THE DAWNING YEAR
A
GLOBE TROTTERS’ NEW YEAR’S
A grizzled, sun-tanned, hard-featured
r.an. whose face bore the stamp of
wardship and adventure, was sitting
.11 the smoking room of a New York
cotel. He happened to glauce at a
calendar and saw that the day was
DeowSl.
“By Jove!" he exclaimed. "So to
morrow is New Year's day. Unless
something happens before then, it will
oe the quietest New Year I've spent 'n
twenty-three years.
\
"In all that time I have never been
so near my old home in Scotland as I
am now7. Often I’ve tried to get home,
but somehow or other New Year has
always found me in a tight corner in
some out-of-the-way part of the world.
This man's experience is typical of
that of many of the globe-trotters in
this age. when people are so fond of
"going to and fro in the earth and
walking up and down in it." like aper
1_—JL<£age in the’vBo<5k cif Job.
New Year’s day, 1897, found one
Englishman facing death from hunger
and thirst on board a life raft 300
miles southeast of Madagascar.
His ship foundered seven cays be
fore in a hurricane. The boats were
smashed by the fury of the waves and
some of the crew washed overboard.
The rest, made a raft out of pianks and
spars, but during the night high seas
swept over the frail structure and car
ried away most of the water and food.
"AH we had left,” said the man who
went through this terrible experience,
"were a few tins of potted meat, a
small barrel of biscuit anrd the small
est of the water casks. That was all
we had to keep life in twenty-five hun
gry mer.
■ ) ‘ We made it last as long as wo
rould, but in four days everything was
gone^ Some of the men fell into de
spair and talked about throwing them
selves overboard. Perhaps they would
have done so. but during the night of
tne fourth day half a dozen big sharks
^ swam around the raft in circles. The
/J sea was phosphorescent and we could
see them plainly in the waves of livid
fire which they stirred up as thev
swam around. Even the half-crazed
men who had talked about drowning
themselves shrank from death in a
shark’s maw and stayed upon the raft.
“Next morning I saw' by a pocket
diary which I carried that the day was
Dec- 80. To keep up the men’s spirits
I told them I had dreamed we were
going to be rescued on New Year's
day. That appealed to the supersti
tion inherent more or less in all sail
ors, so I kept on telling them a ship
would come along and pick us up on
that day sure, until I began to believe
it myself. We even discussed grave
ly whether the sail would heave in
sight in the morning or the afternoon,
and one man who said he guessed it
would be toward evening became quite
unpopular.
“New Year's morning broke with a
dead calm on the oily, blistering sea
and a blazing sky that aggravated our
thirst tenfold. There was not a ship
in sight all morning—nothing except
that glassy sheet of water and that
cruel, cloudless sky above us. It was
the same in the afternoon, and our
hopes fell as the sun sank slowly to
ward the western horizon.
"Just as we were beginning to de
spair one of the men screamed hyster
ically and pointed to a thin trail of
smoke on the sky line. It was a New
Zealand liner headed straight for our
raft. In a couple of hours her doctor
was giving us a hearty dinner and
slops and weak brandy and water.”
This same man spent another New
Year s day off Cape Horn. He sailed
from Valparaiso in a British “wind
jammer.” expecting to reach his Scot
tish home in time to spend his first
Christmas there for many years. But
calms delayed her for we^fjs- m the
South Pacific ocean, and when she got
off Cape Horn she ran into a tearing
gale, which brought her mizzen ton
mast down on deck and ripped out all
her sails. For days she drifted help
lessly, exposed to the full fury of the
western gale.
The crew labored industriously at
rigging up spare and bending new
sails. It was a task of tremendous
difficulty, for giant combers rolled
over the forecastle head continually'
filling the vessel amidships with green
seas.
suddenly in trie midst or this toil an
apprentice piped out :
"I say, fellers, this is New Year's
day. Have you all forgotten it?”
“Belay your tongue,” retorted the
gruff old mate. "There won’t be any
New Year dinner to-day, except your
usual whack of lobscouse.”
The skipper was superintending the
work from the poop rail and heard the
conversation.
“Cook!” he bawled out. “Lay aft
here!”
The cook came out of his galley and
the captain asked what he could give
them for a fancy dinner.
“Nothin' but split peas, sir, an’ salt
horse and marmalade. There ain’t no
turkeys in my store room, sir,” he said
“Let's catch one o’ them birds, ’
suggested an old tar, pointing to sev
eral abatrosses which were circling
about the wake of the ship. “We’ll
stretch a point this day and be for
given for it, I guess.” y
After several attempts an albatross
was captured with a big fishhook bait
ed with salt pork and dragged aboard
triumphantly. Served up nice and
brown and swimming in gravy, it
looked so much like a real turkey that
it warmed up the men's hearts and
made them think of the holidays they
had spent at home. But whetT they
tasted it the resemblance ceased. i«
was fishy and tough. The meat was
like knotted rope yarn and the gravy
suggested tar. However, it was i
New Year dinner all the same, and 1
was enjoyed as keenly as the fines:
feast ashore that day.
