Grand Rapids Herald-Review Newspaper, December 10, 1913, Page 4

PAGE EIGHTEEN, ¥ CHRISTMAS AND THE DARKEST DAY e@eeee By JOHN E. DOLSEN Copyright, .1913. by American Press Association @ee48 EVERY day the sun grows colder, Riding lower through its arc. Will it, as the year grows older, Leave us always in the dark? But we Know that science teaches "Gwill begin its upward climb When its lowest point it reaches, At the solstice—Christmas time. Earth to all her utmost regions Shuddered ’neath the march of Rome, Whose triumphant, pagan legions Dragged their loot and captives home. Must ‘her rule go on, unceasing? Would her armaments be harled, With an insolence increasing, "Gainst a servile, helpless world? Were ‘Rome's gods alone undying ? And must other nations crook Go her Caesar, deifying Him with suppliant word and look? When it seemed her ruthless power Nothing on the earth could stem, In that saddest, darkest hour ‘ Christ was born at Bethlehem. (oe Ce 3 ae Sele A: Santa Paper Chase little nieces, nephews and grandchildren were coming to the farm, as usual, says a writer in the Country Gentleman. Year after year we had had the common Christ- mas tree presentation of gifts until this method had quite lost its flavor. E were puzzled about the chil- dren’s Christmas, for all the | Resolved upon some substitute for it, we chanced upon the excellent one of a Santa Claus paper chase. Early in the afternoon all the chil- dren were gathered together, and, much to their bewilderment, each was hand- ed an empty grain sack. They were then told that Santa Claus was un- usually wary that year and that not ten minutes before he had been spied | | out of doors disappearing with his | pack. He was dressed, as in other | years, in red with white trimmings and | seemed to be dropping bits of red and green paper behind him. Where he dropped both red and green at the same time there was surely a gift hid- den, and that place must not be passed until the gift had been found and giv- en to the one whose name was upon it. The children could scarcely wait to be bundled ino their outer garments and set off after elusive Santy in high glee. It would be useless to tell the many strange places to which they were led by his paper trail and where | gifts were excavated. The hayloft, hol- low tree trunks,'even the mouth of a muskrat’s hole, yielded strange packets. At length all sacks were well filled, and Santa Claus was overtaken just in time to prevent his concealment of toothsome boxes of homemade toffee. grandma’s contribution. Dragging San- ta Claus, who was none other than one of the uncles in appropriate disguise, into their midst, the children bounded in, laughing and rosy cheeked, to inves- | tigate their prizes. As they were do- | | ing this they kept bubbling with merri- ment over their highly successful San- ta Claus paper chase and exclaiming that it had been “heaps and heaps and heaps” more fun than an indoor Christ- | mas tree. OOOOH 9 3 LITTLE LORD JESus., OOOOOO0OOOOOOOOH Away in a manger, no crib for a bed, The little Lord Jesus laid down his sweet head. The stars in the bright sky looked down where he lay, The little Lord Jesus asleep on the hay. The cattle are lowing, the baby awakes, But little Lord Jesus, no crying he makes. I love thee, Lord Jesus. Look down from the sky And stay by my cradle till morning is high. —Martin Luther. 9OOOOOOOOOOHOHOHOOOOOHOHOOHOOOO Presents For the Boy H © $ $ 2 © ‘ © © $ S $ $ 2 © 2 © g ® g ® g © ® ® © $ $ INDING things for the boy at Christmas time may seem more difficult, although no doubt he has just as many wants as his pretty sister. Silver knives with good blades, substantial key rings, pencils and fountain pens always please. Certain things in the jewelry line appeal to the average boy—a case containing euff buttons and tie pin to match or a good looking watch fob. An inspection of the leather shop displays will soon convince the shopper that there are dozens of things a boy can use and enjoy. Why not give him a leather case containing a soft felt hat or a ; pair of folding slippers? An- other case holds what is called |$| the’vacation outfit—a flat clothes {$| brush. two coat and trousers | hangers and a folding shoe horn, Leather stickpin cases and col- lar boxes are also acceptable. The fastidious boy will not scorn monogrammed handker- chiefs, silk socks and attractive ties. The-boy who has arrived at the age and stage of caring about his room will want college pillows, pennants, etc. If one wishes to invest more money in the boy’s Christmas, there are automobile hampers and extra equipments, cameras, hunting and fishing outfits, fieldglasses, eta Every boy wants skates, fut lined gloves and mufflers. For the book lover there is al- ways a goodly store of books, or oné may have a characteristic bookplate designed. ‘A Gift Suggestion. An ideq) gift for the bachelor is the “handy” box. containing tags, rubber bands, labels, thumb tacks, twine—in fact, alm¢st any article one might need in dispatching a package or for the hundred and one other conveniences to which these needful articles may be put. One bachelor says he derived more pleasure from one of these boxes which was given to him than from al- most any other gift he could mention. The boxes come in various sizes, the number $f useful articles contained varying With the size of the box. A gift of this character is well worth consideri: where a personal gift is not desirable. | Holiday Musio. for a Christmas tune, GRAND RAPIDS HERALD-REVIEW WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 10, 1918 SIMPLE GIFTS FOR CHRIST- MAS TIME. A paperweight may be made of Christmas ribbon in the form of a bag filled with bird shot or lead and tied with narrow rib- bon at the top. For a small blotter cut half a dozen different colored blotters the size of a postal card, bore a hole through blotters and postal card at each end and tie to- gether with Christmas ribbon. Choose a card with an appro- priate greeting. An attract way to make a floral calendar is to take twelve sheets of sketching paper, cut into some neat design a:@ paste on each leaf the floral symbols of each month. You can cut the flowers from any seed catalogue. The calendar leaf should be tastefully placed. A gift quickly made is a dec- orated tablet, which is useful for recording messages. Buy any kind of a tablet and carefully remove the cover so that the cloth binding will not be spoiled. Make a new cover from bright red mounting board and decorate it with holly leaves cut from white paper colored green. Ar- range the leaves in bunches or wreaths. Coat hangers are always ac- ceptable and are easily made at- tractive. One covered with holly ribbon, with a bunch of frosted artificial holly leaves attached to the wire, is pretty. A useful shirt waist bag may be made from a yard and three- fourths of ‘white paper cambric. Use narrow tape for drawstring and cotton floss to work the in- itials of the owner. A suitable present for a little girl is a tiny kimono. One can be made in an hour from any preferred material. OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Writing Christmas “Thank You” Notes he will bring you some pret- ty correspondence cards with | your initial in the corner. The first use to make of any such present is in writing “Thank you” notes to the per- sons- who have sent you Christmas presents. | Don’t let your mother or big sister | take this pleasure away from you. Re- | member this is a part of the Christmas fun. If you make it work it will be your own fault. Commence thinking beforehand what you want to say in those neatly written “Thank you” notes. If you have something all thought out half the work is already done. One of the first things you’d think of if you were speaking directly to the giver would be just what the present was. You wouldn’t say to Cousin Kate, for instance, “Thank you for your present.” You would be pretty sure to say just what the gift was. This is one of the big things to remem- ber when you write your “Thank you” | notes. Mention the present in each case. | This gives a real personal touch to your note and proves that you didn’t get your presents mixed up. If you are one of the fortunate children who get ever so many presents be sure to | keep track of the names of the givers. If there is a card attached don’t take it off until you are sure you will re- member just who gave you that partic- ular sled or doll or music box, If you are afraid of spoiling some | sheets of your pretty new paper be- fore you get the note nicely placed get some one to cut a couple of pieces of ordinary paper of just the same size | as your Christmas note paper. With a little practice you will learn just how far up on the page to begin and about how far down on the page your name will come. No one expects a long let- ter just at Christmas time, but every one has a right to expect a prettily expressed, neatly written note of thanks when there is no chance for a “Thank you” in words. A Prayer For the Children ‘Whenever children go to bed And hang their stockings up with care I pray that Santa Claus somehow ‘Will find the time to journey there, I pray no little child will wake At morn to find upon his cot An empty stocking and to weep Because old Santa Claus forgot. For Santa Claus is not alone The patron saint of rich, I’m sure, But he is loved as dearly by The little children of the poor. And so I pray that he may find The poorest urchin in the land And that no little trusting child May wake to weep and understand. —Detroit Free Press. The Shoppers. Oh, have you seen the shopping crush ‘Where all the bargains are? ‘With pallid face and solemn hush Man views it from afar, But woman braves the awful din And does not lose’ her head, And angels, so to speak, rush in ‘Where others fear to tread. She carries bundles in each hand And ’neath her elbows, too, And with a smile so sweet and bland Still looks for something new. Our football giants would not chance The broken limbs and necks ‘They risk whom in our ignorance ‘We style “the weaker sex.” —Washington Star. The Chimney Climber. Quoth Santa Claus, “I’m getting fat, And, though I'm not a churl, I think the person for this job ‘Would be the hipless girl.” ~—Harper’s Weekly. F course Santa Claus will bring | O you some note paper. Perhaps Christmas } Candies YOUNG woman of many re sources and fair culinary skilb found herself facing the prob- lem of Christmas gift giving with a very depleted pocketbook. She finally came to the conclusion that un- less she gave each of her friends a box of the simple candies she knew how to make it would be impossible for her to remember them. She made some pret- ty boxes, covering them with water color or crape paper and decorating them appropriately. Then she gath- ered her supplies together and got ready for work. She put off the mak- ing of the candy as long as she could in order that her sweetmeats might be absolutely fresh when presented. She had her nuts shelled and blanched ready for use and her simple coloring matters bought ready for use in ad- vance. When she began making her candies she had a clear fire in the kitchen range. enameled saucepans, a smooth lipped saucepan, shallow tins in which to pour such candies as caramels, taffy, butterscotch, etc.; large flat stoneware platters, clean smooth wooden spoons, BONBON Box. a wire candy dipper, one or two pal- ette knives, a strong pair of shears, @ small flat paint brush, a little olive oif and a good thermometer. If you wish to know just what she made and how she made it note the following recipes taken from her notebook: Nut Candy.—Two cupfuls sugar, one- half cupful water. Boil until thick. Flavor to taste, stir in one cup hickory nut meats and pour into a large flat dish. When nearly cold cut in squares. Lemon Candy.—Two cupfuls granu- lated sugar, one cupful boiling water, three tablespoonfuls vinegar, butter size of a walnut. Let boil until it hard- ens immediately when dropped in col@ water. Pull until white. Pour the lemon essence on while boiling. Chocolate Caramels.—Half a pound of chocolate, half a cupful of milk, two cupfuls of light brown sugar, one cup- ful of molasses and a piece of butter as big as a small apple. Cook for twenty minutes, stirring constantly. Pour into a pan and cut into squares. Caramel Taffy.—Two teacupfuls of white sugar, two tablespoonfuls of sirup, three ounces of butter, one can of condensed milk, essence of vanilla. Put butter. sugar and sirup into a pan, MAKING CANDY. stirring occasionally till melted. Then pour in milk and vanilla and boil for twenty minutes, stirring all the time. Mints.—Place in a saucepan two cup- fuls of granulated sugar, one-half cup- ful of water, one-fourth teaspoonful of cream of tartar and one-half tea- spoonful of glycerin. Boil to a soft ball stage, then remove from the fire and flavor with peppermint. Pour out on a platter and stir with a spoon until it begins to stiffen, then take up into the hands and knead until soft and creamy. Mold into balls and roll in powdered sugar. Place on oiled paper to cool. Wintergreen mints are made by adding a few drops of the oil of wintergreen instead of the pepper- mint and a little red fruit coloring. These mints can be dipped into melted chocolate if liked. ROAST DUCK DINNER. Green Turtle Soup (clear). Stuffed Olives. Escaloped Oysters. Cucumbers. Roast Duck. Orange Sauce. Cranberry Jelly. Mashed Potatoes. Sweet Potatoes. Boiled White Onions. Mashed Turnips. Celery Salad. Hot Salted Almonds. Mince Pie. Ice Cream. Fruit. Coffee. _ |Z