Se EASTER. Frafl, trembling hands outreached in eager groping If, haply through the shadows of the tomb, Ye might but find and feel Him—vainly hoping For life from lifeless touch, for light from Tired feet that linger where no Christ lies loom; hiddeng Sad eyes that weep, and lips that sob and moan— No longer grieve nor grope. See! .God has bidden His strong white angels roll away the stone. He whom ye seek behind yon gloomy portal— Mingling your burial spices with your tears— No more is dead; in strength and light immortal He lives to crown with joy the desolate years. Lives to o’ercome earth’s anguished ery and sobbing, Give rest for struggle, and for wounds His balm, His strong sweet life through human pulses throbhing, Changing all fear to trust, all strife to calm. How shall ye know? Not by the radiant altars Whose incense draws the fainting lilies’ breathe Not by the tide of praise that falls nor falters Through countless paans of victory over deaths Not by the sacred help of priestly praying, Nor all that temples, shrines, or symbols give, They only know whose hearts have heard Him saying: “My life is thine; because I live ye live.” Bad fettered souls long held in self’s dim prison, “ Bound fast by error, ignorance, or pride, Do ye not hear? The Conqueror is risen; In His brave death thy foes and His have died. Bury thy dead! Live, live the wondrous story That lifts.the world from deeps of woe and wrong, Wouldst flood the shadows with .the Easter glory? Sing out, the whole year round, thine Easter song. —Harper’s Bazar, le ORIGIN OF EASTER. & 50 ee te EYE Oe oats Teo Ye UTNE Yb erie RASTERTIDE, the oldest church festival, comes down to us from the ancient He- brews. With them, however, the time was not associated with the death and resurection of Christ, but with the season of the year when the earth pours forth its freshest blossoms and the revivification of nature—the springing forth of life in the spring. It is from this that the Easter egg custom springs, and centuries ago, even before the birth of Christ, color- ed eggs were given and received by the celebrants of the feast. The egg for all time has been regarded as symbolical of the spring, when the earth receives from nature its new life. Not only the ancient Hebrews, but the ancient Persians, employed the colored eggs in their celebrations of the feast of the solar mew year, in March. With the Hebrews the festival was called Pasch, and the name still lives, with slight alterations, among many nations. The French call the festi- val Paques; the Dutch term it Pas- chen; the Danes Paaske, and the Swedes Pask. In the early days of Christianity the influence of the Jew- ish Pasch upon the holy day commem- orating the slaying of Christ and his resurrection was such that it created many bitter dissensions between the western and the eastern churches. Finally the discussions assumed such a threatening aspect that Polycrates, bishop of Ephesus, appealed to Victor, bishop of Rome, asking for a general council to decide the much-vexed question. Accordingly, councils met in all the countries, as well as at Rome, but, alas, for visions of harmony, they could not agree. They finally decided to recognize the day as their respec- tive fathers before them had done, and no sect should censure the other for a difference of opinion. Many warm and even bitter discus- sions still continued on the subject of Easter celebrations, and it finally led ‘to the great emperor, Constantine, in 325, issuing an order for the dispute to be settled by the council of Nice. It was the momentous theme of the day. In obedience to royalcommand, 318 bishops and some 2000 inferior clerics assembled at Nice in Bithynia. The first sessions met in the church, and as the council continued its work the place of meeting was transferred to the imperial palace, where special apartments were reserved for this august body. The main trouble was between the Jewish Christiansand the Gentile Christians. On the 14th day of the first lunar morth the Jews observed with all the solemnity and regard for the Mosaic law the Feast of the Passover; thus they celebrated the death of Christ as represented by the Paschal Lamb. The first Sabbath after the 14th day of the March moon the Gentile Chris- tians celebrated with joyous. religious services the resurrection of Christ. Neither sect would recognize the other’s festive day, and the council of Nice was greatly perplexed as how best to please all parties. After continuing their debates, pro and con, for several months, the ecclesiastical dignitaries announced that the bitterly waged war of dispute was settled. Easter day was for all time to be the first Sabbath im- mediately following the fourteenth day of the March moon. By this arrangement the world may celebrate Easter, justly called the ‘‘Queen of Festivals,” as early as March 22, and again it may not arrive until April 25, when nearly the entire earth is fragrant with spring buds and blossoms. The word Easter is derived from a Pagan goddess of the early Teutons called Ostera. The German word for Easter is Ostern, but some philologists maintain that both the German and English words come from the ancient Saxon word Oster, or Osten, meaning “rising.” Ostera, the German god- dess, was credited with being the personification of the morning, and of the cast, and also of the opening