———— THE KING OF DAYS. | CERISTMAS AND THE ORIGIN OF MANY OBSERVANCES. sm. How the Date was Fixed-—Festivities Perived From old Customs The Decoration of Churches and Dwell. ings. We have no means of determining the exact dato of the Savior's nativity, The | statement that the date was preserved in | the public archives at Rome, though as- serted by some of the early fathers, is! not now generally credited. As to the | year, preponderance of opinion und of such evidenos as we have seem to favor that! of four or five B. U'. Asto the month December is the height of the rainy season in Judea and therafore the fact as stated by the New Testament, that shepherds were watching their flocks on its plains, while stars were shining in the heavens on the night of the Navior's birth, makes it extremely unlikely that it could have cvecurred in that month, | Many loaned treatises have been written | and plausible arguments advanced to prove that it must have taken place in Uotober, but the question will ever re. main in abeyance. For the first three centuries Christ mas was one of the most movable of all religious festivals. The eastern church observed the Gth of January as the anni versary of Christ's birth. Bat in the fourth century Pope Julius I. ordered an investigation of the matter, and after long deliberation the theologians of both the east and west united in appointing December 75th to be kept as Christ's birthday. Many of our most familiar Christmas usages are derived from the old heathen festivals which Christmas replaced. The custom of giving Christmas presents, now so universally observed, was de- rived from the old Roman saturnalia or fenst of Saturn. at which it ary for all the members of a household to offer gifts to each other. The yule clog or log—the great stick of timber placed in olden times upon the Christmas fire was derived from the Saxon feast of Jul or Yul, at which a similar piece of timber gave the princi- pal fire and the principal light. The yule clog and the superstitions connected with it are among the most venerable of Christmas associations. The vule clogs that blazed in the il English feudal barons of the middle ages were huge trees, and are told that even just before the f the last century the mansion of an English gen tleman residing near totally destroyed by fire in consequence of too large a vule having lighted on the hearthstone. When the vule clog was not al before dawn and on into the light of Christmas day carefully | preserved until the next Christinas eve, and were belie ed to bring good and fortune to all the household. but should they be scattered and lost death and misfortune were thought sure to fol. low, The custom of owellings and plac cvergreens, holly, laurel, bays aud mistle foe at the Christmas sesson is n uation of an observance of the old Prraids, f indly sylvan spirits sought thes ments of living green them, touched und ping frost, until the Those same old Draids attached mnch importance to the mistletoe, ins esting it with a peculinrly hallowed and mystic character. They regarded it as an em- blem of love. and believed that typi fied the beneficent feelings of their gods toward mankind. [It ix doubtless to this old Draoidieal nso iation of the mistletoe with love that the English custom, which still obtains, of enforcing the forfeit of a kiss from auy female who is caught under a branch of it at Christmas time is traceable, We are also indebted to the Druids for the Christmas game of “snap dragon,” which is played, as every one knows, by trying to snatch raisins from blazing brandy in an otherwise dark room. But probably fow of those who have plaved it are aware that the old Druids were ace customed to worship a flame of burn. ing spirits into which they cast and from out of which they plucked certain ob. jects. By the celebration of Christmas, with its grand liturgy, its magnificent music, and its pictorial and dramatic representations of the principal events in the life of Him whose birth it commen. orated the church sought to replace thes: heathen festivities and to lift up the minda of the people to something higher and holier, though from the first the dav was régurded both as a holy commemora tion of a most sacred ovent and as a mirthful, jovous festival. In the middle ages the festive observances of the dav aften so fur overtopped its nore sagred features that the clergy were frequentiv compelled to cheek the nuscemly mers. ment of their Hooks. The name of Christ. mas assiguod to the festival was derived from Christ nnd the Savon maesse or mass, and the two words wero dombined ta denoto a special service in hotior of the birth of the Son of God. Probably one ofthe most generally known of the old Christine observances next to the giving of presents, is the sing. ing of the Christmas carols. These were pious canticles designed to replace the ribald songs of the old heathen festivals, and the custom of children, and econ grown people, going nhout from house to puso singing them ot the door on Christmas eve and being rewarded with Christmas cheer and Christmas sponding money is maintained fn wany parts of England even to the present day. Une of the most elaborate celebrations of Christmas that ever took place oc. Ceurred in the your 1252, durtng the reign of Henry Hi. The marringe of the king's daughter, the Princess Margaret, sith Alexen ler, king of the Heots, took Fuse on that Christmas day. The arch. ishop of Yok gave G00 fat oxon ant £2,700 toward the expense. In the vear | 1248 this same Henry ILL filled West. mioster ball with poor piople awd feasted then rovally ot his expense throughout tho whole of Christinas week, | On another Christmas doy ho caused a great number of cattle 10 bo slaughtore 1, and throwing open his palace gates per. | mitted the populues to enter, and | was custom rast halls of the ol we close o shrewsbury was log been | eonsumed burned ashes were ite yealth decorating churches os of business with pe roped Brit. izh whose belief it was that 3 % Orn - , and hovered uitharmed by aeat near nip 1 of winter. it it pe det i each man to earry off as much meat as he could impale and bear away upon his dagger, That royal old Blue Beard, Heary keeping Christmas. He usually such as masques and tournaments. honco our Christmas cve of the present which in the associations that cluster around it in its sports and second only to Christmas itself. METROPOLIS OF BRAZIL. Revolution Ocenrvred. The revolution with which Brazil was ablaze for several months culminated in the city of Rio de Janeiro, the metropo- lis of the country, This eity is one of the most beantiful in all South America. It received its name of Rio de Janeiro river of January) from the fact that Martin Affonso de Souza, who was one of the first Europeans to enter the bay where it is located, supposed that he had enterad the mouth of a mighty river rivaling the Orinoco and the Amazon, and named it after the happy month in which he made his imagined discovery. The misnomer now clings not only to the magnificent bay with its circlet of moun tains but also to the provinee in which it is situnted and to the populous city which sits like & queen upon its bright tropical shores. This bay of Rio de Janeiro compels the admiration of every traveler, saves n distinguished one of it. “1 have again and again entered and quitted the Bay of Rie de Janeiro whon the billows wers surging and when the calm mantled the deep, and whether in the purple light of a tropic morning, in the garish moon, or in the too brief twilight of that Southern clime, it has always pre sented to me new glories and new charms. It has been my privilege to look some of the most celebrated both hetni- spheres, but 1 found which combined so much to be admired as the panorama presented in this bay, “On the height St. Elmo 1 have drunk in mach beosuty from that curvilinear bay of Sonthern Italy, upon apon of have never soenes one or ns whosze bosom float the isles of ( apri and Ischia, and up whose the margin nestls np i Vesuvius the and the pro city of Naples i long arm of Nu mito verb inlle 1} ii InUY Dri vit to y bined beau ha gAZe upon a scene w hich RUTPASSeS in and grandeur +} hess mountain t waters, poet. ically termed Famovo Indians, *Nitherohy } Fhe city of Rio bastian, is (ge Janeiro, iT ‘ ) teal capital of Brazil, or San Se commerce: orium and ad internal de Ory a metropolis worthy It is i the largest America and great country, saith boasts an an tiguity greater than i the United States nicates with the wi 1 deop and nares granite ‘ SHIC ARS at the harbor i 3 1 isiEnds and : Fy nding heights that tently mang by a body of dete meied men i ingress of world Rio's streets are Many Ht excoedinely well x SINE Y ei noted the pri for TOWess, 1 are } _ sides houses seldom stories, bat neips paved, three or than those of stories in this city. It has an immense foreign trade, as may be estimated from the fact that fully two thirds of the coffee product of all Brazil pass through its port, while numerous other articles are handled for foreign ex. wortation from the entire country. Mail and Express, ’ exes d are highes similar number of Bugs That Eat Meal, Insect Life calls attention to recontly observed instances where insects have gnawed metal. Une was the case of lead pipe, ent through by a bug that was actually found enguged at its work on tho metal.. The “wood wasp’ for of that specivs it was—had mode a hole in the pipe resembling a nail bole. A similar occurrence is reported in the shape of a8 “minie ball,” which gnawed throagh by a wood-boring larva. The ball had been fired into a