| KEEPING CHRISTMAS |
A Hj Henry Van Djkr. |t!
© K
© It is a good thing to observe $
y Christmas Day. The mere mark- <J»
ing of times and seasons when V
A men a;;ree to stop work and $
© make merry together is a wise y
and wholesome custom. It helps
A one to feel the supremacy of the A
© common life over the individual y
© ®" e ' reminds a man to set Y
A his own little watch, now and A
y then, by the great clock of hu- ©
V manity.
X But there is a better thing A
V than the observance of Christ- y
mas Day, and that is, keeping
A Christmas. y
y Are you willing to forget what y
* you have done for other people $
and to remember what other ©
V people have done for you; to V
$ ignore what tue world owes you
A and to think what you owe the A
V world; to put your rights in the V
background and your duties in A
A the middle distance and your A
© chances to do a little more than V
A your duty in the foreground; to A
y see that your fellow men are A
V just a.s real as you are, and try V
$ to look behind their faces to A
A their hearts, hungry for joy; to A
y own that probably the only good $
A reason for your existence is not A
A what you are going to get out $
of life, but what you are going ££
A ,0 "ive to life; to close your A
y book of complaints against they
management of the universe $
A and look around you for a place A
© where you can sow a few seeds y
kof happiness—are you willing to %
A do these things even for a day? A
y Tl-.en you can keep Christ mas. y
Are you willing to stoop down %
© and consider the needs and the A
© desires of little children; tore- V
$ member the weakness and lone-
A liness of people who are grow A
y ing old; to stop asking how y
much your friends love you and A
A ask yourself whether you love A
y them enough; to bear "in mind $
Jk 'he things that other people A
y have to bear on their hearts; to A
y try to understand what those y
A who live in the same house with A
A you really want, without wait- A
y ing for them to tell you; to trim V
£ your lamp so that it will give A
A more light and less srnoke, and A
g to carry it in front so ttiat your £<?
A shadow will fall behind you; to A
y make a grave for your ugly A
thoughts and a garden for your V
A kindly feelings, with the gate A
© open—arc you willing to do £
y these things even for a day? $
A Then you can keep Christmas. A
y Are you willing to believe that y
V love is the strongest thing in V
the world—stronger than hate, A
y 3'ronger than evil, stronger than y
5 death—and mat the blessed life $
A which began in Betmehem nine- A
y teen hundred years ago is they
A image and brightness of t„j V
A Eternal <*.,
y Then yon can keep Christinas. k J I
A And if you keep it for a day, ft!
© why not always? A
y But yott can never keep it $
A alone —Youth's Companion. A
6 A
*?i" ' :
r •• .-&Aw Hi ••••%\
2PIL GOOD will
—Ham's Horn.
Rl«*li Boj 'n Cliri.it man Stocking? a.
A street urchin stood peering into the
window of a toy shop one evening just
before Christmas, watching a prosperous
father buying presents. Bigger and
bigger the boy's eyes grew as the pur
chasing went 011. Finally, when it was
all over and the man left the store, the
lad sidled up to him and with great dif
fidence said;
"Wuz all them things you bought fer
one boy, mister?"
"Why, yes, certainly," said the man,
patiently, as he turned away with his
bundles under his arms.
The street boy's eyes grew bigger yet.
"Gee whiz!" he whispered under his
breath. "Rich men's boys must wear
big stockings!"— Syracuse News.
Two Axpecln of C lirUtiiinn.
The approach of a set season of fes
tivity and merriment, like Christmas, is
a promise of keener pain to the sorrow
ing. It is at just such times that losses
are most severely felt. The noise of
the world's gayety sounds like the
world's proclamation of indifference to
bereavement. It grates harshly on an
ear sensitized by sorrow. Yet the fes
tivity must go on—this is its right. And
sorrow must he considered—this is its !
right. Neither festivity nor sorrow
should rule, for each can be merciful
and generous to the other.—S. S. Times.
Tlie ChrUtinns Flower of Mexico.
In Mexico the red Poinsettia is the !
Christmas flower. It holds for the Mex- 1
ican the same sentimental significance
that the holly aud mistletoe do in north- !
ern countries. The Mexican Indians j
have a legend to account for its brilliant I
brarts of blood-red leaves that, a drop !
of blood, blown from the pierced side j
of Christ, touched the little plant, and I
ever since it has worn blood-red leaves.
—N. Y. Commercial Advertiser.
I'lc»ntlf?iiiKr !#.
Fair Shopper—What do you do when !
In doubt about the use to which an ar
ticle is intended to be put?
Salesman—Oh, we just call It a Christ
mas present.—Town Topics.
ORIGIN OF CHRISTMAS TREE.
It la n Hollo of flie Snn-\N nrslilp of
the Ancients and 1m Older
Than lll«)^7/i
Most of us know that the Christmas
tree comes to us direct from Germany.
And we know of the tree-worship of the
Druids which obtained in England and
France, and which probably had some
influence on the later use of the tree in
the Christian festival. But we do not
all know that a similar festival with the
tree as a crowning feature is observed
among many heathen nations, and that
it comes from sun-worship, which i 3
older than history. The revival of the
sun after the winter solstice has ever
been the subject of rejoicing and of cele
bration by ceremonies which represent
the new light brought back-to the world.
Otir tree, with its small candles, its
gilded knicknacks and toys for the
children, is a direct descendant of this
old festival in honor of the sun.
Traces of it exist in Iceland, where the
"service-tree" is found adorned with
burning lights during Christmas night.
The English yule-log is a faint survival
of this festival. But it is beyond these
that I wish to draw your attention, back
further even than the Druid mysteries
of the Gallic forests. It is to China,
that home of all wonders and of all his
tory. It. has been shown that as long
ago as 247 B. C. a tree with a hundred
lamps and tiowers was placed on the
steps of the audience-hall. This appears
again in the records of Princess Yang,
who lived 713-755 A. D., and who caused
a hundred-lamp tree 80 feet high to be
erected on a mountain. It was lighted
during New Year's night, and the il
lumination was seen for hundreds of
miles, eclipsing the light of the moon.
This candle-tree is no longer lighted in
China, being replaced by an unusual
number of lanterns, which are hung
everywhere. A suggestion of the tree,
however, still survives in Japan. At
the New Year two evergreen trees are
placed without, on either side of the
door. Their tops are tied together with
the sacred band of straw, and various
objects, dried lobsters and oranges are
fastened to their branches. —Stewart
Culin, in Woman's Heme Companion.
THOSE CHRISTMAS CIGARS.
Of Course Nobody Takes Stock in the
Old Joke, Hut Mxirt in dale
Didn't Smoke.
"These Christmas jokes are simply
silly," said Tomlinson.
"Sure," said Martindale, as he
trudged along with Tomlinson down to
the depot to catch the 7:55% train from
North Dale View. "Why don't those
alleged funny men get something new
and something really funny ?"
"Give it up," said Tomlinson. "Now,
the most venerable joke of all and one
that is worn threadbare is that eld chest
nut about the kind ol cigars that a wife
is supposed to buy for her husband at
Christmas time."
"Yes; that's the most absurd of tho
whole lot." asserted Martindale. "Of
course, a woman is no judge of tobacco,
but she can easily find out—in fact, she
knows, anyhow—the kind of cigars her
husband smokes, and she gets the same
brand. Yet every Christmas there's
yards of guff in the funny columns, so
called, about a wife giving cigars to her
aisband and about his dying in horri
ble agony after smoking' them. It sim
ply disgusts me."
"Me, too," said Tomlinson. "Now,
nere. this is a cigar out of the box that
my wife gave me for Christmas. I don't
remember the name of the thing, sort
of queer name, but my wife knows a
thing or two. I want you to smoke that
cigar and tell me whether it isn't as
good as any that you or I buy."
"Why," asked Martindale. "What do
you think of it yourself?"
"Ah. well. I'm not such a good judge
as you are, don't you see. I would rather
have your opinion first."
"Sorry, old man," said Martindale,
hastily, as he slid for the train. "But
I'm going to give up smoking New
Year's, you see. and I sort of want to get
in training, you know; so I guess I'll
quit now."—Chicago Tribune.
Crying; Need of the Day.
"Money," said the philosopher,
thoughtfully, "is made in cheap things.
Trifles have laid the foundations for
most of the great fortunes of to-day.
Young men who want to get rich should
remember that. There is always a field
for the resourceful man who will consent
to give his attention to something short
of the gigantic undertakings of the
time. A patent corkscrew retailing for
a dime has made more than a fortune."
"Possibly," suggested the ambitious
youth, "you can tell me of some trifling
need of the public which will give wealth
to the man who fills it."
"Easily," returned the philosopher.
"Just at this time the greatest need of
the greatest number appears to be a
suitable Christmas present for a young
lady that will cost not to exceed sl.lß,
and that will look as if its purchase had
left little out of a J2O bill."—Chicago
Evening Post.
Method In IIIH Aetion.
"Why do you tramp through the parlor
in those bright red carpet slippers every
time I have a caller?" demanded the min
ister's wife.
"My dear," he replied, "Christmas Is
coming, and I desire to impress the fact
upon the feminine members of my con
gregation that I am well provided for
in this respect."—Chicago Post.
The Merry Christina* Time.
This is the season when a father has a
ring engraved "Mary" for his daughter,
and finds on Christmas that she is of
fended because he didn't remember
her name is "Mae."—Atchison Globe.
No ( NP,
MFF. Thirdly—None of the pirls havo
roluntcered to trim the church this
Christmas.
Rev. Mr. Thirdly—Why not?
"They are all engaged."—Life.
CAMERON COUNTY PRESS, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 17, 19 0 3 .
POWER OF A SONG.
A f'hrlfttmuN F ve ('horn* That Iln* Be
come Kainoua In the ilixtory
of the World.
Mr. Louis C. Elson In his book on the
music of America recalls the tradition
of the Marienlied as for centuries it has
been sung at two o'clock on Christmas
morning in Goldberg, Germany.
It was at the time of the "Black
Death," in 1353. One of the greatest
pestilences recorded in history had
swept over every country in the Old
World, claiming its dead by scores of
thousands. Men fled in terror from
their fellow men, in awful fear of their
breath or touch, and for weeks sus
tained a strange, weird in soli
tude. Neighbor turned against neigh
bor. Families shut themselves up in
their own houses, and denied entrance
to all outsiders, and as the pestilence
spread, members of the same family
turned against one another. In their
terrible fear men became like wild
beasts, refusing even the cup of cold
water and the simplest, service through
dread of contamination.
So it continued until Christmas eve,
when one man in Goldberg, believing
himself the only inhabitant of the city
left alive, and feeling, perhaps, that life
was not worth saving at the cost of
such isolation, unbarred his door at
dead of night and went forth into the
air. \lone he stood in the midst of
desolation, but the memories of the past
thronged upon him. He knew that, it
was Christmas, and as he recalled other
Christmases, with their sacred joys and
their festivity, he lifted up his voice in
the song:
"To us this day Is born a Child,
God with us!
His mother is a virgin mild,
God with us!
with us! Against us who dare be?"
Through a barred door came another
voice in response to his own, and then
the door was tiung wide, and a man
joined him in the street and sang with
him. Together they marched through
the town, giving it its first audible
sound save wails and cries of terror
since first the plague descended upon it.
The song woke strange echoes. From
their living tombs men. women and
children came forth to the number of
25 —all that were left of the town—and
marching through the death-stricken
streets, they sang with new courage:
"God with us! Against us who dare
be?"
Whether it was that the plague had
spent its violence, or, which is more
probable, that the minds of the sur
vivors were more serene, none of this
little band died of the Black Death.
They returned to their homes, buried
their dead, and the town began to
awake.
No wonder that the incident was re
membered, and that for centuries the
people of the town continued to meet
each Christmas eve at midnight, and at
two o'clock marched through the streets
singing the same old hymn.
The sublime assurance breathed in
that song is what men need to make
them brave when earthly joys fade. It
lifts them back to the living world, and
the sight of Heaven, when they have
buried themselves in despair. In the
darkest and most helpless hour the
sense of the presence of God will wake
a song the echoes of which come back
to us in the new hope awakened in other
lives. —Youth's Companion.
ACCEPTABLE GIFTS.
Make ClirintmnM I'nrehane* with t
Desire to Please Theme for Whom
Tliey Are Intended.
Nothing pleases people more than to
feel that their special wants are recog
nized and have been remembered, and
whether we spend ten cents or ten dol
lars, provided it be spent to please the
other person, it will be most graciously
received. If gifts be the result of our
own handiwork, they can just as easily
be welcome ones. There are so many ac
ceptable articles which we can make
that there need be no mistakes. Such
gifts, however, should be prepared at
one's leisure and not rushed through
carelessly at the la»t moment. No wom
an is the better for physical overdoing,
and especially at Christmas time should
we feel ready for the pleasures of holi
day time, rather than worn-out in pre
paring it. We save of our money often,
in sacrificing our strength, and this ia
not only an injustice to ourselves, but to
our families. Do what you can com
fortably, and let the rest take care of
itself. Plan your work in season, use
your best judgment in accomplishing
it, and then be in readiness for the spirit
of Christmas.—Prairie Farmer,
KIND HE WASTED.
Salesman—Toy drums, sir? Yes, sir,
of the best sheepskin, that will last a
year.
The Boy's Father —Have you some of
less robust constitution, that won't last
over Christmas?— Chicago Daily News.
For IlrltlNh Royalty.
The first Christmas tree in a British
royal palace was in the reign of George
IV. Lord J. Russell was present and
speaks of the tree being covered with
j colored candles.
He Waa.
Rude Molly—You remind me of a
Christmas tree.
Dude Cholly—What kind of a one?
"A spruce evergreen."—Life.
UNDER THE MISTLETOE.
A Little Comedy Act In Which the
Muiden Aunt Played the Part
of Villain.
Scene—A parlor in a fashionable home.
Everything on stp.se that can be bor
rowed from the upholsterers on the
strength of a line in the programme: "Ac
cessories rented from Varnish & Stuffers,
the popular upholsterers."
Drainalis personae:
Mr. Van Tucker.
Miss Edythe Smithers.
A maiden aunt.
Crutain raises, disclosing Mr. Van
Tucker and Miss Shithers ensconced on
Varnish & Stuffers' finest sofa.
Mr. Van Tucker—Nice old custom, this
Christmas business. Don' y' think so?
Edythe—Yes, indeed I do, Mr. Van
Tucker. I love every one of the dear old
I ■
customs, and there isn't one single one
that I do not religiously obey.
Mr. Van Tucker (softly)— Every single
one?
Edythe—Yes, every one, Mr. Van
Tucker. Why not?
Mr. \ an Tucker (still more softly)—
Even the one about the mistletoe?
Edythe (blushing)— Why, Mr. Van
Tucker!
Mr. Van Tucker (relentlessly)— There's
a sprig of mistletoe hanging over this
sofa. No, don't, go. Remember what you
said. O, you must. [A kiss.] There,
you've kept your word.
Miss Smithers—Mr. Van Tucker, you're
just awful.
Enter the maiden aunt—Well, Edythe,
I did the best 1 could in fixing up the
room. I put the mistletoe right over the
safa, where you wanted it so particu
larly.
Edythe—Why, aunt!
Mr. Van Tucker—Um-m.
Curtain.
—Chicago Daily News.
EUYING HIS GIRL A GIFT.
How Idea* of the Younic Man Change
HK the Holiday S'oantoii
Approaches.
Two young men, both of them be
trothed, discussed over their frugal din
ner the gifts that they would give their
girls at Christmas time. The season was
early in November and one young man
decided on a Swiss watch, the other on
a ring of sapphires. Then they smiled
happily, thinking how pleased their fian
cees would be with those costly remem
brances.
A month passed, and last week they
met again. The first, who is an Illus
trater, resumed the conversation where
they had left off. "Don't you think," he
asked, "that the work of one's own hands
makes a more poetical gift than any
thing you buy in a shop? Don't you
think that such a gift means more and
touches more nearly the heart of the
recipient?" The other answered: "May
be so, but what of it?" "Well," the first
resumed, "instead of giving my girl a
watch I am going to make her a beau
tiful drawing. I'll do it in brown ink.
The subject will be a maiden playing a
lute, with a little dove on a great chair
beside her listening. That, I am sure,
will please her more than a common
place, bought gift. Don't you think so?"
The other smiled and said: "Of course,
you have no other motive than this for
giving her a drawing instead of a watch?"
"Of course not, of course not," replied
the other, and winked and then laughed
feebly.
The President** fhriiitman.
Wagon loads of gilts are received at
the white house at Christmas time. They
come from all parts of the country, the
majority of them from persons unknown
to the president and his wife. These
miscellaneous articles are the private
property of the recipients, and the
numerous parcels are placed in one of
the family rooms for examination.
They generally contain the names of
the donors, and to all these notes of
thanks are sent. On Christmas eve all
the employes of the house—the clerical
staff, the ushers and the domestic serv
ants—are given, through the established
munificence of the president, a fine fat
turkey. Fifty fowls, selected from the
best in the market, are purchased for
this event, so that everybody about the
famous mansion has reason for rejoic
ing.—Mary Nimmo Halentine, in Wom
an's Home Companion.
An Exploded Myth.
"Do your little ones believe in Santa
Claus?"
"No. They did till last Christmas,
when their papa played the part. I had
the children in the hall and he was to
come from upstairs with a lot of pres
ents l'or them."
"Yes?"
"Well, we had the lights turned low
and he thought he was down when he
wasn't. They recognized his language."
—Chicago Herald.
Not Knully Appealed.
Ethel—Papa, why didn't Santa Claus
bring me a pearl necklace?
Her Papa—l suppose he hadn't
enough togo round.
"Then why didn't he come hero
first."—Jewelers' Weekly.
THE PASSING YEARS.
Kacli On* IlrlnKn a BrtlprniPnt off
Swine Kind to All Man
kind,
The fugitive years follow each other
on their appointed rounds. To some they
come in too rapid succession—life and
time are evanescent. In the thoughts and
experience of others they drag tediously
along and seem as if the end was infinite
distances away.
In youth the years are too long. In
age they are too short. At the beginning
jf the journey of life it seems as if it
never would come to an end. Toward
its close it seems as if the end would be
reached far in advance of its established
period.
But in reality time does not fly more
rapidly for the old than it does for the
you''". Youth sees the end in the far
distant r v ve. Age sees it within a
narrow .ision. That is the sole
difference -of view in which the lapse of
time is contemplated.
These are obvious thoughts as we pass
the milestones of life. Each monument
measuring the distance which we have
traveled is also a monitor with its lessons
md warnings—having a message of re
proof or of consolation and hope as the
judgment of time and events may dis
tribute its awards.
They are timely thoughts as we pass
from the jurisdiction of the old year to
that of the new. As the closing year
passes by to—
Join the years before the floorl—
its successor comes with its new tasks
and trials, its missions of duty and its
hopes of accomplishment. It is all be
fore us. It has its labors and its rewards
awaiting every day and every hour.
It is not necessary in order to gain the
rewards of conscientious endeavor that
the activities of life should be wearing
and unintermittent. Readiness, willing
ness, the spirit to do and to suffer if neces
sary fulfill the demands of duty. As Mil
ton says—
They also serve who stand and wait.
It is a subject for universal congratu
lation that each passing year brings bet
terment to mankind. The improvements
which science and experimert have made
the common property of the world are
evidence that an ever-loving and benevo
lent Providence controls the events of
our existence. Each passage of the earth
hroitgh its orbit brings countless bless
'r.gs in human amelioration. The benefits
of nature and progress descend ultimate
ly upon all, like vernal showers and sum
mer dews.
For every gift which the times and
seasons bring we owe a constantly ac
cumulating debt of gratitude to the
source whence all blessings fiov,-. We may
best pay our debt by the exercise of char
it.v —by dividing with others more needy
the bounty which "r/e possess. This is
the highest form of worship—
\\ Ith soul ns strong as a mountain river
Pouring out praise to the Almighty Giver.
—Chicago Dally Chronicle.
RESOLUTIONS.
If We Keep All These >Ve May Hop*
for tli* Couiing of tlie
Millennium.
Fellow-Citizens: Upon this, the birth
cf a new year, let us resolve:
Never again to ask our wife what she
3id "with all that five dollars" we gave
her three months before;
To own up, without equivocation, that
we were asleep in church;
Not to attempt to eat the things that
we know do not agree with us;
To stop reading a paper that we do not
like, instead of forever grumbling over
it;
Not to complain about our neighbor's
chickens, when our own dog runs loose;
To respect our wife's opinion when it
is contrary to ours;
To refrain from demanding, "What Is
the matter with the dinner?".when, if
we looked at the clock, we would see that
it is not yet time for it;
Not to deride ping-pong—and then
adopt it;
Not to tell the president what he ought
to do;
To admit that other persons' motives
are as good as ours;
Then to die right away quick, ere our
halo becomes tarnished. —Edwin L. Sa
bin, in Puck.
ONE DAY'S GRACE.
Dearborn —Going to receive callers on
New Year's day at your house?
La Salle—No; the bill collectors don't
begin to get around till the 2d.—Chicago
Daily News.
Unalloyed Blian.
"Aren't you going to wear that neck
tie I gave ycu on Christmas?" inquired
Mr. Meekton's wife.
"Of course, I am. Henrietta. I was
saving it up. I'm going to wear that red
necktie and my nile green smoking
jacket and my purple and yellow socks,
and smoke one of those birthday cigars
you gave me, all at once."—Washington
Star.
Hall and Pnrpirpl!.
Good-by, Old year, good-by— good-bv!
tor thee a tear and Heartfelt slph—
Howe'er the New Year work his will,
riiy gifts were good—we love thee still.
! —Detroit Free Progs.
Fir>t Christ man Celebration.
Christmas was first celebrated as a
| f«ast of the Christian church about the
•ear 190 A. D.
♦ X
; CHRISTMAS SENTIMENTS ♦
4 "> i'linrlf* UlckeiiM. X
♦ Christmas time! That man ♦
tmust be a misanthrope, indeed, T
in whose breast something like X
♦ a jovial feeling is not roused — *
in whose mind some plea.-ant x
♦ associations are not awakened— X
X j\y the recurrence of Christinas. ♦
1 here are few people who will T
♦ tell you that Christmas is not X
J to them what it used to be; that ♦
t °ach succeeding Christmas has X
♦ found some cherished hope or X
J liappy prospect of the year be- ♦
» fore, dimmed or passed away; T
♦ that rlie present only serves to X
X remind them of reduced circum- ♦
♦ stances and straitened Incomes T
♦ —of the feasts they once bo- X
T stowed on hollow friends, and <>
♦ °t the cold looks that meet them X
♦ now, in adversity and misfor X
X tune. X
X Never heed such dismal rem- X
♦ iniscences. There arc few men X
who have lived long enough in
the world, who cannot call up X
♦ such thoughts any day in the <>
X year. Then do not select the T
♦ merriest of the three hundred
♦ and sixty-five, but draw your ♦
X chair nearer the blazing fire. X
♦ flnd thank Gorl it's no worse.
X Our life on ir, but your Christ- o
mas shall be merry, and your
♦ New Year a happy one. X
t * ♦
"y C'linrle* U.-inicr. ♦
♦ It is impossible to conceive of
X any Holiday that could take the ♦
place of Christmas, nor. indfe i X
j would it seem that human wit X
X could invent another so adapted ♦
x 10 humanity. The obvious in- X
♦ tention of it is to bring togeth- ♦
T e| ". for a season at least, all men ♦
<► in the exercis-? of a common Z
♦ •charity and a fooling of good X
T will, tue poor and the rich. t'ic ♦
$ successful and the unfortunate. X
♦ that all the world may feel that X
X in the time called the truce of ♦
» God the thing common to all X
♦ men is the best thing in life. «
X * ♦
<► H.v Hninlllon \v. Mr. I>le. T
X He who does not see in the ♦
X legend of Santa Claus a beauti- T
♦ f" 1 faith on one side and the X
X naive emuodiment of a divine ♦
A fact on the other is no tit to T
▼ have a place at the Christmas A
X board. For him there should be ♦
» neither carol nor holly nor mis X
♦ tletoe; they only shall keep the X
X feast to whom all these things ♦
tare but the outward and visible X
signs of an inward anu spiritual X
X grace.
4 ♦ ♦
♦ By Mntthew Henry.
T We put ourselves in the way ♦
X of divine visits, when we em- X
j ploy ourselves in honest busi- X
X ness. Tidings of Christ's birth ♦
♦ were brought to the shepherds, T
♦ when tuey were keeping their ♦
X flocks. ♦
♦ X
♦ ll}' HnrKnrpt Pullpr Omili.
X If ever there was an occasion X
♦ when the arts could become all X
♦ hut omnipotent in the service of ♦
X a holy thought it is this of the T
♦ birtii of the child Jesus. X
By Edtrnnl Everett.
♦ May this hallowed and gra- X
J clous time c.iffuse its innocent x
A cheer through every family cir- X
♦ cle, and scatter its bounties ♦
X largely among the children of X
$ want! X
t * t
Hy Cioorsre Mncilonnld.
My heart was glad that Christ- X
♦ mas eve—just rs if the Babe ♦
o tii. same night. Anu is He not *
X always coming to us afresh in ♦
X every chnuuKe feeling that X
♦ awakes in the hearts of His peo- X
| Die? *
A NEW ORLEANS CHRISTMAS.
It I* a Veritable Kourtli of July Cclc.
brut ioit ill Tliat City o(
tlie South.
"The days preceding Christmas ara
punctuated at intervals with the sharp
tones of firecrackers, merely to keep thai
world from forgetting that Christmas is
almost at hand," writes Julia Truitti
Bishop of "Where Christmas is Liko
Fourth of July," descriptive of Christ
mas scenes and customs in New Orleans,
in the Ladies' Home Journal. "One fire
cracker at a time is set off, for it is sinful)
to waste a whole bunch at once until!
Christmas eve. Every night the tu
mult increases, a kind of jubilant ap
plause in mild explosives, a mere inti
mation of what is coming later. Every;
business house which can under anyi
pretense 'handle' fireworks, handles
them by the ton. Even the windows of
the grocery stores are filled with them,
for the grocer has recognized that thero
are people in New Orleans who may;
dispense with roast turkey stuffed withi
truffles, but nobody can do without fire
works. There are hundreds of childrea
who never hang up a stocking, but every
one of them would think the world was
coming to an end if there were no fire
works for him on the one night of all the
year."
FVlendlj- A.ilvfce«
"Yes," said the fairy prince, "yon
may have whatever you want for a
Christmas present."
"I will choose," said the fortunat®
person, "either a wife or an automo
bile."
"How foolish!" exclaimed the fairy;
prince. "Why do you not select some
thing that you can manage?"— Balt
imore American.
Ifnrtl l,ueli.
Aunt Mae—What are you crying for,
Johnny?
Little Johnny—l belong to two Sun
day schools and they are both goins
to have their Christmas trees oa th®
same night.—N. Y. Truth.
Tlie ('lirliitniaN Turkey.
Never buy a yellow-fleshed turkey. TS
is a sign of poor feeding. A fine turkey}
(hould have firm, white flesh. Purchasers
should also notice that redness and'
"oarseness about the legs are the sign of
in old bird.