Grand Rapids Herald-Review Newspaper, December 10, 1913, Page 6

PAGE TWENTY The Reindeer Upon a starlit night, The best of horn and hoof, Eight noble reindeer stood And stamped upon a roof. A sudden shot rang out, A shot that fatal sped. Hit in a mortal spot— Down fell the eight deer dead. Beneath the snow spread roof A man in ruthless cause Had told a little boy There was no Santa Claus. And after they were killed Throughout his life’s long grind $ The littie boy not $ Another of their kind. & § Whereot the moral lies: In sport's fair playing name Pray let December be Close season for the game. —New York Times. Celebrating the Day Anciently and Now On Christmas eve the bells were rung; On Christmas eve the mass was sung. That only night in all the year Saw the stoled priest the chalice rear. The damse! donned her kirtle sheen; The hall was dressed with holly green. Forth to the wood did merry men go To gather in the mistletoe. Then opened wide the baron’s hall To vassal, tenant, serf and all. Power laid his rod of rule aside, And Ceremony doffed his pride. The heir, with roses in his shoes, That night might village partner choose. O sang Sir Walter Scott of the glories of Ghristmas eve and of Christmas itself. And the world yields to him the palm for the best practical description of the sea- son’s dear delights. Christmas with us is a day of giving | and receiving, of good cheer and good | feeling, and essentially it is one of re- | ligious significance. Hence it will! sound s a number of our Christmas customs | come down to us from pagan times. Yet such is the fact. Traces of some heathen rites are found in England as well as here, and the cause of their survival lies deeper than theology. When the mother country, so called, was converted to Christianity the priests found her people wedded to many old customs. Not all of these were what they would have had them, but they had a practical work to per- form and went at it in a practical way. The more revolting of these customs they properly uprooted altegether; the better of them they preserved, only in- grafting the rites of the church upon them. Thus it came about that festivities which had their origin in the old Ro- man Saturnalia and had come into use among the druids survived in the ‘ange to many to be told that | } gtim mythology of the Saxons and are a portion of our inheritance today. Conspicuous among these are the burn- ing of the Yule log and the hanging of the mistletoe bough. Among all peoples who celebrate the day at all it has always been a day for eating and drinking, for singing and dancing and merriment of all kinds. In- deed, this has been the criticism of the church against the manner of observ- ance—that its spiritual meaning was too often forgotten in the general tide of worldly cheer. In England its observance is univer. sal. The chroniclers tell us that in Cheshire no servants would work on this day, even though their failure to do so resulted in their discharge. The richest families were compeiled either to do their own cooking on Christmas or eat what had been prepared beforehand. while dancing and merriment reigned. And the games that were played number nearly legion, the most of Run- them, though, on Christmas eve. THESTREETS IN MANY PLACES WERE FILLED WITH MUMMERS. ning: in sacks, ducking for apples, jumping at cakes suspended by a string and trying to catch them be- tween the teeth, drinking hard cider mixed with egg and spices, and a score of others—these claimed and still claim in Devonshire the time of old and young, the children themselves being allowed on this one night to sit up until the midnight bell tolls. What has been aptly calied ‘‘a beau- tiful phase in popular superstition. very old belief, was that all the pow- ers of evil lay dormant and harmless on Christmas day. The cock crowed thypugh the live. long night to dfive-an~evir Splits away: the bees sang in their winter hives; the cattle, half bumian, ‘at all times, became wholly so at miidnight and talked like human beings. Bread that was baked the night be- fore Christmas could not possibly be- come moldy. The streets in’ many places were filled with mummers in fantastic garb. Indeed, there were mummers in the days when Saturnalia reigned over even the Roman emperors, but they were not necessarily of the Christmas time. The love for masquerade is al- most as old as the human race itself. But as to the day itself, it was then. as it is now, a very merry day. with good fellowship bubbling even from hearts where theological nonbelief Gwelt—a day sacred to the family, to tbe eating of roast turkey and cran- berry sauce or roast beef and plum podding and walnuts and the drinking of beer. ale and wine. It has changed to some extent since the old day, but it is still the happiest day of all the year—at least where the shadow of misfortune does not cloud the sky. 9OOOOOOODOOODDODOQOOOOOOOIGY . THE AFTERMATH. $ E’VE done our little charity, } we've been a little kind, © We've called ourselves by no ble names and boasted noble mind, We've preached of the deserving % poor and listened to their plea, 4 And we are ‘smug and satisfied and © proud as proud can be. : “This Christmas we at least,” we say, “were kind to some poor % soul, When the Christmas spirit gripped us—and we sacrificed a dole! and hearken with a will: The poor are always with us, and they're broken hearted still. They’re living in their loneliness, they're living in their pain, e calling, calling, calling, they ask your help again. We gave them cheer at Christmas, then we made our little bow, But the winter chill is with them still, and who will help them now? —Edmund Leamy in New York Ti 2 ® » } 4 g 2 © © © © 4 ® © © $ But hearken. ye, my brothers all, rs & 2 ® 4 © © ® ® » © © Afterward. "Twas the day after Christmas, and all through the flat The air was as blue as the birds on ma’s hat, For now that the bills for the presents had come Pa “cussed” till he meade all the bric-a- brac hum. —Judge. For This Christmas, Ye old time stave that pealeth out To Christmas revelers all, At tavern tap and wassail bout And in-ye banquet hall— Whiles ye old burden rings again, Add yet ye verse, as due, “God rest you merry, gentlemen,” And gentlewomen too! ~—Jamesz Whitcomb Riley. Christmas ‘Treasures By EUGENE FIELD. COUNT my treasures o’er with care— A little toy that baby knew, A little sock of faded hue, A little lock of golden ha‘ Long years ago this Christmas time My little one—my all to me— Sat robed in white upon my knee And heard the merry Christmas chime. “Tell me, my little golden head, If Santa Claus should come tonight, What shall he bring my baby bright, What treasure for my boy?" I said. And then he named the little toy While in his round and truthful eyes There came a look of glad surprise That spoke his trustful, childish joy. And as he lisped his evening prayer He asked the boon with baby grace, And, toddling to the chimney place, He hung his little stocking there. That night as lengthening shadows crept I saw the white winged angels come With music to our humble home And kiss my darling as he slept. He must have heard that baby prayer, For in the morn, with glowing face, He toddled to the chimney place And found the little treasure there. They came again one Chriqtmastide, That angel host so fair “id white, And, singing all the Christmas night, They lured my darling from my side. A little sock, a little toy, A little lock of golden hair, The Christmas music on the air, A-watching for my baby boy, But if again that angel train And golden head come back for me To bear me to eternity My watching will not be in vain. fening a otory. When a man starts to tell a story he proceeds by the most direct route, but a woman backs into it.—Philadel- vhia Ledger. ® GIFTS FROM HICKORY NUTS. @ Hickory nuts and horse chest- nuts make quaint little inex- pensive toys. Draw features in ink upon a wrinkled hickory nut to form the head of a grand- mother doll, to which glue a roll of white cloth for the body. Two short rolls of cloth sewed to the body will make the arms. Dress in a checked gingham frock, white kerchief and apron and a wide ruffled cap, glued to the nut head. With horse chestnuts, a sharp jackknife, burnt matches and corn silk may be made ducks, kens, horses and other ani- mals for a toy barnyard. A few cuts to loosen the shell of the nut make feathers and ears, the corn silk, pinned on, is used for tails and manes, and the matches make sturdy, realistic legs for the funny little creatures. FIRST CHRISTMAS FEAST. The first feast to be celebrated on Dec. 25 was established by Commodus, emperor of Rome, who reigned about 185 years after the birth of Christ. After that there are many references in history to meetings of the new sect called Christians, who gathered on this day to celebrate the birth of the God- man. It is not until a century after tne time of Commodus that we find a particular reference to the persecutions that the Christians underwent at the hands of the pagan emperors, culminat- ing in a Christmas day massacre. When Rome was no longer a pagan state the feast began to be celebrated in Christian style, and those who ob- served the birth of Christ in those days did so in widely separated countries and frequently at widely different pe- riods of time and according to no set program. The ancients agreed on one thing, however—that the festival ecom- memorating the birth of Christ should be the most magnificent of the year. In some cases it was kept up for days. Origin of the Yule Log. The Yule log in England is a relic of druidism. Its name is believed to be a corruption of the wheel log, a wheel in druidical symbolism typifying the march of the sun. The lighting of the Yule fire is reminiscent ‘of the sacred fires kindled by the druids at midwin- ter in the round towers which yet re main in many parts of Great Britain, Ireland. France and Spain. Lesson of the Bee. “What does the busy bee teach us, Freddie?” “Not to go too near the hive, uncle.” —London Tattler. rian quarters in New York city may be found traces of the manger at Christ- mas time. The Italians call it the “presepio,” which means manger; the Hungarians the “Bethlehem.” The manger is an exceedingly old and interesting devotion in the Catholic countries of south Europe. St. Francis of Assisi, who was born in 1182, in- troduced it into Italy, and it is still the sign of Christmas in south Italy, as much as holly in the windows is the sign of itin New York. It is not many years since a carpenter could not be had for weeks before Christmas in Na- ples or Rome. They were all busy put- ting up mangers in the houses of the quality, while the poorer folk were busy fabricating their own. This quaint old devotion is fading out of the cities of the mainland, but in conservative Sicily it remains in full force. Every family there still erects its presepio some time from the Ist to the 15th of December. It is not a manger alone, but a whole mountain side, made of the rough, flexible bark of the cork tree. Peaks and crags and precipices abound, with winding trails, houses and castles of colored cardboards, for- ests of evergreen twigs and sometimes. tiny pipes to furnish brooks and lakes. In the center is the grotto, with the holy family within, surrounded by the cattle. A sky of blue paper is stretch— ed above, with the star of Bethlehem upon it. Over the hills come shepherds bearing gifts to the infant, and, though they are in Sicilian costume and carry good Sicilian cheese and wine upon their donkeys, they are all the more interesting for that. Sometimes the presepio fills only a corner, sometimes the whole side of a room, according to the means of the family. It is kept year after year un- til worn out, but it needs to be fresh- ened up each year, always a welcome task to the mother and daughters of the house. A Costly Bean. The vanilla bean is said to be the costliest bean on earth. It’s home is in Mexico, chiefly in Papantla and Misantla. It grows wild and is gath- ered solely by natives. Just as they come from the wilderness of forests the beans sell at $10 per 1,000, After they are dried and cured they are worth from $10 to $11 per pound, ac cording to their quality. They are used extensively by druggists and confec- tioners and form quite an important Mexican product. f Her Way. “There's a young woman who makes: little things count.” “How does she do it?” “Teaches arithmetic in a primary schoal.” Che Institution SASL RSL ASL ANASL NS NALA which bas the power within itself to make the whole community prosperous when properly supported by the farmers tributary to it Itasca Co-operative Creamery Association Itasca Brand Creamery Butter Pasteurized Milk and Cream United States government report for 1912 shows that Itasca Co-operative Creamery, notwith- standing the small volume of its business, paid fifteen per cent more for butter fat than the average price paid by the six hundred and eighty creameries in the state of Minnesota. These prices are fr Boost for this worthy and give it You Home Industry Patronage. made possible by the strong support of our local market and nearness to most excellent range towns \7