May Marriages

1895

It is usually supposed that May is an unpropitious month for marriages, and this view is generally sustained by the official figures. In Great Britain, where the figures are carefully kept, of 1,200 marriages in a year the even average per month would be 100. Instead of this June, the favorite month for marriages, stands at the head with 174. January comes next with 160, December with 139, July with 124, November with 114, and so on down to February with 70, May bringing up the rear with 49. In Germany April is the favorite month, and October comes second. In Hungary February is the favorite month, and November comes second. In Greece October comes first, January second; in Italy February first, November second; in France April first and January second; in Sweden November first, December second.

In Russia the curious fact is noted that two months — March and November, corresponding to our Easter time and Christmas — are practically barred from marriages, these being the average figures on the basis of 1,200 in a year: February, 270; January, 230; October, 185; November, 174; March, 12; December, 9. The average duration of marriages is highest in Russia, 30 years, and least in Holland, 23 years. The average marrying age of women in Russia is 21 years, and in Holland 28 years, which accounts for this difference.


Decoletto

"I'll bet," remarked Mr. Jason to his wife as they sat in the family circle at the play, "I'll bet from the looks of it that the dress that there woman in the box is wearin is one of them elegant dresses 'one-half off' we seed advertised yisterday in the papers." — Indianapolis Journal.

Flower Time

1916

Everywhere we see flowers, for this is flower time. Don't you love them? Did you know that there was a symbolic flower for every month of the year? They are:

January — Snowdrop (consolation).
February — Primrose (early youth).
March — Violets (modesty).
April — Daisy (innocence).
May — Hawthorne (hope).
June — Wild Rose (simplicity).
July — Lily (modesty).
August — Poppy (sleep).
September — Morning Glory (contentment).
October — Hops (joy).
November — Chrysanthemum (cheerfulness).
December — Holly (foresight).

Flowers have a language of their own, or rather man has given to each flower a meaning. Here they are:

Apple Blossom — Preference.
Bridal Rose — Happy love.
Chrysanthemum — I love.
Camellia — Excellence.
Calla Lily — Modesty.
Corn Flower — Delicacy.
Carnation — Fascination.
Daisy — Innocence.
Daffodil — Unrequited love.
Red Rose — Bashful love.
Forget-me-Not — Remembrance.
Geranium — Gentility.
Golden Rod — Encouragement.
Heartsease — Contentment.
Heliotrope — Devotion.
Honeysuckle — Happiness.
Hyacinth — Constancy.
Ivy — Fidelity.
Jasmine — Only for thee.
Jonquil — Affection.
Lady's Slipper — Fickleness.
White Rosebud — Girlhood.
Lily of the Valley — Unconscious sweetness.
Marigold — Contempt.
Mignonette — Good qualities.
Nasturtium — Splendor.
Pansy — Thoughts of you.
Poppy — Consolation.
Snow Drop — Hope.
Violet — Faithfulness.
Wild Rose — Simplicity.

—The Edwardsville Intelligencer, Edwardsville, IL, Sept. 20, 1916, p. 2.

The Longest Year on Record — 46 B.C.

1907

The year B. C. 46, by order of Julius Caesar, the then reigning Roman emperor, contained 445 days. To clear away all the confusion which had previously existed in reconciling the lunar with the solar year, Caesar, with the help of Sosigenes, an Alexandrian astronomer, undertook a thorough reform of the calendar. He effected it by making the year now called 46 B. C., "the year of confusion," consist of 445 days and the succeeding years of 365 days, with the exception of every fourth year, which was to consist of 366. This method is called the Julian calendar.

The number of days in the months from January to December before Caesar's time had been respectively 29, 28, 31, 29, 31, 29, 31, 29, 29, 31, 29, 29. These numbers Caesar changed to 31 and 30 alternately, with the exception of February, which was to have 29 in ordinary years and 30 in leap years. In honor of himself he changed to July the name of the month that followed June. The pontiffs in applying the Julian calendar went wrong by inserting leap year every three years instead of every four years, and this continued till the year now called 8 B. C., when the Emperor Augustus ordained there should be no leap year for twelve years, which made leap year occur in 4 A. D. At the same time Augustus gave his own name to the month following July, adding one day to it, which he took away from February.