The Lexington Leader (Lexington, Okla.), Vol. 23, No. 14, Ed. 1 Friday, December 19, 1913 Page: 3 of 12
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LEXINGTON, OKLA., LEADER
TWO
o6y
Kalherine ITnpsnn
(Cooyright. 1913.)
ILL the stores along
Main street were gay
with Christmas decor
ation. Even the wta
dow of Scarvin's curio
shop bravely flaunted
some brilliant holly
wreaths.
Edwin Lander paus
ed before this window
and stood for a long
time apparently lost in
contemplation of the
filigree bracelets displayed there. At
last he roused himself with an effort
and opened the door. At his en
trance, old Scarvin, the dealer, came
smilingly forward rubbing his wrink
led hands.
"What may I do for you this after-
noon?" he suavely asked, while his
shrewd, beady eyes noted every detail
of his customer's tall, well-dressed
figure.
"1 should like to look at something
that would be suitable as a Christ
mas present for a lady," Lander an-
swered briskly, but a keen observer
would have noticed that his cheerful-
ness was forced, and in his eyes was
a look of utter weariness.
"Certainly, certainly, right over
here," said Scarvin, leading the way
to a case where some quaint necklaces
were displayed. "This amethyst one
iftpj
.1 ,,, ■- , 'V/ik**
Spread Open the Book Enticingly.
has the antique setting that is so
much in vogue."
Lander gravely touched the silver
links and thought: "My affair with
Marguerite is what Aunt Collins would
call 'between grass and hay.' It is
past the candy-and-flower stage; but
has hardly arrived at jewels—"
Then aloud he said: "No, I had In
mind something different—a book per
haps."
"Ah, the very thing!" Scarvin dived
into a dusty corner and brought forth
a foreign-looking volume, whose brown
leather binding was curiously inlaid
with pearl.
"Early English poems, after the
old missal style, and hand illuminat-
ed," the dealer spread open the book
enticingly.
Lander turned over the leaves with
Interest. "Yes, I believe this is unique
and costly enough to please even the
fastidious Marguerite," his thin lips
curved in a cynical smile. "I'll take
It," he remarked with the brevity of
the average masculine shopper when
he finds something which strikes his
fancy.
Ae he threw down a bill he was an-
noyed to see how his hands shook.
"Burning the candle at both ends has
had an effect," he thought, and as he
left the shop, added: "This mixing of
business and society is the pace that
kills. I suppose stimulants will be the
next resort."
He recalled last Christmas at his
former boarding place, and of the
friends there—especially Alice Glea-
son. Whenever he thought of her
now, it was with a sense of remorse.
They had been very warm friends, but
since his sudden advancement in busi-
ness had necessitated more commodi-
ous surroundings, he had seen little of
her. He had really not meant to neg-
lect the old friends when he began to
go more into society and make new
ones, but unconsciously he had drifted
away from the little circle on Fleet
street.
"The shabby old place seemed far
more like home than my new quarters
ever will," he muttered, and a realiza-
tion came to him that it was Alice
with her sympathetic voice and restful
ways who tad made It teem eo. No
matter how tired she might be with
her day in the schoolroom, she was
always ready to rejoice or sympathize.
"I'll send her some roses—the finest
I can find," he declared with a sudden
rush of remorseful tenderness. He en-
tered a flower shop and bought a huge
bunch of velvety American Beauties.
"Send them to this address," he told
the dealer and gave him a card.
Next door was the establishment of
an expensive furrier, and a Lander
passed the window, he saw Marguerite
Fenton looking at a set of brown lynx.
The rich tones went well with her
brown eyes and tawny hair. Ae she
stood there with the soft furs about
her, she reminded him of some bar-
baric princess. Ever since he had first
met her at a dinner given at the home
of the senior member of the firm,
Lander had been greatly fascinated,
and felt that her beauty and position
fitted in with his ambitious dreams.
Yet, strangely enough, today her beau-
ty did not make its usual appeal to
him that mingled with her sinuous
grace, was also something of feline
cruelty.
"Those furs probably cost more than
my month's salary," he muttered. "Her
insatiable craving for luxury would
fasten itself, vampire like, on the life
blood of the man who marries her!"
He strode down the street, feeling
that the crowded cars would stifle him,
and longing for the sense of physical
motion and the stinging air against
his face. When he reached his rooms
he found on the table an invitation
from MrB. Dane, a prominent society
hostess, inviting him to attend a din-
ner she was giving that night
That doesn't fit in with the load of
work I must get through with before
office hours tomorrow." Wearily h^
laid a package of business papers on
the table and rested his read in his
hands. "What does it all amount to—
what does life amount to?" he ques-
tioned despondently. "These people
who invite me do not really care for
me. It is merely because I fill in and
make an agreeable dinner guest, and
for that I have practically given up
my old friends."
He realized that his present mood
was the reaction from exhilaration of
conquest which the past year of al-
most spectacular success had given
him.
"I'd like to chuck the whole thing
and go back. If only I could have a
talk with Alice in the old way, I'd feel
myself again." He sat up with new
energy. "I wonder if she'd let me
come?"
There was need to look itf the tele- -j
phone book for the familiar number.
With breathless suspense he waited
while the landlady called Miss Glea-
son to the 'phone, and at the sound of
her voice his heart began to pound
boyishly. She was serenely gracious,
yet he detected a note of surprise as
he asked permission to call. Then Bhe
spoke of the roses, and added:
"I can't begin to describe my delight
over that quaint old English book. It
filled a long-felt want for the posses-
sion of a real first edition." Mechan-
ically he responded, questioning him-
self the while: "What book? Did I
make a mistake and send Miss Fen-
ton's Christmas gift to Alice? In
my dogged weariness I must have giv-
en the dealer the wrong address." He
thought of Marguerite's demand of the
best as her due, and a sense of impish
joy swept over him at the mistake
WflTiN SANTA CLAU5
A
BSVRD as It may sound to every one,
the bluejackets still believe in Santa
Claus. That rotund, rosy-cheeked lit-
tle old man pays as much attention to
the thousands of boys on board the
warships as he does to the thousands
of, perhaps younger in years, boys and
girls ashore. Instead of coming in a
sleigh with reindeer and merry bells,
he comes in a precarious-looking boat, fully arm-
ed and convoyed, with the boom of musketry and
the loud blowing of horns. The blowing of horns
is a universal custom with the boys of all coun-
tries and colors and with the bluejackets too.
On Christmas day Santy is the highest ranking
officer of the fleet, and all flags are junior to his
fur tree hoisted to the masthead. With his flag
lieutenant, his aide and the rest of the staff, he
cruises about among the ships distributing the
gifts with which his argosy is laden. His method
of doing this is fraught with as much red tape as
was ever the greetings of the old admiral of the
Dutch fleet in the time of Queen Bess. All the
paraphernalia symbolical of austere rauk and
bounty that can be gotten to-
gether are used as adorn-
ments and no end of work
is expended- on the rig of the
boat to bo used, which is
sometimes the wherry and
sometimes the punt.
In order to hold to the tra-
ditional custom used in the
time of Paul Jones and down
through the ye.vs, the boat
Is rigged like a brig, that Is,
with two masts and yard
arms crossing, with jib and
staysail and spanker out
astern. On the fore and aft-
er quarters they arrange
large wooden tubes, In which
are inserted small arms.
These
I
ii.
\
Zxcfffivtzna C&I&STTVIS BY rijiG
¥
spiggoty guns" cora-
EirrmZR, iir mz
pose the saluting battery and heavy main battery
also, and 'are manned and fired by the boatswain
which had defeated the usual order. ! of "Der Prosit," who is a ponderous man in his
He sent a messenger boy with
note to Mrs. Dane containing regrets
for the dinner, then dressed and hur-
ried to the lodging house on Fleet
street.
"Shurre, and you're a stranger
these days, Mr. Landers," remarked
the maid who opened the door. As
she went upstairs to call Miss Glea-
son her round Irish face reminded him
of a cheery full moon. He glanced at
the worn old haircloth sofa, and cen-
ter table strewn with magazines, the
familiar shabbiness of the little par-
lor made the past year seem as unreal
as a feverish dream.
When Alice entered she seemed to
bring with her an atmosphere of se-
renity and peace. Eagerly he rose,
then sank back on the sofa, his face
went white and everything blurred be-
fore him.
"What is it, Edwin, are you ill?" she
cried, in her alarm the old name
slipped out unconsciously.
He passed his hand over his eyes In
a dazed fashion. "No—if is nothing,"
he muttered. Then, earnestly, "I am
tired—weary with life as it is. It is
you only 1 want, Alice, you, alone in
the wide world that I love. Is there
any hope?"
His voice sank almost to a whisper,
and for one tense moment there was
silence in the little room. Then, by way
of answer, she drew the poor, tired
face against her breast with a ges-
ture of Ineffable tenderness.
In that moment, Lander felt that to
his weary questionings as to what was
worth while, the answer was not ma-
ferial success, but love which means
life in its fullness.
Curious Christmas Superstition.
