The Dover News. (Dover, Okla.), Vol. 12, No. 42, Ed. 1 Thursday, December 19, 1912 Page: 4 of 10
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ANSWERING HIS CHRISTMAS WAIL
ON CHRISTMAS ISLAND
Land of Fond Memories and
Home of Saint Good Will.
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Santa Claus' correspondents live in practically all the countries of
the world. The letters he receives—hundreds of thousands of them—are
written in all languages. Hut Santa Claus 1h an international character,
and whether the children who write to him express their wishes in Eng-
lish, In German, in French, in Scandinavian, or even in Chinese or any
of the other languages of the world, he can read and understand each
letter The photographer has caught him on a busy morning just befriVo
Christmas, and In the corner of his workship he uses for an oflice.
N. i v. • ;
CHRISTMAS IN
COLONIAL DAYS
Interesting Account of an Old-
Time Celebration.
Men Woro Their Hair in Curls and
Such Games as "Green Grow the
Rushes, O," Furnished
Amusement.
GLIMPSE of an
old-fashioned cel-
ebration of the
Christmas season
is preserved in a
diary of a guest
of Maj. (Jen. Wil-
liam Lloyd, que of
the signers of the
Declaration of In-
dependence, who
recounts the good
cheer of his house-
hold in the old
h o m e s t e a d
nt Westernvillc,
N. Y. The house
is standing, and is
still occupied dur-
ing a part of the
summer by some
of his descend-
ants. In those
early days of the
republic the journey from New York
by sleigh took ten days.
In preparation for I lie coming fes-
tivities, the diarist notes that the
keeping room (as the main room was
then called), which today would be
called the parlor, or drawing room,
was trimmed elaborately with spruce
end cedar branches, there being no
holly growing in that region. Roses
made of tissue paper, in red. pink and
white, were plentifully distributed
through the evergreen decorations.
The roses were made by two young
women guests, Miss Catherine Floyd
and Miss Mary Floyd, who were en-
gaged to be married to James Madison
nnd Thomas Jefferson, afterwards
presidents of the United States. They
were assisted in entertaining guests
during the day by the Misses Wiggins,
neighbors of the general. Among
other guests. Bishop Whipple and a
fellow clergyman were present, as
well as the fiance of the diarist.
The festivities began Christmas Eve,
and all the family hung up their stock-
ings in front of the huge kitchen lire-
place. The illumination was that of
tallow candles in silver and brass can-
dlesticks. Miss Catherine Floyd had
expected her fiance, James Madison
• as was Jotted down in the diary),
and was greatly disappointed at his
not coming He sent, by way of a
Christmas gift, a full-length likeness
of (Jen. George Washington, framed,
which was brought by a neighbor re-
turning home from New York.
The merrymaking was at its height
Christmas Eve, all sorts of then fash
lonablo and popular games, such as
"Hunt the Slipper," "Blind Man's
Buff." and "Green (Jrow the Rushes,
0," being indulged in by the young
people until 10 o'clock, at which hour
sharply General Floyd closed the
house
That in keeping early hours he was
not altogether arbitrary appears when
we learn that the breakfast Christmas
morning was at early candle light. The
diary says "It was so early, uud I
had to take my curl papers out. so I
am sure my hair will not curl at all."
The gay young people gathered in
the immense kitchen after breakfast
was served, to examine the stockings
that Santa Clans was expected to
have left in prosperous condition Of
her gifts the diarist remarks: "Such
beautiful gifts 1 have never received
away from my home. Some beautiful
mink skins, sufficient to make my win-
ter fur and muff, from dear General
Floyd, taken from animals caught in
a trap near the milk house, Baxter's
'Saints' Rest,' and a nice volume of
Watts* hymns from Mrs. Floyd, a
white velvet pincushion, painted with
roses and leaves, from Catherine, and
a pretty collar of lace footing from
Mary. My dearly beloved gave me a
ruby ring, the emblem of eternal fidel-
ity and love." The "dearly beloved"
became her husband a few months
later.
