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Show s . 4 tpc ELEBRATED by religious obserr-f obserr-f ance and fesWvals among the t S' Egyptians, Chinese, Jews, Rom- J ana and Mohammedans many A centuries before the Christian era, New Year's day is still the one holiday celebrated by all nations, na-tions, civilized or savage. While true that the first day of the new year does not fall slmul-i slmul-i r; taneously in all sections of the ilulilul!) globe, since all countries do not uae the Christian calendar, it is, nevertheless, a fact that each nation has its own New Year's day. . Even the cannibals of the South Sea islands and savage tribes of Central Africa celebrate the beginning of the new year with aome sort of ceremonies. One general characteristic, however, marks all the celebrations, celebra-tions, and that is the spirit of rejoicing and X . - I 7 v ,, rl- "r i it ,:' - "'rr.,H , ( (I )))??( irYx--- - j ( in jilliii II II feasting. Many of the customs are quaint and unusual, but still fraught with the spirit of revelry and good will. In our country, of course, especially In the large cities, merriment merri-ment and conviviality hold full sway, though the watch-night services serv-ices In the churches appeal more to those of serious bent, to whom the passing of the old year and the welcoming of the nw are causes for reflection, reflec-tion, meditation and even sadness. In New York, Chicago Chi-cago and most other cities the New Year's frolic is a veritable Bedlam of noise and revelry. Millions are spent In wine and coBtlv suppers, and as the hour of midnight the celebration, which Is a distraetlngly mad and merry one. God-cakes, triangular In Bhape, filled with mincemeat and about a half-inch thick, are eaten on New Year's day in both England and Scotland. They are sold in larye numbers and can be purchased for from a penny apiece all the way up to one pound. Feasting is really the chief feature of the Scottish celebration, more 6o than at Christmas or any other time of the year. Steaming hot wassel, too, is carried from door to door and indulged in by neighbors and friends. In Russia the Julian calendar is still In vogue and January 1 there corresponds to January 14 of our calendar. The Russian festival begins on New Year's eve and lasts until the fourteenth day of the New Year. At midnight, as the old year is dying and the new being born, the Czar attends public mass, and precisely on the stroke of 12 o'clock a hundred cannons are discharged and the revelry begins. At the end of the .celebration .cele-bration two weeks hence the people fast and attend Bolemn religious services, marking on the doors of their houses, also, a cross to prevent Satan from crossing the threshold. In the rural sections the Russian children make the day peculiarly their own, for, armed with peas and grains of wheat, they sally forth In bands early New Year's morning, stop at every house, enter and wake the Inmates with a bombardment of peas orby scattering the wheat over the sleepers. Later in the day they choose the very finest horse raised In the village that year, decorate it and present It to the nobleman who is master of the village. In return he scatters scat-ters small coina among them. Their elders, too, make presents to the nobleman, such as cows, sheep and fowls. The strangest of all Russian customs, perhaps, is the gathering around a jar of water by each family group in the belief that, if their faith is sufficiently strong, the miracle performed by Christ in Cana of Galilee when he turned the water into wine will be repeated. New Year's day in Japan Is picturesque tc the extreme. The emperor holds a formal court reception,' much as our chief executive does, which is attended by the foreign diplomats and high officials of the Japanese government. The celebration among the people lasts five days, and preparations for it are begun long before. The fronts of all houses are covered with emblematic em-blematic decorations; branches of pine and ol bamboo are planted In large vases filled with earth and placed before the doors, and ovei the projecting roofs of the houses are strung garlands of plaited straw. These latter bear leaves of certain trees, shell fish and other charms believed to be potent factors in bringing good luck to the household. The people flock to the temples, which are open all New Year's night, and there cook their zoomi, a sort of rice cake, always eaten before the sun has risen. Later, on New Year's day, there is much visiting and tea drinking and exchange ex-change of good wishes for the coming year. 11 he can do no better, even the very porest of peasants wraps pieces of dried fisti in paper, tied with a peculiar red and white string used only on this occasion, and sends them to his friends as his New Year's gift. The Japanese new year date falls simultaneously with our own, they having adopted the Gregorian calendar In 1S72. The Jewish New Year is usually celebrated some time in September and Is called Rosh Hos-hanah. Hos-hanah. also Yora Hardin, which last means days of judgment. New Year's eve is observed with fasting and the day . itself with feasting. "May you be in favor with God this New Year" is the Jewish form of salutation, from which the Gentile Gen-tile greeting, "Happy New Year," is said to be a contraction. reading of the stars. It furnishes standard time for half the world, and as the new year is born will send its message clear up to Alaska, to South America,vto China and to London. Over in France New Year's day is not entirely one of rejoicing; that is, unless one is able to rise above such mundane things as finance, for New Year's in France means bills! It is the universal paying-up 'day of the year. All the . dear, familiar old bills thai have been jogging along and accumulating during the year suddenly sud-denly pile in en masse and greet the head of the house on New Year's morning. It is not difficult to obtain credit in France, provided one possesses pos-sesses the externals of a comfortable competence, compe-tence, and the tradesmen and landlords and shopkepers are content to wait until January first. Then they drop their gentle little reminders remin-ders in the malls or, more frequently, present them through representatives. The butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker and all the galaxy gal-axy of "their sisters and their cousins and their aunts" are to be reckoned with. Festival, banqueting and merrymaking likewise like-wise hold high carnival. From New Year's eve until the morning of the second day of the new year the streets of Paris are. en fete. 'Beautifully gowned women, in richly decorated carriages, and groups of beribboned holiday-seek; form a boulevards. Cafe life then is wild and brilliant surging, happy pageant that throngs, the spacious and the students from the Latin quarter contribute con-tribute their full quota of roistering and revelry in the restaurants and along th streets. The German celebration of the New Year is not lacking in wholesome good cheer and festive pranks, but it is pre-eminently a decorous one. In Berlin elaborate musical programs are rendered ren-dered and everywhere anthems and festival songs are chanted, beginning at twilight of the last day of the old year and continuing until the bells peal forth the glad tidings of a new year' born unto the centuries. There is one German custom that dates from the year IS4S that has no little of the spirit of the typical "bad boy" in it. On New Year's eve anyone walking along the streets of Berlin and w-earing a high hat need take no umbrage if a couple of German students, who may have endeavored a trifle too zealously to find the bottom of the flowing bowl, slip up behind him and smash the aforesaid hat down over his eyes. This is the penalty he pays for - wearing such a hat at such a time and tie has no kick coming to him, even if his hat is knocked off his head and kicked until it ceases to be a hat. The good folks in the Rhenish provinces have an adaptation of this custom that is more gentle and yes less expensive, considering the damage dam-age done. This consists of stealing up upon a friend as he is walking along the street and whispering in his ear: "Prosit Neujahr." The friend thus accosted straightway omes across with a little present, such as a cigar, or a drink or an invitation to dinner. In Frankfort-on-the-Main the entire city rushes to its windows as the old year dies, flings them open and. glasses in hand, drinks a toast lo Father Time's latest born Then the windows are slammed down, the merriment ceases and all retire for a peaceful night's slumbpr In England the New Year customs are of very ancient origin and even more generally observed than in this country. Every English family sits up to see the old year out and the new year in. and always there is a bowl of hot punch, etc., with which to drink the toasts to the New Year The custom Is a Burviva! of the time when the head of the house assembled his family around a bowl of spiced ale from which he and they drank, each other's health and the health of the New Year. The words used in the toast were: "Waas Hael," meaning "to your health." Presently, Pres-ently, the toaBt bowi came to be known as the wassail, or wassel bowl. In Scotland the wassel bowl Is the center" of -W 'ami i strikes a full hundred thousand glasses are raised aloft in the joy palaces, and the health of the New Year is drunk. The lobster show places of New York human and crustacean are jammed to the doors, with the tables engaged weeks before hand. The noise and the wine-drinking zone extends fully ten miles, with every foot of it packed by a yelling, struggling, good-natured crowd, marching In unending un-ending procession up and down the streets. At midnight the din, the roar and the rattle that has kept up unceasingly since the electric lights were turned on breaks loose In one mighty blast that threatens to tear even the subway trains from underground and jar the elevated from their tracks. Nowhere else in the country is the celebration so blatant, so ridiculous and so recklessly reck-lessly extravagant as there. From the spectacular standpoint and the long list of notables on dress parade no celebration equals, perhaps, that at the White House, at Washington. All society of the capitnl attends. Second ouly in splendor of display to the glittering glitter-ing uniforms of the diplomats and the army and navy officers are the floral settings. Uncle Sam furnishes the flowers from his wonderful greenhouses green-houses and likewise the music, the famous United Unit-ed States Marine band, that always plays at White House functions. Every vantage point is seized upon for the banking of flowers and extreme care has to be taken that they will not Impede the progress of the 10,000 people and mere who surge through the rooms at the reception. All mantels are covered cov-ered with blooms and palms and bouquets in vases are placed at every convenient point. The president takes his place in the blue room and the procession begins with the foreign ambassadors, am-bassadors, headed by the dean of the corps, and the ministers and attaches of the various legations. lega-tions. Then come the chief Justice and the other members of the judiciary: then the senators, representatives, rep-resentatives, army and navy officers and other officials of the government Later in the day the president receives the people at large, and their waiting line generally extends from the front door of the White House out to and down Pennsylvania Penn-sylvania avenue for several blocks. At the present Instant old 1912 changes to new 1913, a million miles of telegraph wires and countless wireless stations will publish the glad tidings to every city and village In the country and to ships at sea. And this will be official, too, for the message will come direct from the United States naval observatory at Washington, and still more directly from an old sidereal clock that has long held an honored place in that Institution. This plain-faced old clock is always correct. Dever varying even one hundredth of a second from the astronomical |
