— LL around the seascn of J the Coming of Love as a little Child there have sprung legends and De- liefs, like blossoms a gracious clime, which testify with subtlety to the depth of the apneal of the birth of Christ Here divinely spiritual symbolism and there sweet human tenderness and pathos appear, and, blended. they evidence the world’s belief that this was both Son of Maa and Son of God. An Irish legend tells that, on Christ. mas eve, the Christ-Child wanders out in the darkness and cold, and the peasants still put lighted candles in their windows to guide the sacred lit. tle feet, that they may not stumiie on their way to their homes. And in Hungary the people go vet {urther in their tenderness for the Child, they spread feasts and leave their doors open that He may enter at His will while throughout Christendom there is a belief that no evil can touch any child who is born on Christmas eve. The legend which tells how the very | hay which lined the manger in which the Holy Babe was laid put forth liv- ing red blossoms at midwinter at the touch of the Babe's body could only have arisen from belief in the renewal of life through the Lord of Life. oly Thorn. T is not so many centuries ago since there was that holy thorn at Glastonbury which ' blossomed every Christmas, and. so ' ran the legend, had done ever since St. Joseph of Arimathea, having come ' as apostle to Britain, and, landing at | Glastonbury, had stuck his staff of dry hawthorn into the soil, commanding it | to put forth leaves and blossoms. This the staff straightway did, and thereby was the king converted to the Chris- tian faith, the faith which preached the city of sin, was buried deep. clean out of sight, beneath the waves. But | ever at Christmas up from beneath the ' covering waters comes the sweet call fug of church bells buried in Been. It is a legend which appears to teli in parable that nothing which ever be longed to the Christ, and was dedi cated to Dis service, is ever who'ly lon from him and alienated from service; that ever and again something of their inherent beauty and compelling sweet- ness rises from the depths through all seoming ruin. #0 = she Manger. Rg 7 RADITION declares that V within the stone manger ' there was another one of wood, and that the stone cradle in | the Chapel of the Nativity is, indeed. ! the outer manger. Splendid is that humble stone trough now with white | marble, softly rich with: costly dra- | peries, and radiant with a silver star, | which is surrounded by 16 lamps, ever | ait. But yet more glorious is the | wooden manger at Rome, held to be the veritable manger in which the Christ-child lay. It was removed to Rome in the seventh century, during | the Mohammedan invasion of the Holy | Land, and there it is preserved in a | strong brazen chest, from which it is | brought forth on Christmas days. when it is placed on the Grand Altar. | It is mounted upon a stand of silver, | which is inlaid with gold and gems, ; and the shrine in which it rests is of purest rock crystal. In the days in . which this was accomplished men, . ; whatsoever may have been their | shortcomings in other directions, gave magnificently to the Church Visible. stmas Bells. RADITION says that the hour of the Babe's birth | was the hour of midnight, ' and legend adds that from then until | | dawn cocks crow. In Ireland it is | ! held that whoso looks into a mirror on | this eve will see the devil or Judas | Iscariot looking over his shoulder, | surely thought sufficient to drive the # (larence ee Zr a i , In England and America the accused i need not testify unless he chooses. In ! Italy he is the first and most impor- . scope In defending himself. i Criminal Court Methods There Utterly | Different From OQurs. | Criminal court trials in Italy ara con- | ducted under a very simple system, | though utterly different from the sys- | tem which governs procedure in Amer- ienn or English courts, says an ex-| nae. + trial takes place before three judges and a jury, to which are added | a certain number of extra jurors, who | . are sworn and are present in court to | hear the testimony and are held ready | to take the place in the jury box of , any juror who may in the course of | the trial be incapacitated from further | service. The depositions of all the | witnesses have been taken in writing | and signed before the trial begins. | Each of th2 judges has a copy of these | before him. The prosecutor and the | counsel for the accused furnish to the! court a list of the witnesses they de- sire called, and these are all summon- ed by the court. which has power to | punish nonattendance. The first thing that bappens when the trial begins is the questioning of the accused by the presiding justice. In Italy. as in most of continental Eu- rope, a man accused of a crime is con- sidered by the law to be the very best witness to Lis own guilt or innocence. tant witness. The accused is allowed the widest He bas a right to tell his own story in his life from death. The holy thorn of Glaston! ury flour- ished during the centuries until the civil wars. During those it was up- mas eve, Judas Iscariot rooted: but several persons had bad ; from that hell—“his own place”—and | hardiest soul to a thought of the inno- cent Babe. Another legend tells that, on Christ- | is released trees growing from cuttings from the is allowed to return to earth that he | original tree, and those continued to ' may cool himself in icy waters. bloom at the Christ-season, just as | ‘their parent, which had grown from | St. Joseph's staff, had bloomed. And | and such legends appear on their about the middle of the 18th century | faces, they bear study and repay fit, it was recorded in the Gentleman's | for we then see that they are full of | Wild and improbable although such | Magazine how the famous holy thorn subtle spiritual expression, as it were; | KLINE WOODRING—, -at- , S fonte, Pa. Tala e Room 18 Crider’s Exchange. 