An American traveler, who is wen
known commercially in the West In
dies, was mixed up in one of the peren
nial revolutions of Hayti in his hot
I and foolish youth. Unhappily, he al
i lied himself with the weaker side, and
one New Year's eve found himself one
of a small band of desperadoes de
fending the stockaded town of Mira
goane against a government army,
which outnumbered them 100 to 1.
During the night the government
soldiers forced their way into the town.
Only about thirty of the defenders
were left alhe.
“Stand them tip in a line and shoot
them," commanded Gen. Manigat.
But they were too weak to stand.
All cf them were wounded, half-siarved I
and fever-stricken. So the govern
ment troops propped them up in chairs
and shot them as they lolled there.
Only the white man was spared, in
order that his ease might be inquired
into.
When he protested to Gen. Manigat
against the cruelty of shooting help- i
less captives that triumphant warrior j
merely blew a cloud of cigarette smoke i
and remarked calmly: "Cest la
guerre.”
“Late on New Year's eve,” said the
American, “they tried me by court
martial. When I woke up on New
Year's morning I was in the calaboose,
sentenced to be shot at suudown. It
wasn't very pleasant waiting. I was
quite glad when a gold-laced officer
entered the cell toward evening, with
a paper informing me that 'his excel
lency, the citizen president.' had been
pleased to pardon me, in consideration
of the request of the American minis
ter and of the fact that it was New
Year's day.
“1 believe they had never intended
to shoot me, but only to frighten me,
for they hardly dared to touch a white
man whose country owned a navy that
might bombard their ports. Anyhow,
I got out of jail in time to eat my
dinner with some American and Eng
lish friends on a coffee plantation near
Miragoane.”
New Year s Superstitions.
The following superstitions in con
nection with New Year s are still be
lieved in various parts of England.
Ireland. Scotland and Wales: On
New Year's morning go to a well or
fountain and leave an apple and nose
gay, and the water will keep fresh
and be more wholesome all the year.
If a dark complexioned man crosses
your threshold first on New Years
day you will be prosperous; if a
blonde, unlucky, and if a red headed
man dire disaster will surely follow.
Before locking the door for the night
on New Y’ears eve place a gold coin
near it and let it remain there until
the church bells ring next morning,
and you will have plenty of money
all that year. So strong is the beliet
n the adage of the dark complexion
:d man in some places that he is
paid a small gratuity t,o call early
md walk through the first floor of
^he house, entering by the back door
md leaving by the front.
PASSING ANOTHER MILE* POST.
HARDY’S IDEA TOR "TESS.”
Tragic Incident Lingered Long in
Author’s Memory.
A rather striking story of the origin
of Hardy’s “Tess” has just been told
by Neil Munro, author of “John Splen
did,” who is one of Mr. Hardy’s inti
mate friends. It seems that when
Hardy was a boy he used to go into
Dorchester to school, and he made the
acquaintance of a woman there, who,
with her husband, kept an inn. She
was beautiful, good and kind, but mar
ried to a dissipated scoundrel who was
unfaithful to her. One day she dis
covered her husband under circum
stances which so roused her passion
that she stabbed him with a knife
and killed him.’ She was tried, con
victed and condemned to execution.
Young Hardy, with another boy, wit
nessed the execution from a tree that
overlooked the yard in which the gal
lows was placed. He never forgot the
rustle of the thin black gown the
woman was wearing as she was led
forth by the warders. A penetrating
rain was falling; the white cap was
no sooner over the woman's head than
it clung to her features, and the noose
was put round the neck of what
looked like a marble statue. Hardy
looked at the scene with a strange
illusion of its being unreal, and was
brought to his complete senses when
the drop fell with a thud and his com
panion on a lower branch of the tree
fell fainting to the ground. The
tragedy haunted Hardy, and at last
provided the emotional inspiration and
some of the matter for “Tess of the
D'Urbervilles.”
NO LONGER HER DOG.
Blonde Woman Had Forever Lost
Claim on “Goldie.”
A big blonde woman descended
viciously upon a less pretentious but
determined woman she met walking
in Park avenue, holding a handsome
setter dog by a leather leash.
“What are you doing with my dog?’'
she shouted. “Come here, Goldie.”
Goldie established ownership by ap
pearing overjoyed at the meeting.
“It may have been your dog once,”
retorted the little woman, “but it has
been mine for four weeks.”
From a wrist-bag she took a docu
ment signed by the Society for the
Prevention of Cruelty to Animals ac
knowledging the receipt of $3 and giv
ing her ownership of the dog. Cards
were exchanged, and the case was sub
sequently investigated by an attorney
representing the blonde woman. But
she had to give up her dog.