red vak tree in Maryland during the rebellion, and when split out of the log it» the track of a full-grown grab, the ani- mals burrow leading directly through the bullet, The latter had been struck by the insect at its conenve end, boring two-thirds its length and coming out at one side somewhat below the apex. The larva was found in the borrow alive. only i short distance above the bullet, =o it fould not appear that the story recently circulated of worms which were alleged tro wis as disco f rod in in Europe is altogether incredible, Six Handred Thieves at Sapper, \s ry curious supper, which has boon widely discassed, was that given in Lon. don on a recent night by the Salvation Army tosis hundrod professional thioves, Fhe table was laid in the hall in Osford street and the guests wore inrnished with plum eake and pudding with tea and coffee, It was a motley gathering and furnished nn splendid obicet lesson ta those who care for studies of “crooks, while it must be confessed those whe be. iteve in the innate goodness of man com Ing out when away from baleful influence, mst have been shocked when they saw these human beings or crentures with ali grosping and tearing the victunls placed before thom ns if they were starved, To Judge from their appearance, they were shysically and intellectually aofit 10 fight the battle of Ife In a square and honest fashion. mont, for it surely tolls its own story, is furnished in the case of one of these “honored guests’ who picked a pocket { outside the hall aud was marched off to the police station instead of going to supper. Perhaps in his ease, though, the individual al gard for his surroundings, or it may be | that the ‘crook’ in question took pride {in the pursuit of his profession and wanted to show that his skill could sur. mount more than ordinary difficulties, iand at the erncinl moment his nerve i Pranseript. Sterilized Milk. The true value of sterilized milk is Just beginning to be generally realized, ical experts. | but beaten milk in which all of the germs by fire. | milk, and the rapidity with which these ing. fren from bacterin, but it deteriorates rapidly. alarming rapidity. In a few hours after | spoonful contains hundreds of bacteria. ' From this time onward the milk contin ues to doteriorate, and before itis exposed for sale in the cities a teaspoonfnl will contain hundreds of thousands of teria. Milk, then, filled with these germs invalids, when the body is in such u condition that they can rapidly grow, It is an important dis. ease producer inthis way. Health boards j in cities ure condemning its use after a and sterilized milk alone is being recommended for general as well as special use, Many different acids have been used to kill the germs in the milk, but in every it has been found that they injure the stomach so that their has been discontinued Heat is the only effective remedy, and this mnst be done at a certain tempers. ture to prevent the of taste, color and odor. True sterilization is when the milk is heated at 140 degrees Fahr. This temperature is sufficient to kill the bacterin, not make the milk lose its odor, taste, and appearance Yankee Blade bac- is fod to babies and { fow hours standing. CRRo sg ' IWR ot bor exactly and it will Protection From Farnace Heat, I'he protection of workmen from Furnace heat, as Prd tised at the Menden Tron We 3 . DF Ineans o B root { Schwert { : $ 3 orks in sit is said to be ori Th er the : v % I sOTern nung f vhich can vorking side vashed aside whe HE an os bo made to eon of the furnace, or fi not required the nto uw ork gol terferes with i nl is bent gutter siight fall in the direction of and the upper edge in ' th i rsd nt nearest the vith rigs oles about throe.quarters of an ing wod throngh with email } in connection with that this first applied experime furnaces, has that it has been fitted to al furnaces in the eratives being thas enabled to wor time the hottest toston Transeript anid arrangement worked 1 works namo even mm Flowers in the Window, » the agricultural of New England, throngh vy villages In riding towns and flowers may be seen in mah y windows ¢ indeed, in some places nearly every house exhibits these signs of refinement and contentment, It is cheering, espe cially in winter, to be groected by these many colored flowers in their green foliage, and it is an index, often, perhaps always, to the life that goes on within, If domestic poace and happiness were overthrown, it is certain that no attention given to plants or lowers. Flowers and discord do not grow together, The cultivation of flowers some degree of contentment and happi- ness is the portion of the occupants of the house where they are displayed, that there is asecking after the beautiful, and that something more than mere life or Flowers are the most beautiful