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•\ '• . \ THE WAIEfiTOWN RE-UNION. - ,v^ ' -- -. y % '*V.^- *.i-4-^ ) ;^*—\-v« j -;•* '«VT\^I. ;**, ^^ : ^J^^^'•' i /*3^i!ug?ty''*? '\*'• «i«*i-*w^ I ABRAHAM LINCOLN 'other day \as I was twin.m.$ Roses for a crown, to dine in., Wrvat, of all trunks, rmd the heap. 6hpuld ! Iigh± on.-, fast asleep. But the little desperate elf, TKe tiny traiior,- Lovo, himself) By the wir\$s I piclcecP h=im- up Lilo? 4\bee and In, a cup Of my wine I plunged and sank, Kim,, »- •KW'ii ' Then, what d'ye thtnJc I did?-! drank, him. 's?^ ^ ^wl^^tK.-IthougK-t hjiudead. Not he' \-^1? ••\Qfe*;*- VTTtei-e Ixe lives with, tenfold glee, \ \ And now this moment vvitK'tvs vviags I feel him tfckJing my heart-strings. '^ ^gi/zcy^ntr MM 5 A BEVfVAL of the dear, demon- strative customs of Saint Val- entine's festival is here. With the gay ribbons, the brocades and tinsel and the silken flowers of the Louises that are prevalent in our ^ house and dress decorations, has come a recrudescence of sentiment. For the modern maid—whose latest nickname, \the little creature,\ smacks of the early Victorian—for her of the ruffled skirts and the lovelocks have returned the burning hearts, the arrows of Cupid, the altar and the garlanded rings, the paired doves nesting in lace- paper—all the sweet, passionate sym- bolism and the lilting rimes that wooed and won the damsel's berufiled and becuried great-grandmamma. These will be hers to receive and give, if she followB the old, old rules of the game. The slim modern youth with the slightly romantic air Induced by his Byronic haircut will not disdain to send his love a realistic aortic con- flagration if he knowB she will not laugh at it. Happily, too, they may both cease thinking of good Saint Valentine mere- ly as a pious substitute for the de- liriously wicked Lupercalia, or even as a sort of philandering, gray-bearded, amorous cousin to Saint Nicholas, for there is a delightful secret concerning, him, a pathetic bit of gossip! The handsome Valentine of Rome, belonging to one of the leading early Christian families, was an ambitious young presbyter, reputed austere. He was cruelly opposed by that impossi- bly pagan person, Governor. Calpur- nius, who hurled Valentine into prison, and all that sort of thing, and finally had him beheaded, on the Flaminian Way, Anno Domini 207. But there is the 1 gossip, which I will let my infor- mant give in her own words: \I have by me a\ very ' old Book, which has the following Account of Valentine being confined at Rome on account o£ his Religion, and commit- ted to the care of a Man whose daugh- ter was blind, whom' Valentine re- stored to Sight, and from that Time the Girl became enamored of him, nor did h e treat her Affection \with Con- tempt. But after a long Imprisonment he was ordered for Publick Execution on the 14th of February. While in Prison being deprived of Books, he ' used, to amuse himself with cutting curious Devices in Paper, on one of which he wrote some pious Exhorta- tions and Assurances of Love, and sent to the Keeper's Daughter the Morning of Execution; and being con- cluded in the Words, 'Your Valentine,' there is great reason fcr supposing that to.be the origin of the present Custom.'' Thus saith Mistress Diana \Mason in the introduction to Kem- JUish's Annual and Universal Valen- tine Writer for 1797. After reviewing ft© variants of this legend as sub- letted by Miss Mason of Clapham, Join Nuttal of Bury, the coin- ot the'Annual thus delivers him- \We give it a s our opinion, that i first appears to be of most genuine <5rfehj;\ It 1B a pity that you cannot Fsee the long', lisping esses. They are so cheerfully convincing withal. It is pleasing thus to be able td conceive of the saint as a young lover, the initiated Archflamen of Hymen, as Charles Lamb named him, removed in the early stages of a mounting pas- sion to be the patron of all true lovers, and to inspire forever th e daintily sentimental, endearingly naive, over- decorated human documents we call valentines. The pretty customs of the Lover's Festival have flourished for centuries on the European continent, in England and Scotland, and even in America to some extent. But the ceremonial of Valentine Choosing, which is actually an adaptation of the blind lottery of the Roman Lupercalia, is now unused. Mission the Traveler gives this seven- teenth century account of the ritual: \An equal number of maids and bachelors indite their names upon sep- arate billets, which they roll up, and draw by way of lots, the maids tak- ing the men's billets and the men the maids'; so that each of the young men lights upon a girl that he calls his valentine, and each of the girls upon a young man whom she calls hers. By- this means each has two valentines;' but the man sticks faster to the val- entine to whom he had fallen. For-' tune having thus divided the company into so many couples, the valentines give balls and treats to their mis- tresses, wear their billets several days upon their bosoms or sleeves and this little sport often ends in love.\ Stilted Love Letter. A prose love letter was written b> the celebrated earl of Chesterfield in 1661. \Madam MB letter begins. \The dullness of this last cold season doth afford nothing that is now to divert you; only Cere is a report that I fain would know the truth of, which is, that I am extremely in love with you. Pray let me know if i t be trua or no, since I am certain that no one. but yourself can rightly inform me;i for if you intend to use me favorably, and do think I am in love with you> I most certainly am so; but if you in- tend to receive me coldly, and do not believe that I am in love, I also am sure that I am not; therefore let me entreat you to put me out of a doubt which makes the greatest concern of Dear Madam, your most obedient, faithful servant, Chesterfield! A Scotchman whose name Was Isbister Had a r..4<uan giraffe he called \Sister\ When she said \Oh be mine, Be my sweet Valentine!\ , He Just shinned up her Jons neck and kissed her. —Ellis Parker Butler. We must distinguish four kinds of voices of God—the voice of his provi- dence, the voice of his law, the voice of his gospel and the voice of his pun- ishments.—Dubosc. V2£=.^. •-NJJS'' For he, to whom we had applied Our shopman's test of age and worth, Was elemental when he died, As he was ancient at his birth; The saddest among Icings of earth. Bowed with a galling crown, this man Met rancor with a cryptic mirth, Laconic—and Olympian. — E. A, Robinson. L10LS, M OF THE PEOPI Many Reasons Why He Has Just- ly Been Given the Title of Typical American. Firm Believer Always in the Concep- tion of Democracy Which Is the Foundation of Our Nation—His Many Hioh Qualities Worthy of Emulation. T O save Abraham Lincoln from deathly apotheosis of the steel engraving has been a laudable effort of recent years. Of course it will not prevent the process of leg- end making which works upon the earthly reality of every great man, and in due time leaves him a desiccated abstraction existing for the heavy- boredom of childhood. Even Lincoln, with his vital, homely outlines, his intimate, endearing faults, and strong flavor of his day, must come to this turn. But the process may be retard- ed and ought to be as long as we can contrive. One hundred and seven years ago Lincoln was born. Fifty-one years ago he was shot by John Wilkes Booth, and on the next day he died, the first \martyred president.\ A great wave of passionate sorrow, gratitude and af- fection swept the North. The process of apotheosis began. Today it may be observed in the sanctified generalities of Lincoln orations, editorials, poems and articles. Moved by Flattery. The central idea of the overwhelm- ing majority of these tributes is Lin- coln, the man of the people, the typi- cal American. Year after year on February 12 and frequently through- out the year we hear this confident summary and without examining it. I s this mental inertia or ar e we uncon- sciously moved by the flattery implicit in this idea? An editorial in the New Kepublic suggests the latter. The real purpose of Lincoln-day speakers is not so much to eulogize Lincoln, this jour- nal declares, as to flatter the audience. \If Mr. Lincoln was so entirely a man of the people, the people must be very like to Lincoln,\ New View of Great President, the reproach has more of justice than we like to think. \Bhe orator is the courtier of democracy flattering the sovereign citizen as grossly as ever an emperor was flattered. The flattery of indirect prai3e Is Unusually delicate and Insidious, and it is well for us to examine it coolly. The Now Hepublio puts it sharply away. \In point of fact Mr. Lincoln was super- ficially a man of the people, and funda- mentally a unique, distinguished aud Wholly exceptional Individual. In cor- tain salient respects he was the least typical of Americana. Americans, par- ticularly those of Lincoln's own gener- ation and neighborhood, were essen- tially active, aggressive and objective men, whose lives were given over to practical