On Christmas eve, at midnight, coun-
try people in England believe that the
Christ child revisits the earth. Some-
times, therefore, If there Is a sick
child In the house, the mother will
take the little one to the door, just be-
fore midnight, and wait till the hour
strikes. If the child recovers, it is be-
cause the Babe of Bethlehem has
touched it with healing fingers during
the earthward 'journey. But If the
child sickens and dies, all is well, for
the mother heart is comforted by the
thought that the little one was called
by the Christ child to be his "play-
mate" in heaven.
official garb and daring in the way he approaches
the ships, whose crews throng the sides and an-
swer the salute with a revolver shot from the
poop.
The saluting takes place before "Der Prosit" is
within hailing distance, and all hands have a
laugh at the tiny sounds, strongly contrasted in
their minds with the salute of I he big guns which
they are accustomed to hear. Next the boatswain
gets up in the bows and resting one hand almost
on top of the foremast and lifting a megaphone
as long as himself to his lips, calls out at the top
of his voice, "Ship, ahoy!" The quartermaster
answers from the bridge, "Hello, hello! Der
Prosit?" "Aye, aye." the boatswain returns.
"Come alongside," calls the quartermaster. Then
the admiral of "Der Prosit" rises in the stern,
some ten feet aft of the boatswain in ihe bow, his
head on a level with the topmast, end bawls out
through his megaphone, 'All hands t'ur-r-1 sail,''
With that the crew, consisting of one man, who
also acts In the capacity of foghorn, gels amid-
ships aud climbs the mainmast, which sways to
and fro as if about to capsize the enijre craft,
and pulls down all the sails. "Th e vessel is
standing to," he then calls out to the boatswain,
who reports to the admiral over the crew's head,
Vb'o in turn reports to Santa Claus,"sitting in the
stern sheets at the tiller. All these orders are
given and carried out in tlie most solemn man-
ner, to the merriment of the ship's crew looking
on from the rail above.
The crew of "Der Prosit" then gets out oars
and pulls alongside while on deck the real boat-
swain's mate pipes eight side boys to stand at the
head of the gangway and salute the admiral and
Santa Claus when they come aboard. The presi-
dent of the 1'nited States only rates six side boys
when he comes aboard, while Santy has his
eight, besides his are petty officers while the pres-
ident's are only good-looking apprentice boys As
the argosy draws alongside the boatswain pipes
the long, low tune and three short blasts char-
acteristic of the coming aboard of great men.
No less a person than the captain of the ship
meets the admiral of "Der Prosit," his wife.
Santy, Iad"ii with a huge basket lull of [>; • - ■ • tits,
the boatswain and the crew, while the bugler
sounds three portentlous ruflles and the ships
company, assembled aft, stands at attention. In-
deed the oflicers are all present, for they believe
In Santy as well as do the crew. When the ad-
miral's wife, some fair faced sailor with Manila
rope hair and a tawdry skirt, swings aboard hold-
ing her train high and exposing a generous view
pf red stocking no the eyes of the sailors, a great
laugh is evoked and a shout goes up, "higher,
higher," or "Oh. you Kiddo!"
The boatswain in command of the crew shouts
to his one man for, "Attention!" then puts him
through a scries of gymnastics of a peculiar and
intensely funny charactcr. The admiral, as if not
thoroughly taking in the landscape, lifts a huge
pair of binoculars in the form of two quart wine
bottles lashed together, to his eyes and makes a
pretense of getting his bearings by scrutinizing
the sailors about him. Presently he reports to
Santy, who has deposited his basket of presents
on the quarter deck, "Sir, 1 see we are now in the
Cannibal Isles."
Santy begins then to pick up presents and
rer*l the names aloud, giving them to the crew of
"Der Prosit" and the admiral's wile, and even t«
the admiral himself, who distributes them accord-
ingly, cutting many ridiculous capers.
The presents are of a type that bring laughter.
They are gotten up and made by the friends of
those to whom they are sent, with an idea to-
wards characterizing the ambition, the whim or
the standing jokes that mark the receiver.. If
the captain is a four striper he will probably get
an admiral's star, unless he has some other whim
by which he is more properly known. When he is
presented with this he can only blush in the
presence of everybody, and take his dose, us
Santy is supreme on Christmas day.
Hut tiie greatest gift that Santy can bestow
falls to the lot of those who, through some mis-
fortune or slip have come in line for punishment.
It is customary for Santy to walk boldly up to
the captain and ask him to "whitewash" the
book:-. In the face of everybody and on Christ-
mas day the captain tan not very well refuse this
request, although some captains have been seen
to wince and cough before granting the immeas-
urable favor. The report book, in which all pun-
ishable acts are entered. Is swept clean and the
culprits are reinstated to ilrst-class standing and
enjoy all the privileges held by their more tor-
tunate shipmates who have not fallen before the
multiplicity of temptations that daily assail the
man-o'-warsman.
