[Editor: This article, regarding the New Year, was published in The West Australian (Perth, WA), 1 January 1925.]
New Year’s Eve.
In the streets.
The old year passed away last night. The year 1924 had behaved generously to Western Australia, bestowing on the State a bounteous season and will therefore be held in grateful remembrance.
At nightfall a good many suburban residents, chiefly young people, came into the city, and the main streets, brilliantly lighted by the shop windows, were thronged by pedestrians who sauntered aimlessly enjoying the cool of the evening.
The prohibition of all forms of vehicular traffic, with the exception of trams, from the heart of the city, between 7 o’clock last night and midnight added greatly to the comfort of foot passengers who roamed about the roadways to their heart’s content.
There was a holiday air about the place and youths walked around singing snatches of song and making toy dogs bark vigorously, while the honking of motor cars outside the prescribed area was insistent. When the places of entertainment closed the streets became more congested for a time, but the crowds gradually grew less. After 11 o’clock church bells could be heard summoning people to worship.
As midnight approached hundreds of people assembled under the shadow of the old Town Hall clock and when it struck twelve, signalling the death of the old year and the birth of the new year, cheers were raised, bombs were discharged and the crowd sang lustily “Auld Lang Syne,” while hearty new year greetings were exchanged. Syrens and motor horns took up the refrain and for some minutes noise reigned. Then all became silent. The new year had been ushered in.
Source:
The West Australian (Perth, WA), 1 January 1925, p. 8
Editor’s notes:
Auld Lang Syne = a poem written by Robert Burns (1759-1796), which was based upon an old Scottish song, and later set to music
See: “Auld Lang Syne”, Wikipedia
syren = an archaic spelling of “siren”
toy dog = a small domestic dog
[Editor: The original text has been separated into paragraphs.]
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