Why 1901 Seems Familiar to Him

1901

"It may sound odd to you," said a bookkeeper, "but the date 1901 seems already more familiar to me than 1900 ever did. You see, we don't get a cipher at the end of a year date but once in ten years, and we get two ciphers there only once in a hundred years. Practically no man ever sees more than once in his lifetime a year with two ciphers in it, and as a matter of fact it never gets to be familiar to him, and so 1900 seemed just about as strange at the end of the year as it did at the beginning, whereas a year running out with figures, to which we are accustomed, does seem familiar. Actually 1901 seems like an old friend, and I'm glad to see it." — New York Sun.

A Sensational Runaway

1896

A runaway couple were married on a railway train near Shelbyville, Ind., last week. The girl's parents opposed the match, and watched her closely to prevent her giving them the slip and getting married. The young man learned that the squire was to travel by a certain tram one day last week, and arranged with the girl to meet him at the station. He went to Columbus and got the license, met the girl at the station as the train came in, and the pair boarded it and were married by the squire before the train had gone many miles and before any stop was made where they could be intercepted by a telegram from the girl's parents. — New York Sun.


Lee Ephraim's Sevens

Certainly the figure seven has marked the career of Lee Ephraim, of Roanoke, Va., to an extraordinary extent. He was born in the year 1877, on the seventh day of the month and on the seventh month of the year and seventh hour of the day. He has seven letters in his surname and it requires seven letters to spell the name of the State in which he was born. He has lived in four cities, and the name of each one contained seven letters. He has seven sisters and brothers, and one time drew a valuable prize on the number 77. Oddly enough this prize was not $777. — New York Press.


Great Antlers

At a recent exhibition of antlers at Berlin the Emperor took two prizes, one for the best collection and one for the best single head.

Friday the 13th and 12-12-12

1912

TODAY WAS LAST OF THE HOODOO DATES

Friday the Thirteenth Will Not Come Again Until June 1913 a Genuine Jonah Day.

. .B-e-w-a-r-e! This is Friday the 13th! But, thank goodness, it is the last "hoodoo" day we will have this year. Next year only one Friday falls on the unlucky number. It is June 13, 1912.

Yesterday was Dec. 12, — or, written in business form, 12-12-12. No triple set of numerals will be seen again until Jan. 1, 2001, which may be written 1-1-1.

Christmas shoppers took warning and kept their clutches tightened on handbags and pocketbooks.

The superstitious dread of the number 13 seems to have spread over the earth. It is said Italians never use it in making up the numbers for their lotteries; that the thirteenth card in one of their games bears the figure of Death, and that no house in Paris is No. 13. The Quatorziemes are persons known in Parisian society who hold themselves in readiness to go to any dinner which otherwise would have the fatal 13 at the table.

—Janesville Daily Gazette, Janesville, Wisconsin, Dec. 13, 1912, p. 14.


Today Friday, Thirteenth and Yesterday, 12-12-12

Today is Friday the thirteenth, the last unlucky day of its kind until the second week of June, which the superstitious believe will be especially unlucky on account of the year being 1913. Yesterday the date could be Written "12-12-12," and it will be 88 years before the similarity is duplicated. January 1, 2001, can be written "1-1-1."

—Colorado Springs Gazette, Colorado Springs, CO, Dec. 13, 1912.


THURSDAY WILL BE 12-12-12

Making the Last of Such Combinations for 88 Years.

Thursday, when the "tired business man" and the busy stenographer dash off a letter headed by 12-12-12 on the date line, few will recognize the fact that it is a calendar peculiarity, the last of a series of twelve such which will not recur again for 88 years, or until the dawning of a new century.

The superstitious may draw satisfaction from the fact that the following Friday is the last that will occur in his lifetime falling upon the thirteenth and having the sum of the numerals of the year likewise make the fateful thirteen.

—The Mansfield News, Mansfield, Ohio, Dec. 10, 1912, p. 8.

A Date with Number 9 — The Rest of Their Lives

1890

The New York Tribune draws attention to the fact that for 110 years to come, no man, woman or child will write the current date without using the figure 9; for nineteen years during that period two 9's must be written — in 1899, 1909, 1919, 1929, 1939, 1949, 1959, 1969, 1979, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1995, 1997, 1998; and for one year — 1999 — three 9's will have to be set down. Of the people now living, it is safe to say that not one will ever write the date of his or her time without using a 9. Besides minding their p's and q's, the next three generations much give particular heed to their 9's. Nine has never been regarded as a particularly lucky number, but beyond question the years in which it will hold so conspicuous a place will bring benefits of undreamed of value to the world.

—New Oxford Item, New Oxford, PA, Feb. 28, 1890, p. 6.