14 XMAS DECORATIONS GREENS AND FLOWERS OF MANY VARIETIES USED. Bath the Northland and the South land Contribute Each Their Share of Holiday Beauty— Holly and the Pine. Far behind we are leaving the bare, unbrighlened Christmas of Puritan ism, are making this holiday our greatest one. Of comparatively re cent date is this change, of decidedly recent date, the general custom in America of the lavish use of special •decorations in honor of Christmas. The south has long followed the ■customs of Merrie England in the matter of bringing in from wood and field the beautiful Christmas greens with which to give home and church TIIE HOLLY. festival air; but from the pine lands I of Maine to the mistletoe haunts ol California, from the creeping ground-j pines of northern Wisconsin to the j high parasite greens down in Hawaii we all have learned how to keep j Christmas. Poor indeed is the house ! that does not show Christmas wreath j in the window, hang holly over the! picture of some beloved absent one,' sport a bit of mischief-proving mis- j tie toe. Once the housewife was concerned j only with the gifts for her brood; now j a most important part of the prep- j oration is the Christmas decorations, j But in both city and village we have goodly store to choose from. xhei markets are overflowing; greatest j strides have been made in the "Christ- i mas greens" industry. Such oppor- | tunity as we have to make house and church beautiful. First of all, of' course, is the tree, and this we may i buy very reasonably, the best of an i a fragrant, symmetrical, strong bal i sam fir; then we shall want yards and j yards of ground-pine, to loop about ' chandelier, to wreathe from corner to ! corner, to drape about pictures; holly ; with its greenest of green and red- j dest of red, is indispensable, and we ' stelect many branches; the mistletoe' we get in smaller quantities, but pay much attention to quality, want little ' twigs thick with waxen berries. Then the house would not be compete, ac- 1 cording to present notions, unless there were some of the wonderful Christmas blossoms; and we buy both potted plant and cut flowers. A h-jtise full gf fragrant pines and blossoms makes an ideal Christmas atmosphere.! bespeaks rugged winter beauty, and J sweet summer promise. Probably even middle-aged people of the day think the Christmas tree ; I I THE MISTLETOE. has been common here for many, many years; but in reality it i hardly 30 years since we adopted this! feature of the day Half a century ago it was only foreigners that n.ade ! use of it. children of Americans | knowing it only as a pleasant myth, j And England In the second quarter of the last century considered the' tree still a German Institution, as not yet fully belonging to her; to-day ' the English speaking nation* vie .vith the Germans in love for the tree it is Illustrative of the manner Pi I which big things grow from tin smallest of beginnings, the bullditiK up of the Christmas tree industry in' America "Country Life in AmiT|. :i --tells the mury of its Idrih "About :.o years ago a number of du< htm •r --cruising along the coasts of Maim ! noticed the million-, of young ha <im firs which grew along the shore., and the brilliant Idea occurred lo on • I member of the party that th sym I utetrhal evergreens would make e* ' cedent Christmas trees, When tip" I .\'ew York yacht, man offered to bu> ! a few shiploads of wytng firs. <h hoM I Mime fa. met tfn>vght he \,. M | Juktug Hut wli< u tbu city tuau opened his purse and uhswed i*i<? color of his money, tliey fell lo witli a will. The first venture proved a success, and others hurried into the business. Ten years later nearly the whole coast of Maine was stripped of tirs, and the business moved in land. The trade has grown until now over 1,000,000 Christmas trees are sold every year in New York and New England, of which two-thirds come from Maine alone." Ground-pine, so pretty and so much procurable for a little money, cone's from the northern lake region. Wisconsin sends forth yearly some thing like 200 tons. It is feared this decoration may in the course of a few years become very scarce, it be ing necessary to pull the plint up by the roots in gathering the greens, 'the gay holly, more popular than the ground-pine, comes, at least the best of it.from the two states of Uela ware and Maryland. There is some importation of English holly and mistletoe, but not a great deal. People in Atlanta, Ua.. do not have to buy their mistletoe, the city au thorities are glad to give it away in wagon loads. It is a parasite that disfigures the trees on which it grows, appearing in bunches from one to three feet across. When de tached from the shade trees in At lanta, anyone that cares lor it may come and cart it away. Because of its magic, rather than decorative qualities—though the grace ful waxen clusters have a certain beauty of their own—it is not bought in large quantities. Nevertheless, we are said to use about 10,000 pounds of it at Christmas time. And when we call to mind all the magic that can be worked by a single sprig, think of the conjuring done by 10,000 pounds! Anyone caught under the mistlt 00 must pay forfeit of a kiss. An 1 if an unmarried (but still marriageable) woman, place a bit of mistletoe over a door, the first man walking under it at once falls under her spelt. If she disapprove of him, she may let him go, but he is unable to make freedom for himself. The use of flowers adds to th" beauty of the Christmas decorations, but never should we let goof tin: Christmas greens; they carry the ira ditions, bring up old memories, as 110 fflljl it) i v >v W THE POINSETT IA. costly orchid or rose is abl". A (low er that displays with wondrous vivid ness the happy Christmas green and red, is the tropic blossom called by the name of poinsetta. It has a center of yellowish dots, radiating from which, in most graceful droop ing lines, are gorgeous pointed leaves, more flaming than any leaf our au tumn puts forth. The green leaves of the plant are vivid and polished, the whole very, very beautiful. Tha florists at the Christmas season sell both potted poinsetta and cut flowers neither lasting many days, but moat satisfying while they last. Cinneraria, with their lovely colors and texture of petals, are favorite potted blooms, and primroses vie with cyclamen for favor. Some dealers are now forcing lilacs for Christmas offer ings. but they have not yet appeared in any quantities. Hoses, it is need less to mention, are well liked, bur the Christmas prices are pretty stiff Each year some novelty for deco ration is Introduced, and the florists' windows are filled with the old stand bys side by side with the intriuivo new blossom or leaf. Beautiful bronze and copper leaves, the galax, are mak ing their way in the north; it is now liked to put a leaf or two with the Christmas package. They come from the highlands of the Carolinas. and the demand for them is providing considerable work for the idle moun taineers. When they arrive in good condition they are exquisite, and now the greatest care is being taken in (he sorting and packing of the ga'ix The galax region is of wide extent, reaching from Georgia to Virginia. The richest leaf coloring does not ap pear until late in the year, until atter thi' frosts. At thi' proper time, whole mountaineer families will turn out to harvest this beautiful crop, parents and the 10 or 12 children climbing about in search of the finest leaves. None with s|>oi or tear will be ac cepted, ami afier home Is rea< hed there must be another sorting Those that pass inspection are tied in buiii h«'s. so many to a bunch, and then taken to the local buyer. Mere they are carefully packed in layers, mo-> between the layers oiled pauera on the sld» • i.t the mis . and >ent onto the cities, reaching there with th'a woo; bronze and gold lut lightly b senid K VTIIK'ItIN'K foi l' Quaint Old Custoi.t. In tie- olden time Hie Yi,> log win always Ist I aside before ft was htirul out. HO that on the ne*J f'hrlstmas lay thi- new Yule I fix might light ! with the charred r>i;ialiu ;l its ptulu cursor. CAMERON COUNTY PRESS, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 14, 1905. SETTING THE CHRISTMAS DINNER —- TABLE —=— In serving the Christmas dinner the table should appeal to the eye. as well as to the stomach, and the host ess should look well to the setting of the festive board and the decorations. To be a model dlnnei' the hostess requires a perfectly appointed table, well cooked, tempting food, and the correct serving of the same. In selecting her decorations she should consider the size of the table and the number of the guests. If the table be small every effort, should be bent toward making it appear large and well filled. The favors can be of good size and the decorations nu merous and of a nature that would look fussy upon a more sizable table. If the table be large and the guosts numerous, the effort should be to make it look smaller. This is done by keeping it plain and by arranging the trimimngs high. Avoid overcr >wd A D \ INTY CHRISTMAS DI N'NER TABLE. ing a large table, for the plainer the better, providing there be a certain degree of prettiness. Christmas dinners come late on Christmas day. whether it be a noon day dinner, which is served at three o'clock, or a dinner at six. In either case, the light falls before the din ner is over, and there must be artifi cial light. it is a pretty plan to set the table with candles and to light them in the middle of the dinner. A good time for this is when the turkey is taken off and the dessert brought in. The service at each plate for an in formal family dinner consists of a plate, a largo dinner napkin, folded square, a water tumbler, two knives ; —one steel knife and one butter spreader—and two forks, one shorter than the other; also two teaspoons. At unusually formal dinners b>ead and butter is not served, and so the "butter spreader" can be done away with. The matter of individual salts and peppers depends upon the custom of the household. It is perfectly good form to have them on the table, .ind. if it is the family custom to do so, I they neeti not be dispensed with on Christmas day. Let the table be set in the family manner, and then go about the d^co WHERE THE KENTUCKY HOLLY —— GROWS —— W HE ItS KENT IV K Y 11ULLY OKOWH Have you ev r stopped to consider where all the holly and laurel, so pop ular for decorating the homes during Ihe Christmas season, come from? Comparative lv few persons to whom this question might le put would be able to answer It. A great quantity of it comes from Kentucky. During practically ttt> en tire month of December the mountain eers of eastern Kentucky, with their wives and children, are busy gathering the houghs of holly, with their pretty red berries, and It Is shipped to d al eiln all th" principal cities through out the country. As a rule It takes all the h»lp available to supply (he enormous demand. The holly of eastern Kentucky Is the finest In the world It la the moat perfect green and Is usually loaded down with 'he beautiful red berries At the name time It is the most dtlfi cul to gather, for the r*a«on that th«« little tr«<>* grow In the tun 4 Inaccess ible pi t• 4. Sunn-Uui's 4 trv* Will | rations. It is a nice practice to j.lace a trifle at each plate in the way of a favor —a card bearing an insc-ip tion, a little basket of flowers, a rose, a pretty vinaigrette, a silver card j case, or a date book, or a calendar for 190 G. I Special Christmas souvenirs are also good. Tiny stockings tan be filled with presents; there can be little Christmas trees or branches of holly. Or in the middle of the table can set a Christmas tree loaded with candles ! and tinsel and holding little gifts for each one. One of the most decorative ways to finish a table is with ribbons strung from the chandelier in such a way as ito reach the plates. To the end of each ribbon can be attached a gift. When the company is seated —and in the seating there should be the same attention to couples as at an ordinary dinner—then comes tne serving of the feast. It is a time-honored custom to piace the turkey on the table before the guests come in, or to set forth the ducks, the geese, the roast of beef, or the loin of pork—whatever may be f he Christmas bird. But in these later and more pam pered days the stomach rebels against the sudden plunge into the roast, and the palate demands a relish —oysters, soup, fish, and goodness knows what ail! The roast comes later, flanked with a green salad and with veg etables and with the mound of cran beries. If the turkey must be present f-oro j the beginning to the end, - it is a wise plan to place him upon a side tanle. Here lie can be carved and distrib uted. Upon the table he is always in the way, and there is no room nor comtort for the carver. He, if he so please, can exhibit his skill from a side table, and the guests can be served by a serving maid who .vill carry the plates around. Every Christmas dinner must have its touch of holly, every dinner its bit of green, every Christmas dinner its Christmas motto in one form or an other. and every Christmas tlinne.- must have its own peculiar menu. have only two or thre good boughs on It, the others being scant of foliage and of inferior color, and the trade i demands that -he boughs shall be full, fresh and studded with berries The native mountain boys are in valuable to the shippers of holly They climb 1 he trees like squirrels, run out on the ( limbs and bend them down to the 1 ground, where the winieu and chll <!ren hold th m and strip thetu of their green boughs. Ureal difficulty Is experienced by the shippers in getting th* holly to the shipping point aft»r It has been cut and crated for at ihts time of >««nr h mountain roads are almost unpads atd « for he ivy teams. The boxes of holly are often brought to th.< station by small Imys on crude s|»i| mad* by their own bunds To the average mountaineer the holly la not a thing of b »ut> and as for d»coratltu their houses for Christ ina such .» 'hlng is not to h<» thought CHRISTMAS GIVING IT IS GENERAL AMONG ALL CLASSES IN AMERICA. The Rich as a Rule Give Generously j of Their Vast Means—Vast Sums Sent, to Europe by Emigrants. Cbristmastidc is the time of good cheer. The time when, with a nat ural impulse, Ihe millionaire, banker, broker, merchant and the wage work !er remember their less fortunate brother man. The man who would undertake even to approximate the millions given away at this time ol year would set himself an impossible ! task, but the following information may aid one to form some idea. The present-day custom of em ployers of giving money gifts to their employes undoubtedly had its origin among bankers and brokers; but it has gradually spread until now the employer who does not distribute Christmas envelopes to make glad the men and women who work for hiin is the exception that proves the rule. In New York's financial center. Wall street, the year 1901 is still well remembered for the great sums of money given by the financiers, bank- I ers and brokers to their thousands of employes; it was the record year for good cheer. For instance, it >s a well-known fact that the firm of J. P. Morgan & Co. gave to its employes | alone upward of half a million dollars. | Every clerk received an amount I equivalent to his year's salary, wnile j the heads of departments had clicks ! amounting from $5,000 to $20,000 liand -1 ed to them with the firm's best wishes | for a "Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year." But while the gifts have not been so large since, no man who finds nis living in Wall street suffers for want ] of generosity on the part of his era j ployer at this season. For years, no I matter what the condition of the :aar ! kHt. one well-known broker has given SIOO in gold to each of his office boys j twice that sum to a few of the clerks. ; and SSOO to she rest, the telegraphers TUK MILLIONAIRE'S TIME OF CHARITY. and all others in his employ. All told, this broker drops something like $lO,- 000 into the Christmas box. Although wage-earners in o her marts of trade probably, as a rule, do not fare as well as this, few there are who are entirely forgotten. A certain big department store in one of the eastern cities has given each of its 2,000 odd employes five dol lars apiece for several years past, the amount is not graded according to the employe's position and importance. The members of the firm take '.he J ground that they give the five-dollar | bills simply as a reminder of the good l will they bear their workers, and so I the head of the silk department is not ' entitled to a gift one tithe bigger than I that received by the humblest package wrapper in the store. For sume reason or other, five dol lars has come to be looked on, out side ot banking and financial circles, as about the sum to be given to employes. Inquiry among o'fice workers in the sky-scrapers and the sales-poople in the retail and whole sale stores has substantiated this statement. But many a (inn does not limit its Christmas box contributions to those who work for it directly. This is par ticularly true of concerns with of fices in tlit* skyscrapers. The eleva tor men. the superintendent, the win dow cleaners, the scrub women, all arj taken care of. And the amount of money they get is a caution, in one of the less; r skyscrapers of New YorK the three elevator men, wh»n thev counted up their nifis ' n last Christ inas eve, found 'hat they ha I received a little over ll'io apiece. These vien hail put up a box. artistically piintej with holly designs. in each ebva.or. Quite a lot of small ■ haiiK • was dropped into litem, but more was given them direct by the tfnants in sums varying from $1 to $25. The Christmas pickings of this trio are small, though, when eompir-'I wilh thai »112 (he men who run e.eva tor.; In the meat olti ••• buildings ih.it have several thousand tenants in>< Mil of several hundred, as in the irio's case. Another class of men which reap* a h.irviit durum Christmas weeu It the waiters In the down-to* u ••e«- taui'stits of Nui York I'hiladriphli tnd Chicago, tther* only lunch i„ served, ill* waller who ttumi not c-%r ITS over and ahov« hu usual pet i|ut»lt' ■> I eels ur« that there is | lu "tin, d »11l toward m#n'' on isrth \«»« hu holl i 4) Hi s wo rt«4r{led aa a mere pittance by the dignified j automaton who attends to the stora ; acn'.-i wants in the swell hotels up town. Five and ten-dollar bills coma his way in a seemingly never-ending stream. For your millionaire at din ner around the mellow season finds the chief aid to good digestion in mak ing happy those who wait on him. Waiters who ought to know, declare that it is not uncommon for a waiter in such a place as the Waldorf-Astoria to come out S3OO and S4OO and even SSOO ahead during holiday week. Another contribution of generous proportions put into the Christmas box is that fur dinners to the poor. Hundreds of dinners of this character are given on Christmas day through out this broad land—dinners with turkey and cranberry sauce and pie and ice cream, and all the good things I associated with the day. And these good things cost money—turkey at 2s> ! T/IK ELEVATOR MAN'S OPPORTt'N ITY. | cents a pound, and the other delica cies in proportion. Last year the Salvation Army fed .'300,000 poor in our large cities, and | over SIOO,OOO was collected for his I purpose by means of the army's pot, now a familiar sight at this season to j every dweller in New York. Chicago, , Philadelphia, Boston, and other cities, j Amounts varying from one cent to ! SSOO are dropped into the pots. So ; many pennies are contributed in New ; York and Chicago that machines are I employed in counting them. Many millionaires there ore also ! who are noted for their gifts at tin* time of the year to cheer the poor. \ big wholesale poultry dealer in New York has had one of the country's leading millionaires for a regular cus tomer for the last six Christmases. and earth season he places an order for 500 turkeys—sl,2oo for this ona item alone. John E. Andrus, mayor of Yonkers. N. Y., and owner of $30,- 000,000 worth of property, gives away more than a quarter of a million dol lars to charity every year, and by far the greatest part of this fortune is distributed at this season. The neor of Ycnkers always have a merry Christmas, because of Mr. Andrus. Last year he sent out 1,200 dinners and gifts by the wagonload for fho children. In this connection we must also take into consideration the money sent to Europe by Uncle Sam's new citizens just, before Christmas. It has amounted to about $2,000,000 year ly since 1000. The Christmas boats of 1903, the first sailing on December 12. and the last on the 19th, carried to the old country 161,603 post offlca money orders valued at $1.59 C,295.23, besides many thousands of dollars in registered letters. Of thesj mo-iey orders 81,331, calling for $830,635.18, went to Great Britain. Thirty-two SENDING MONEY TO EtROPE. Thou sand "seven hundred and Germans were made happy by th.* re ceipt of $254,3i15.0l anions them. Though less than 6,000 Italians money git'H to relatives and friends, the average value of each gift w.n thirty-three and a third dollars; wnile >he si.ooo Englishmen who remem bered their old associates did so to the extent of something under tea iol lars apiece. The Hungarians sent tlio in'st generous gifts each a.or aging fit'. Then came the Kusslins, $17.50, with the Austrlans next, a lew i uis less than sl7. The German* sent the smallest i:ifts. $n "»0, they be ing the only OIL S In low the English. The Italian, with his pickax and mud-covered clothes, may seem any thing but sentimental and warm heart>'ii when lie Is passed on the street, but the figures prove tha* at least at one season of the yea.' he leads alt of our new citizens in lis )M<tii«iit} I'hrlstnias cheer a< n> s ■»*, where, lait for the Immigrants' n irlluitlon In the Christmas I*'*. ">•» ,iny would be a cheerless OIK- ln ie« 4 for many a family. Big Caiullee Costly. Tin- lancest ChrMmas candles made tr it dt'\ .i\ t< t hl.'.'i weiirth alMiiit I i | Hinds, ar of tmrej*hlt« b t-swttg ind c > it $-.*> apiece St Nlefc '11» ■ Time, Kiitti Ho ' ir tut >to much lu It iUM Uo * A iiUf HMUU til. NiCkct la.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers