Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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i TVrVtan :i THK LEDOEH: GAFFNEY, S. C., MARCH .^1, 1898. V ■vt Deck wo no more otir doom mid halls With mistletoe and holly keen, For all the fields where warmer falls The kiss of sprltiK are 'tirnl In gr<en. Mow i;otie its snow w hite mantle drear, Tim broad breast of the prairie swells With burMthitf leaf life, and I hear The Quivering i>eul of Faster bolls. Tp rides the run with growing light. He looks where his late foe has ls-en. But now to moek the winter’s white The frisking lamb is nlwhere seen. Tim laughing torrent drowns the weir, From every hill a brooklet wells. And on the laden air 1 hear The elang of throbbing Easter bells. And there, along the village lane, (io loving couples, hand in hand. The lessen of the spring so plain Is writ that all must understand. "Joy in my joy and know no fear"— This is the tale to all it tells As from the steeple, loud and clear, Bursts the glad sound of Easter IhJIs. Aakon Mason. PAPA’S EASTER PLAN DV EARLE HOOKER EATON. [Copydfiht, ISDfi, 4<] ■ t* by the Author.] ASTER is a sol emn occasion—a very solemn oc casion indeed— to a man with a wife and seven daughters. Seven new dresses -f 1 new dress «= 8. Seven new* hats -t 1 new hat =» 8. Eight X 1 pair of new gloves *=» 8 pairs. One pock et hook — 8 new’ dresses, 8 new hats and 8 new pairs of gloves = .0000000i or less. Which shall it ho, my dear —Easter hats, drosses and gloves this year or a general assignment for die benefit of creditors, with milliners preferred?” As Mr. Magnus Oirley spoke these words ho mopped his bald pate with a kerchief and breathed a long, deep sigh like the sigh of tin airbrake when a train comes to a standstill. The com mittee on ways and means of the Girley family, consisting of (Jirlty and Mrs. G., was holding an executive session behind closed doors in the parlor, and in the dining room on the opposite side of the said closed doors Annette, Betti- na, Cloriuda, Daphne, Elfrida, Floret- ta and Genevieve, the seven daughters, wore listening intently and wondering why it was that papa couldn’t ‘‘get out and hustle, ” as one of them expressed it, and make more money. % ‘‘Fifteen dollars for an Easter hat!” snorted Mr. Girloy. ‘‘Why, it’s extor tion, theft, assault and batten md high way robbery! I’ll bet the mu.erial for one doesn’t cost 4i»^outs!” ‘‘It is an awful jwicc, no doubt about it, ” sighed Mrs. Girley, “and yet one cannot get a rtylisb, swell looking iiat for less anywhere in the Greater New York. I know it, for I have tried, and if there’s a millinery store worth visit ing that I haven’t visited it is because you only gave mo $5 for car fare. I am very sorry, but the girls must have hats. A girl without a now Easter hat is the nnhappiest creature alive. Who is abso lutely nobody. Then Mrs.'Koupon and her two daughters next door always have new Easter hats, and if our girls do not the Koupons will look down npou us, which would never do, for they a>e just beginning to be nice to us, and young diaries Bovco Koupon is atten tive to Annette and—and the girls sim ply must have hats. The gloves dresses and ribbons are ail paid to: 7 times 15 is only”— “Weven times nothing!” cried Girley. “I haven’t a cent left, and our bill at Kotchum & Sinkom’s is already larger than they want it. Buying seven Easter hats is an impossibility, Koupons or no Koupons. If the girls were burn ing something besides Delsarte and how to hammer a piano, they'd know how to trim a hat lit to wear. There's only one Easter hat coming into this house. ” “Ouly one?” cried the horrified Mrs. Girley. 1 “Oulyo-n-o?” gasped the girls in a whisper, a dismayed whisper. "That’s what 1 said—ouly one, but it will do,” insisted Mr. Girley. “If you and A, B, C, D, E, F and O have no talent for scheming and managing, I'll supply the family myself.” Girley sometimes mentioned the girls in an alphabetical manner. No man in:.I Mr. & ec ® Ut4 "ONLY ONKf” dniKIl THK IIOIIMFIKD MRS. C11ULET. frith seven daughters could reasonably be expected to do more. Their names wore ton numerous and too long and life was too short “Take Annette with you and bay that stunning bat you saw at Ketchum & Siukeiu’s, and tonight I'll unfold my plan,” he said as he left the house. When became home from business at night. Mr. Girloy looked at least six mouths older. He was an expert aritb- meticieu, but dividing one Easter hat by seven Easter girls was the worst problem ho hud ever wrestled with. He was worn out but well satisfied, tired but triumphant. The girls hud all tried on the new hut and were unauiuiously of the opinion that jt was*’ ‘just Um sweet for anything.” "Now come here, A, B, C, I), E, F and (4 and your mother, I have the Easter prcklsm solved,” M*. Girley said as he took the new hut in his hand and examined it critically. "This is the very hat for the purpose. I never saw one yet that couldn’t bo worn wrong end to or sideways or upside down at a pinch. ’’ “Ob-h-h-h-b. papa!” seven voices shrieked in pro est "Hush, children, your father has tbo floor,” admonished Mr. Girley, as ho took Genevieve, the 1 (5-year-'bid baby^f the family, on one knee. "As you aware, wo are face to face with an EaS- tor rrisis. Seven young ladies must ap pear on Easter day with new hats. Their fond father would gladly purchase the hats if he could', but his purse is so badly punctured ho is unable to raise the ‘wind.’ In short, the seven young ladies eauuot have seven Easter hats. Now wait," ho cried as a murmur arose, "the question is, How can the seven appear before all the world with new hats on Easter without the pur chase of seven hats at f 15 per hut’ Lis ten, I will tell you. Tomorrow is Eas ter. in the morning your mother, wear ing a look of disgust and a made over hat; Annette, wearing the new hat, and your father wearing any old thing will attend church. That disposes of Annette. Her new hat will be known of all wom en. ‘‘We shall hurry heme, and Bt ttina, wearing tlio new bat reversed, will visit Sunday school in triumph. That settles Bettina. Immediately after Sunday school Cloriuda, wearing the ntw hat sideways, will drop into Mrs. Koupon’s to inquire about something or other. So much fer Cloriuda's brief Easter display. When Clcrinda returns home, Daphne will deftly unpin the blue flow ers on the hat and substitute rod ones and then go for a walk, passing the Koupon residence at least four times so that the Koupon girls will be duly and properly impressed. That settles Daphne. "Elfrida will then substitute yellow flowers for the red ones and attend the afternoon talk of Mr. Ooluhka, the mis sionary from the Solomon islands. That finishes Elfrida. When she returns, Florettn with pink flowers on the hat will walk around the block seven times and borrow a book of Susette Koupon. So much for Floretta. In the evening Genevieve, wearing the hat inside out or trimmed with purple flowers and ac companied by her mother, will attend church. That settles Genevieve and— and the seven of you, thunk heaven!" With a sigli of relief, Mr. Girley shook Cenevicv6%rom ids knee and amid a chorus of murmurs lied. The following day his program mo was carried opt to the letter. One daughter after' another appeared with the new Easter hat, and there was not a hitch. As the continuous performance with one hat progressed Mr. Girloy rub bed bis hands with satisfaction aud his fat, red face fairly beamed. ‘‘The day is saved,” he said joyfully, ‘‘and so’s the money. I tell you, it takes a man to meet an emergency of ii' •v- > 10. T X. \\ 2 A A N* v, v X rtis "A! I t ^ i( A EASTER BONNETS. As ever, the Easter bonnet for the year is a thing of beauty. There are brighter colors on it than for some years past, and altogether it is a dainty piece of millinery, lit for the brows of a queen of fashion. The attempt to force tbo Salvation Army style of bonnet as a mode, though pushed by diplomatic means ler the past 18 months, has proved a complete fail- si Ur* I V. pfl 'M Fr'-; >:• M‘*h MU. CIBLKr GROANED IN ANGUISH, this kind. Fifteen dollars for a straw hat aud a hunch eif artificial johnny jump u])sl The ideal” He was not so entbusiaetic when Susette Koupon called and wanted Bot- tina to go for a walk, and Bettina could not do so because Elfrida was impR.-^s- ing the fact tliat she hadauew'hat upon Mr. Oolabka of the Solomon islands. Nor was ho so enthusiastic when Charles Bovee Koupon drove up in a sleigh to take Annetto for a ride, and Annetto was compelled to refuse be cause Floiottu, with pink flowers on the hut, was walking seven times around the block. Nor was he so joyful when the displeased Bettina and the weeping Annette and the somewhat soured look ing Clorinda, Daphne, Elfrida, Floret- tu, Genevieve and their worried mother surrounded him late thut-uight and be gun to say things. "Yes,” said Mrs. Girley, "you have undoubtedly saved the day and the money, and you’ve done well so far us you’ve gone, but what about tomorrow? Seven girls who have paraded around with seven new Easter huts cannot go out tomorrow waring six old hats and one new hut. Then, too, the Koupons have invited,us all to come over tomor row night to a swell whist party, and we surely ruiinot go ou-the installment plan. What are wo going to de?” "Oh-b-b-h-h, papa, what are we go ing to do?” the seven daughters cried, Mr. Girley groaned in anguish. Aud this was how he bud saved the day and the money 1 In some mutiiicr ho managed to escape to bed alive. The following morning ho t<sik (lie Easter hat under his arm and went away to business with u stem, set look upon his rubicund face. He was an hour lute to dinner that night, hut when bo reuebed home he was currying seven bund boxes of the style affected by milliners, but be was do longer carrying a watch. TA V ' ■W' VI v *1 ft} ip m .’AVvn’?’ ro.vg 'M cX ore. It suits the type of sweet Madon- nuliko face, light or dark, hut it lias a significance so remote from worldliness that swelldom frowns upon it, and the Fifth avenue and Broadway milliners have given up the struggle. They can not afford to run counter to the express ed desires of those whoso word is law in certain well defined circles of society, for be it known the social leaders are not dominated by the mechanics of art or trade, as lias generally been supposed. The mandates come principally from the buyers and not from those craving pat ronage. Tho suggestion or praise of tho popular Mrs. of Forty-sixth street or tho recommendation of tho exclusive Miss of Lexington avenue has more effect upon determining the pre vailing style than all the cajoleries of the insinuating little Frenchwoman who confidentially tells her customer that a selection of her own—upon which possibly there is u larger,, profit—is "so becoming.” Thus it follows that many will recall tho popular minstrel air and tho refrain of HO years ago, "fclbe hud a darling bonnet with a flower garden on it,” when they see these new creations of headgear surmounting tbo brows of those who dross according to prescribed aud scientific regulations. The English walking ha with larger crown, lengthened in the back and roll ed closer at the sides, will bo worn to a great extent, and tho light huts of spring, to bo in vogue, will be a relief a brim of chenille and silk braid woven together. Toques, turbans aud herrettas will still retain a slight hold upon those who do not care to follow the latest ex act modes. Of the first named a success ful model is a flat, oval shaped toque covered with deep, china blue shot taf feta glace, run with a series of in numerable line tucks drawn up closely to form tiny upstanding rutiles. A full rouleau of velvet, much uplifte'd at the left side, has this flat, capliko crown sot into it. In the division between the silk aud velvet three ostrich plumes are placed, one falling to the front, two drooping low to the hack, their stems concealed with a largo velvet rosette having a steel ornament in the center. America was honored last year by the French union syndicate of flowers aud featln rs, and tbo leading group, the American, which is a charming combi nation of tho tones of the exquisite vio let color, three in number, and shaded from a delicate light to a rich and dark violet, will still bo a popular fuucy in tho spring trade. The bluets, the lighter shade.of which is. called iieryeqchevalso the'Constant blues known-'ns ciol axfd \ matelot, still retain their welt won f3- vor.' Thu glacier isu beautiful mingling c.f light shades embracing ivory white, silver (culled urgent, tbo lighter tint nickel) aud a medium shade of drab bearing the name chinchilla. Then many of tho green shades of last full, Russian the darkest, uile the lightest and the intermediate ones of palmyra, Siberia, emeranda, muguot and percloguut will again bo used iu the making up of that which is, iu conjunc tion with well fitting'glovcs and a fash ionable shoo, tlio pride of every thor oughly dressed woman and devotee of fashion, “a love of a bonnet.” A LHKRT P. SOUTHWICK. EASTER SONG. to those wiio have been troubled with tho burdensome weights nf the past winter. Thu modiiled guinshorough with the Victorian side flare will puss from view, to ho resurrected in another two or three "seasons, ” for it will al ways remain a desired style and is moreover suited to almost every varia tion of facial contour. ".Short back" i sailors will also bo placed before tbo feminine public. The hew bats and hot.nets will be iu varying shades of gray, the former with Whc n the sun a broader arc Murks across tho April sky; When tho days, so cold and dark, At the thought of summer fly, Crocus buds above tho green Of the dooryurd croft appear, And birds in copse and tree urn soon, And resurrection days aro near. Eccl The spieewood’s yellow bloom On the gloaming knoll is set, And tasselod buds and flowers have room To fringe the jocund rivulet. What was that ? The bluebird's note, Caroling so rich and free, Fits no other song bird's throat. Tis his marvelous minstrelsy. Tho south wind's soft and Imlniy breath IVuf»n Its chrism from southern seas. It comes to lift Irotn wintry death The earth and whisper hojie and peaca. ^The pathos of the robin's song Now Is never fur away, While In the Helds and wood* a throng Of birds rejaat their roundolsy. Who shall doubt that life, not di ath, Crowns tho swift circuit of tho year; That not a soul of mortsl breath Hhall miss at lust its heavenly apherof Then let tho bells of Easier ring, . Tuned from llothlebem's fur<i{F sky'. For summer's new processions' bring Tho proof that ouly Lea ill shall dial Juki, burro*. EASTER HARE MYTH. THE RAGGiT IDENTIFIED WITH THE MOON IN SYMBOLISM. Mythology of tho Untlonn Respoctlng This I’erlod — Origin of Many Customs and Traditions — The Moon tioddeaa and Change of Hex. The story of the hare, or, as it is told in this country, the rabbit, who lays tho wonderful Easter eggs is ouly one of n number of confidence games which arc played with certain success upon generation after generation of the rising children of men. Tlio prevalent skepticism of the age fails utterly of transmission to the little ones. Every Christmas a very impossi ble saint with preposterous nocturnal habits is introduced into the children's calendar of "truly people” aud is har monized by infant, sophistry, which dif fers little from much of tho logic of tbo elders, with the budding theology of the baby mind. But of all the queer stories whose certainty of credence is based on the strength in children of the broad prin ciple of human gullibility expressed by Ci’jsar in the statement that men readi ly believe those things which are pleas ant to believe the legend of tho Easter bare is tho most transparent and yet most successful gold brick game that is annually played upon tho littlo "come ous. ’’ Tho common, everyday product of the industrious hen is gilded with glittering foil or boiled iu some weirdly patterned, mendacious piece of “fast color” calico aud deposited iu all the resultant crudi ty of its color scheme iu an impossible nest in an outlandish place, which only a creature "mad as a March hare” would ever think of choosing for a homestead site. The children then, in willing mystification, are sent hunting for ‘‘bunny’s nest” and its wonderful contents. The sight of the eggs is sufiicieut proof to the children of tho truth cf the whole story, as Baron Munchausen de sired the moon's presence to be to his auditors, alter he had recounted his lunar adventures. Besides, have not the grown folks told tho tale with solemn faces? And if a smile should thereafter "twitch the bearded ambush” of aniau- PREPARING TUB "GOLD BRICKS." ly mouth nt tho easy credulity of a child, it might ho well to remind him that ho himself has accepted on simple testimony the troth of statements equal ly astounding. Does he not believe in tbo existence of the "zoological para dox," the ornithorhynchus, a hairy mammal that yet lays eggs? The reason why the hare story has come down to our children is that iu former generations grown people be lieved in it sufficiently to perpetuate it The explanation of its origin is mytho logical. Tho symbolism of the egg, in connection with tho celebration of the resurrection, is obvious. It represents tho new life, the bursting of the soul from material bonds into a freer and higher existence. Long before the rise of Christianity tbo egg was used as the symbol of the physical universe and the awakening of life therein. As snch it was given among friends as a token of good wishes for the new year, which began, us it still does among the Chi nese, with tbo vernal equinox. It would seem that wo ought to be satisfied with tho sufficient symbolism of the egg without running after the hare and tracing the myth concerning him to its origin. He, however, is not a meaningless accompaniment to the Easter egg, with whose production he is credited. After tho advice of the old recipe, therefore, let us "first catch our hare. ” To do this we must follow him from country to country, from America and England and Germany through Greece aud Egypt to India, and catch him at lust—where do you suppose? Thu Saxon goddess Eastre, from whom tho name Easter is derived, has general ly been identified by learned men with Astarte, tho flucnician goddess of the moon, whose name is familiar to Bible readers as Ashtaroth. Her festival was celebrated iu early spring at tbu begin ning of the ancient year aud therefore since Christ's passion was also a festival of that date iu tbu harmonizing of Chris tian cut ^oms and pagan rites which took place iu tiie evangelization of the Gothfl and tlio Saxons Easter and the resur rection were identified in observance. Now the doable symbolism of the phys ical aud spiritual resurrection found a parallel iu the character of the moon goddess. Not content with being a wo man and hence privileged enough, one would think, iu tbu exercise of "muta ble cud variable” characteristics, she eveu bad tbu advantage of changing her sex I Tho Greeks addressed her as a three formed goddess aud us a mala In Germanic speech the moon yet persists us musculiue in geuder. Tho best explanation of this dualism is that tho moon was at the same time both masculine and feminine; that there were two moons, a dark and a light, tbo "old moon in the now moon s or ms’’ being properly enough the "wo man in the cusa ” When tbu moan was full—usually a masculine trait, by the way—the light, or male element, alone was present, and the "man iu tlfi moon" reigned free of all feminine iii*j fiacuce. Ho was lord of light aud of time; Mas, tho measurer, as tho San skrit called him. When the moon was waning, it was, in Egyptian mythology, j Typbou, the typo of evil, whoso sway diminished with tho return of tho now moon and ended at the full, at which time a black pig, tho symbol of TyphonJ was offered iu sacrifice to Osiris, the' snu, supposed to bo bis victorious ene my. The leg of pig which is eaten in some parts of England on Easter Mon day is probably a survival of this cus tom, aud the tradition about the sun ; dancing on Easter morning ii«ay also be - a reminiscence of the old Egyptian myth. It would bo interesting to know if these traditions came through the Druids or the Saxons. Tho former rep- HUNTING BUNNY’S NEST. resented the moon as two goddesses, Llywy and Kreirwy, the analogues to Demoter and Persephone of the Greeks, tho Mother and tho Virgin, aud of Vi- nataand Kadenof tho ‘kinskrit, tho for mer of whom is connected with our modern observance of Easter in that she bore an egg, whence issues the ser pent which, according to tradition com-' men to many primitive peoples, brings about the waxing aud waning of the! moon by swallowing and disgorging it. This conception is not confined to sav-| ages, for Musset, the French poet, in his fantastic "Ballade a la Luue, ” apos trophizes tho moon as follows: Is it a snako that gnaws Thy disk t Whose swart embrace Bo draws . i To long affright thy face? But why is tho bare rather than tbo serpent, which is tho more plausible egg producer, connected with tho sur vival of moon worship at Eastertide? It is because from tbu earliest times peo ple fashioned the spots of tiie moon in tho form of a hare, just us tho majestic mien and rayounaut mane of tho lionj made him the fit symbol of the beaming) sun. And as the moon seemed to shrink from tho presence of the lord of day, i what was more natural than to repre sent it iu proverb aud story us the timid bare leaping up in tbu absence or tho subjugation of its powerful enemy? As the moon in mythology was rup reseuted as chuuging its sox, so its ani mal symbol, by that mental process which evolves, fact from fancy, was in time thought to do so in reality. From the days of Pliny aud Plntarch to the cuphuists and their successors of the reigns of Elizabeth and James the as tounding statement was accepted with out question. It is referred tu in the following incantation from Beaumont 1 aud Fletcher's "Faithful Shepherdess,” which also connects tiie hare with the moon: Haros that, yearly, sexes change; Proteus, altering oft and strung*; , i Hecate, with nhajiey three, Let this maiden changed Ixi. Even in the succeeding days of dawn-i ing science the author of " Vulgar Er-; rors, ” iu his chapter upon tbo belief ih. this metamorphosis, denies ouly that tbui change occurs annually aud admits that it may have taken place iu exceptional instances. ‘ . Another zoological fable which con nects the hare with tho watchful moon, "Spy since that man was born," waa that tho hare, born, unlike the rabbit, with open eyes, never closed them, and* so, in the old medicine, his brain aud eyes were prescribed to induce wakeful ness. Superstitions connecting tbo hora and! the moon are innumerable. Tho harei that crosses your path brings either ill lock, as does tho shadow that crosses the moon in eclipse, or else disorders your wits, as the beams of the moon ars thought to bring lunacy by shining) npou the unprotected face and head. Io this latter capacity us a luuatio maker the flush of tho hare was supposed to induce melancholy. But whether hat ters, who are proverbial for their "mad ness," become so by walking barehead-i ed (on the same principle that sboemak- 1 era’ children mu barefoot) or are ren dered "hare brained” by on especlall diet upon pass’ pelt bereft carcass is m question for anthropology, and neither* zoology nor mythology, to docido. A. L. Grkncul > \ S, ■ — — — Ah wen Milimly ex «hu Mat | T’day alomi In huh cha'eh i«ow. 4® Moltmly got do MwellvM* hat- ^ " A ^ Hh« gut dot hat full Kuatah tbot * Le preachuh toll how Admn hit - Le fruit an l<«’ do gardon fair, But 'Llndy got dut garden ylt. Hit porch on tup huh kinky hajrt