"Easy Reading-" Page. --\ / U:' * '. \ ' Wf/fi \ \; V' ■ :t ' . ■/ n, Z3sa»kx''. l J- —\ -s*.-05>-^ Peace On Earth. Millions of stars hang twink ling above millions of babes to night, millions of wise men from the East, and from the West, the North and the South are bending in rapturous worship above the cradles where sweet innocence lies wrapped in the swaddling garments of untroubled slumber. Gifts, gold, the frankincense of parental love are lavished in un i-tinted measure upon those sleep ing cherubs. Countless angels hover in ecstacy in all the glitter ing pulsing heavens and sing the gloria in excelsis that burst from the celestial choir nineteen hun dred years ago. "Peace on earth, good will to men !" For nineteen centuries that song has fallen on the ears of the awed shephers watching their wayward ii.>ckson the hills of time—"Peace! peace!" Spears, battle axes, cata pults, arrows, stuttering flintlocks, percussion guns, rude cannon, ron shells freighted with death, machine artillery, mammoth can k• ;>nry dealing death and destruc tion miles away, have blown the black hot breatn of hate in the i ice of heaven's messengers of peace and good will. All down : ; ie centuries the din and clamor of war's red legions has sought to drown the song of triumph that iirst woke the echoes among the dumb, frozen crags of Judea's hills. But with unwavering con fidence and constancy the song lias not wavered in a single tone. God Almighty gave the word to the angels to proclaim peace on earth, and it will surely come. A merry Christmas to all, peace in your hearts, in your homes, in the nation and in all the world. Christmas at Stony Knob. Wal, crissmus is over agin and the fesstle seezun has left me all but busted finanshully and mor relly & fizzickly imbareist so to speek. We sellabrated on thurs dy nite owin to figgerin out the date by a last yeers awmanick, & so we wuz a little ahed ov Sandy Claws' skedule, but it diddent seem to make no diffrunce with the eez & fasillity with whitch my last summer's incum trickled out thru the hoals in the bottom ov my jennerosity. When the shadders ov nite be gin to spred thairselfs around the landskape on crissmus eve, Dry, and Fredercky, and the 2 twins (whitch compozes my fambly sur kle ov offsprings), thay ondrest thair feat & proseeded to hangup thair stockins. Jest to help out the deluzion, i pulled off my boot and hung my sad and solium old sock longside ov 'em. Dry went to look at the artistick effeckt ov the row ov hoshiery, and wundrin how the display wood strike the fansy ov old Saint Nickodeemus, when he begin to back off and hold his noas as if thay wuz sum offensiv fragrunce illuminatin the atmusfeer. "Now see heer pa," sez 'e "It wunt never do to hav yure old sock hangin up thare in that row ov airomattick foot jackets, wy it smells wurse 'n a hungairian hobo drest in wet korderoy britches with poal-catter ov rozes on his hangkerchiff. Sandy Claws cant git within a rod ov it. It has got to cum down," and he got the broom and poaked it down and throde it in the stoav. I wuz mad to hav my clothin creemated like that and wuz goin to giv the fresh yungster a good warmin when all to wunst the smoak poord out ov the stoav fillin the room with a smell that droav us all out doars. The dog staid in, but he koffed up his supper. I hild my breth and dasht in like dockter Kook makin a dash for the big nale. I coodent find wot wuz the rip till I yanked the stoavpipe chimbley, and then i seat, hoal wuz chuck full ov ued ei hly swallers whitch had bin su kated with the fumes ov foot mowth diseez from my wooling sock. I pawed 'em out, stuck the pipe back in and peece and har muny wuz restoared. Dry wuz lookin at the ded burds and sed thay had bin asfixiated. I sez, i dun no, mabey so, but after ex zaminin ov 'em, i coodent see no sines ov thair bein fixt in enny sutch a manner. Wal, the stuffin ov them stock ins and the givvin ov menny uth er prezents is wot nocked the bunghoal out ov my finanses. I dug up my last nickle for to git my neffew Rastus Rott a set ov boan coller S cuff buttons, and i node di m well he'd ruther be ketchi in bed with a nigger than to ware a coller or cuffs. I need a set ov britches mitey bad my self. When Igo to meatin or to the ladys ade, i hafto do like a in jin on the ralerode runnin into a stub switch; thay haint no way to git out oanley to back out. But it doant make no diftrunce how bad we need things, prezents must be giv or crissmus woodent be no vvurse than ash wensdy. I got a fue useful! and or» sntal prezents as follers: a pare ov 15 sent galluses jest hart long enufr, a cake ov tar sope, a bottle ov iid dy pinkums vejjitable kompound, and a campane push buttun to ware on my cote barein the im midge and sooperskripshun ov Willyum Jinnins Brine. I must acknollej that i wuzzent tickled to deth with my prezents, but i hav got the supreem conso lashun ov knoin that i haint the oanley feller that's drawed a boo by prize out ov Sandy Claws' grab bag. Thare's Dock Kook hoo exspected a north poal in his stockin, but the Coopenhagen geezers giv him a frosty icikle. & thays uthers to numrus to men shun. How about yu ? TOMM Y ROTT.