It appeared the woman who was
leading the dog found him wandering
on the street. He was not regularly
licensed and had r.o cellar. She adver
tised once for the owner and then
took the dog to the Animal Shelter.
She was told that all lost dogs were
killed there if not claimed within
forty-eight hours. She asked to be
notified by telephone if the dog was
claimed within that time. If not, she
would pay the usual fee and take him
away. No owner appeared and she got
the dog. Goldie was lost to the blonde
woman forever.—New York Press.
Mint Refuse Worth $30,000.
“The United States government as
saved the old mint at Denver recent
ly,” said R. W. Burchard of that city,
“and got $30,000 in the clean up. That
sounds like a peculiar statement, bui
it is the truth.
"The new coinage mint, which had
been in course-of construction there
for about seven years, was completed
recently, and *he government moved
from the old mint, which had been oc
copied for about thirty years.
“When they got ready to clean out
the old place every particle of dust
and dirt was carefully saved. This
was run through the assay furnace
and it was found that the tiny par
tides of gold which had accumulated
about the building in all those years
had amounted to the snug sum I have
mentioned.
“Tjie particles had been carried
through the air during the refining
processes, and were so minute tliai
they had not afTected the weight of
the metal assayed to any appreciable
extent. It was all velvet for Uncle
Sam and more than paid the expenses
of moving to the new mint.”—Milwau
kee Sentinel.
Explanation.
A captain in the regular army made
a gallant reputation during the late
war, but at home he resigns command.
He was at home for a few weeks
awaiting orders, and his linen was
consigned to his wife’s bureau, usual
ly occupied by her own things solely,
but at this time jointly. The captain
is not a patient man, and when he
wanted a clean shirt and went to the
bureau for it he formed a plan of pull
ing the drawers out, tipping them over
on the floor till he got what he was
searching for. Of course, his wife re
monstrated, and then there were some
“scenes.”
One warm, clear day when we were
all sitting on the piazza, the wife read
the heading in a newspaper:
“Trouble in the President’s Bureau.”
“Well,” said she, “I wonder what
that means?”
“Oh, replied the captain. “I suppose
the president wants a clean shirt.”
At Half-Past Nine P. M.
\t half-past Nine P. M. when Jack
Breathes low a last good night.
1 wish my heart but had the knack
To hide its silly plight;
But, ah! it flutters so. my will
Is powerless to stem
Its tide of love, its joyous thrill,
At half-pa9i Nine P. M.
The evening through. I’m frank to state
My heart betrays no sign
Rebellious: calm it is at Eight,
Eight-thirty, yet. and Nine:
A woman’s will walks to and fro—
Decorum’s guard pro tern.—
Until Jack takes his hat to go,
At half-past Nine P. M.
I bless the fate that keeps me cold
And prim the evening through.
But when a heart rebels so bold,
Pray, what’s a girl to do?
'Gainst saying “Yes” I’m firmly set.
And kissing I condemn—
But who knows what may happen yet
At half-past Nine P. M.?
—Roy Farrell Greene in New York Press.
British Arms.
Sir Charles Dilke, in a paper read
tv the Young Liberals* league recently,
said* tljat while all other countries had
rearmed their forces, there was not,
with the exception of fifteen imperfect
batteries hurriedly purchased in Ger
many during the Boer war, a single
quick-firing gun in the possession of
the British regular field artillery.
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NEW YEAR CUSTOMS
New Year's Day lias been a day of
I ceremony and rejoicing for a great
j many centuries in the world’s history,
j Its origin is traced back to the Roman
festival of Janus, after the establish
ment of the empire. The old Romans
divided the year into ten months only.
Numa Pompilius added January and
February, and dedicated the former to
Janus, 713 B. C.
“ 'Tis he! The two-faced Janus comes in
view;
I Wild hyacinths his rohe adorn.
I And sundrops, rivals of the morn,
j He spurns the goal aside,
i “But smiles upon the new-emerging year
with pride.
And now unlocks, with agate key.
The ruby gates of orient day.”
On this day the Roman consuis, fnl
lowed by the court, went to the cap
ital, all gorgeously appareled, where
they sacrificed two white bulls, never
yoked, to Jupiter Capitolinus.
The Romans had two New' Years,
the sacred one, which was the 1st of
March, and the civil one of which we
have just spoken, the 1st of January.
The Jews had a sacred and a civil
! year: the former began in March or
April, the latter in September or Oc
| tober. varying with the lunar period.
The early Greeks had no settled year:
when one was finally adopted, they
. commenced it at the vernal equinox.
door to door with loud singing and 1
merriment. The word is derived from
was haile, the Saxon for “Here's to
you!” an expression still in use by
men in pledging each other at sup
pers. The present loving cup takes
the place of the ancient wassail bowl.
! In some of the country districts of
: England old customs are still observ
ed. On New Year’s eve, at midnight,
the last of the Christmas carols 4s
| sung, outside of the house, by the
j young people, then there is a rush for
the nearest spring, and the first one
who fills his or her glass gets what
they call the “cream of the well,” and
will be the most fortunate during the
coming year.
In the early hours of the morning, a
! funeral is held, at some public houses,
; over “old Tom” (as the old year is
J called), when the boys parade the
streets, asking for presents, and sing
ing:
“I wis'n you a happy New Year,
A pocket full of money
Ami a cellar full of beer.
And a great tat pig
To serve you all the year.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Sitting by the fire.
Pity we poor boys
Oil’ in ‘be mire."
The French make a great deal of
New Y’ear. In 1G54 Charles IX. of
and mulled cider; every house wa?
a temple of the merry god, and many
a provident vagabond was intoxicated
out of pure economy, drinking liquor
enough to serve him the remainder of
the year.”
Irving dwells especially upon the
great ball given at the Governor’s, old
Peter Stuyvesant, New Year’s night
“when the good Peter was devoutly
observant of the pious rite of kissinc
all the womenkind for a Happy New
Year.’’
On this day the governor also dis
tributed fiddles to the old negroes,
who fiddled all night while the young
people danced. Under Peter was in
stituted “quilting bees,” “husking
bees,” and other rural assemblages,
where, under the inspiring influence
of the fiddles, toil was enlivened by
gayety and followed by a dance.
The governor did not approve of
the short skirts worn by the ladies
and ordered a ruffle put at the bottom
of them. He likewise disapproved of
some of their steps .n dancing, and
ordered that no other step should be
taken but the "shuffle and turn,” and
the “double trouble.”
The custom of New Year’s calling
The Joyous New Year
Who come* dancing over the snow,
His soft little feet all bare and rosy?
Open the door, though the wild winds
blow,
Take the child in and make him
cozy,
Take him in and hold him dear,
He is the wonderful New Year.
The early Christians also consul
Bred the vernal equinox the proper
time to commence the New Year. The
Chinese and most Indian nations com
mence the New Year with the first
lew moon in March, the Persians in
June and the Egyptians early in the
iutumn. or the first day coinciding
with the rising of the Dog Star.
Among the Saxons the New Year
was ushered in by friendly gifts.
Later, this custom of making gifts
was carried to a ruinous excess.
Henry III. of England extorted costly
gifts from his court. Queen Bess car
ried it to such an extreme, says Dr.
Drake, that her costly wardrobe and
jewelry was supplied in this way.
When Henry VIII. was receiving
costly presents from his courtiers, we
read that honest old Latimer handed
him a Bible, with some pertinent
chapters marked, much to the burly
king’s disgust.
Dr. Drake tells us that, in the six
teenth century, prince and peasant
alike celebrated the New Year with
regularity and parade.
Much was made of the wassail bowl
at this season. It was carried from
-I I,'Ja. -rt, .
France decreed that in accordance
with the Roman calendar, the year
should begin on the first day of Janu
ary.
Christmas with them is a religious
festival, but the New Year is a domes
tic festival and holiday. The day com
mences at an early hour, with an ex
change of bonbons and visits among
friends and relatives. I somewhere
saw an estimate that one hundred
thousand dollars was spent upon bon
bons alone every New Year’s in Paris.
The French revolution brought New
Year’s day to this great prominence.
With the first empire it was one of
the most brilliant festivals of the
court, as it was also of the second em
pire.
New Year’s day was a great day in
New York with the early Dutch set
tlers. It was ushered in by the ring
ing of bells and firing of guns. Wash
ington Irving, in his humorous “Knick
erbocker’s History of New York,"’
gives a delightfully amusing account
of the observance of New Year among
these Netherlanders. “The whole com
munity,” he tells us, “was deluged
with cherry brandy, pure Holland
was very prevalent in most of the
large cities of the United States for a
long while, many gentlemen making
as many as forty and fifty calls oi
that day. This custom has been gen
erally discontinued except in Wash
ington city. Here the presindent ant!
w ife, assisted by the wives of the
cabinet members, hold a reception a<
the White House, all the morning, t
is a most brilliant spectacle, as at
the Diplomatic Corps and the arms
and navy are in full uniform. Bolt
houses of Congress also pay their re
spects to the chief of the nation, an#
then the general public are admitted
Charles Lamb, one of the tenderes.
or English essayists, says: “Of al
sounds, of all bells, the most solemr
and touching is the peal which ring,
out the old year. They take a per
sonal color. Not childhood alone, buf
the young man, till thirty, never feels
practically that he is mortal.'’ He telli
us that “every man hath two birth
days, two days in every year whies
set him upon revolving the lapse oi
time as it affects his mortal duration:
his own birthday and the birthday ol
the New Year.”