51-1-1y. B. SPANGLER—Attorney-at-Law. Practice in all the Courts. Consultation in English or German. Office in Crider's Exchabge Bellefonte, Pa. S. TAYLOR—Attorney and Counsellor at Law. Office, Garman House block, Belle- fonte, Pa. All kinds of legal business at- 10-49 tended to promatiy, J Counsellor at Law, xchange, second floor. All kinds of legal business. attended to promptly. Consultation in English or German. H. WETZEL—Attorney and Office No. 11, Criders, ETTIG, BOWER & ZERBY—Attorneys-at- Law, Eagle Block, Bellefonte, Pa Suctear ors to Orvis, Bower & Orvis. Practice inall the courts, Consultation in English or German. 50-7 M. KEICHLINE—Attorney-at-Law. Practices in all the courts. rey Law in" Basie German. Office south of court house Jrofessional business will receive be All ent |W Ee niin ue Dentists. R. J. E. WARD, D. D. S., office door D KX cy way i street, Bellefonte. or painless ing teeth, Superior Crown and Bridge work. D* Car de Beletonte, Fa. All mod: used. Has | work of Siperior quality es | own way, to offer anything he can in|. Restaurant, = | the way of justification or palliation. | Even hearsay evidence is admissible. ESTAURANT : : The judge has absolute discretion as RANT. . na Nz | to what testimony may be received | Bellefonte now has a FirstClass Res. vakeds=t | and what excluded, and any judge as hells / END . | who exercised this discretion unfairly Meals are Served at All Hours TN . | would be an object of execration. Bias oft, soft,/m Ne yr es!) on the part of one judge is possible, | pigs <hioP pag OL ng Bd the snow. « MN Ae ¥ but there are always the other two {yiches, S and Satable, can w pA RR judges on the bench with him, and dition I hav a A to Z “4 p: Z RN the; are a perfect check against un-! furnish Drinks in bottles such as ~ WA Noel? Noel?\. SR i ; | fairness. POPS, / Carol 1she | == ) When the accused has given bis tes. SODAS, fl s each Ch bel pl 7 INE timony he is confronted personally | SARSAPARILLA, / What are ie ¥ jen A ist DE with his accuser. ‘The accuser is nec- | SELTZER SYPHONS, ETC.. That gather anear the )wirffow-pane 7 h essarily the principal witness against | {or pic-nics, families and the public gener. 3 : y : A : ally all of which are manufactured out of Where the winter frost all i y has lain? / An Bin ar wTraking, rhe hrisoner | the purest syrups and properly carbonated. They are soulless elves, wh\fain would pé: while the latter is telling bis story, | C. MOERSCHBACHER, Within, and laugh at our Christmas ¢ Ring fleetly, chimes! Swit, swift,’ ymes They are made of the mocking mist \ L but in practice the judges permit it, | and tbe confrontation sometimes be-' comes a three cornered debate between | accuser, accused and judge. the latter | giving the accused the widest leeway | to demonstrate his innocence.—Case and Comment. +28%1y. High St. Bellefonte, Pa. would not deign to recognize the new style calendar, which had then come into force but would persist in blos- ‘soming as of old on old Christmas day! In those days the anniversary of the advent of the Babe had certainly meani more to the common people than merely a time for feasting and revelry, for giving and receiving; it had been also a season for holy ob- servances, for they refused to go to church on New Christmas day. the holy thorn not being ten in blog:om, | So serious became the irouble that the | clergy found it prudent to announce that Old Christmas day should also be kept sacred as before. Only an- other story of men’s weak, supersti- tious minds? True, perhaps; but they are better who evidence some spiritual weakness than those who wallow in the wholly material, and when we cease to be careful of the cup and the platter, we become not over careful of their contents. hristmas Rose. ~ NOTHER of those spiritual parables is the legend of the Christmas rose, and it, tells how good things, fit for giving. spring up ready to the hand which | earnestly desirss to give to the Child, | It is =aid that a certain maiden of | Bethlehem was so poor that she had | nothing to give to the Babe to whom kings brought wealth from afar, and, as she stood, longing and mourning. | and angel appeared to her, saying: | “Look at thy feet, beneath the snow,” | and lo! on obeying the maiden found that a new flower had miraculously sprung up and blogsomed at her needs. Every since then, runs this story, this exquisite flower, with its snowy petals just touched by suggestions of pinkish bloom, is to be found at this season; and, indeed, its half-opened cups are like chalices of love, and its fully- spread petals are like a happy dnno- -cenee, fit symbols for the gifts for the Babe of spotless innocence, whose heart was the vessel of love, as Eve Legends. HERE are several exceeding- ly touching legends concern- ‘ ing bells, which are heard ringing from buried cities and villages at this season. One belongs to a vil- lage near Raleigh, in Nottingham- shire, and the story runs that once, where there is now but a valley, there was a village which, with every trace of life and habitation, had been swal. lowed by an earthquake; but ever since, at Christmas, the bells of the buried church are heard to ring as of old. A similar legend is told of Preston, in Laneashire, and yei another and more moving one comes from the Netherlands. It is sald that the city of Been was notori for its black and shameless sins, as well as re- nowned for its beauty and magnifi- cence. To the Sodom of the middle ages came our Savior on ome anni- versary of his birth, and went as a beggar from door to door, but not one in all that Christmas keeping city gave the Master of the abundance. Sin : the dead roots of superstition. be saw rampant on every side, but not that they are parables of certain spir- | ftual facts, and it will be ill for us | should the Christmas day ever dawn on which such flowers of tender faith , and wonder shall appear to us no | more than dry curious specimens from | i What Christmas Means, | Christmas means hope and | its realization. grows eagerly expectant as the time approaches for the | | visit of Santa Claus. While this fiction remains unques- | tioned, the imagination | opens new and wider worlds, | and ideals become so much | a part of the mind that the prosaic . and commonplace can never crush | them. Until the youth reaches man- | hood and independence, Christmas is the happiest day of the year. Its gifts | and hearty good cheer impress family affection, parental thoughtfulness and | brotherly love. The dullest and most | irresponsive of fathers and mothers are uplifted to a vision of higher life ; by the interchanges of souvenirs and | the merry meeting with children and | grandchildren at the table and fire side. Few can escape and all enjoy ' the meaning of the festival, the les- | sons it conveys and the inspiration it gives, and we enter upon a brighter future and a fuller appreciation of the beneficence of the practice of faith, hope and charity. The loved ones who have crossed to the other side, | the loved near and far who are still with us, the old homestead with its precious memories, the old church whose sacred associations tie togeth- er childhood, maturity and age, love, marriage and death; the schoolhouse where the beginnings of education were so painful, and the ever-increas- ing pleasures of the pursuit of learn- ing through the high school, academy and college are recalled and recited, and there is exquisite delight in these oft-told tales, and new experiences en- liven this blessed anniversary.—Les- lie's Weekly. First Christmas Observance, Christmas gets its name from the mass celebrated known as a movable feast, just as ter is now, and owing to misunder- standings was celebrated as late as April or May. In the fourth century an ecclesiastical investigation was at about midnight, and this led celebration of a midnight mass the churches, a second at dawn The child | third in the later morning. Noel? Nol? NES Hp Cease, cease, cach Christmas bell ¥ Under the holly bough, 1. : there the happy children throng and shout, Che Spirit of Christmas, There is hardly a: festival in the calen- | dar which has such a | hold on the hearts of | old and young alike as | Christmas Day. The ring of the car bells | and the voices upon the streets seem to take on a more cheery tone, and the spirit of the time seems to throw a glamour over places and things which ordinarily are devoid of all beauty. As it is with places, so it is with people. They, too, not only seem to change, but the transformation does | take place in millions of hearts to a | greater or less degree. The spirit of | Christmas even affects people who for the rest of the year are devoid of | sentiment and of feeling for their fel- lows. The most interesting stories of Christmastide are those which will never appear in print—true stories of men and women whose thoughts have been only of their own selfish aims and pleasures, but have been awak- ened, if only for a day or iwo, from their usual self-complacency, moved by some force of which they are only half-conscious to do some act of kind- ness to make the day happier for someone less fortunate than them- selves in a worldly way.—The Chris. tian Herald. : suspended, to be resumed after the The Christmas Spirit. But don't you see that there is a Santa Claus! He isn't a man in a fur coat, and a reindeer sleigh and all that, but he is the Spirit of Christmas, isn’t he? They've that and made a saint of him and invented legends about him-—for the children, but when we're no longer children and don’t believe in him, we still have that Christmas spirit—and it's that that gives presents and makes us feel toward one another, and makes Christ. mas what it Is—Harvey J. O'Higgins. me ea — Christmas Customs, It is interesting to trace the origin of festival customs to! those connected with Druidical superstitions of classic observances. and it will surprise many to learn that present-day sports very | closely resemble the celebrations ob- served of old in honor of Saturn or Bacchus. The Roman Saturnalia, which oc- curred in the winter solstice, were a season of great festivity and rejoicing, honored by many privileges and ex- emptions. The spirit of gaiety had free charter, and even quarrels were holidays. As a manifestation of the gratitude felt at the renewed prospects of the returning march of the sun, gifts were exchanged and special hymns were sung. These latter were really the Roman representatives of the modern carol. At the Saturnalia the Roman feast- ed, sang and danced, as we do at Christmas. A ruler or king was ap- pointed, who enjoyed certain preroga- tives. He presided over the sports of the season. Probably he is ‘he an- cestor of the lord of misrule, who ex- ercised a similar power in more re- cent times. Merriment was a matter of general concern, and the joyous spirit of en- tire districts is now narrowed to fam- fly parties. It is the touch that makes the’ whole world kin, and it is a pleasant. reminder that, after all, history re- Not Blessed. : The presents you forget to give to, others who don't forget to give to Jou! | are not so blessed. | | tlon.—-New York Press. ! be done at the point where Washing- ' ton street intersects the street which is “Winter” on one side and “Sminmer” . Winter and Summer joke usually calls How Watches Vary. | Theoretically, says a jeweler, the | best watches of today ave perfect, but | actually they both gain and lose time | every day. Fven if the zood watch | does not vary one second at the end | of the twenty-four hours. the expert insists, it has both gained and lost in that time. If it is wound in the morn- | ing it rnus fast and toward the next morning runs slow, thus equalizing | the time. He says the best watches | should be wound twice a day and then | at only two-thirds of the capacity of | : the mainspring. thus preventing either ! binding or extremes of strong or weak- | : ened spring. The balance wheel was | expected to equalize differences ot | mainspring tension, but really this is | not the case to what is called perfec- Boston's Winter and Summer. ; Nearly all visitors to Boston, if they | "do not see it. are told of the place where one may “step from Winter into . Summer or from Summer into Winter | at any time of the year without giving | a thought to his clothing.” This may | on the other. A guide wus cninrging on this bit of humor to a visitor from New York a few days ago. but was oot rewarded by the smile which the forth, “That's nothing.” said the New Yorker, “but what is really funny here is to see the entrance to the under- ground railway marked “The Eleva. tor.' "—New York Tribune The Church Cough. Of all coughs the church cough is the most difficult to check. and it is almost as contagious us yawning. The late Mr. Haweis practically cured his Marylebone congregation of coughing during the service He used to an- nounce an interval for conghing with a polite request to those who found this insufficient 10 go outside There | is a somewhat similar practice in the | Russian army-—the nose blowing drill | —which is performed by the whole regiment at n signal from the colonel. And no soldier dares sneeze at any other time London Spectator Pulling Power of Men and Animals. Interesting tests were recently made to determine the respective pulling power of horses, men and elephants. Two horses weighing 1,600 pounds each together pulled 3,750 pounds, or 5650 pounds move than their combined weight. One clephant weighing 12,000 pounds pulled 8.750 pounds. or 3.200 pounds less than its weight. Fifty men, aggregating 7.500 pounds fin weight, pulled 8,750 pounds, or just as much as the single elephant; but, like the horses, they pulled more than their own weight. One hundred men pulled 12.000 pounds. An Exception. “Take my advice and mind your own affairs. No man ever got rich fighting other people's battles.” “I don’t know. How about a law- yer?’—Boston Transcript. EDWARD K. RHOADS Shi; and Comission Merchant. and ae in ANTHRACITE axp BITUMINOUS COALS CORN EARS, SHELLED CORN, OATS and other grains, — BALED HAY AND STRAW — Builders’ and Plasterers’ Sand. KINDLING WOOD by the bunch or cord as mav suit purchasers, respectfully solicits the patronage of his friends and the public, at his Coal Yard, near the Pennsylvania Passenger Station. . § Central 1312, 161s Telephone Calls: {EET lhe : Money to Loan. ONEY TO LOAN on good security and 5i-14-1y. Meat Market. Get the Best Meats. or 28 save nothing by buying poor, this LARGEST AND FATTEST CATTLE and Swsiomers WAR the fresh- [iS Svealks and Rowe JL. ng I always have ~— DRESSED POULTRY — Game in season, and any kinds of good meats you want, TRY MY SHOP. When you are ready for it, - you will get it here. On ROOFING, AND GLASS. a AN ESTIMATE? BELLEFONTE LUMBER CO. Bellefonte, Pa. 525-1y.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers