Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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{ , at ? 5 ?7 ( I HAPPY f | NEW YEAR { "WJPXPPY New Year!" I said j BHB cheerfully to Susan, my sisJL Jl ter' as 1 entered the library, where she sat by the fire. "Tom Waring, if you say that again I will pitch this at you," interrupted Susan, holding up a well bound book which she had evidently just removed from a pasteboard box on the table. "1 SUpp'JSe ^WUi" ucsuc nuuiu uc dislocate the very handsome cover of that book? You might aim at me, but you would probably hit the bookcase," I remarked, drawing up the biggest and most comfortable chair in the room to the hearth, "Who sent it?" I inquired. "Did it come with any good wishes attached, or did you impress on the donor your radical objection to any polite adherence to the good and ancient cusr torn of wishing a Happy New Y"? "Don't you dare to say it!" warned Susan, holding up the destructive missile with a gesture so very determined that I abruptly came to a halt, not wishing to see Herbert Cameron's illu i "YOU OPENED AND READ THIS LETTER?" minated volume?for I had recognized 'Ids handwriting on the cover of the book?land in the tire. She had ensconced herself amid a lot of cushions on a big divan near by and was looking at me with so queer an expression, half penitent half sorrowful and wholly puzzled, that I felt impelled to come to the rescue . "May 1 inquire Sis, what your objection is to the good wishes of your friends, and why you desire to destroy rthat gift of Cameron's?" I inquired, poking up the fire. "Why. how in the world did you find out he sent it?" asked Sue in wide eyed surprise. I silently took the cover of the box, ?:whicb lay on the table, and turned it toward her. Her name, written in Herbert's big characteristic scrawl, was a sufficient explanation. ' "1 am," said Sue in a low and subdued tone, edging close to me on ber divan. *'I am in an awful quandary! sometmng positively terriDie: i nave been half wild over it all day long, and you were so mean as to stay away up to this hour?4 o'clock In the afternoon r* Now, considering that I had gone most reluctantly on an urgent telegraphic summons from an old invalid client (and a wealthy one), who desired, I knew, some alteration in his will: that 1 had done without breakfast to catch the early train: had driven six miles from the station, in the teeth of a biting north wind: had worked ihard all day and had hurried back to jtown to dine this special evening at :home with my unreasonable young sister, it seemed to me 1 hardly deserved ?her present keen reproach. "Just so," 1 remarked, without attempting an explanation of the whys and wherefores of my enforced absence. "As I am here now, suppose you tell me what the trouble is." "It's awful!" again ejaculated Susan impressively, and I began to believe it really must be. for there was just the suspicion of dimness in her big eyes. "Awful!" I repeated lightly, scanning closely Sue's lovely, flushed, perturbed face. "What is the catastrophe which has befallen during my absence? Has a burglar carried off your diamonds? Or have your dressmaker and tailor spoiled your gowns? Say the word and I'll cable to Paris and London." "Neither, you silly boy." answered Sup. It's worse. Just read that." ! Sue tossed over to me an open envelope containing a note or letter, and fixed on me a look of surprise and despair. I "Well," I said, turning over the missive without reading it, "I can't see bow this can interest you so keenly, as it is not addressed to you." On the envelope was written in Cameron's abominable handwriting "Miss Louise Morrison." "That's exactly it." said Sue tearfully. "I opened and read it." 1 looked at Sue in astonishment. 1 knew her to be that exceptional thing, a strictly and scrupulously honorable young fellow?woman 1 meant to say. The idea of Sue deliberately opening her friend's letter, especially when she knew?well, never mind. I was now fully determined not to I tolerate Cameron's early and late visits I any longer. I would not have him send i hothouse flowers to Susan, and lavish ! like attentions on Miss Morrison at j one and the same time. We would inaugurate a new system with the new year. "You opened and read this letter," I asked slowly, possibly with some severity, "when you knew it was r >t written to you?" She flushed deeply, and a look of pained indignation swept over her face. "Why, Tom! What do you take me for? Of course not! I thought it was for me, or I would never have broken the seal of the horrid thing! It's aw .... r. 2 1 1, ? ^ r. iui: aauea z>ue, ciaspi-us ua iiuuu.0 with a gesture of despair. "What's in it?" I asked bluntly. "You must read it Tom, to understand and help me out. Louise will never, never forgive me, and she will ; never, never believe that I did not open her hateful letter out of mean curiosity." "Of that you may be very sure, my dear child," I said. This was not magnanimous, but I was seriously annoyed at the absurd imbroglio into which four people were i being plunged by Cameron's folly. For j the life of me I could not understand ; how any man in his senses could fail : to appreciate that little girl's immense ; superiority over Louise Morrison, that j unreliable, small souled young woman, i whose vanity was as all pervading as ? her astuteness ?two hideous traits. ! The letter was?well, a glance sufficed to inform me that it contained the usual rhapsodies and idiocies. "It was in the first pages of the book," explained she tearfully, "and so you see, Tom, that was sent to me; so, without noticing the address, I opened and read the nonsensical thing. Do you know, Tom, dear," continued Sue, and in spite of her mortified distress two lovely dimples crept in the corners of her mouth, "it was by a mere accident I noticed Louise's name on the envelope. It fell on the floor with the address uppermost." "Well, child," I said, "all you have to do is either to notify Cameron of the accident, and let him try his hand at an effusive epistle to his ladylove, or inclose this thing just as it is to Miss Morrison and write her an honest ex planation of your error. To my mind, the tirst would be the safer plan of the two. It would be a little awkward for you both, and will delay the extremely ready acceptance that is waiting for him. which is a pity, as. if I understood his extremely involved sentences, he is hoping. I believe the fellow wrote 'pining,' or some such word, this very afternoon. Wants to start out on the new year with a cartload of illusions and fantastic anticipations of coming ^appiness. Happiness, 'with Louise Morrison!" I added sardonically. "Why, I venture to predict, on next New .Year's he will be looking around for a method to escape." I poked the fire viciously, for I was sorely grieved to note the pain way down in the depths of Sue's gray eyes, and purposely I spoke roughly of the absurd affair. The little girl must needs grow accustomed to the situation. The sooner the better. "I'll .send a note to him right off, then, iom," Sue said hurriedly. "It will be my New Year's greeting to him," and she laughed nrigntiy. But my ear could detect a jangle in the sweet notes. "What dunces men are," I soliloquized internally, and from the vantage ground of my old bachelorhood I looked with supreme contempt on the blunders and misapprehensions I could note in the matrimonial ventures of my friends and acquaintances, by which they so very determinated brought untold sorrows upon themselves. "Serves 'em right," 1 added mentally. "Harris, take this note around to Mr. Cameron and briDg the answer," I directed to the butler, who had answered the bell. "You'll be apt to find him in." Silence fell between us when the door had closed and I lit a cigar. "Well, little one," b said finally, "it's about time to dress for dinner. By the bye, I put a small box from Tiffany on your plate." "You are a dear old boy," she said, putting her arms around ray neck. 1 drew her down by my side and kept smoking, while she leaned her head confidingly and sorrowfully on my shoulder. A carriage dashed up to the house and I heard a pause and the hall door slam. "Mr. Cameron," announced Harris. As Sue had started up and I was sitting in shadow, Herbert Cameron evi. dently failed to perceive me. "Did you believe it possible." he said agitatedly and in a pleading voice, leaning forward with outstretched arms, "that 1 could write such a letter to any one but you? To any one but the dearest and loveliest woman"? "Ahem!" I interposed, rising and coming forward. "Good evening, Cameron; glad to see you. Wish you a Happy New Year. Hope you understand Susan's slight mistake in opening Miss Morrison's note." "Hush man! Stop:" said Cameron, nearly shaking my arm off. "I wrote that to Miss Waring. Of course you know that by an absurd mistake I put it in an envelope addressed to Miss Morrison instead of the card I was sending her with a box of candy." "Oh," I said, endeavoring to extricate my crushed and aching fingers. "Then""Yes." said Cameron in a low tone, and without releasing me. "Ask her. old fellow, to glorify this new year for me! Ask her"? "All right," I hastily interposed, extricating what was left of my hand and tastily retreating toward the door. "Ask her yourself. I have no earthly abjection to it.?Keystone. NEW YEAR'S IN JAPAN. Significant Title Given to the Day by the Japanese. Somehow, though the sun may have shone just as brightly ou the previous day and indeed the whole year round, yet it all seemed changed and different on this the first day of the year. It is the spirit of the new year. This is the the time of universal peace and good will, when the inhabitants of the little empire start life anew with fine resolutions and promises for the future and all ill feeling is done away with. The 1st of January bears the significant title of Gansan (the three beginnings), meaning beginning of the year, beginning of the month and beginning of the day, and to this might be added the beginning of a new and better life. What Christmas is to the occidentals New Year's is to the Japanese, although greetings and congratulations +r\ tba ftr*oHnr nf tlio UJ.tr IIOL LUUUlltU IU Ult UJ.OL j Vk ...A VA year, but at any time between the first and the fifteenth. The Japanese begin to prepare for the new year nearly a month before, and in fact give their houses and possessions a thorough cleansing, just as the good American housewife does in the springtime. Even the very poorest people do this, laj'ing mats of rice straw and cleansing every nook and corner with fresh bamboo dusters and brooms, which are said to symbolize prosperity and good fortune. And after the house has been aired and cleaned it is decorated with pine and bamboo, for the Japanese venerate both of these because they keep green through the entire winter and symbolize longevity. The Japanese read in the most insignificant natural objects some striking significance, and there is a meaning attached to almost every decoration or ornament in the house. The outsides and gardens of the houses are also beautifully decorated, to say nothing of the streets, which present a most interesting and animated spectacle at this time. On New Year's eve the streets and stores, which at this time display their most attractive goods, are thronged with people intent on buying the requisites for the coming year. At night the streets are beautifully illuminated /with lines of big lanterns, family crests, flags, shop signs, etc.. hung from every store. On this eve many of the people remain up all night and watch the old year out ana tne new year in, though a few old fashioned ones prefer the custom of rising very early in the morning to worship the first rising sun of the new year.?Frank Leslie's Popular Monthly. NEW YEAR'S DON'TS. Seasonable Advice That May Be Taken and Also Let Alone. Don't talk about yourself or your own affairs. If there is anything that concerns you that is worth knowing, people will find it out fast enough. Don't fail to put in a word for yourself upon every possible occasion. If you do not speak for yourself, who will? Besides, a man should know himself better than others know him. Then why is he not to be encouraged to speak from out of his lanowledge? Don't'say a word about your aches and pains. People are not interested in your ailments, saving doctors and druggists, and you only bore them by dilating upon the imperfections of your Internal economy. Don't lose any opportunity to parade your bodily afflictions before the world. It is far pleasanter to tell about one's own ills than to have to listen to the story of another's ailments. Don't owe anybody longer than you can possibly help, not only because of the duty you are under to others, but also because of the peace of mind which comes of freedom from debt. Don't pay your debts any sooner than you can avoid. There is no surer way of keeping place in the remembrance of others than by owing them money. Then, supposing you are well to do, you cannot afford to pay a^vay money which is drawing interest. It is well enough for the poor to pay their debts, for they do not know the secret of making dollars breed dollars. If they did know it. they never would be able to put it into practice. Don't make any promises of reform that you cannot carry out. You have made yourself ridiculous flpough in past years in this regard without heaping higher your mountain of folly. Don't hesitate to make promise of better behavior. A good promise is commendable even if you never carry it out. Besides, it does not follow that because you failed in previous years you are going to fail again.?Boston Evening Transcript. The Partln' o' the W'ya. [An auld fisher's blathering.] Gansn'n' auld year? Aweel, ye've toddled far Wi* fu' sair load. Sin we're auld frien's, I'll mak sae bold to gae A bit o' yer road. Ye maun be sad; wha* hae ye got to show O' a' this gear That ye hae pothered wi', high tide an' low, Come laugh or tear? Nor mon nor maid can haud ye frae yer w'y? Ye've aye stiff neck; Ye ask't no fauvor. an ye tak na pl'y; Ye haud the deck. Yer sins are black; ye've wasted ae mon's strength. Baith laird an' loon; When we like Jobs hae brak our peace at length. Ye're drove frac town. Yet I'll no say but while ye mad' us gleid The lire aroun". An' mony a joyfu', hairtsome laugh we've heid When nicht cam' down. Odzouns, gude by; no dout ye did yer best. We're a' but frail. A braw chiel's comin'; tak yer time an* rest; To him, A' Hail! ?M. H. Hayes. | THE -# \ J PRESIDENT'S! {NEW YEAR'S { J ^gpAIL to the chief, who in triW^Tgj urnph advances!" crashed JSL Jk tbe red coated Marine band and the blue coated Engineer fViTnic honrl in thp Inhhv nf thn Wbito ? -? J House at 11 o'clock New Year's morning. "Here they come!" whispered the hundred people who &tood behind the gilt gates. Down the broad stairs came Colonel Theodore Bingham of the army. Captain Edward McCauley, Jr., of the marine corps and Lieutenant Commander James C. Gillmoro of the navy stiffly erect in dress uniforms crossed and crisscrossed with gold braid. Close behind came the chief the bands hailed so noisily, Theodore Roosevelt, president of the United States, clad in sober black, red cheeked as a schoolgirl on a frosty morning, eyes dancing with enjoyment and lips parted with a smile. He was followed by his pretty wife, by the members of the cabinet and by the ladies of the receiving party. There was a crescendo by the bands and a flurry of handclapping by the people who had been let in early, and then the president and the receiving party went into the blue room and formed in line, and the historic New Year's reception, when all the officials of the government, all the officers of the army and of the navy present in the city and citizens generally come to greet the president, had begun. Pennsylvania avenue was crowded from the treasury corner to the state, war and navy building. Carriages rolled up by the hundred and left in the lines their occupants, sometimes diplomats, sometimes members of congress, sometimes distinguished officials, sometimes soldiers or sailors. In the number were the assistant secretaries of the executive departments?four from the postoffice department, three from the treasury and those from the other big buildings where the government's business is carried cn. They went in after the army and navy. At 2:,?>0 o'clock there "I AM DELIGHTED TO SEE YOU." was a suggestion that the doors be closed. The president shook his head vigorously and said: ' Keep nobody out. Let every person in line come in." It was nearly 3 o'clock when the last i person went by. a tiny boy, who clung to his father's hand and who received a smile and a hearty "Happy New Year!" from the president. Then the president straightened up, took a long j breath and said "Good!" That was his j only comment. There were fifty secret service men | and local detectives in the crowd. Some J had places in the line, some stood near the president and some mingled with the crowds in the lobby and on the portico. Every person not known to the detectives was closely watched. If there was any suspicion, a detective or secret service man strolled along opposite the person watched until the exit was reached. The president did not know how many men guarded him, and once or I twice he smiled a little when he ex tended bis band for ibe secor . tbird time to tbe same detective >\ no, for some reason of bis own, came by in tbe line. "That's four times." be whispered to Chief Wilkie, shaking him vigorously by tbe band and wishing him a "Happy New Year." Tbe president looked the athlete he is as be stood at tbe bead of tbe receiving line. He grasped each visitor's band firmly and said something pleasant to everybody. Colonel Bingham made tbe introduction whenever introductions were necessary. "I am delighted to see you." was tbe president's favorite expression. "I hope the new year will prove a happy one to you." He varied this, of course, with personal friends. Toward tbe last tbe ushers pushed tbe visitors along so rapidly that be bad little time to say anything and mostly contented himself with shaking bauds.?New York World. FIRST DAY OF THE YEAR. Jan. 1 More Honored Abroad Than In America. Although there seems to be a disposition in the United States to allow the celebration of New Year's day to fall into desuetude and it has been shorn of much of its old time glory in America by the importance now attributed here to Christmas, it still retains its rank as the most ancient festival of the world. Both the Mohammedans and the Jews regard the first day of their respective years as the anniversary of the birth, or, rather, creation, day of Adam and celebrate it with all sorts of rejoicings and entertainments, while in olden times, before the Christian era, it was observed as a day sacred to the god Janus. The ancient Romans made it a public holiday and selected it as the proper date for the exchange of presents of gilded fruits. It was the day, moreover, on which the newly elected magistrates of the Athenian republic, as well as those of the mighty commonwealth on the banks of the Tiber, entered upon their duties. The Druids also held the first day of the year in particular honor and veneration, and even now a numlj^r of pagan superstitions in connection therewith have survived among the peasantry of Brittany, Wales and the southwestern counties of England. To this day the lower classes of the districts just named retain a firm belief in the fortune bringing properties of the mistletoe, while the people who live along the shores of the bay of Biscay are absolutely convinced that at the moment when the clock strikes 12 on New Year's eve the animals, including dogs, horses, sheep, oxen and pigs, become endowed for the space of an hour with the power of speech and that the huge Druidical monoliths known as dolmens, or menhirs, extricate themseltes from their sockets for the purpose of rolling down to the seashore to refresh themselves by a dip in the briny waters of the deep. So firmly rooted is this belief that no Brittany peasant would dare wander itUUUL 111 LUC uciguuwuuuu \ji LUV-OV hoary ruins of the stone age at that hour, being assured that some terrible fate would overtake him if he were to happen to witness this annual excursion of the dolmens, and it may safely be taken for granted that were he by any chance to catch sight of them at that hour of the morning of the first day of the year they would certainly appear to him to be dancing and reeling about in a weird saraband; for in Brittany, as in many other parts of Europe, the new year is ushered in with heavy and copious potations, the result of which is to cause the drinker to see many strange things. In Scandinavia the favorite beverage on these occasions is drunk from silver or wooden tankards or preferably from horns. These latter are those of the ure ox, an animal now extinct, and are frequently not only of great antiquity, but also of much beauty. Many of them, indeed, are old enough to have been used by the worshipers of Thor and Odin for toasts on their return from successful raids, when they sang songs celebrating the virtues of the heroes who had died on the battlefield and had entered fully armed into Valhalla. Drinking from these horns requires a peculiar knack; otherwise the contents are certain to empty themselves upon one.?New York Tribune. Prosit Xeujahr. in tiermany isew xear s eve is cauea "Sylvester abend" (the eve of St Sylvester). The early hours of the night are spent in calls and parties, and when midnight comes the ringing of bells announces the beginning of the new year. Guns are fired, and from the church lofts bugles are sounded. Later oil the windows are flung open, and, standing within them, the people hold up their glasses and call out "Prosit Neujahr!" to every one who passes by. People on the street call in to those indoors. Even the coachmen as they drive by call out "Prosit Neujahr!" Of all the pretty customs in German this is one of the prettiest. Not only to their friends do they wish a happy new year, but to all.?Pittsburg Chronicle. Strange Xew Year's Customs. In some countries the weddings of the year are all arranged with a view to their celebration on Jan. 3, and, by a curious contradiction, in Siam and in some mountain districts of India the year's funerals are also celebrated on the first day of the succeeding year. Temporary interments take place a day or two after death, but on the first day of the following January the remains of those who died during the year are borne to their last resting place, the funeral feasts are celebrated at the same time with the weddings, and in the most literal manner the funeral baked meats do coldly furnish forth the marriage tablets.?Selected. New Year's Cards. The custom of visiting and of sending presents and cards on New Year's day is so ancient that the historian of social customs does not record a time when in some form it did not exist. The practice of using visiting cards has been known among the Chinese for lllUli&auus ?jl jt-ais. j. uu j.yvs-\r Years card is a curiosity to tbe occidental, for its mystic characters set forth not only the name, but all the titles, of the owner, and, as every Chinaman who is anybody at all has a dozen or two, the card assumes the form and something of the dimensions of a wall map.?Pittsburg Chronicle. Too Much For 'Em, He swears not off on New Year's day, Though loud exhorters bawl; "The good book"?so they hear him say? "Counsels, 'Swear net at all!' " ?Atlanta Constitution. } -# A #- | 5 NEW YEAR'S | I JINGLE | HERE again! And here's a greeting To the many 1 am meeting Who have manners it would certainly be well to readjust; The financial scare creator And the coal manipulator And the very often mentioned "bold and overbearing trust." , And the folk who fill the papers With strange stories of their capers From paying wild election bets to running off with cash; * ?-l anrl navlv niiU WIIV^ U\J IW I IV/ VVIIIVW J -y ( Leaves the door wide open daiiy? May they formulate resolves too strong for anything to smash! I'l '?^^^SS333 B * Ijj' I THE FATE OF GOOD RESOLUTIONS. Happy New Year to the charmer j (May no chance occur to harm her) ! Who jilted the admirers she had cap* tured by the score, m . And the girl who wakes creation With her weird vocalization! Let us hope they'll both endeavor not to do so any more. There's an old unique offender (One is tempted to be tender; But, alas, more than the others does he need to mend his way)? He whose penitential spasm j Warms with sad enthusiasm, And who'll gayly break tomorrow ev* ery vow he made today. j ?Washington Star, j THE PARROT'S RESOLUTION' The Wiie Bird Determined to Be Good at Kew Year's. The parrot had been listening to the talk about good resolutions, for everybody had been making some for the new year. Now, parrots always try to imitate people, so he made one too. That is what he was thinking of as Vip smoothed back his beak with his claw. "I won't ccream or say any ugly words," lie said to himself. "I will say only nice, funny things. Then they won't threaten to send me away." So all New Year's day and part of the next he kept saying "Happy New Year!" "Glad to see you!" "Pollyi wants a cracker!" "Get up, horsy!" and tried to say "'Twas the night before Christmas," which he had been; taught, for, of course, he couldn't knowj that it really was a week after Christ-I mas. The children were good, too, forj they made a resolution not to quarrel, and everything was pleasant in the nursery, where the parrot's cage was hung. But the next day Harry teased Kitty by taking away her playthings. Kitty: was cross and said: "Stop! You're hor-. rid!" ; Then Harry pulled away her new picture book and sat on it. "I'll tell mamma," she said. "Ma-armar," she roared, "make Harry stop!"j "Telltale!" said Harry. Then Kitty; slapped him so that it hurt, and both began to cry. j The parrot listened in surprise. Then, seeinsr that thev had broken their reso-i lution, he thought he must do the same,! for parrots can only imitate people. So he began to cry out: "Stop! Horrid thing! Boo-ho-oo! Ma-ar-mar!" j "What's all this?" said mamma, coming in. "I thought you promised not to quarrel." j The children were much ashamed.! They stopped crying and made up with each other. J But the parrot kept on screaming "Horrid! Stop! Boo-hoo! Mar-mar! Horrid! Stop! Boo-hoo! Mar-mar!" till everybody was tired of hearing him. But of course he didn't know any better.?St. Nicholas. vSjj Good Resolutions. Light Fingered Ike (in cell No. IBBeen makin' any good resolutions for the new year, Charlie? i Second Story Charlie (in cell No. 13)? Yes. I've resolved, if I ever get out of here, not to try to lap any more cribs thot'o o-ot hiivtrlnr nhivme nil not to soli any more of my swag to the squealin' pawnshop keepers and to only trust' in the future to fences that I know are honest crooks!?Brooklyn Eagle.