Breeches, Pantaloons and Trousers

1895

"Breeches," in the strict meaning of that term, were worn by the semi-civilized men of the east long ages before a single page of the New Testament was written, having been quite common among the Medes and Persians, the Phrygians, the Gauls and the Teutons. Breeches were very "brief" articles of apparel, scarcely covering the hips in the majority of instances and never reaching nearer than six inches of the knee.

"Pantaloons" were exaggerated forms of stockings reaching from the hips to the ankles and as tight fitting as a pair of knit drawers. They were usually of three different colors, black at the hips, red from hip to knee and blue to the termination at the ankle. They came in vogue during the first half of the fifteenth century at Venice and were worn by the devotees of the patron saint, Pantaloon. Such garments were always called pantalini by the Italians.

"Trousers," the only proper word to express the existing styles in "pants," followed closely after the "knee breeches" of the Revolutionary period, being first worn in England at Oxford and Cambridge in 1812. — St. Louis Republic.

The Legend of the Felt Hat

1874

There is a legend among the hatters that felt was invented by no less a personage than St. Clement, the patron saint of their trade. Wishing to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Sepulchre, and at the same time to do penance for sundry unexpiated peccadilloes, the pious monk started on his journey afoot. As to whether he was afflicted with corns or kindred miseries, the ancient chronicle from which this information is derived is silent; but, at all events, a few days' successive tramping soon began to blister his feet. In order to obtain relief, it occurred to him to line his shoes with the fur of a rabbit. This he did, and, on arriving at his destination, was surprised to find that the warmth and moisture of his feet had worked the soft hair into a cloth-like mass. The idea thus suggested he elaborated in the solitude of his cell, and, finally, there being no patent laws in existence in those days, he gratuitously presented to his fellow- mortals the result of his genius in the shape of a felt hat.


The English Language

In the English Bible and in the works of authors living in the times of King James the word "his" is employed in the sense in which we now use "its." Years ago Richard C. Trench asserted that, in the "authorized version of the Bible 'its' does not once occur." This statement is sustained by Webster and Worcester, but it has recently been discovered that Leviticus, twenty-fifth chapter and fifth verse, reads, "that which groweth of its own accord." This verse reads as above in the modern editions of the Bible, but the change may be one of those corrections that have gradually slipped into the text. An examination of the early editions only can settle the question.


A gentleman, while walking in his garden, caught his gardener asleep under a tree. He scolded him soundly for his laziness, and ended by telling him such a sluggard was not worthy to enjoy the light of the sun. "It was for that reason exactly," said the gardener, "that I crept into the shade."

St. Nicholas – Patron Saint of Children Around the World

1878

St. Nicholas, as all the world knows, is the patron of children, with whom he is the most popular saint in the calendar. Bishop of Myra, in Lucia, in the time of Constantine the Great, if we are to credit the Roman breviary, supplied three destitute maidens with dowries by secretly leaving a marriage portion for each at their window. Hence the popular fiction that he is purveyor of presents to children on Christmas Eve.

He usually makes his appearance as an old man with a venerable beard, and dressed as a bishop, either riding a white horse or an ass, and carrying a large basket on his arm, and a bundle of rods in his hand. In some parts of Bohemia he appears dressed up m a sheet instead of a surplice, with a crushed pillow on his head instead of a mitre. On his calling out: "Wilt thou pray?" all the children fall upon their knees, whereupon he lets fall some fruit upon the floor and disappears. In this manner he goes from house to house, sometimes ringing a bell to announce his arrival, visits the nurseries, inquires into the conduct of the children, praises or admonishes them, as the case may be, distributing sweetmeats or rods accordingly.

St. Nicholas is the Santa Claus of Holland, and the Smiklaus of Switzerland, and the Sonnoe Klas of Heligoland. In the Vorarlberg he is known as Zemmiklas, who threatens to put naughty children into his hay-sack; in Nether Austria as Niklo, or Niglo, who is followed by a masked servant called Krampus, while in the Tyrol he goes by the name of the "Holy Man," and shares the patronage of his office with St. Luco, who distributes gifts among the girls, as he among the boys. Sometimes he is accompanied by the Christchild.

In many parts of Switzerland, Germany and the Netherlands, St. Nicholas still distributes his presents on St. Nicholas eve — the 5th of December — instead of on Christmas Eve. In the Netherlands and adjoining provinces he is especially popular, and is perhaps the only saint who has maintained his full credit, even among the Protestants. For days previous to his expected advent busy housewives have been secretly conspiring with the bakers in gilding nuts, cakes and gingerbread, and torturing pastry, prepared with flour, sugar, honey, spices and sweetmeats into the most fantastical forms, from which the good saint may from time to time replenish his supplies. As to the children, St. Nicholas, or Sunder Klass is the burden of their prayers, the staple of their dreams and the inspiration of their songs. As they importune him to let fall from the chimney top some pretty gift into their little aprons, they go on singing with childish fervor,

"Sunder Klass du gode Bloot!
Breng mi Noot un Zukerbrod,
Nicht to veel un nich to mium
Smiet in mine Schorten in."

In Belgium, on the eve of the good bishop's serial voyage in his pastoral visitation of his bishoprics of chimney tops, the children polish their shoes, and after filling them with hay, oats or carrots for the saint's white horse, they put them on a table or set them in the fire-place. The room is then carefully closed and the door locked. Next morning it is opened in the presence of the assembled household, when, miribile dictu! the furniture is found to be turned topsy-turvy, while the little shoes, instead of the horse's forage, are filled with sweetmeats and toys for the good children, and with rods for the bad ones. In some places, wooden or China shoes, stockings, baskets, cups and saucers, and even bundles of hay are placed in the chimney or by the side of the bed, or in a corner of the room, as the favorite receptacle of St. Nicholas' presents.

A Curious Epitaph – The Earth Swallowed Him, Spit Him Out

1915

A Curious Epitaph.

The following epitaph is copied from a tomb in the vicinity of Port Royal, Jamaica: "Here lieth the body of Louis Caldy, Esq., a native of Montpellier, in France, which country he left on account of the revocation. He was swallowed up by the earthquake which occurred at that place in 1692, but by the great providence of God was, by a second shock, flung into the sea, where he continued swimming until rescued by a boat and lived forty years afterward."


A Problem In Golf.

Two young ladies were making their first essay at golf. "Dear me," said the first young lady, "what shall I do now? My ball is in a hole." The second young lady took out a book of instructions. "Let me see," she said, turning the pages. "I presume you must now take a stick of the right shape and get it out." "Oh, yes, of course," said the first young woman. "See if you can find me a stick shaped like a dustpan and brush."


An Obliging Man.

Heine (at the village barber's) — I say, do you know why this man's shop is hung all over with sacred pictures?
Beine—Oh, yes; that is for the convenience of his customers. So that they may call on all the saints when he shaves them.—Meggendorfer Blatter.