"Christinas Day was indeed a joyful
one; after we had seen all our gifts,
till the young people went to the hill
back of the house and coasted for two
hours on the hard crust of ice and
snow; the distance from the top of the
hill to the gulf ravine was nearly a
mile."
WHEN THE YULE LOG BURNED
Pretty Customs of Former Times
That Surrounded That Necessary
Feature of Christmas.
The Yule log on the fireplace roared,
The whole hall was aglow.
The great hounds lay before the blaze
Dreaming of stag and boar.
One of the prettiest sights of the
old-time Christmas must have been
that of the Yule log being drawn
homeward, surrounded with joyous
laughing children, shouting merry
greeting to each wayfarer as he
doffed his hat in reverence to the log
so full of good promises whose flames
had the power to burn out old wrongs
and heartburnings. On the arrival of
the log at the "baronial hall" it was
customary for each member of the
family to greet it in fitting manner
either in verse or song.
In some parts of France there was
also the custom of the Christmas log,
although there has been a different
significance. There the log had sus-
pended from each end the toys, cakes
and fruits for the children of the
house. These were the gifts Petit
Maulet or Christmas child was s&id
to have brought.
In the mountain districts of Ger-
many the Christmas log was supposed
j to have the power of warding off dan-
j gers from lightning and was kept be-
neath the bed of the master of the
house from one Cluistmas till the
next, when it was used to light the
new log. On Christmas eve all lights
and fires were extinguished in the
house and a piece of the last year's
wood was taken to the neighboring
church, where it was lighted at the
flames of the sanctuary light, signify-
ing the new light that had come into
the world on this night.
Beaulieu on National Debts.
M Beaulieu declares that the world
at the present time is badly governed;
that it is in the hands of incurable
prodigals and improvident experi-
menters. As proof of this position he
points to the public debts of all coun-
tries. which show a decided tendency
to multiply, not by reason of stress
of extraordinary circumstances, such
as war or national disaster, but be-
cause the credit of nations is extend*
ed to enterprises which should remall
within the field of private endeavor.
HEN, as we Jour-
neyed eastward to
the Land of Hearts
Desire, we came to
an island which is 1
called Christinas,
where all good pil-
grims go ashore.
Hut those who
have ventured far
* from their course,
^7 Vor have no liking
to company with
their fellows, sail
on to the north,
_ which is a chilly
sea, or to the south,
where the blast is not tempered. For
Christmas Island lies straight in tho
way of the honest mariner, and the
stream which runs as a river through
Hih sen hath warmth and fragrance,
whereof the shores of the island give
pleasant evidence. Now . tho gales that
sweep the island sweep westward
upon the approaching pilgrims, and
eastward upon the departing sails, so
that the stay within the gracious port
Is but a part of the joy of that sea.
And as the shores came out of the
horizon, a little chHd called, "Christ-
inas Isle! Christmas Isle!"—so clear
is the air of these parts to infant
eyes. And the older folk aboard were
joyful, too, for ofT tin* west coast of
the island, which those who have
charted these seas call the Shore of
Memory, a fragrant breeze began that
minute to blow; though of these
names I cannot be sure, for the child
had a book of his own wherein this
shore was named Anticipation. And
now the journey meant a few more
dawns and sunsets c re a landing could
be made, but with each league onward
the mellow fragrance was more mark-
ed. So there was great dispute among
the elder folk to say just what made
up tiie pleasant assault upon our
senses, some saying it was composed
mostly of this, and others of that.
"It is lavender," said an old lady.
"Lavender and spruce and burning
candles. I remember tho night the
new dress was taken from tho chest,
and we danced beneath the candles,
and there was mistletoe, my dear,
. . . that was how 1 met your grand-
father. Yes, tho breeze from off the
shore of the isle is lavender aud
spruce and burning candles."
