The Bismarck Tribune Newspaper, March 4, 1918, Page 3

al - ALL WORK AND NO PLAY? NOT FOR FINA Only 84 Days in 1918 in Which the World’s Busi- ness Is Not Interrupted Somewhere by Holidays and Sundays. — Rie tek IRR KKK K KKK * _%& CURIOUS HOLIDAY FACTS. ~ * a ES % ‘There Is no national legal hol- % (day In the United States. % Massachusetts does not ob- % serve New Year's Day as a w legal holiday. ‘Five Christian. countries do not observe Christmas as a le- € gal hol * % New Year's Day ‘Is the only * % holiday observed throughout the * x world. * % _ Eleven different dates are ob- * Ye served as New Year's Day in * % different parts of the world. * % — International business will be * %& Interfered with by holidays or * v*& fundays on 281 days in 1918, of * % these 261 days being holidays. * % . This léaves only 84 days in * % which universal bgnking busi- & * * * * * * * * * * * * ttt et %& ness Is possible. w November, with 26 holidays #& In different parts of the world, % leads the months. % = March, with 19, has the few- % est: holidays. % ‘Brazil leads the nations of the % world with 84 holidays. Ye eThe United States comes next % with 64, * e REKKKKKEKKKKEKEK KEK By GARRET SMITH. : HILE man plays or prays the world’s business will be in- terfered with on 281 days during 1918. In other words,‘ there will be only 84 days in this coming year that are not Sun- Gays ior.special holidays in one or More important commercial regions of the.earth:> Nor is this an unusual condition created by the war. We ‘are accustomed to jump remarkable ‘eonditions into the category of war evils these days. Op: the contrary, some of the fighting nations have for the time being stripped their decks of minor and unusually superfiuous holi- days. (i i ;Mver since man was condemned to - @arn lis bread by the sweat of his brow he'has been putting in a lot of epare time trumping up methods of beating. the'game. Next to working / tnto the boss's job the invention of the Roliday has been-one ‘of ‘his gblest little achievementa inthis line.: Like- Wise ever’ since bosses and holidgys evolved, along about history’s sun- fise, the former have. been ‘cursing the Jatter as troublesome breaks in the year’s work. By the Middle Ages hofidays’:had’ become’ so numerous that’ they. seriously interfered: with’ industrial -pursuits. A ‘valuable -re- sult of the Reformation not generally sppreciated was the abolition of a targe portion of ‘these holidays, But: as:time went on political and religious thileatones. accumulated ;" Today, while the-year’s over- load in any, one country .isby ino eq! as serious as ‘in'the Middle sarowth ‘of. international prey fe the world’s; and other heroes of the antalag Two states have Independence Days of their own, Texas observes her eep- aration from. Mexico ‘on: March 2, North Caroling “commemorates the Halifax independence resolutions! om April 12 and the Mecklenburg decle- tation on May 20, It remains for Frederick county, Md., to celebrate all alone the repu- diation of the stamp act, one of the most local celebrations of an ‘impor’ tant national event on record, ““*"' Among the favorite months for hok idays the world over November leads,» with 26 out of its possible’ 30 May comes next, with 26 and an ad= ditional Sunday not otherwise’ cele brated, thus actually tying Lpreayet in the number of days closed to bust+ ness, March, on the other hand, -{s the longest all around business: month, having only 19 holidays. Thes at least two-thirds of every month ime terferes with the free play of intere national business, Even such generally observed festl- vals as Christmas and New Years Day can’t be depended upon by. the |banker without consulting the intere national calendar, New Year's Day is the only holli universally observed. But, alas, ; falls on 11 different dates in different ‘| parts of the globe, and some countries observe more than one of them, “AR exhaustive study of. these New Year celebrations would give one a pretty fair knowledge of the ancient history. of the world. Curiously enough, one of our own states, Massachusetts, does not make this a Jegal holiday, though her citizens generally observe it Eleven New Year Dates, ‘ January 1 1s observed as New Year's Day in every/country in alt Europe except Bulgaria, Greece, Rowe mania, Russia, Servia and Turkey; ig all European colonies in Africa ang in Liberia and Morocco; in every country and colony in North, Central and South America and in all parts of Asia except Asiatic Turkey and ig Australasia. EERE In Bulgaria, Greece, Roumania, Russia, Servia and Turkey the ol@ style calendar prevails and the New. Year begins accordingly on January 14, The Japanese New Year does, ine deed, begin on January 1, but it f also celebrated on the 3d and 6th 9& that month, Then there are the Hindu New Year, on April 13; the Chinese, New Year, February 11 to 14 (which, by the way, is a legal holiday in a part of the United States—Hawall); the Annamite New Year, February 17 and 18, and the Second Annamite New Year, June 19; the Parsi New Year, September 11; ‘the Persian New, Year, March 21 to 24; the Moham medan New Year, December 10 and 11, and the Jewish. New Year, Bep- tember 12, 13 and 14, It is a sure prise to learn that the only nation o& earth making the Jewish New Year@ legal holiday is Turkey. New Year's Day. was celebrated, and an expensive one. Not until now, however, has any attempt been made to compile an:exhaustive list of holl- days for the guidance of bankers and merchants. This task has just been completed by the Guaranty Trust Company of New York city. The re- sults have been published in a book- let that should be a valuable addition to the referénce library of every bank in the county doing more than a pure- ly local business, Importance of Bank Holidays. | ' Suppose a bank has a commercial Paper collectable in Peking or Athens or Cape Town on January 5. It is important to know whether the bank in that. particular city will be open that day. Does any one around the Place know whether January 5 is a bank holiday. in Peking or Athens or Cape ‘Town? Usually. no one does. It's hard enough to keep tabs on the| 1. Derby Day, One. of the Holidays of Sport-loving England. 54 holidays rampant in these United|2. A Quaint Chinese New Yeai New York City declares a H ‘ont, to get the information., This sort, of 4 ee Nice: French ‘Citizens cele! ot a Foreign War. Mi Feast of BORD Huet States, | It therefore becomes neces- 3. sary to.send:an-expensive cablegram thing happens not’ once, but many. & times, in % every: banking. house with 6. an extensive foreign business. The! 7” Guaranty. Trust? Company found it 7 ‘was pending several hundred dollars | ‘5° @ year In'telegraph-and cable tolls to get this:information piecemeal. That 'is probably true:of all the larger”in-| encies Le stitutions. doing * similar © business; | holidays. “The United isa close; second, altho mation compiled in advance. unlike’ Brazil, practically ignores the Contrary. to: the: popular. notion, the | church days. Another popular. delu- new. democracies of the west enjoy.a|sion is,shattered when we find that greater number of holidays than their | France has only 18 formally observed sister nations’; ;0f the‘ eastern. hemi-| days and Italy only. 23. ~ We posed the Latins ‘always outdid in a: hence the value of-having this infor-| 54, among the most-ancient iatibns. The: old Roman New Year began Mar. 1, but in reforming the calendar Juifus Caesar designated January 3 bid bid year’s beginning. Where Christmas Ie Not Oneervel. Christmas Day, due to its religious significance, is not so generally ob= served as New Year's Day. It hag, moreover, only three different dates, It was not génerally observed on. Dee cember 25 until the fourth century. The early church, lacking any @u- thentic knowledge as to’the date of Christ's birth, celebrated it without uniformity in: May, ‘April and Ji ary. The Armenian Church atill own country offer a particularly rich feld\ If one knew the meaning of all the half a hundred days celebrated in the United States, with the collateral events connected with each, he would be'well versed in the nation’s history., One of the. first surprises in store for such a student is to learn that the |, United: States has no national holi- The reader will at once think of Fourth of: July and of the Presi- dent’s Thanksgiving proclamation. But not even these are national.’ Acts of: Congress. and : Presidents’ nouncements in -this respect apply only to. the District of Columbia and The: states usually follow suit, but as'a matter of cus- tom only'and rot of law. chance to win some bets from your di oliday. When Troops Start h Fall of, the: Basti.’ iE Hiotrict Decorated ‘in Honor hedral -Square,' Bogota. Regatta‘on the Grand Canal. Among the other, ligerents - Germany, it is:p. | will‘observe 20-days next year, Great Britain.16,:Japan 15.and: Russia ‘17. In ‘most ofthese countries numerous local holidays.‘ ordinarily: observed have been abandoned during the war. & Theistudy: of ‘ holidays, is Seay : Brazil; ee with 84 the ‘territories. serves January 6. Why.the ber date was finally selected is uncess tain. Some see in it # displacement of the Roman Saturnalia; others de clare it a survival of the Feast of the Winter Solstice, and still others point to its coincidence with the old, Gere man Yuletide Feast. Countries where the old style calendar prevaila still celebrate January. 7, In the Puritan days Scotch Presbye terfans and English Non-Conformists rejected Christmas Day altogether..se “savoring of papistry,” and in New England Thanksgiving Day. was, vised, to replace it, It seems a ous thing that there are today Chril> tian countries where. it 1p not ob- served legally. Such are Norway, Panama, Peru, Portugal and she South African Union. The last named, however, still ob- serves the old English institution ¢f. Boxing Day, on; December 26, - . was the day when the Baglish gen having had their own Christiiss bration the day before, tarned be attention. to the poor by’ ")States only 12 are observed generally, | them with Christmas bores, * The day. andsome of: those, like Memorial Day | later became the day for’ ‘general ae And-Arbor Day, fall/on varying dates | ing of Christmas gifts. wth in. different, states. Thirteen. South Portugal Drops Traditions, and Central American countries share| rhe only country on earth a sity our Columbus Day with us, There are| of whose holidays reveals liktle of its 29 other countries with Independence | pojitical, racial or religious origin Days, though not one falls on Our) portugal. - The frst at ‘to ; made ie : Fourth of July. In fact, that date is lish a republic in Portigal was unique in not being celebrated any-| oq January 1, 1891. ‘This is 0 where else on earth for any occasion, rf lendar of f excepting little Panama, which shows ical roe 1, at Bete its grateful friendship by observing versal brotherhood; January 31, our Independence Day as well as tWO! sated to the memory of all those of her own. Several other. countries, fought and ‘died ‘to establish ‘the 1 have more than one Independence public: in ‘Portugal; ‘May. 3,'ta Day on their calendars. ory, of the discovery of Brasil. by: America’s: Red Letter Days. Portuguese; gan American local holidays are rich in| day. at Lisbon; J historical significance. Of, such are | holiday, at : Oporto; ‘Octo! ‘the. commemorations of Bunker Hill} date of the establishment ot and Bennington and New Orleans and San Jacinto: the all. but forgotten Fast Day of New England) still sur- viving in New Hampshi Day. in Maine and,Old Defender’s Day in-Baltimore, Pioneer Day: in Idaho andithe:vartous Admission Days. pop- ular, with other: Western states, Con- |’ federate:Memorial te