year. Ostera was worshiped very gen- erally in northern Germany, and it is believed that the fame of the goddess | spread to England, where the Saxons joined in worshiping her. Until the beginning - of the present century court was paid to Ostera by the kind- fosady i Ra L Rr ling of great bonfires and in other ways, and even to-day in seme of the remote districts where many supersti- tious beliefs are treasured by the peas- antry the fame of Ostera still lives. The early Christians made the Easter celebration extend over a period of eight days, but in the eleventh cen- tury the festival was reduced to three days, and later to one day. In olden | days Easter was the popular time for baptism. The law courts were shut and the poor and needy were feasted regally in the churches,ga custom that was much abused and which led to great disorder. Slaves were tem- porarily free, the people gave them- selves up to hilarity and gl” sorts of 2 EASTAR CUSTOMS, The Typical Use of the Egg is Common to All Countries. % This rar Easter falls in April, so that in some localities we may really enjoy the soft air, the green of the grass, the song of birds and fragrance of flowers, so often only in the future at the Easter time. Hope comes again to the invalid with Faster days; the violets ave peeping from their beds and all things seem “Emblems of our own great resurrections Emblems of the bright and better land.” The egg in some form or other has been a type of the new life from the very beginning of the Christian era, a growth, probably, from the pagan idea that the egg was the beginning of all kinds of life. Various customs and ways of using the egg have grown up in different countries. In Russia, as early as 1589, eggs colored red, typifying the blood of Christ shed as an atonement for our sins, were the most treasured of ex- changes at Easter. Every believer went abroad at this season with his pockets well supplied with Easter eggs, as the society man of to-day attends to his well-filled card case. When two Russians met for the first time during the Easter holidays, if they had not met on the day itself, the belated Easter compliments were passed, first by solemnly shaking hands in silence, then the elder (or the younger, if he outranked the elder) would say: “The Lord is risen,” and his companion would reply: ‘It is true;’ then they kissed each other and ceremoniousl drew from their respective pocket the Easter emblem and exchange eggs. i Hyde, in his description of Oriental sports, tells of one with eggs among the Christians of Mesopotamia on Easter day, and forty days afterward: ‘“The sport consists in striking their eggs one against another, and the egg that first breaks is won by the owner of the one that struck it. Immediate ly another egg is pitted against the winning egg, and so on till the ass egg wins all tho others, which their respective cwners shall before have won," THE EDEN LILY. Ee When God bid run Euphrates’ stream, Ere yet man came to earth, For Faith and Virtue’s future theme He gave the lily birth. He robed it as Himself divine, Gave to its heart the gold And majesty of royal line, In simple, snowy fold. Our parents loved the many flowers They found in Eden blest; The poetry of all the hours— But hailed the lily best! When the Archangel came and walked The groves all golden shod, Gravely to Adam, Michael talked Of purity and God. Then pointing to the lily fair, : Said, “Though you bring tne gloom Of death to earth, this lily rare Shall typify the Bloom.” The angels now around the Throne Cireling are singing on, E When Easter brings the lifted stone, And fear from earth has gane. They tell that fallen man long doomed At last has met the light; That Israel’s. Lily now has bloomed On altars pure and white. ~—James Riley, in Boston Bouquet. enjoyment. Popularsportsand dances were added, and the joyous solemnity of the day bade fair to be ruined. While many curious observances cluster about Easter, the egg as an emblem of resurrection was, and is most generally used by all Nations. De Gebelin has connected it with the ancient Egyptians, Persians, Greeks and Romans, and Dr. Schwartz finds that it was customary among the Par- 3ees to distribute red eggs at their spring festival. In Germany, instead of the egg, is an emblematic print, in which three hens are holding a basket wherein are three eggs,—Picayune. Easter Symbols. $Papa, what makes my candy rab- bit’s ears stick up so?” “I’m almost afraid to say so, little daughter, but I think he’s scared at your mother’s Easter hat.” A Poached Egg, Eggs were held by the Egyptians as a sacred emblem of the renovation of mankind after the deluge. The Jews adopted them to suit the circum- stances of their history as a type of their departure fromthe land of Egypt; they were also used in the feast of the Passover. : The Syrians believed that the gods from whom they claimed descent were ‘hatched from mysteriously laid eggs. Hence we infer that our present cus- tom of offering the Easter egg emblem has the heathen legends for its origin; in fact all our most precious festivals come down from similar sources, but purified with the light of Christianity. THE EASTER BIRTH. Again the flower-shoot cleaves the clod; Again the grass spear greens the sod; Again buds dot the willow rod. The sap released within the tree Is like a prisoned bird set free, - And mounteth upward buoyantly. Once more at purple evening dream The tender-voiced, enamoured stream Unto the rush renews its theme. ' How packed with meaning this new birth Of all the growing things of earth Life springing after death and dearth! Thou, soul, that still dost kl 0 Hath not this, in its vernal CT Pe, Some radient resurrection hope? = ; —Clinton Scollard, s - THE REALM Novelties in Hairdressing. How to dress the hair in a becoming manner, and at the same time carry as light a load as possible, is a problem that will try the brains of women dur- ing the coming spring months. The problem has been partly solved by the inventor of what is known as the “simplex” foundation. It is used in building up the coiffure produced BUILDING TP THE COIFFURE. herewith. Not only is it light as air and perfectly durable, but it supplies nature’s deficiencies without detection. It is used principally in a new de- velopment of the Victorian style, ar- ranged in three high loops on top of the head in conjunction with a pretty tortoise shell comb. The foundation is made up of a bang and a tress. By reference to the picture it can be seen that an ingenious hair fastener enters into its composition. The ingenuity of the contrivance lies not only in the keeps in place and conceals a switch of additional hair, which enables one while fixing them into the bandage necessary for their proper arrange- fact that it is a hair fastener, but it | to add to the importance of the tresses. BADR DS ERI 49 23S OF FASHION.” & RO SE OEE CRO Os BE BGG GRRL bicycles is a small silver name plate to be placed on the tool bag. A clasp on the plaids belts is of sil- ver, gilt and represents an army but- ton surrounded by a wreath. It is also worn on belts of black seal leather. A neat brooch is in the shape of an open oyster shell, the natural colors being represented in enamels, with a small pearl mounted in the deeper half of the shell. Another belt is of oxidized silver wire forming a sort of lathwork mounted on a drab silk ribbon. The clasp is in the form of two rosettes, in the centers of “which turquois is mounted. At the back are two rosettes of the same design as the clasp, and one is also wbrn at each side. Silk and leather belts are again Dbe- coming popular. A combination of the two materials consists of a. silk ribbon on a leather belt. The silks are chief- ly plaids and are applied so that the lines run dianonally across the belt. Appropriate buckles and slides of sil- ver, gilt, and are the favorite mount- ings. Flowers play an important part in the recent designs for brooches. Among the blossoms which seem to be favorites are violets with petals spread apart, pansies, clematis and apple blossoms. They are all enamel in natural colors and often havea small pearl or diamond mounted in the cen- ter, or in the more deeply colored flowers on one of the petals, in which cases it represents a dew drop. Millinery Hints. The smartest toques and bonnets and picture hats flaunt gorgeous bouquets of ribbon in place of glassy- eyed little songster, and itis unde- niable that the ribbon is answering just as well as the birds did for effec- RAR RR KY KX SC SR W ir oF > NS hh LL SPRING WALKING COSTUMES. ment.” The entire arrangement is pretty, light and becoming to most features. Hints About Walking Costumes. The cotton gowns are now being built very much on the lines of the winter models. The paquin skirt is. admirably adapted to thin fabrics of all kinds, as the circular flounce gives a pretty fullness about the feet. Straight flounces are also applied in the same manner and they launder better. The bodices of organdie are very elaborate and the skirts are flounced, and rows of lace are set in them. The guimpe bodice, which has been so popular during the winter, will be much in evidence this sum- mer. Dainty guimpes are built of fine sheer white batiste or gmuslin, tucked or corded in groups, with nar- row Valenciennes insertion between them. The sleeves in some instances There is slight change in shirt waists from those of last season. if collars are worn they must turn over. demand as ever, and chic little Eton coats; built on severe lines, will be worn, ones. the prevailing colors. Blue, pink and yellow will be and often the ribbon is gathered into little frills. tion has been somewhat overestimat- ly true of cloth skirts, and as cvery woman knows, walking costumes are more comfortablé made with the foun- dation and skirt in one piece. Tailor skirts for the most part will be made without trimming; but a number of the jacket bodices are quite elaborate- ly decorated. Revers of silk in a contrasting color will be embelished ~with braid and embroidery. Belts, Clasps and Brooches. An embossed silver prayer bookcase has a blue ribbon enameled around the edges, * A silver gilt spoon has a design of | ferns for the handle and the bowlis | enamelgg to represent the United States shield. ; The latest device to be attached to match: the neck, but they ate quite as | good style if they are of the organdie. | Btocks aro | the smartest fenish to the necks, and | Pique skirts will be as much in Silk skirts will rival cotton They are tucked, shirred, trimmed with rows of narrow black satin and velvet ribbon, ; A letter from Paris, from an up-to-date individual, states that the prevalence of the separate founda- ! ed, and that the greater proportion