CHRISTMAS CHILDREN.
kme Famous lien Who Were Born
on Christ's Ulrthtlay.
Even were It not for its celebration
as the birthday of the Saviour, Dec.
25 would rank as quite a notable date
in the year for the number of eminent
persons whose natal day it Is. Curi
ously enough, however, we seldom
think of tlie day as tin; beginning of
the career of any one on eartli other
than He to winim custom has assigned
it.
We kno.v that historical events of
all sorts batt.es, sieves, i.inl so forth—
have occurred on Chri..iuias, for arti
cles almost without end dealing with
this interesting s'de of the history of
the day have been written, but of its
biographical side little lias been said,
the more odd this because the fact that
many notables have been born on tlie
day cannot fail to prove of interest.
The biographical index of Christmas
is comparatively long anil includes such
names as Sir Isaac Newton, William
Collins, tlie lyric poet; I*. S. Gilinore,
the musician and bandmaster; Kiehard
Porson, tlie greatest classical scholar
England ever produced: Johann Jacob
lteiske, the celebrated German orien
talist; Clara Barton, Admiral S. C. Bo
han and a number of others. Unhappy
little shavers they must have been in
their childhood with their birthday
and tlieir Christmas rejoicings all
merged in one.—St. Louis Globe-Demo
crat.
CHRISTMAS IN WEST INDIES
How the Darkles of tlte Antilles
Celebrate the Holiday.
Christmas in tlie West Indies is a
very Jovial, rollicking affair—at least
in the estimation of the darkles. The
great feature of the season is the se
ries of masquerades or mystery plays
enacted by strolling negro performers.
These are of two sorts. Representa
tions of such Biblical stories as that of
David and Goliath—when you may see
the dramatis personae clad in such his
torically accurate garments as "bed
tick" trousers and cretonne coats of
flaming pattern—and those of a purely
local character. Of these last is the
mongoose play, which is peculiar to St.
Kitts, and the object of which is to
wage mimic war against tlie destruc
tive pest which is the curse of the is
land. These strolling players are the
chief feature of Christmas celebra
tions.
They are quite an imposing lot of
men, with a good ear for music, and as
you watch their antics you might easi
ly imagine that, Instead of being in a
civilized British colony, you were back
in tlie heart of Africa, assisting at
some savage death dance or oilier
heathen rite.
Christinas In Tibet.
Tibet, tiie home of tin 1 strangest
and least known people on the face of
the earth, is also tlie home of the
strangest of Christmas customs. The
feast of ijueen Winter in Tibet cor
responds with our own Christmas fes
tival. The figure of this queen, or
goddess, is painted blue and mounted
on a camel, surrounded by a string of
human skulls. The dance celebrated
at this feast is called tsam, and the
masked figures which take part in
it would lie comic if they were not
so horrible. One represents a homed
bull, another a deer, but this deer, pe
culiarly enough, has a horse's head, an
ancient symbol among the Tibetans
of the messenger of death. There are
evil spirits in hordes, demons and
other bad spirits to shock tlie ignorant
people Into blind obedience to the
lamas. One god curses another, and
every town has its local protecting di
vinity. There are serpent gods repre
senting the spirit of evil, but they are
fought by such protecting divinities as
Garuda, who is always represented in
lauiaism with a stout body, human
arms, wings and the head of a bird.—
Cleveland Plain Dealer.
Christmas Cards.
The Christmas card as we know It
has an origin easily traceable, and it is
doubtless at least sixty years since
the first was designed. The artist who
claimed to be its originator and who
was, at any rate, the first to see its
possibilities was W. C. T. Dobsou,
it. A., who, when quite u young man,
Sii 1N44. was prompted at Christmas to
make a little sketch symbolic of tlie
season's joys and festivities and to
send It to a friend. It seemed to give
great pleasure, and the next year Mr.
Dobson determined to follow up tlie
idea on a larger scale, and by having
liis card photographed was enabled to
send copies to twenty-five or thirty
friends. The delight with which they
were received was so great that Mr.
Dobson was quick to perceive that lie
had found out a new pleasure for
Christmas.—-New York Mail and Ex
press.
"Man Wants but Little"—
"Made known your wants for Christ
mas yet?"
"Sure. Asked the forty-seven friends
who sent me suspenders last year to
send trousers to match them this."—
Cincinna t i Times-Star.
Tlie Dnvvn of Christmas.
Christmas day begins in the middle
Of the Pacific ocean, and there is where
Santa Clans starts and ends his great
Hud only journey of the year.
A Prayer For the Poor.
Col' win' a-tryln'
Ter break down de do'—
LawJ sen' de Chrls'mus
Of peace ter de po'!
Lean wolf a-howlln'
Out dar In de snow— I
Lawd sen' de Chrls'mus lj
Of peace ter de po'! i
i
Sw-pt in chillun
Wld nowhar ter go—
Lawd sen" do Chrls'mus
Of love ter de po'!
—Atlanta CJonstltutloa.
WIVES ON CHRISTMAS TREES
Str«nnri> Christmas Cniitonia That
Prevail t» I'urtn of ltussia.
Of nil Christmas tree customs, one of
the strangest prevails In parts of Bus
sia. A gift tree Is sot up in the village,
on the branches of which roost young
unmarried women, cloaked and hooded
anil veiled so that their identity is con
cealed. The swains arc ndmitted one
by one. Just as they arc in our familiar
American game of "spat in, spat out."
Each a.s lie enters lifts a veil—of course
at random —and the face thus disclos
ed belongs to his future wife. The act
of lifting the veil betroths the couple,
the penalty for breaking the engage
ment being a heavy line to be paid into
the village treasury.
Another Itusslan custom is a proces
sion of children dressed In fantastic
animal costumes. One boy holds aloft
A RUSSIAN CHRISTMAS TllliE.
a star shaped paper lantern to repre
sent the "star of the east;" another car
ries on his back a miniature theater,
011 the stage of which puppet perform
ances like "Punch and Judy" shows
are given at every farmhouse where
the motley pageant halts.
The modern Christmas tree comes to
us from Germany, the Yule log from
Scandinavia, Santa Claus from Hol
land and the Christmas stocking from
France, but the Christmas turkey—all,
that is America's contribution to the
world's stock ol' Christmas cheer! But
there is one part of the world where
the people are afraid to eat turkey. In
Armenia it would be too much like
treason to their cruel ruler, the Turk.
If tliey do venture to eat the fowl they
call It "Egyptian hen." Down in Egypt
they name it "Indian lion." Thus both
Armenians and Egyptians save them
selves from Moslem vengeance,—l'itts
burg Dispatch.
Christmiin TabJo Decoration*.
The dinner table itself should
claim the season by its decoration. A
snowy cloth patterned witii holly leaves
or mistletoe, a centerpiece of glossy
holly leaves and brilliant berries, sil
ver candelabra and silver bonbon
dishes are appropriate and dignified.
Flat wreaths of holly tied with bows
of "berry" red ribbon are very effec
tive 011 the table, one in the center and
one encircling each candelabrum. A sil
ver or a cut glass bowl of holly and
meteor roses or holly and mistletoe
may be set in the wreath to com
plete the centerpiece. The outline
of the Christmas star may be used
instead of the wreaths. In tiiis case
the bows of ribbon are omitted. And
for the guest cards either bells, stars,
plum puddings, holly or ivy leaves, cut
out and painted and ornamented with
Christmas verse or greetings, are ap
propriate, and a little silk stocking of
bonbons may be laid by each card as
a souvenir.
Chrlut** Birthday.
There is something akin to sadness
in tlie fact that in tracing the origin of
many of our church festivals we find
it in pagan celebrations antedating the
Christian era. There is nothing cer
tain even about tlit- birthday of Christ.
Some authorities assert that Decem
ber was in the dry season, when shep
herds were 011 duty day and night. In
the controversy over the date, extend
ing from December to May, Pope Ju
lius had an Investigation
made by St. Cyril and was satisfied
that the :!."ith of December was correct.
It was so established in the Roman
church, ami before the end of the
fourth century the dictum was uni
versally accepted. Boston Herald.
Mrs. Lender's Liberality.
Struggling Pastor—Nearly all the
congregation lias subscribed liberally
for the Christmas tree fund, and I fuel
sure that 1 can also have your hearty
co-operation, ilow much will you—
Mrs. Leader—Let me see. Oh, I am
the only member who lias a carriage
and coachman. I think.
"Yes. The rest are poor."
"Well, I will drive around and col
lect the subscriptions."
Christmas liny,
Oh, blessed day which gives the eternal !
lie
To self and sense and all the brute with- I
In
ch, come to us amid this war of life;
To hall .and hovel come; to all who toll 1
In senate, shop or study and to those
Who, sundered by the wastes of half a !
world,
111 warm d am! sorely tempted, over faco |
Nature's brut" power:! and nun unman- '
ned to brutes—
Coni" to tli 1.1"" and bl-.i.i'n?, Christ- •
mc.a day.
Tell 11:- m one" more t!: • t . «.f r>th!e
hf m
: ' 1 the Baba
An 1 U t. vi 1 .m.l, 112 .i." <".".r»st
d • y.
—Ciixrl'-:! Iving.»l«y.
CAMERON COUNTY PRESS, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 8, 1904.
THE MYSTIC MISTLETOE.
Once a Feature of l'nirnii Kites, It
Slow Brlongf to L«*(rs,
From time immemorial the white
berried mistletoe has played a leading
part In Yuletide festivities, though It
has not always conveyed the oscillato
ry privileges which give it Its value in
the eyes of the romantic youth of to
day. Like so many other features of
the Christmas celebration, mistletoe
has been borrowed from tlie pagans of
antiquity and Christianized by the
lapse of centuries. Tlie Persians be
fore the birth of Christ used the mis
tletoe in their sacred rites, and in parts
of India pagan priests still incorporate
it in their ritual. It figures largely in
Scandinavian mythology. Baldur, the
son of Odin, though a demigod, was
slain by a spear of mistletoe, a proof
of its magic powers.
It is from the Druids of old England,
however, that mistletoe has come to
us. The Druldlcal priests, sprung, It
is said, from the magi of the east, the
wise men who worshiped at the cradle
of the infant Saviour, held the mistle
toe as their most sacred possession,
and the cutting of the pretty parasite
from the oak, the tree which the
Druids claimed God loved more than
any other, was attended with the
greatest solemnity. On the Druids' fes
tival day a grand procession, leading
two white oxen, moved to tlie mystic
grove. There the oxen were fastened
to the oak by their horns, and a white
robed priest climbed into the leafless
branches and cut the bunches of mis
tletoe with n golden knife. The oxen
were then sacrificed and religious serv
ices performed, after which tlie pro
cession returned to the temple in tlie
forest and the mistletoe was deposited
in the Druldlcal arcanum.
Besides taking its place in the reli
gious observances of the Druids, the
mistletoe, which the priests gave a
name meaning "all healing," was made
into many curious decoctions by proc
esses in which times and seasons and
incantations were supposed to add to
its mysterious powers. These medi
cines were regarded as cures for human
Ills generally, whether of mind or body.
With the advance of civilization and
the death of superstition mistletoe has
lost its religious character, but not its
popularity, and the forests of England
and of our own southern states are as
eagerly frequented by mistletoe gath
erers as ever were the dark woods of
the ancient 1 >ruids.
CHRISTMAS IN SWEDEN.
One l>:iy When There Are Neither
Klc*!i \or I'oor,
If you were in Sweden on Christmas
eve you would hear the church bolls
begin to ring at 5 o'clock, for every
body stops work then and the festivi
ties begin in great earnest everywhere
in the kingdom. Class distinctions are
forgotten and servants are allowed to
sit at table with the family. After sup
per comes the universal Christmas
tree, for Sweden is one of the early
homes of this beautiful custom.
On Christmas morning at t! o'clock, i
while it is still dark, you would goto 1
church, for everybody goes, unless you
stayed at home to mind the lights in
the house, for every home In the king- I
dom is illuminated. There is almost i
sure to be a deep snow, and you would
goto church in a sleigh. Behind every j
sleigh you would see two boys stand- !
ing on the runners and holding pine 1
torches—a beautiful spectacle as a long ;
procession of sleighs glides over the j
snow on a forest road. These torches |
are stuck up in a circle around the ;
church. A whole week is given to
good cli°cr and hospitality.
A Friendship Calendar.
A friendship calendar as a Christmas
gift was a source of much pleasure to
an elderly lady living alone, says Good j
Housekeeping. At her request each 1
one of fifty-two of her friends, repre
senting the fifty-two weeks of the year,
furnished material for every day of the
seven in his week. Each one followed
out his own idea for the week's calen
dar, contributing favorite quotations,
short poems, anecdotes and reminis
cences, some even adding cherished
recipes. In many instances the contrl- |
butions were original. Others were il
lustrated with small pictures cut from j
current magazines. The result was a j
perpetual calendar, each day represent- j
ing the loving thought of a friend.
A Christmas Uamc.
"Christinas candles" is a good old j
time game. A lighted candle is placed !
upon a table. The player is blindfold- |
ed and stationed with his back to the j
caudle, about a foot from it. He's j
then told to take three steps forward, j
turn around three times, then to walk |
four steps toward the candle and blow i
it out. I lis attempt to do so will prob- j
ably be as amusing to the audience as j
disconcerting to himself.—Country Life '
In America.
,\ Laughiin jj
i Fountain M |
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and has the only perfect jt|B ■ (T|
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Either style, richly gold zfjHi 9 :| rP,
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Iff) Surely you will cot be ImK. IB '
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Wh ' tti W
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i Prayers uttered in fear are still more ;
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ltevoluttou Imminent.
A sure sign of approachiug revolt and
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E^»SSSSSBSS22SSKXX«:iSS2S2S3KS3KKS*SKZZS!
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N REMEMBER the store room next to JOHNSON & McNARNEV' S Law Office has been 14
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