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Notable Origin of the Noble and Aristocratic Order of Twenty-niners
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W. W. SLABAtrait
HEN Julius Caeftar came to
A T the rescue of Father Tlm
I In 46 B. C. and decreed a
nan n n j ui lu uiiLiii un
and years in order to glvs
the aforrsald Time a
chanca to catch up with the Vsrna.1
Equinox, he proliably did not suspeot
he was laying the foundation for an
Aristocracy of Ulrtli In free, demo
cratic America. It Is safe to say he
did not even suspect he was doing
this, Inasmuch as he had never heard
cf the new 'world, but thlB was just
what ho did do. It was Julius Caesar
who placed February 29 In ths cal
endar every four years, by that act
estahllnllnK: a day to be born upon
which It Is ronnldcred In this day a&d
a no a special honor conferred by
Providence. ,
ArlKtocrats who hold their posltUmsj
by reason of their family connections,
are looked down upon by these aristo
cratic "Twenty-niners." for they aryua
that to be born In a proud family la
an accident entirely, while to be born
cn Julius Caesar's extra day la evt
Uonce tlint Providence has conferred
a favor denied to most mortals.
The enthuslastio "Twenty-nlner"
points out the records do not show of
a single case where one of their num
ber has been found guilty of a crime
against the laws of his country, while
the records do disclose that soma ot
them have had high honor conferred
on them, and all of them are valuabl
adjuncts to society. It Is small won
der that with the opportunity to cele
brate but one birthday In four years,
and with the knowledge that they hava
been set out for special honors by
Providence, that the Twenty-niners
should feel Inclined to form them
selves Into a body apart, for one day
In four years at least, from their fel
low men.
Just how the old Roman warrior
happened to Issue the decree that had
such an Important bearing on the lives
of so many people Is a matter of his
tory. It Is well known that In the
early Roman republic the year oonslsted
of Sf.i days, with an extra month thrown
In occasionally to keep the calendar from
slipping up too far on the Vernal Equinox,
But the old Roman priests Into whose
care the keeping of dates for the whole
republic was entrusted erew careless.
They forgot to add the extra months at
the proper time and when they did add
them they fallod to make the right
length, so one day In 48 B. C. Julius
the Oreat was startled when he too
his almanac off the hoak behind the
kitchen door to notice that Father Time
was several laps behind the vernal
equinox and was so badly winded he
had poor prospects of sver catching up.
In fact, tho calender was six weeks alica.i
of time.
The mighty Julius sat down and pon-
dered. He foresaw that It would not be
long until the Industrious farmer would
have to begin planting bis com In the
snowdrifts of January In order to have
H laid by before the Fourth of July,
which Is the laudable ambition of evtry
progressive farmer, lie realised how un
seemly It would be to celebrate tUo
Fourth In the middle of winter and how
hard It would be for Kris ICrlngle to make
bis rounds with his relndoer and sleigh
with the ground bars and the thermome
ter up to summer beat. The fall elec
tions would be beld In the spring and
Easter with its display of spring bon
nets and gay dresses would corns where
Christmas ought to.
With the foresight and wisdom for which
he has been frequently commended In
commencement orations, tha great Julius
commenced to figure out a plan to avoid
all the confusion that was surely coming.
Attention has often been called to the
directness with which Caesar did things.
This time was no exception. He Issued
a decree providing that more than six
weeks should be lopped ruthlessly from
calander; that the day following October
(1 should not be October 14, but Dncembnr
33 should not be October 14, but December
thereafter the year should consist of StiS
days and that every tour years one day
should be sddd in order to keep the cal
endar straight. This is what Is known
as the Julian calendar, or method, of
reckoning time.
But Caesar's Intentions were better than
Ms mathematics. Ills year averaged Stt
days 6 hours In length, while the real
year Is 363 days 6 hours 48 minutes and it
seconds long. Consequently his year was
U l. .:mites 14 seconds too long. This little
discrepancy was not noticed at tha time
n; people went back to work blissfully
lgr,orant of the fact that while Caesar had
tmprovtd the old calendar he had not per
fected It. It was not until ths year 1K3
that Pope Oregory XIII noticed that the
Vernal Equinox canto on March 1 Instead
of March &, showing that ths calendar
was sgain outdistancing Father Tims and
his scythe.
The same thoughts that bothered JHua
Caesar mors than 1.S0O years WIMsj urged
Seven Well Known Omaha People Whose Birthdays Are
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BCKSL SL M. BUTTS
through the brain ot ths good old pops,
He saw It would only be a matter of time
until ths seasons would s so badly jumbled
up as they threatened to be In the time
of ths Romans. Ths thought troubled him
and be called the eminent astronomer,
Clavlus, Into consultation. Clavlus knew
more about tha stars and ths flight of
time than Julius Caesar had ever dreamed
of, and what mathematlos he knew ha
knew right. After considerable figuring
ths pope finally amended the Jullsn decree
by providing that every one hundredth year,
1800, 1900 and 2100, should not be leap year,
except every fourth one hundredth year
beginning wlth"the year tOOO. It was figured
that following these amendments the dlf-
ferenoe between the civil and natural year
.
Out of the Ordinary Happening-s That Read Strang-e to
Rush, for the Water Wsgos.
HtCRR Is A. rush fnf ltmnnrinA,
I Pledges In Millvale, a suburb of
X I Pittsburg. Thousands of snakes
have Invaded tha town and the
boys ara having a good tlmf
iHLV
wher they dangle in the faces of pedes
trians. The reptiles come from an old coal
mine t.iat Is burning, having been drlven
out by the flames. '
The snakes made their appearance one
night as men were returning from clubs.
These men are the ones who hurried to
take pledges. Others, less superstitious,
traced the trouble to Its real source and
firs off the wster wagnn agsin,
Queerest "islilsTrrr Wills.
"I do hereby direct the executors of this
my will to have made out of my bones
circular buttons of the dimentlons of from
one-half inch to one Inch in diameter.
"I further direct my said executors to
have the skin of my body tanned and made
Into pouches.
"I do hereby further direct my said ex
ecutors to have made out of such parts
of my body as may he suitable string i for
the violin, such as are usually designated
'cat-gut' strings.
"And I do 'hereby further direct my
said executors to have ulj violin strings
adjusted to the body cf a violin. 1
"I hereby give, devise and bequeath unto
my beloved friend and clubmatti, James
Hayes, all and singular, the buttons, violin
strings and tanned skin made out of my
body, as aforesaid, the same to be by 1. km
distributed according to his discretion to
my Intimate friends."
So reads the will of Henry K. Sullivan,
a prominent nien.ber of the Namecxl club,
at 833 West One Hundredth street. New
York City. Mads in all seriousness, this
queerest of queer wills refleots the utili
tarianism that has been a factor In every
aot of ths man's life.
Tale ( at ar Dear.
roAo foatio Bray Uatne4 U ths tale
THE OMAHA
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FRANK W. FOSTKltb
would not be more than a day In 6.000
years. It was this amendment that robbed
svefy living Twenty-nlner of a birthday
In 1900, but, as It 'will not happen again
until the year 2400, most of them will for-
give the pope.
The pope also lopped ten days out of the
calendar in order to give Father Time an
other even start, and decreed that the day
following October S should be October 15.
In the Cathollo countries this decree was
accepted as final, and people began count
ing time the new way, but In England and
the other prctestant countries, where they
hated the pope and everything he did, re
fused to accept It. In 1700 moat of tb
Protestants decided to accept It, but Iby
that time they had to cut eleven days out
of a dog of high degree In the Orange
(N. J.) police court last week. The story
was told by one of two handsomely gowned
women who left court without saying who
they were. This woman said she was the
owner of a valuable collie dog, of which
she said, the neighbors had complained.
She said the dog was never permitted out
of the yard, but neighbors had said that
she must not let the dog roam in her own
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-.rrMcSV""u,n i Kenrww.
DEUATr Kd OF THE OMAHA HIGH
WUU U COACHINa TiiX BOV
SUNDAY BEE: FElUtUAUY 23, 190$.
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EMMA PULLAWAT.
of the calendar, which their catholic helgh-
bors declared served them right for their
stubbornne.iss. F.nsland did not adopt th
new order until 1761, and every school boy
has envied George Washington because ho
had two birthdays evory year, one Feb
ruary 11, old stylo, and the other February
22, new style. Rimsiu LtlU adheres to tuo
old style calendar, and that country Is liter
ally thirteen days behind the times.
While all these facts may to the ivsual
reader seem superfluous and Imnn.terlPl, a
second thought will convince him that all
of them were necessary that the modern
Twerty-niner might be. It Is no rausu fpr
surprise that if the man or woman who
happened to enter this world on that extra
day ordained by Julius Caesar and con
yard after 9 o'clock at night or they would
complain to the police.
"The charge Is most unreasonable," ssld
the woman. "He Is a dog of the-moat ex
emplary habits, and I would never allow
him out of tha house after 9 o'clock at
night. He Is too delicate, nnd last summer
he was under treatment by a doctor fur a
long time for nervous troubles and he sim
ply cannot sleep out of doors. He always
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Roe. Vana. ' Dennlson. Ross.
SCHOOL. WltO AKB TO MEET DES MwINKS ANU K.ANUAJ CITT IN DREN8I0
Celebr H Only Once in Four Years
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9. ft. SHTTOART.
firmed by Pope Gregory XIII, should fen!
somewhat above the ordinary mortal who
was Introduced to society on a common day.
It was this aristocratic feeling, coupled
with the idea that those who are deprived
of the pleasure of eating birthday cake
every '.', have something In common
that lead the Twenty-niners to join hands
In an organisation that for a time promised
to he national In its senpe.
It would have been flourishing
today undoubtedly if an unforeseen
element of human nature had not asserted
Itsnlf. It was the Intention to celebrate
the return of the mystic day this year
with an elaborate feast, but the men who
wero planning the celebration forgot to
consult their wives. When their wives
sleeps on a feather mattress or on my bed
and hu eats off a llttls plutter at the
tahle."
Justice Bray assured her that so Ion as
the dK as licensed she hud nothing to
fear from his court.
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Helped Him.
A physician out west was sent for to
attend a small boy who was 111. He left
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MRS. O. W. CBAIQ.
heard of the promised event they were dis
pleased. "We have only one opportunity In four
years to celebrate our husbands' birthday,"
they said In unison, "and If these days are
to be given over to a pubtlo feast, what
will become of the little family birthday
purties we hold so dear."
When they heard this complaint from
their helpmeets the men gave up the
public dinner and so' this year each
Twenty-nlner will celebrate In the quietude
of his own home.
The announcement that a quadrennial club
was about to he formed In Omaha brought
out a flood of applications for member
ship, because, owing to the amendment to
Julius Caesar's calendar by Pope Gregory,
Most People
a prescription and went sway.
Returning a few days later, he found the
boy better.
"Yes, doctor," said the boy's mother, "tflfr
prescription did him a world of good. I
left It beside him, where he could hold It
In his hand most of the time, and he can
almost read 11 now. You didn't mean for
him to swallow the paper, did you, doctor?"
Harper's Weekly.
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COMPETITION AND
Rosenberg.
PROF. LUNNlkK)N,
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V. B1TEBH.
1900 was not a leap year, and It had
been eight long years since they had
had a chance to celebrate. Letters
came from all directions. Some of
the most enthuslastlo lived In New
York. One ot them was W. 11.
Odell of Auburn, N. Y., a brother of
former Governor Odell. Others came
from Wisconsin and Iowa, but mc.it
of them were from Omaha, Council
Bluffs, Lincoln and surrounding towns.
Plans were tentatively formed for
organising a national body with
fraternal and Insurance features, but
ths organisation got only as far as
a banquet at tha Paxton.
The new club elected a full set of
officers, however, and they ara still
serving. Here they are: W. W. 61a
baugh of Omaha, presldont; A. J.
Rohrer of New York, L. F Murphy
of Iowa, Mrs. Johnson of the Dakotas,
Mrs. O. W. Craig of Nebraska, vies
presidents; F. W. Foster of Omaha,
secretary and treasurer, and Henry
H. Kruger of Omaha, recording secre
tary. While the Twenty-niners have ex-'
perlenced a lull, they do not Intend to
give up the organisation, and It Is ths
boast of the members that at any
future time It Is decided to give a
feast ' the members will respond
whether the old society is kept ac
tively alive or not The members keep
in touch with each other, and four
years hence, If they decide to cele
brate In common, . the clan can bs
summoned by the officers on short
notice.
The advantages and ths disadvan
tages of being a Twenty-nlner ara
numerous, so real Twenty-niners say;
but, of course, none of them will ad
mit he would like to bs a common,
every-dsy oltlsen with a birthday each
twelve months. Of course the great
est disadvantage Is ths long time be
tween birthdays, but this has Its com
pensating advantages. All Twenty
niners go to Sunday school, so
they say, and the child who
has reached ths ags of U years
with only three birthdays has. a decided
advantage over ths ordinary "kid" when
the birthday contribution box comes arontid
and each child Is expected to chip in a
penny for every birthday hs has had.
"it makes an old man like me feel
strange," says an old-time Twenty-nlner,
complainingly, "when my 12-year-old son
Insists on trying to run the household be
cause he has had twelve birthdays and I
have bad only U. I Insist that we must
not tieasure our lives by birthdays, but
by deeds, but he cant get far enough away
from mathematics to see it that way.
"It also happens that our birthdays come
In ths presidential election years, and,
therefore, it would seem to be especially
appropriate If we should units on one of
our number for president. At least It would
seem that we Twenty-niners should bs con
sulted and that our Influence should bs
recognised. We may decide some tims to
go into politics, and when ws do, look
out."
Tha story is sometimes told of tha bash
ful young Twenty-niner who applied to ths
marriage, license clerk for a permit to
wed the young woman of his choice,
"How old were you your last birthday?"
Inquired the official.
"On my last birthday I was only 18 years
old, but I am almost 23 now," the young
man Is said to havs replied.
The tale goes that It required consider
able diplomatic explaining to Induce ths
official to Issue ,the license to a man who
was only 18 his last birthday without ths
consent of his parents.
One Omaha man who Is not a Twenty
nlner has special reasons for blessing old
Julius Caesar when he established Febru
ary . for It was on that day that at a
birthday dinner given by his present wife
that he began the courtship that ended
successfully. His wife Is a member of
the clan and ho was a casual guest at her
birthday party. Though they had known
each other for a long time before. It was
there, with the traditions of the mystic day
around them, that they fell In love.
Julius C'ucgur little knew the Importance
ot the plan to help out Father Time. He
thought he was only doing a little athletic
stunt with time to keep the almanac
straight, b'.it Instead the nearly 2,00 years
since have proved he did much more than
that. If lie hu;l not issued Ills famous '
calendar judge Mlabaimli and his follow
er would have been deprived of the dis
tinction which Is now theirs. If the o
c'uty of Tn enty-nlnei s should, ever become
wl.Ht early Omncrats accused tha famous
society of tht Cincinnati uf being, an em
I ryo anst x raey, Americans would have
another dunce to "knock" on the old
1: iniur. Hit 'nuxiiiLch a ir.e:nb rsl.ip In
the Twriily-niii.-ra l ordalnel only by
ProV'.denoB and cannot descend from father
to son, like membership In George Wash
ington's old organization, little apprehen
sion Is felt by outsiders and the Twenty
niners declare thty are not afraid of ths
big stick or a speolal message to oogress
oa Uie subject
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