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Show Day Devoted to Tender Thoughts An old Idea Is thnt observed February Feb-ruary 14 because of an ancient belief that birds began to mate on that date, hence the practice of sending missives of nn amatory or satirical nature. Today's satirists assert that If this Is true, the birds that started the habit must have been cuckoos. Other doubts prevail as to the origin of the name, Saint Vulentlne. It Is a corruption of the word "gn-lantin," "gn-lantin," meaning a lover, a gallant, or a dangler, reference books state when consulted about the venerable old saint, whose name sprang Into being nhout 475 li. C. Miss Modernity, 1026 sport model, alleges that dangler Is the correct word. She, It seems, keeps them dangling on a "line," to quote modern slang. Whether or not she lands them Is problematical, sheiks and asphalt arabs declare. P.e that as It may, this same reference ref-erence book sets forth that the name Saint Valentine was selected for the sweethearts' saint, merely because of the euphonious qualities of his name. This is another source of humorous remarks. Trace the name from the word "galnntln" to "Saint Valentine" and you have almost all of the various expressions In use todiiv tn rlnnntn varying degrees and terms applicable to that symptom of heart infection called by mortals "love." I.atln gives us "valens," meaning valiant. Modern folk jestingly remark that a man to be married must be valiant. Write the old geometrical term, "Q.E.D.," meaning "Quod Erat Demonstrandum" which was to be proved. Welsh tongues give us the word "gwan" as one of the by-products of "valens," to which the modern, flippant flip-pant flapper prefixes "aw," and the present day term, "aw-gwan," seems to have been said several hundred years before this era of store-bought faces and rolled socks. "Gwan," In Welsh, meant guard, ward or vain. Consequently, one's valentine could be considered any or all three of these. A wife is a ward. Try and keep her sometimes Is the difficulty. She is also a guard. If Monsieur lien Peck or any of his 5C7,9S9,007,93S colleagues col-leagues are to be heard. This settlos the origin of the date and the origin of the name, since It has been traced backward through the musty pages of some dozens of reference refer-ence books. Saint Valentine's observance Is an easier tiling to ascertain. Chaucer wrote in his "Complulnt to My Mortal Foe": "Selnt Valentyno! To you I renovele My woful lyf, as I can, comploynlnge: Upon your day doth ech foul chose his mate. Which means, when translated, that he wished to renew his woeful life as he could, complainingly, however; and added for the edification of others that "on this day does each fowl choose its mate." Shakespeare, in "Hamlet," refers also to Saint Valentine's day. His must have been in these good old days that we hear about so often, judging lrum me rone or his words, which would indicate that pretty maids hung about desirable bachelors' windows win-dows upon tills day. The exact words used by the Bard of Avon are: "Tomorrow Is Saint Valentine's day, All In the morntne betime, j And I a maid at your window I To be your Valentine." "Hod dawg." quoth the office sheik, who happened to see (Ids, "thorn's the days I woulda like to lived Wouldna hndda crank Ol' I.lz up and go get her. She'd have been on hand Just after dawn." The custom of observing the day. however, has fallen Into disuse In England, while In Trance, where It once prevailed on the first Sunday In Lent, the sending of valentines almost has disappeared from folic-traits. folic-traits. , - Hut In America Kid Kupld Is making mak-ing a heavy tight. Today is liie day i when the pink and white creations, bought with carefully hoarded pennies by little Jimmy, will find their way to Betty. And tlie day when the older folks also will dream of other days, when they, too, eagerly watched the village vil-lage mail man, waiting for the tender missives that spelled In eapi.'al let ters "L-O-V-E." i |