The event which forms a background for all tills
merriment is the regular "big feed," as the sail-
ors call It. For the last week this has crept into
their conversation. Pie, turkey and plum duff
are the three great delicacies to the sailors, and
they have more fespect for them than for the
three graces.
What kind of a feed is the commissary gonna
hand us'"' one sailor a-'s of-an• flier. During this
time of anticipation excitement runs high and the
commissary is a very much respected person, in
fact, he Is never a retired person, for his billet is
a hard one to fill to the satisfaction of every one
who cats at the general mess. There is always
some old tar or other who imagines himself to
be slighted by the quality of his food, and the
apprentice boys take from him the habit of com-
plaining with very little reason on their side.
Quarrels often result and have to be referred to
the "mast," where the first lieutenant Hirst luff)
settles the matter In favor of the commissary, so
that the sailor arranges u private settlement with
the commissary later on where the first luff has
nothing to say about it.
The burden of the repast falls naturally upon
the ccoks and mess attendants, it Is far from an
enjoyable affair with them, although they are an
affable lot. The preparation
of the potatoes Is the work
of a dozen men, since they
must be extraordinarily nice.
The "skinners" arrauge
themselves astride a oencta
In range of a tub where one
man sits and tosses potatoes
continually. The tub is kept
full by another man who
dumps in from a sack carried
down from the upper deck.
So a cycle Is made, the clean
peeled potatoes going con-
stantly into another- tub,
which is dragged into the gal-
ley and dumped into a great
urn through which water ts
percolating. These are rins-
ed around by another mess
attendant and dumped into
other urns where steam is turned on, while an-
other tub of peeled ones are being brought from
the skinners.
When they are done the ship's cook himself,
who paces to and fro in the galley all the while,
mounts upon the nearest urn with his, and tak-
ing a great six-foot masher proceeds to pound
them Into a wlijte flakey mass fit for a king.
But tills is not all he has to do, either. The
turkeys are browning in the long ovens and ha
and his three assistants have continually to open
the doors, probe with long forks Into the swelling
breasts and ascertain when to take them out.
The mess tables are all numbered so that each
sailor knows Just where to go when he gets down
through the hatchway, and ho doesn't waste any
time getting there on this occasion. It is indeed
a singular and lively scene on the gundeck at this
period. Every man's plate Is heaped to the brim
before him anil ail apply themselves with a dar-
ing and disregard for mere stomachB that would
make a dyspeptic wince and turn his head. Dozens
of tables dangle from hooks between parallel col-
umns of sailors, who seem only restrained from
eating each other alive by the flimsy, vacillating
boards which support the food'
When these ravenous appetites have been
siaketl and even those who have the dilating pow-
ers of an anaconda are put at rest, or In pain, as
^tlie cas" may be, some of the "old shellbacks" will
begin to grew reminiscent and tell of the Christ-
mases they have spent in lands where there were
no turkeys nor anything else tit for the "big
feed-
Says pid Pete, the sallmaker's mate: "I mind
the time down in Darlen, when the steward had
nothin' in the storeroom but a ton of crusty hard
biscuits full of bugs, so when y' busted 'em with
the handle 've yer knife they went whlmty nifty
in every direction—under yer plate, behind yer
cup, up yer sleeve and around the mess pans.
But, mates, that was a Christmas fer yer life! We
couldn't cat the buffalo meat, It was that much
like bolt rope, so we drunk or coffee and engaged
ourselves In bug rates down the table. By tryin'
all the bugs out we got some speedy ones. And
they was speedy. I had one that could trot down
that table—trot, mind y'—like it was Maude S
herself. The devil of it was the bloody bug
wouldn't keep in the course between the plates
She'd break fer a hole near the finish. 1 bet big
money on 'er, though, and after loosin' 20 bones
by her duckin' out of It when she was two whole
plate lengths ahead, mind y". I liggered 1 could
head her off the next time and win anyhow, so I
put up 50 bones—50 good cold plunkers on that
skinny little runt of a bug, and strike me blind'
you ought a seen that race! Go! That cussed
iittle bug slid down that mess table like it was on
ball bearings. I headed 'er off at the hole with
a piece of tack and she run clean again the bot-
tom board of the table an' butted 'er brains out.
kicked over on 'er back stone dead. But thut
race! Whew! I raked in the coin from the cap-
tain of the hold Christmas! Well, strike me, fel-
lers! That was some Christmas even if we
didn't have any eats."
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The Lexington Leader (Lexington, Okla.), Vol. 23, No. 14, Ed. 1 Friday, December 19, 1913, newspaper, December 19, 1913; Lexington, Oklahoma. (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc110601/m1/3/: accessed April 24, 2024), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society.