external affairs, who sub- ordinated everything el3e t o the de- mands of practical achievement, and whose individuality consisted in living ordinary lives in an extraordinarily energetic manner. They were super- ficial, discursive, easy-going, quarrel- some, and wholly Incapable of prepar- ing In advance for any task or respon- sibility. In all those respects Lincoln differed from his fellow countrymon, and upon these differences his emi- nence depends. He was not particu- larly ambitious, aggressive or practi- cal. In spite of his lively social feel- ings, he lived a contemplative life, In which the intellectual interest ob- tained full expression and which at- tained a high degree of internal con- centration. He fought hard and well, but he never quarreled. During his formative years he quietly but unos- tentatiously prepared himself for great enterprises. He trained his mind be- cause he enjoyed hard Intellectual ex- ertion. His style shaped Itself under the influence of the Bible and Shake- speare. Thus at a period and in a country favorable to the cheap per- formance and the easy victory, Mr. Lincoln tempered his reason and his spirit for a great performance and a costly victory. Was tbere anything typically American about that?\ Ideas Worth Consideration. This is refreshing variation from the \canned eloquence\ of the Lincoln day Utterance, and It will repay con- sideration and emphasis, since we are LINCOLN Out of the shadows we sen him rise- Face that Is haunting ar.d sorrowful eyes. Scarred by his burden and bowed 'neatb Its weight; Slave to a mission and shackled by fate, Poor was the soE where his schooling be- gan; Bugged the boyhood that molded the man. Prone with his book by the flickering blaze, \What mw he there In the hearth's ruddy Blaze? SloWly he rose while the Fates gave no sign, Pitting himself for that labor divine. Deep In the shadows we see him agaln- Savior and martyr and brother of »men! —W. S, Itofse In Cleveland Plain Dealer. very like our forbears as to just the defects the New Republic here pun- gently outllnos. If wo thought moro of Lincoln's extraordinary disinterest edness, of his heroic patience, of IIIB deeply brooding spirit, and less of those qualities with which we estab- lish all too readily a rough resem- blance to our daily selves, we might get a wholesome and much-needed re- action from our rattling, self-satisfied and shallow life without losing our sense of his reality as a human being having human weaknesses. Especially keen is the thrust delivered at our tendency to \the cheap performance and the oasy victory\ and its contrast with Lincoln's tempting reason and spirit \for a great performance and a costly victory.\ No groat victory was ever pur- chased cheaply. It has always beon paid for In long and costly, though often unconscious preparation. Our national optimism, our Impatience and superficiality obscure that truth. As Typical American. But, after all, in the legend we are making of Lincoln as typical Ameri- can there Is an instinct and a truth that ar e not superficial, All legend making is a profound process of na- tional self-realization, an intuitive in- carnation of national ideals, and in tho case of Lincoln it i s based upon th e sincere, the religious democracy of this great man. The high distinction of mind, as shown, for example, in the prose of tho Gettysburg oration, th e moral nobility, the introspective aloof- ness which were an essential part of him, only accentuate for us the w.arm nearness of his nature to the common man and the common life. Lincoln himself hold to th e mystical, concep- tion of democracy which Whitman ex- pressed in his poetry and Which is the dream in the heart of Americanism. The essential brotherhood of ma n was an intimate and glowing reality t o Lincoln, nol; a lofty abstraction, an d though we betray it and misread it we must cling tb it if we are to save tno national soul, Idealizing ourselves through Lincoln is more than solf-flattery. It is a crude but not ignoble effort to express tbe deepest and most pervasive element of American Idealism. Lincoln's Place in History. Abraham Lincoln was oho of the su pi'emely great men of his day. He grows bigger and bigger all the time, and a thousand years from now his fame will bo Immensely vaster than It is at the preesnt time. No man in all the tide of time ever filled a more difficult or trying place than he held for four years, and the verdict of his- tory is that lie measured squarely up to his tremendous responsibilities. I t Is doubtful If any other man in th a country could have saved the day. FIG. 2 * HANDICRAFT FOR BOYS AND GIRLS \ By- A. NEELY HALL and DOROTHY PERKINS lirVWVWWirVWVVVWVWWir^^ (Copyright, by A, Netly HalLl KNOTS AND HITCHES. Below are a few knots and \hitches\ that every boy should know. Get two pieces of light rope and work out each as I describe its formation. A rope has three parts—the \bight\ or loop (L, Pig, 1), the \standing part\ or long end (S, Fig. 1), and the 'END STANDING PARI OVERHAND KNOT STEFT _ FIG.3 )SQUARE KNOT STEPS, — FIG. 4 GRANNY KNOT & FIG. sTFlSHERMANS' KNO' \ond usually the short end used in forming the knot or hitch (E, Fig. 1). To begin with the simple Overhand Knot (Fig. 2), make a loop (L) and pass the end (IS) through the loop. In joining two pieces of rope with a Square Knot (Fig. 3), first twist the ends (E, E) as shown in Step 1, and then form an Overhand Knot on top a s shown In Step 2. Notice the difference between the positions of the rope ends In this knot and in the Granny Knot shown In Fig. 4. The Square Knot will hold, the Granny knot will slip. The Fisherman's Knot (Fig. 5) is a secure knot and one easily loosed. In FIG.8. FIGURE'OF-EIGHT- KNOT Joining two ropes, tie an Overhand Knot in each rope end (E), forming It over th e standing part (S) of the othor rope, then pull the knots to- gether. Thoy can be loosed by pull- ing on the ends (B). The Bowline Knot (Fig. 0) will neither slip nor draw tight. First form a small loop in the rope (L, Step 1, Pig. 6), then bring the end (E) up through the loop, around the standing part (S), and down through the loop (Step 2, Fig. 6). Tho Sheet Band (Fig. 7). Make a loop with one ropo end (L, Step 1, Pig. 7), then pass the end of the other rope through the loop, around both the standing part and end of loop, and out through the loop between the loop and itself (Step 2, Fig. 7). Figure of Bight Knot (Fig. 8). Make a loop (L), then pass the end (B) around the standing part (S), and out through the loop. The Half-Hitch (Pig. 9) is a secure method of attaching a rope to a tim- ber when the pull on the standing part will bo steady. In the Timber-Hitch (Fig. 10), the end (E) tucked in several times. The Timber-Hitch and Half-Hitch (Pig. 11) is a combination used for fastening rope to Umbers for hoisting. Tho Clove-Hitch (Figs. 12 and 13) is secure und*>r every condition. Pass the rope around the pole or post, with the end (13) crossing the standing part (S, Step 1, Fig. 12); then pass the ond around a second time and slip it under this last turn (Step 2, Fig. 12). SCHOOL. BOOK JACKETS. Heavy, glazed brown wrapping pa> per makes the best paper jackets. It you have none In the house, get a sheet or two from yoflr grocer. Place the book to be covered upon a piece of the paper (Fig. i) , open it, and mark out around the edges of the cov- ers; then measure off a margin of 2%. or 3 inches outside of this, and out out the piece. Next, out away corners A (Fig. 2), and cut and bend over. tabs B. The dotted lines represent! the edges of the covers, and with these as a guide It is a simple matter to, snip away corners A with a pair of scissors. Tabs B should be as wide, as the book is thick, and the full depth; of the margins, and should be located in the center of the top and bottom margins. Cut obliquely, as shown. After folding over the tabs, placo. the opened book Inside of the margins, and fold flaps O, then flaps D, over onj to the covers (Fig. 3). Daub glue orl mucilage upon the under side of the; end of flaps D, and press down upon, flaps 0. Cloth jackets are more durable thaw paper ones. Gray or brown cambric dress lining is the best material to, use. Cut the cloth in exactly the same/ way as described for tho paper jacket] (Fig. 2), but instead of pasting thej flaps together tack their corners with) thread (Fig. 4). Then lace the thread] back and forth from the upper flaps/ to the lower ones, as shown in Fig. 4„ pulling tho lacings taut. The jacket shown in Fig. 8 must b«| made of heavy canvas, because it re-! quires stiffness to hold its shape. The, dotted lines in Fig. 6 indicate the mar-l gin to leave outside of the bookcovers, also the lines on which to fold. The top and bottom margins should be 1% inches wide, the side margins 3 inches wide. Fold the top and bottom mar- gins over, first, as indicated in Fig. 7, then the side margins; and tack the under folds of the ends of the side margins to the folds of the top and bottom margins. The result • vlli be a pocket on each side edge of the jacket (Fig. 8), ] II