product of nature, and whoever appreciates and cultivates thom ix subject to an influencs refining and ennobling, Flowers cheer and elovate, and the more flowers we have, the more cheerful and the better we ought to be American Agriculturist, would be shows that cxistones i= the object, Vepsin, The pepain sold in the drag stores is {the veritable product of an animal | stomach, and generally of the stomach of the hog. One factory in New York has the oldest method of preparing the article that ever entered into the human mind, A number of perfectly healthy hoge are fattencd for market, and for thirty.six hours before killing time aredeprived of all found, not oven boing allowed u drop of water. appetizing slopes and hog delicacies, stjueal for an chance to get at the slops, The iron netting prevents them from tasting the food, und while they are still thinking about the matter they are killed, a their stomachs being taken out are found perfectly fu!! of gastric juice, | from which the pepsin is prepared. Now if it was not the hog's imagination that “made the gastric jules How inte his | stomach In anticipation of a feast, what ACCIDENTS AND INCIDENTS OF EVYERY.DAY LIFE, * tures Which Show that Truth Is Stranger than Fletion. Oxi of the many anecdotes of the late Ir. Leidy, the anatomist is to the follow. ing effect, says the Philadelphia Record. The doctor had heard of two petrified bodies being weceld ntally disinterred in an ancient gravevard down town, Very tv of Pennsylvania, he soon found the however, Ax the doctor prepared to retrace his way, quite disappointed at his failure, the snperin- tendent, ina dwawling, half-concilintory That dignitary I'l give Hp the bodies to the order of relatives This hint was safficient. Returning hone, the doctor hired a furni- ture wagon, and, fortified written order reading, + with a hastily Please deliver to grandfather aml the Wepre boare- the bodies of mv to On : : the coveted specimens drove cemetery obtained and are exhibited to this day in the mu- senm of the aniversin Tux Clifton Mistol has pret suid Bridge by long been re garded as the bride of Fuels wl i 0 rece § vk ay ! HAUTE, al on a Tecen Vk it score l its thirty victim, It sirions how any man can want to take second in £ hia lif from such ao spl, ns the sooner of the sarroanding country is exquisitels vaatifal: but the attraction, of course , that the bridee, Vic Isa saxpension of Tory high and the valley below sa that when one tnken wrssibility of auvibing iu the nstnre of vxeeedingly rocky, fatal leap has been there is a hitch ox ITrng to thwart the compl 1 The Bath gentieman of independent means, whos om the on of the desperate sin intext ictim is Mr. Stuart Boucher, of mangle | body » found recently BI rocks on the reel side of river MN fine Wineraw Havin server of I trained I himself some time rooster makes the Aappi mpnn os his crowing ra tisort hor tlio in th nid Mr bvsonts, (» Brn : vou think then € and albums if the members ross } Wf the houses that were good for robbing. Mr and Mrs. Clarke » the the They lived were highly fA NCYO, and took his notes « i 3 § ORGY TE oF of the it respected by all their neigh ited 1o ten ore sang wey iris i Ovid i HTH and were oxtensi oly in parties, dinners, Leo. xe af the quoerest superstitions that that of finding the body of a drowned man bs means of hia shirt was dv ever entered the human head is Last spring « man wned in the river in front of the East 8. Louis levee. Search was made with boats for the body. but without suc. cosa. Some one recalled the superstition, and the searchers took the shirt the man had laid aside when be entered the water, and lot it float awny It floated for a while, and then sank, and they searched for the body where the shirt went down, and, sure enough, found it not far away. Une case of this kind of sourse does not make a rule, but the man whe hossad the Job in this instance said he had seen it tried a dozen of times and it never failed. Tree is a most remarkable aw apping horse Jockey in Belfast, Me. "Lije Walter, save a local paper named Just in the world “‘Lije” started away from home ono day on foot nothing in his pocket but a jackknife. He was absent just one week. and returned driving a pairof horses harnessed into a top-buggy. Hitched to the rear axle was another horse and a cow, while ahead was a dog. “See how your papdoes iY said Lij fo his son, ne he gazed at the time of das from a handsome watoh, y had got the whole trout for his jack. knife and swapping the proceeds into one thing and another. Mastaxa, Fla, is talking wonderfal man in thelr midst. His name is Ebenezer Long, and he was born black, sixty vears ago. “He is now perfectly fair, except a few dark spots that may be discovered by looking at him closely. His children nro as dark ns he was in his youth, while his now secs to be one of the whitest of white skins. When he was abou twouty.cight about n one place on his arm, and thence spread over the body. Ebenezer is quite healthy and looks ten years younger than he is." But Georgia enters a elaim on him on the ground that it is bis birthplace, Mr, J. E. Dissox records in the Vie toria Naturalist a ourlous fact which came under his own observation. During leigh. he was somewhat Surprised 10 soo n specimen of the ring-tailed opossum hanking. as he thought, by her claws, to a sharp-pointed limb of a gum-tres, about twenty feet from the ground, Upon closer obsereation be found that the croature was dead, ond that death was due to the fact that in her flight she bad become impaled. “In the pouch were { mules und three females. They all ap- nicely. Considering the nurber they | are quite lnrge. The cow is ot ordinary #ize und this is the third time she las become a mother. She is very her family of calves amd is as watehful of ench one ns an old ben ie of a brood of smull chickens, Mr. Bover has ul ready received a naomber of flattering offers to exhibit his anioml Chisago muoscuins A wos ecanght in a 1.1 : : ‘ ocd way in Glastonbury Conn, YooLisn fox ery recently, He hind a very long and bushy tail, and it, for he fo instead trailing it along the ground. A pick of houndx chased nim, and to elude them he tried to bolt through nn barbed » mauvhe, was extremely vain of swished it from side wide of ire fence; but somehow that tail curled itself abou n barb and the fox wax us fast as fnws of n steed trap him An the hunters despatched him. if the hour later Bigcu, a farmer Deeatar Ind., has presented a petition to Frank County, the stone mounine nl, erected County Commissiones te have the in thnt Inst spring to murk the center of the nlf day “ ng ¥ bounel gird, fations county Popa ioved two A few m with a United id tf LEY his wife tion of mintes, nnd a bh ard his bons presets I hi 2 wel of triplets, two bovs aud a = and he claims that by ea ul ealen. he advent has changed th intion to that extent, res hos demonstrated Center oiectrie light wire } Contact wy fight “lie n Pun wanders fitidd Dewey St shouting and Bris His amma 2 and he had to be sat remnrkable rer to ong i the nuk Cooonnuls th The man Custidl nod iw from heads the Chin nguish 3 11 i tts, and noeariy sail ol tad} Spruce Gam Gone From VYermont, It it said that gennin pr eum has ainmumt entirely dina; mont, which used to fuantitios, increase of saw and palp mills.and partis y great fromm or. proguee it in This is owing to the great to forest mills But the gum.picker is still a pictur. esque figam the Gireen Mountain State, The most famous one is Alonzo h Bshop, of Ww ood ford, in winter, carrving a bag slung over his shoulder, Bishop ronms all over the Green Mountains examining spruce trees. With a long pole ending with a sharp chisol. he detaches the gum, His journeys often take him many miles from human habi. tations. When the hilisare snow.covered, Bishop still pursues his indostry travers. ing the country on spow.shoes, He sells the gum for fifty cents to $1.50 a pound, ; according to quality The purest gum is transparent or of a light amber color filied with minute babbles of air, Y ermonters who have made new homes for themselves in the West great deal of the pure article, which is sent to them by friends through the mails, The Ohio and Michigan branches tof the Olin family, whe recently held their annual reunion in Desningtown, bought up all the spruce gum in Bosto yr Cultivator in Consume n Raunt d AEFI I Why Do We Worry! Any one who is eager to make a family record for old age must learn to worrving. He should let nothing prey on his mind. When troubles loom up ashend snd while the shadows grow larger and creep nearer be can lose five years from the latter end of his life just by fretting about the impending calamity, Now, the way he shoald do is to sire up the trouble carefally and accurately, Rurelv, we have all noticed how such things, if one looks hard at them and wi. flinchingly, really grow smaller as they COMO NEOTCE, slap extent and nature of the impendieg | gonoity in trying to find 8 way aroond it, thon if it most be met, lot him face it and meet it, boldly and calmly, with a full realization of its probable severity !ccdet him stand up like a man with a cool head and stiffened muscles, when behold! the frowning thing will dissolve like vapor or ho will ride it as the boat rides the ware But to worry! that makes the troublea real one aml leaves us weaker for every shock that follows. [The Argosy. a lamily for one year in ar pS warts BRUIN FACED THE MUSIC, i Lured to Death by the Bass Horn of a Brass Band, George Griswold, who lives en the FLovalsock Creek, a mile and a hnlf north On a re. cent Baturday evening, Griswold tucked his big horn under his arm and strode other members of the village organiza. tion. A little after 10 o'cloek Griswold the full moon. When he had gone nearly a mile from the village, where the road led through Andrew Harper's farm, he to the right, and looking that way he saw a bear pawing around and crunching nuts under a big chestuut tree, Griswold watched the greedy animal for a moment, nnd then he stole up to the fence, squatted behind it, poked his Luss horn between the rails, and blew u single blast that sent the echoes fiving among the surrounding hills. The toot of the big horn gave the bear an amazing stort. In hix sudden fright he rolled overs number of times and then he jumped up and legoed it across the meadows ut full tile Uriswold thought he bad scared the bear balf to death, and he was about to pull his horn out of the when he saw the bear tarn mut aod slowly march back toward the chestnut tree. He said the brute seemed to be eager to find out where the noise had come from and what left his hora in and kept perfectly still far © but he di tone, ab kad made it, and so he the fonee The treo, proached the ander it to paw He waddled directly to- ward the fence, sniffed the gir frequently and hal es fixed on the hom, the big end of whieh glittered in the moon. light in front of him. When the inquis. itive animal was within a few vards of the fonce, Griswold blew another blast vith all the had, and the bear rolled himself and went dancing across the lot as thourl be had wen shot the field half oa dozen fine bye autiousiy ap dnt ston up more nals his ung power Ime Hii over Before he had reached the he faced int. suoried %, und shambled back to wold kept r geross the lots when the owner of “na of ghoul, find ont more abot the carious brute cave in thi pear alf an hour Charies Hay per, a son of £ way for y y ) mad, ran Gow the road to ascertain Wf the horn was Dy ng ble wn im ar Griswold pare iy iY ir slave of it b id Harper in un whis and ior some be bear when nest time old ploughshare hat {ime the bear ore and (iris. fa fing, was i OI rept a.ong fre una oon. bohind the stamp o the chestnut i led hiss : Rroa ao we : ninod kind of a he bear apps dete Gnd fis out what machine § Mr Drass thing in i # 1 i his head iH. Th if tree to the into the top of sprang atl drove é } © ®n 3 Mae ORY 8 skull with al Mm Te A roar, red up on hi hind wd, k iar raliied at once, bad taken ten steps another blow head to the ground Griswold then jumped over the fence with a large stone, but before he pol a chance to do anything Harper had killed the bear with the ploaghshare Parmer Harper was on his way to the wen the bear turned up Lis toes, and the three men lagged the carcass to the barn. The bear was hog fat, and weighed 406 nounds.— New York Sun. 5 3 5 : BIG Whole arg RIND ner off and, before the bear hin with the pl 3 ; is feet, Harper on the him he dealt ughshare and felled “im wi Panishing Naval Cadets. It is said that the punishment inflicted upon the cadets at the Naval A ademy at Annapolis are carefully devised to have ns much influence as pessiblein prevent. ing a rocarrence of the offinse. These regriations are the fruit of years of ex. perience and are enforced with undoviag- ing impartiality. When a cadet is guilty of tardiness at any formation, he is re- quired fora given period subsequent fo report to the officer in charge half an hour before the time of the formation, standing by until it takes place. Those who oversleep themselves in the morning arc compelled for a month to torn out one hour before reveille, and at the first note of the bugle to report themselves and the room ready for inspection. Visit ing during study bours is punished by solitary confinement on the prison ship Santee as a corrective for too great sociability. luattention at drill carries with it the penalty of one or more extra drills during recreation tours, Habitual natidiness is cured by requiring the care. less eadet to report for inspoction to the officer in charge every hour for a number of days, usually a month, Should non. regulation clothing be found in a cndet's possession, it is seized by the authorities ax contraband and not restored until the offender leaves the academy. It is thus difficult to appear out of uniform. New Orleans Pieavune, Well-paid Basc-ball Players. “Who wouldn't be a star base.ball itcher ¥ remarked festive Geary Rich the other day as he read of Rusie's engagement by the Chicago Association Club at 86,000 1 Aud Geary Pe “The seas m is about six play about (20 games, of which Rusie will pitch in say 40, and 40 goes inte por hour ud Richardson it 4 refustd tu Play as ants any longer fo year, and went Teer os Phiideipba er got three years’ coutracts at Any.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers