16 fWhen skies are cold with wintry stars, and hills Are white with yester-even's snow, and lie £JL In ghostly 6tate beneath the ghostly sky; When many a gusty blast the darkness fills With ever lonely, homeless sound, and chills •Sgj The window panes with frost; when crackling fly The sparks about the hearth, and glow and die, While in the pause his note the cricket trills; Oh, then how dear is home! and what a sense Xg Of ruddy warmth and peace beguiles the mindl And what a charm in listening while the wind W Blows fierce outside, through winter's fctarry tents, fj iyfc And dies away around the window-pane, Xtfl Tf? And ever rises loud, and dies again! —Ernest Warburton Shurtleff. • j The Wewness of the Yearl tAPPY New Year!" The glad greeting rings out on every band. A neto twelve month has been ushered in with all its mystery of"the things which are to be." We need then for our selves and for others to put the emphasis upon the word "new" rather than upon the term "year." That another year has come is relatively unimpor tant. The stress is to be laid not on the quantity but on the quality of one's life. All that an earnest soul can do is to live each day of the new year by itself, as it comes in its turn, trying, if so it may be, to put a month's efTort in one day, and a day's victory into a single hour. The time is short, and it remaineth that all who know Christ and partake of his 112 gift of new life should be diligent al ways, watch unto prayer and boast not themselves of the morrow. Suffi cient unto each day Is the burden and blessing thereof. The newness of the new year is es ' eentially a newness of spirit. A new man will always enjoy the new year. When another January arrives it is distinctively the time to slough off the old and to put on the new. There is an old nature to be discarded, and a new spiritual manhood to be assumed. The trouble with many people, how ever, is that they try to remake and to reform themselves, forgetting that a few good resolutions, more or less loosely kept, can at best only touch the outside and possess no interior efficacy in the recesses of the spirit. The new man who is really worthy of the name is the new man in Christ Jesus. Where Jesus is there is always ; newness of experience, renovation of the moral nature, freshness of hope and a resiliency of elastic joy. It is not necessary to wait until the first of January in any approaching year to win the wisdom of such a heavenly faith or to experience the benefits of such a spiritual quickening. The promise of God is now, to every one that believeth. Each morning may be a resurrection day, each evening a time of golden promise fair, yet not as fading, as the sunset. The New Year joy is for all of life, all the time. It is stimulating and encouraging to feel that a brand new year is offered for happy employment, and that the old records with their motley pages, ® & A slrapr for tlje -Nnu frar |H H| P A CmifihlV Cjod. the unfailing source or light and mcrcv, J\ who hast brought us to the beginning of this year, tj| wand art sparing us to Sove Chee and to keep Chy uS P commandments, prepare us, we beseech Chee, for the coming * days. Cet Chy grace enlighten our darkness and strengthen our weakness, fielp us to forget the sins and sorrows of the u*) gj past, cherishing only the wisdom ar.d the humility they may have taught us. Inspire us with new purposes and new IK hopes. Deepen within our hearts the love of truth and good* ua gj ness. Renew in us the life of that which alone makes life <3 worth living. Enable us to discern the soiemu meaning of vju these earthly days, and the high and sacred purpose for which y*> gj they are given. Suffer us not to be unfaithful to Chee. Chou bast richly blessed us hitherto; still lead us by Chy % hand; still admonish and guide us by Chy spirit, and leave us t£> gj not to ourselves, Cbou oood Sbepberd of tbe fbeep. Cet not tbe sorrow and weariness of life rob us of our faith In Chee. % Whatever lig'ni may shine or shadow fall, keep us in tbe fel* U9 lowship and in tbe service of Jesus Christ our Cord, flmen! some still vacant and other marred, and, perhaps, here and there blotted with tears, may be put away, and fresh, unstained pages substituted in their place. It is helpful to remind one self that those broken resolutions of 1908 may be renewed in 1909, and, what is better, reinforced by more of that prayer and divine grace for want of which the idealizing resolves of the past year were soon forgotten or went so sadly unfulfilled. The new year means, accordingly, a new hope, a new song, a new endeavor, a new outlook, a new inspiration, a new determina tion and a new grace—every new thing that is good appears to bo possi ble in its gift. A hope like this makes any doubter optimistic,'and gives to existence the character of a life worth living. A wide chasm seems to Intervene between the old and the new. Into its depths should be cast every regret, every halting doubt, and every ham pering fear which belongs to the past period of our experience and which would burden and hinder our worthy efforts and spiritual progress in the new year. Let us take up our new duties and meet our fresh opportuni ties in free, gladsome and hopeful spirit, knowing that God, who has pur posed them for our uplift, will give us grace to carry us safely through. Happy New Year! The message la sent far and near. Let the glad greet ing be heard on all sides. There is a prophecy and a promise in the New Year. Even to those who are bent with grief, or lonely by reason of bitter bereavement it is possible and timely to say, though with lowered tone and softened accent: "Happy New Year!" Every year will be a happy, or, at least, a peaceful, one in which the presence of the Lord is realized— which is spent under the protection of his wings, while its duties are dis charged in his fear and its responsibil* ities are borne with the assistance of his grace. For the Christian every year should be an improvement on the past, and offer its additional oppor tunities for growing in grace and Christlikeness. The Christian is a convinced and convincing optimist for, having a heavenly hope which the world can never give or take away, he can in every condition of lifo find a basis for an assured happiness ex pressing itself in the oft-quoted dic tum: "The best of all is, 'God is with us!' " CAMERON COUNTY PRESS, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 24, I9C« Tick-s Dear >/ y If Ibm | The Before my time I know Nfullwell - NI KVhlf 1 In memfri(go^eepP I see orS&/^v\<^^ When y P* JJ And The a Withiyour protectirigf hands Yoii As your feet ' JC', tipl^^ck7^ick-tock,/n<4t?^>ek; When Went to ioin^^them^rt^; afrove \ J You]' iei:p voice J&e^eaV To c rHjlrv&S? " To th< a at Sicted' ope^ ? 7] 4A f' £ And had tfem c^^ : . t^ars-' • N •'- ; Tick ;■ t Jc;«; When John- How To tell Irfm-When 'wis time togo, ,/ A How loudly the hour I / When I did jwmd /fejfy / C^^kl For-, the coming 4, y/ Tick-tock, tick-rpsk^tlck*tock/4ick-tock; Now we're Jk j> s/f / Vv 4 fA u\ The child of^yesterday/ /has to/giWim For just as? fairy 4 y /f-% , ! As she wasN. "U. <pU When with chuTbby haind sti£jdt ; point^) At your round face 2nd laught \\ | With glee When you would toll the p assi Jnloyiirr | Tick-tock,. | And now While we are waiting here-- 1 * 5 " I To welcome in acclaim The new-born year, Let's hope That in His mercy He will be A shield and guide To both of us As in the days agone. a«Eei 'ER since man knew enough about astron omy to divide time into years which more or less agreed with the earth's annual revolu tion around the sun, he has in various characteristic ways regarded the first day of the new year as a day of re joicing and well wishing. It was the great day for exchanging gifts until, in some Christian countries, Christmas day was substituted. While in America New Year's day is generally observed as a holiday and as an occasion for paying ceremonial social calls, in France, even now, New Year's pres ents have not entirely disappeared. New Year's day is not observed on January 1 in every country, although moat nations nowadays use the Gre gorian calendar, and consequently be gin their new year on that day. In Russia the Julian calendar is still in use, and as a quarter of a day in each year is lest by that system, there is now an accumulated loss of 13 days. January 1 in Russia, then, corresponds to January 14 of our calendar. The Mohammedan New Year, the Jewish New Year and the Chinese New Year, owing to the peculiar systems of keep ing time by those people, are very elu sive dates, or seem so to persons fa miliar only with the Gregorian calen dar. AS TO THE CALENDARS. The Jewish year is solar-lunar, and may consist of as few as 353 days and as many as 385. New Year's day usu ally falls in September. The Moham medan years usually consist of 354 days, being purely lunar, and the leap years, which occur in certain twelve months of a cycle of 30 lunar years, contain 355 days. The first day of Muharrem—New Year's day—may in course of time make a whole revolu tion of the seasons. An instance of this may be given. The first of Muharrem, 1906, fell on February 25, while the Mohammedan New Year last year be gan on March 7. Inasmuch as it io purely lunar, the Mohammedan year is almost unique in the calendars of the world. While the Chinese year con forms to the eastern idea, being found ed upon lunar months, a month is add ed to every 30, to make time conform with the solar year. Consequently, the Chinese New Year may begin any time between January 21 and Febru ary 28. REVOLVING NEW YEAR. The ancient Egyptians had a year more or less conforming to the Julian style, inasmuch as it contained 365 days. In course of centuries this made New Year's make a complete revolu tion of the seasons. This fact, only recently properly appreciated by Prof. Petrie, the Egyptologist, led to many misconceptions and retarded the solu tion of mysterious feasts and rites which now are perfectly well under stood by archaeologists. Anciently, in Rome, the new year began in March, in the neighborhood of the vernal equinox, which would seem to be a reasonable, if not logical time to begin the annual cycle. March 25 was, until the latter part of the sixteenth century, the day when tho new year began hi most Christian countries. Numa is said to have made the Roman year begin on January 1, the day held by pagan Home sacred in honor of Janus, who was thus sup posed to turn at once back upon the old year and forward into the new, and subsequently New Year's day was, at various times and in different Chris tian countries, celebrated on the pres ent Christmas, March 1, March 25 (the Feast of the Annunciation), and East er day. CUSTOM OF GIFTS. Almost everywhere the custom of making presents on the first day of the new year has been observed. When it originated, or where, it would be extremely difficult, if not actually im possible, to say. It is sufficient to know that the observance has the sanction of remote antiquity. In the eighth eentury B. C. Tatius, king of the Sabines, according to traditions, began the custom among the Romans. At first the gifts were merely emblem- New Year's Greetings atic and of little price, being branche* cut from the wood consecrated to Strenia, the goddess of strength. These were presented to the king as an omen of good fortune. The gifts j became more pretentious as time went i on, and in later centuries some of the 1 Koman emperors demanded New Year's presents of great value from the "magnates" of those days. As the Roman rulers were gentlemen who were not to be trifled with, the pres ents usually appeared on time after notice to the wealthy was given. It was in Rome, too, that the habit of masquerading at New Year's ap pears to have originated. The custom still observed in Italy now is confined to the celebrations at the Epiphany and at the carnival time. FESTIVITIES OF THE DAY In some countries, notably in Great Britain and in somo cities in Canada and the United States, the new year is welcomed in by festivities on the eve of the day. In Scotland, for instance, it is customary to celebrate New Year's eve with some festivity, which is prolonged until past midnight. At the stroke of 12 every one present wishes each other a "Happy New Year." The custom is also common in many parts of Germany, where the salutation is "Prosit Neu Jehr." Similar to this custom are the re ligious "watch meetings" held in somo of the churches in this country o* New Year's eve. In England on New Year's eve, in some houses, a curious custom, or superstition, is observed. At the stroke of 12, which ushers in the new year, the party, already wait ing on the stairs, begin to ascend the stairway backward, taking a step at each stroke. Every step successfully mounted means a happy month, every stumble a reverse. Of course, it is one of those playful superstitions which are not taken seriously. Glucose Fondant for Christmas. Two cups sugar, one cup water, and two tablespoons glucose. Boil all un til a little dropped in cold water will form a soft ball. Remove from flre and heat till creamy. Seven ways to use the fondant: Make into balls and dip in melted chocolate. Roll them in cocoanut. Roll them in chopped nuta. Fill figs with fondant and slice thin. Fill dates with fondant, or put the fondant around the stoned date. Make into squares and place a nut on top. Roll nuts in the fondant and then in sugar. Tie Racks for Men. A present that will be greatly ap preciated by a man is a tie rack. This may be mounted embroidered linen, burnt wood, decorated leather or painted cardboard. The only thing to be guarded against is not to make them too elaborate. The more simple the pattern is the more sure to please. Room for Lots of Presents. "I wish I could be a laundress," said little Dorothy. "You would have to work very, very hard, my child." observed her mother. "But just think, mamma, of all the stockings I could hang up." Greeting, Now while the surging, deep-toned bellt, lament The past year, e'er fickle, they shall change Their solemn burden for a round of joy. Chiming the praises of the year new crowned. —Edith Thomas.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers