purpose. These
were turned orer to the commiuASKA
avtard at the find of the contest.
this way the fun was heightened, anu
embarrassments avoided
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