of | the skirts are lined. This is especial- tive decoration. The giddiest head- pieces from Paris, sent over as models, fairly bristle with bows, inthe making of which there has sprung up a small art all to itself. Out of a dozen im- ported hats on one stand seven were marked for the predominating tones of, yellow they exhibited, and the othér five were black and white, Yed- da and basket straw prevail over the lately lovedrice and Swiss weaves, and nearly every straw has a satin finish. Other new hats are fairly trifles, all tulle and flowers. Scotch heather, periwinkles and fine small blossoms generally are to be very fashionable. -j Up-to-Date Sailor Iat. The early straw sailor hats will be trimmed with loops of ribbon and one or more quills. “It is evident that this is to be a floral season, and many of the imported toques are composed en- SAILOR HAT. tirely of flowers and leaves. Fine flowers are used for the crown and brim, and roses withleaves wired into aigrets. Violet hats are now the craze, and they suggest pleasantly the approach of spring. : Donkeys in Demand. In South Africa there is a great de: mand for donkeys, as they are proo against climate, plague and flies, TAPPING THE RUBBER TREE, How the Valuable Gam is Extracted in South American Forests. In South America natives are hired by rubber contractors to penetrate the forests and secure the gum of the rub- ber tree. This is generally done by making several vertical incisicns up the trunk of the tree, with others run- ning obliquely into the main or up- right channels. Small clay cups are fastened to the bark and the rubber sap or milk allowed to flow into them. It is at first about the color and con- sistency of cream, losing in the pro- cesses of coagulation fifty-six per cent. Several methods of congealing the rubber milk are used, but the one most commonly practiced is known as the ‘‘biseuit’” process. The sap is smeared on a stock resembling a but- ter ladle or paddle and held over the smoke obtained by burning forest nuts. The milk soon thickens on the paddle, which is repeatedly dipped into the sap and put through the smok- ing process, until a piece of crude rubber weighing often fifty pounds is formed; this when removed has a hole through the centre left by the paddle, and is termed a ‘‘biscuit’” of rubber. TAPPING A RUBBER TREE, Rubber trees when carefully tapped yield abundantly for forty or fifty years, but if the incisions go too deep the process of decay starts at once, and their period of productiveness is over forever. The native gatherers being paid for the season’s work in proportion to the number of pounds of rubber collected, not only bleed the trees to death, but when the flow of milk ceases the larger trees are cut down and the sap extracted from the wood. They also mix mandioca meal, gravel, nails, leaves and almost any- thing that comes to hand with the milk, in order to increase the weight of the ‘‘biscuits.” In Africa the gath- erers go so far in the extermination of the forests that even the roots of the rubber tree are dug up and the sap crushed out of them. With such methods the rubber pirates of South America and Africa are but hastening the time of the rubber famine, and adding tothe present enormous profits derived from cultivated rubber plan- tations. A Doctor's Telephone Lines. Discussing a bill to tax telephone lines, Mr. Dougherty said recently in the Illinois Legislature: ‘‘Over here in Hancock County there is a wealthy doctor who has been building tele- phone lines. He's gradually extended them until he now has quite a system. Ob, yes, it’s a great convenience, but nobody on his lines dare to get sick un- less he or she employs this particular . doctor. He won't allow any other doe- tor in the county to be called up through his telephone system.” A Sixth Sense in Ligeons. Captain Renaud, the French spec- ialist in charge of the military pigeon service, is a firm believer in a sixth sense in pigeons and other birds and animals.possessed of homing instinct, which he calls the sense of ‘‘orienta- tion.”” He has defended his theory at length in a paper recently read before the French Academie des Sciences, claiming to have amply proved it by special trials of various kinds. The Part of a Friend. Honest men esteem the value of nothing so much in this world as a real friend. Such a one is, as it were, another self, to whom we impart our most secret thoughts, who partakes of our joy and comforts us in our af- flictions; add to this that his com- pany is an everlasting pleasure to us. —Pilpay. . Potato Lilie a Human Foot. This potato poses as a human foot. It came, recently, from the store of potatoes in the cellar of Elihu Gresh- am, who owns a large store near Hav- erstraw, N. Y. = %“ Mr. Gresham does not rceall dig- ging the odd-shaped tuber, but its re- markable resemblance to the human foot was noticed as soon as it was brought up from the cellar the other POTATO MISTAKEN FOR A HUMAN FCOT. day. It is of unusual size. It shows all the toes complete, and it has a re- markable veining, most unsual in po- tato skin. ; if all the queer freaks that nature _has produced among potatoes could be: gathered under one roof, the world would respect the- little brown earth. fruit as a versatile vegetable and eurio- = | ereator.—New York Journal.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers