Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 81.djvu/595

Rh birthday, follows so soon, coming on Wednesday, February 22. Decoration Day occurs Thursday, May 30; Independence Day, Wednesday, July 4; Labor Day, Monday, September 4; Columbus Day, Thursday, October 12; Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, November 23 or 30, as may be determined; and Christmas, Monday, December 25; Election Day need no longer be "the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November" but can be fixed simply on November 7. Such movable holidays as Easter and other ecclesiastical dates which are partly dependent upon the moon will, of course, not be fixed; but they will occur more uniformly than at present.

In England May Day will occur on Wednesday, May 1; and Michaelmas on Friday, September 29. In France, their glorious July 14 will always occur upon Saturday.

In the table, the extra day is named "Silvester," as suggested by the European reformers referred to. An alternative arrangement might be made, however, by calling it something else, or by using Christmas Day for this position in the calendar, instead of six days earlier. This need not offend any christian sentiment as this day is often moved now from Sunday to Monday; and there was originally considerable dispute as to where in the year it should be placed, no definite arrangement, I believe, having been made previous to the fifth century. My own preference, however, would be to leave Christmas where it is, and have the extra day as another holiday, replacing our present "new years."

Each year, with its first season, first month, first week, first day and first hour to commence at midnight following the winter solstice—in the morning of what we now call December 22. Leap years to be the same as in the Gregorian calendar.