"Ho! to me!" cried a bluff and
hearty man. "It is the good smell of
well-warmed horses on the snow,
with the moon making a double team
of them. And it is the good dry smell
of popping corn and cooking apples.
Oh, yes, Und I will be saying there's
the brown turkey In it, too. And the
smell of a lantern in the barn when
we go out to get the horses after the
dance."
"Ah," said another—and as I looked
1 saw lie was habited as a priest. "It.
is the incense, the Christmas incense,
which goes in ghostly columns to the
darkened roof of the great church
tis the Three Wise Men go in proces-
sion up the aisle attended by acolytes
and hooded nuns to do homage to the
Babe at the altar. Haster I know by
the lilies which smother the incense,
but Christmas is incense and music.
It is that which makes the breeze so
delightful to you, my good people."
"No," said another. "No, no. All—
now I know what it is. ft is back
in the hill kirk that we are, where
the foot-warmers keep us alive
through the Christmas, and it's the
taint scorching of honest leather and
the faint singeing of homespun that
the breeze is bringing you."
"It's candy! It's varnish on sleds!
It', perfume on <lolls! It's oranges,
and evergreens, and the smell of the
wood tire In the fireplace, and the
smell of the cold on mother's furs!"
cried the child.
And I know not to what lengths the
talk might have gone, but the sailors
were calling "Shore!" and there was
great motion among the pilgrims.
Now, the Island is ruled by a saint
whose names are many, but in all
tongues and races they have one
meaning, which is GOOD WILL. And
his name is the law of the isle. For
he holdetli that if a man hath Good
Will he fulfllleth all law ; and if he
have not Good Will no law can put
it within him; but if he have it he
cannot but give proof of it. So that
there is great giving of gifts in the
island called Christmas, for Good
Will is itself a gift which forever
branches and blossoms and sets to
fruit of its kind. And it is the cus-
tom of the saint to meet the pilgrim
ships and give those who call upon
him the choicest gifts, and when a
man hath received any one of them
ho is forever a citizen of the island
called Christinas, with all the rights
t hereof.
Now, the gifts are hung upon a tree
which is called the Tree of Life and
they shine with a wonderful light and
give off a sweetness which in good
time will sweeten the world. Indeed,
as all pilgrims know, the reason that
shores far distant from tho Christmas
Isle are habitable at all is that pil-
grims have come back bearing their
gifts of sweetness and light.
And the first gift is the Gift of the
Good Thought, whereby one may
break the hold of a narrow veracity
which chains him, truthfully enough
hut all too unwisely, to the faults of
his fellows. There are neither riches
nor power comparable to the Good
Thought, which conies of the Good
Sight, whereby men have discovered
I
hidden worth as the miner has found
the blackened, bleak and forbidding
hillsidu to be threshold of worlds of
gleaming gold. He that receives ibis
gift comes to himself to find himself
in a friendly world It is a gift
greatly to be desired, us a lire in
winter, a friend in misfortune; and
by its magic are miracles wrought on
those who dwell far from the king-
dom of the Saint Good Will.
And the second gift is like unto it— i
a mild spirit of amnesty toward all i
pilgrims whose faulty compass takes j
them astray, and those who receive )
it are straightway inducted into tho j
Order of the Forgivers. It strikes I
from the pilgrim sa in the twinkling j
of an eye, tho cold bonds of hatred, i
vengeance, and all the brood of mal- |
ice, which make their home with a
man but to destroy him.
And the third gift ?s the Just Judg-
ment, by which the world is vastly j
lightened by reason of the number of 1
condemnations being lessened. For as !
is the number of those we condemn
In this world, so is the number of |
disappointments we carry about with
us, and the number of the sunny I
windows we have darkened for our j
selves. There are lights of life which j
a just judgment forbears to extfn- j
guish, and he who bears this gift ;
walks in a mellow circle of serene I
tolerance. ,i
And the fourth gift is that of the ;
Cheerful Spirit, having which one has
light at eventide, yea and at midnight. 1
For there is no darkness like unto i
the darkness of the spirit bereft of
cheerful lamps and fires, and there j
is no darkness of the spirit that J,he |
St. (Jood Will cannot dispel.
And when the pilgrim has received i
these gifts he finds among them an- !
other, which is tho gift of Vision,
whereby he sees the unseen. Indeed, j
all the gifts of St. (Jood Will pertain
to sight and vision, for as the plivsl- j
cal eye is the chief of the body's j
blessings, so is the gift of vision the |
saver of life, w hich possessing, no man
perishes. For as blind men walk the
way and see neither rivers nor trees
nor men, so he who has not received
these best of gifts walks in great 1
blindness toward a world which en- j
compasses him with beneficence, guid-
ance, protection and inspiration.
And when the pilgrims sailed on, lo! ;
they were new mortals. And no mat- 1
ter how great the distance they jour-
neyed, the pleasant gales of Christ-
inas isle were always in their nos- ;
trils. And they went to many lands, I
but wherever they set foot, or built I
a booth or raised a tent, the people j
knew they had been to the Blessed
isle. And Christmas trees sprang as
seedlings from the Tree of Life, and
many kindnesses to friends and the !
poor were borne abroad on the wings
of sweetness and light which forever
came forth from the gifts of St. Good
Will.—Detroit News.
Farmers' Educational
and Co-Operative
Union of America
Matters %' Especial Moment to
the Progressive Agriculturist
€i)l'i$l^a$ $m
How is the time when holly sprays
Light all the Darren, breeding ways,
jtnd every bell, it sounds noel,
Jt psan in the Hosier's praise.
How is the time when Wes oleant
EiUe beryl in the morning beam,
flwt ewry bell, it sounds noel,
jftixl makes the master's praise its
theme.
How is the time when mistletoe
Ts glossy in the noonday slow,
>tnfl every bell, if sounds noel,
Co praise Mpon ftls name bestow.
now is the time of taalc mirth,
Che blessed day of Christ—fiis birth,
JRn4 every bell, it sounds noel,
Co l ing fiis praise throughout the earth.
—Clinton ScollstJ In Atnslee's.
NOT A DAY OF JOY FOR ALL
Those Who Are Happy on Christmas
Should Remember the Suffer-
ing and Distressed.
"It's Christmas time, friend! What
will you do about it?" asks L. I).
Stearns in Suburban Life. "Mothers!
Aunties! You who love to see youi
babies bend, crooning softly, over
their family of dolls, with that grave
little smile of dawning motherhood
flitting tenderly over their faces, just
within a stone's throw of babies who
have no dolls, and the mother heart
beats in their bosoms Just as it does
in that of your own sheltered darl-
ings; but their faces are grave, and
sharp and old; and little drawn, white
lines show about their mouths; and
their eyes are not like tho eyes of
your children. The other day, a baby
opened its eyes for the first time
on this old earth; it was one of our
coldest days; but in the home was
no stove, no bit of warmth, no food—
almost no clothes! On another street,
in the midst of plenty, a woman, with
two small babies toddling about, the
father out hunting for work, cries—
with red lids: |We've not a dollar in
the house, and nothing to eat!' Oh.
mothers—oh, adoring aunties—life
isn't made up of just prayers and sit-
ting reverently in church, keeping
one day in the week holy! There's
a tryst to keep with life that is
spelled in many, many ways, if you'd
make it complete."
Women and the Ballot.
Weiner-Neustadt and Waldhofen,
Austria, have just given tho women
taxpayers the ballot, making voting
compulsory for women as well as men.
The legislature of Manitoba recently
permitted women to practice law. The
legislature of Georgia only a few days
later defeated a similar ainendmeut
The good die young, but most of us
outgrow it.
Success in any line, as a rule, is the
result of study.
Every thankful heart keeps holi-
day all the year.
The team of progress is as fast as
the slowest horse.
Providence lights on the side of
the man who smiles.
Horse sense makes the man's wis-
dom pull a little stronger.
Easy profit is an anaesthetic that
puts many a conscience to sleep.
An honest man begins by being
honest when nobody is watching.
The man w ho dislikes to "do chores"
will never make a very successful
stockman.
A good neighbor is one of the things
that make farm life happier. Why not
be one yourself?
No man ever made a real success of
his business without putting his whole
heart and soul into it.
The man who permits his opportu-
nity to pass on account of the weather
doesn't get a rain check.
The man with a cheerful presence
does not have to wait for appreciation
until he is permanently absent.
Success seems to be harder to got
than formerly—and in many cases it
doesn't seem to amount to as much,
either.
Somehow we always feel sorry
when wo hear u woman whose hus-
band doesn't smoke say she likes the
smell of a cigar.
IN FAVOR OF MISSIONARIES
Farmer Needs One Who Will Study
and Solve Problems of Farmer—
His Reward Is Small.
To the officers and members of the
Farmers' Cnion:
I have always been in favor of mis-
sionaries.
The kind that the farmer now needs
most is the man, just one man, with
the missionary spirit in each county,
who will study the problems of the
farmer and bring to their solution the
same zeal and fervor of the man or
the woman who travels to distant
lands to convert the heathen.
The farmer is the greatest, the most
priceless, asset of America.
His problems are the problems of
the nation.
They cannot be settled by lectur-
ers or enthusiasts in convention halls,
} however kind intentioned or devoted
these gentlemen may be.
They must he solved by the man
who lives with the farmer the year
round, who sees him in gladness and
sorrow, who can show him how to
avoid the pitfalls of the demagogue,
and also of his own weakness, and.
here and there, his suspicion and his
j credulity.
Do you think there is one man in
your county who will put up with your
cussedness, as well as your nobility —
for you are a strange mixture of both;
I do you think there is one man in
your county who will develop the
courage to tell you the truth, not
once, but all the time; who will stick
I to you, even when you show signs of
abandoning him?
That is the sort of spirit needed to
aid the farmers of America, wherever
located.
The work may not pay much in dol-
lars and cents. Hut the man who en-
lists in the cause may have as his
I reward the consciousness that he is
serving generations yet unborn.
CHARLES S. BARRETT.
Cnion City, (Ja.
WOMEN FORM A FARM COLONY
Co-Operative Enterprise to Be Tried
in Sussex. England—Provides
Training for Girls.
The desirability of establishing
women's eo-operative farms in the
United Kingdom has been seriously
considered, and should the present
plans mature the first experimental
colony will be located on a farm of
22S acres in Sussex. The breeding
and care of horses, cows, sheep, pigs,
poultry and rabbits, the cultivation
of fruit, vegetables and flowers and
the raising of ordinary farm crops
will be undertaken
It is believed, says a consular re-
port. that a ready home market will
1 be found for the products of such a
I farm, as statistics show that about
1175,000 is annually paid in the United
! Kingdom for tame tor "Ostend") im-
proved rabbits and nearly $70,000,000
' for butter consigned from Denmark,
while the value of imported bacon nnd
pork approximates f40.000.000 annual-
, jy. In addition, millions of dollars are
| expended each year for eggs, vege-
i tables, fruit, etc.. received from
abroad.
| The movement has this twofold pur-
' pose, to provide young women w ho are
I desirous of emigrating to any of the
i English over-sea possessions with
! thorough training in all branches of
farming and of domestic economy, and
j to furnish congenial employment in
j the United Kingdom to members of an
| Increasing body of women who feel a
desire to cultivate the land, but lack
the experience and the facilities for
doing so
CO-OPERATION MEANS SPEED
Iowa Township Teaches Lesson Im-
portant in Mere Ways Than One—
Work Done Systematically-
There is an important lesson to be
learned from the story of an Iowa
township. That lesson is important
in more ways than one. The story is
very brief and very simple, writes H.
A. Williams in the Farm and Fireside.
It is this:
The township is located in a section
of the state that produces a great deal
of very high class live stock, c orn and
other crops. In fact, it is a township
of mixed farming done by well to-do,
successful farmers.
In that township there are six
thrashing outfits owned by partner-
ships of four to eight farmers. Each
outfit consists of a fully equipped
grain-separator and a steam thrashing
engine with a water-tank. That is alt
that is owned in the partnership. Tim
outfit is used only to do the thrash-
ing on the farms owned or operated
by the,members of the partnership.
One man operates the engine and two
others operate the separator during
the whole round of the various farms.
These men, of course, art? either those
members of the partnership most ex-
perienced at such work, or are experi-
enced men hired by them for tha
thrashing season.
The plan for distributing the costs
of the outfit for the season, among
the various members of the partner-
ship. vary more or less in differeit
instances. Hut in each case a care-
ful attempt is made to so divide tlieie
costs that each member shall pay ac-
cording to the amount and the varlet/
of the work which was done for him.
The routine of the work done each
year is arranged systematically sc
tnat. in the end. each member shall
have fared alike. Various details in
the original purchase of the machine,
the care, management, operation,
charges for various kinds of thrash-
ing done, and so forth, vary somewhat
in the various partnership, 1 under*
; stand.
One of the interesting lessons to be
learned is the fact that farmers can
i co-operate. As 1 now look back upon
I the days and years I was a lad on
| the old home farm, I am much im
pressed with the lack of mutual confi
dence and trust, and the inability of
any two or more of us to get together
on a mutually satisfactory basis for
! doing anything. One remarkable ex-
ception was the instance of one man
who spent nineteen years on a rented
farm, and after the first year or so
there was not even a written lease in
existence. The renter lived across the
road from his landlord. They agreed;
both accounted his own and the oth-
ers' word as good as his bond, so they
got along well.
Hut there is a growing spirit of co
operation among us farmers. We are
rapidly realizing that our interests
are mutual. This is good; good for
Jus, good for our busines/ ""1 good
for the world at large. *
of co-operation and n
grow only as we fr
I overlook small fail'.
cities #nd rememb
the larger, more
I fundamental, thing?
I A great deal of
ery can be owned ai
way. If separators
I gines can be siicces
operated in partner
I traction machinery c..
operated in the same v
in lies an important o
these different parti
grasp.
With but very 1
tional cost, the e
purchased could
purpose tractors
fashioned singl
engine fitted
work. Such
the various kin
as successfully :
pose machines.
this, it will do a
and hauling.
I The additiona
lion gang plow
a partnership for
ing on each of th
The plowing couh
the same routine,
I same way, as was
binders owned by
i he clubbed togeth
I the tractor to do 11
| it would he done b«
than it could he dot.
with horses.
Farmers to Co-
Ofllcers nr the Farmers
and Cooperative union, wii
other farmers' organizations
ers. are working out a plnn
ate middlemen in tho famous ,
country (immediately south r\
katie) by organizing a $500,000 <
erative farmers' company to estab..'
a chain of stores and banks. It is pro
posed to have all stock owned by men
directly interested in agriculture.
Farmers and bankers have been
quietly formulating the plan for two
years, and are about prepared to pro-
ceed to organize by having 6.000
farmers take $100 north of stock.
The success attained by Talouse
farmers in conducting co-operative
grain warehouses gives them con-
fidence in launching the larger plan.
Farmers Erect an Elevator.
Fifty-one farmers living in the vi-
cinity of Lincoln, 111., have organized
a grain auU coal company. They in
tend to build an elevator of 20,000
bushels' capacity on the lnterurban
line and to buy their coal at whole-
sale Hguruu
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Martin, J. S. The Dover News. (Dover, Okla.), Vol. 12, No. 42, Ed. 1 Thursday, December 19, 1912, newspaper, December 19, 1912; Dover, Oklahoma. (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc107114/m1/4/: accessed April 24, 2024), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society.