Grand Rapids Herald-Review Newspaper, December 20, 1902, Page 2

Joyful Occasion for Child of the Stage Christmas day is usually a joyless holiday for actors, with its two per- formances and hurried dinner be- tween them, writes Annie Russell. Christmas audiences are always in a happy mood and quickly responsive. But the very happiness in the air has a pathetic suggestion for the player who must work while others play. Still, they have their compensation in the mysterious packages brought up by the stage door man, which one hasn’t time to open until after the next scene. Oh, the delight of finish- ing that scene and opening the pack- age. A present from thé family, who are’ reunited for the holidays in the old home, and who each send a gift and‘a word of loving greeting to the absent worker. Then the telegrams, the flowers, the unexpected gifts from, members of the company,, or little ‘offerings from a poor “stage hand,” which touches you deeply, because you know how much the dollar and a half meant to him. But on this especial Christmas day last year there’ was an air of great but suppressed excitement in “A Roy- al Family.” One met the queen in her long court gown, struggling with ‘her traingover one arm and a huge pdckage in the other, groping along a dark passage to the “property- Then the cardinal, in his magnifi- cent scarlet silk robes, guiltily con- cealing a long box. Others of the royal family were seen along the dark passage carrying parcels to the prop- erty-room, from which they emerged with smiling, eager faces. As the curtain fell upon the final tableau of the play, with the entire court assembled, there was not the rusual rush for the dressing rooms. Everyone’ remained on the stage, arid the princess, taking the tiny prince by the hand, explained that she had re- ceived a letter from Santa Claus to say that he would visit the theater that day. Hardly was the explanation made when on came Santa Claus, imperson- ated by the property man, drawing in a most wondrous Christmas tree, load- ed ‘with gifts and candles and fairy things. The poor little actor for whom all this joy had been prepared by his grown ‘comrades was too stunned to speak. Even after a formal introduc- tion to Santa Claus and his assurance to the little boy that all the tree was his, the realization came slowly and he gave faint little squeals of joy as the undreamed of toys were shown to him, s ‘i = Oh, the wonderful wagons that went half way across the stage when they were wound up, and the funny ani- mals that jumped about all by them- selves. The child’s delight grew and caught the whole company. What a sight it would have been for the audience leaving the theater could they have seen on the other side of the curtain. There was the entire court of Caron —king, queen, prince, princess, cardi- nal, courtiers, ambassadors, ladies in waiting—in all their gorgeous rai- ment, playing like children with the toys. Some were on | their hands and knees; others running around after a mechanical ‘rabbit. The ‘ardinal and the dowager queen were con- vulsed over the antics of two wooden monkeys having a prize fight. . Where was the dignity and the art now! Forgotten in the happiness of a moment of return to that nature which makes the whole world kin to a little child, | 4 Early Christmas Music Both in Germany and in England in olden times the custom prevailed among young choristers of going through the streets in bands early on Christmas morning and singing Christmas hymns-and carols for alms before the houses of the rich. A familiar picture is that of Martin Tyuther when a boy singing in the streets at Christmas dawn. Several of “the most familiar German Christmas hymns wers harmonized early in the seventeenth century by Jacob Praeto- rious to melodies composed about the middle of the sixteenth century ‘by Luther. One of the greatest masters of German music, Johann Sebastian Bach, when a pupil at the choir and grammar school of St. Michael’s, in Luneberg, walked the streets early Christmas morning singing these “waits,” as they were called in Eng- land, with his fellow choristers, ve- in ‘ y) ll TT Sy tween whom and those of another school the musical rivalry was so in- tense that,the authorities were obliged to map out separate routes for them in order to prevent their meeting and coming to blows. New Year Superstitions With the exception of All-Saints’ Day there is no time in the whole twelvemonth about which so many su- Perstitions cluster as New Year's. Some form of divination to foretell the future is practiced in almost every land on January 1. ‘rhis, of course, is practically the case with young peo- ple who desire to know whether they will get married during the coming year or soon thereafter. In the coun- try districts of England and Germany there is a tea and coffee test which is most satisfactory. A teaspoon is bal- anced carefully on the edge of a cup. Then tea or coffee, as the case may be, is dropped into it, drop by drop. Ev- ery drop that the spoon will hold without losing its balance means an- other year before the wedding. One or two large drops will usually upset the spoon, and so this is a very popu- jar way of looking into the future. Don’ts' For Christmas Don’t forget that a basket of fruit or a box of flowers is just as nice a present in many cases as something that will last a good deal longer. Don’t give your husband something he don’t want, just because you want it yourself or it will look nice in the parlor. This “don’t” works the other way also, though men are not often sinners in this line. > Don’t think that you are too ‘poo: to keep Christmas. You can’t be so poor as all that. Don’t spend so much money on Christmas that you can’t get even with the butcher and grocer until March. Don’t give presents that are a pleas- ure for 10 minutes and a burden and ‘a worry for ten years; that is, don’t give the dweller in town a beautiful bulldog, even if it did take a prize at the dog show, says the Philadelphia Telegraph. Don’t give a drum to the children of your enémy who works nights. A watchman’s rattle is just as good, and it is,cheaper. A Scotch Celebration In Scotland there is a/curious super- stition to the effect that good or bad fortune is brought to the house by the character of the first caller on New Year’s day. In the eighteenth cen- s tury this was supposed to take effect after 12 o’clock, and so devoted lovers would station themselves outside of the doors of the houses where their sweethearts dwelt so that they could enter at once upon the striking of the hour. From midnight till morning the streets of Edinburgh were crowded with young men, all making merry in’ one way or another. Indeed, it is the most important celebration of the year to the Scotch,