Food for Thought.
Tlic ton-yonr-old girl who conquered
p. burglar with n broomstick is entitled
to all credit for courage and vigor.
Nevertheless when she adds a dozen
years more Jo her ago the wary un
married youth may entertain douhta
ns to whether her energy might not
some time ho excessive for wedded
bliss,
Report of the Home of the Friendless.
At the end of the blonnluni, Novem
ber 150, 1908, thoro wore In tho Home
for tho Krlondloss at Lincoln sixty-
olght children and six aged women,
tho youngest Inmate being one week
old and tlx oldest 82 years,
The homo has been seriously handi
capped during the last blonniuni be
cause of n shortage of room for em
ployes and cramped apartments for
tho children, and in fart that It has
practically supported the Orthopedic
hospital. Tho cooking wii3 all done
in tho kitchen of the home and carried
across tho yard to tho several dining
rooms in the hospital building. The
total expenditures for tho mainten
ance of both of the Institutions for the
blennlum was $28,5:10.57 or a per capi
ta cost of $2(57.;1. Tho homo has
five pay children.
The Horrid Man's Curl.
"There's no sight so pitiful to mo,"
said tho pretty girl, "as tho painful at
tempt on tho part of tho man begin
ning to bo bald to make a little curl
in tho middlo of his forohoad of tho
few remaining strands of hair. And
still, I know thoy don't desorve my
pity. I never have found a man yet
with such a curl who wasn't horrid."
Domestic Economy.
They had automobiled in 24 miles
to seo Mr. Highflyer's pet oculist, and
on tho roturn three tires, one after
another, l.nd blown up. Whereupon
Mrs. Highflyer remarked, plaintively,
and with Intense conviction: "My dear
Alfred, It would have been so much
cheaper to have kept you at homo and
bought you a glass oye!"
Three Years In Prlcon for Coon.
Clydo Coon of Omaha, who was
brought to Kearney to answer a
charge of forgery for passing a bogus
check on W. L. Hand, pleaded guilty
Monday in the district court and was
sentenced to three years in tho peni
tentiary. Coon has a wife and four
children living in Omaha. When tho
forgery was committed he was sup
posedly representing a railway con
struction company.
Reason for Divorces.
After a woman marries a man ha
bccs her tho greater portion of tho
timo in clothes of tho kind that ho
never Baw before raarriago except
on women who were running to a fire.
Atchison Globo.
"How," walls a stenographer In a
Sunday paper, "can wo girls escapo
tho unwelomo attention of our em
ployers?" Might try climbing a tree,
suggests tho Cleveland Leader; and
making a noiso liko a suffragette.
Farmers should all have telephones.
Write to us and learn how to get tho
best service for the least money. Ne
braska Telephone Company, 18th and
Douglas streets, Omaha. "Uso tho
Dell."
Lincoln Directory
HERBERT E.GOOCH CO.
imok'HKS AND DHALHRS
Grain, Provisions, Stocks, Cotton
Main Office, 204-205 Prntcrnlty BMif.
Lincoln, Nebraska.
"oil Phono 512 An to Pliono 2(539
Lnrxorit Ilouso in Stato
I.o,
1 m 1
now In como our joyruirm nine,
Let ovcry mini lio Jolly;
Hach room with Ivy luavt-H Ih drcal,
And ovcry iOMt with Holly.
Without tho door let Horrov Ho,
And If for cold ho hup to die,
Wo'll bury lilm In 11 ClirlHtinas Pyo,
And ovorinoio bo merry.
LL of tho evergreen jilants
have long boon consid
ered symbolic of Immor
tality, or rebirth. Hence
thoy, and thoy alone, are
appropriate decorations
for tho Christmas season,'
which was originally a celebration, un
der tho dlBgulso of various national re
ligious forms, of tho turning of tho
sun at tho winter solstice, and tho con
sequent renowal of life on the earth.
When Constantino was converted,
ho seized upon ovcry undorlylng like
ness, howovcr remote, hot ween tho old
faith and tho now. livery familiar
symbol that might bo stretched to (It
tho strange faith; every old custom
that would help to reconcile his lately,
and sometimes forcibly, converted
people to their unaccustomed belief,
wns adopted and ro-oxplalncd. And
tho return of tho sun, bringing llfo
and light to tho wlntor-bound earth,
becamo tho prototype of tho coming
of tho Son of Man, bringing HTo and
light to tho soul of (he sin-hound
world. So that fit (lrst all (he heathen
.
uusoryniiccH wero retained as far ns
possible, and merely given a now
meaning.
At tho Christmas festival, tho Ivy
and holly still mado a summer screen
of tho Htono walls, iib in ancient Ger
many they had turned tho huge bulla
fit mid-winter, to bowurs of greenory,
"whoroln tho sylvan sprites, who dwelt
in summer among tho forest trees,
might paBS tho frozen months without
too much discomfort. An echo from
Scandimwia is still heard In tho say
ing current among tho peasants of tho
old world that If any bit of holiday
decoration is loft in tho house after
Candlomas day (February 2), a troop
of litllo devils wll enter and sit, one
on oach wllhored lcar, every one
bringing its own small curse upon tho
liouso. Thoso little devils aro merely
the old forest sprites, detained against
tholr will by their undestroyed winter
rofngo and fretting to return to tho
awakening woods of spring.
Tho churches wore still green with
Christmas garlands In thoso omdy
days, and ablaze with candles, as tho
temples of Saturn had always been
during tho corresponding Hainan fes
tival of the Saturnalia. Hut, as Poly
doro Vergil romnrks, "Trymmyng (he
. tomplcs with hnngyngs, floures,
boughes and gnrlundos, wan takon of
tho heathen people, which decked
tholr idols and houses in audio array."
And as timo wont, on, and it becamo
no moro necessary to muko conces
sions that would holn reeonello the
people to (heir changed faith, Iheso
"henthon" customs becamo distaste
ful to tho church. Ono of tho early
councils forbids men longer "to deck
up tholr houses with lawrell, yvlo, and
greono boughes, mi wo used to doe
ut tho Christ mnsso season."
Thin command was observed In (ho
lomplos, but in tho baronial halls tho
old customs lived on; lived down their
qucstlonablo past; won again tho tol
eration of tho priests who had sternly
banished them, and to-day all tho over
greens agalu aro admitted to the
strictest church, so that wo again can
say ut Christmas,
"Now with luiKht Holly all.tli tcinuleH
Htrow
With Ivy croon, and unered MlRllotoc."
Tho "Karly Calondar of Wugllnh
Flowors," an old poem ' wherein oaoh
month lu recognized by its approprlutu
plant symbol, ends with thiwe lint':
Boon tho tfVOiKrconn l.uiuol rIoum Id
icrcono,
Whon Outhoilno cmowiih nil hrowl
munuo.
Tho lvlo and Holllo hnrrtiu urn rooiin.
Ami Y11I0 hut and Wiiwutlln uaitie round
. ukuii.
Tho laurel Ih uuod tint tit ull, mid lh
Ivy but Utile, In American decorations
at Christmas, sinco both plants aro
exceedingly raro here. Hut In England
tho uso of tho ivy at least Is universal,
and tho references to It In Christinas
song and story alono would (111 a small
volume.
Resides Its claim to appropriate
ncBS for tho Christmas season which
it holds In common with other ever
greens, it has two especially strong
recommendations of its own. On ac
count of Its habit of clinging strongly
to Its supporting trco or wall, It Is
a popular symbol of friendship and
fidelity, and as such, an oxcollont deco
ration for tho soasoii of good will find
universal brotherhood. And It was,
In Roman days, sacred (0 Macchus,
who, when a baby, was hidden by his
aunt, Ino. among Its loaves, to save
him from Juno's destructive wrath,
Pry n no says:
At t'hrlNliniiu men do always Ivy K?t,
And In onoli uornor of tho houao It Hot;
Hut why do thoy thon use that Bacchus
wood?
MrcaiiHo thoy mean then Bacchus-lllco to
food.
This satirical explanation was hut
loo true In tho earlier days, when
Christmas lasted tor weeks, and was
given over to a revelry almost wholly
heathen In charactor.
To-day, in America, tho Christmas
decorations almost exclusively aro of
holly, which, for all Its popularity, Is
less consecrated by legend than any
other holiday greenory. To ho sure
wo muko a sparing uso of tho mistle
toe, which, from tho ancient Druldlcal
meaning of purity given to Its wax
white borrlcs, and from its uso by
them In tho marrlago rlto, has como
to glvo a charter for kissing as "broad
as tho wind." And wo havo added tho
bitter-sweet, which has no traditional
signification whatever, is not an
evergreen, and is to uo loioratcti
merely for Its beauty's sake, and for
tho slight suggestion It gives of the
holly berry.
Our American holly Is said to bo
less beautiful than tho European
plant, having leaves of a duller green,
Hut, making fill allowances for pos
sible disadvantages, it still is a re
markably beautiful tree. And as a
symbol of (ho immortality which It Is
(ho season's special mission (0 teach,
It surely has no rival. Tho leaves re
main on tho branches for thrco years,
losing tholr hold only whon they aro
pushed oft! at last by the growing buds
of spring.
Throughout England, bo llttlo is its
supremacy disputed, that it Is popular
Iv known as "Christinas." Just an tho
hawthorn is called "Tho May."
Its nanio has been a matter of con
siderable Interest. Theophrastus and
other Crook authors named tho plant
Agria; that Is, wild, or of tho holds.
Tho Romans formed from this tho
word Agrl folium and called It also
Auulfollum, from actum, sharp, and
folium, a leaf. Riiuhln and Lourolro
first named It Ilex, from tho resemb
lance of lis leaves to thoso of tho
Quorcus Ilex, a spcclos of oak which
was tho trim Ilex of Virgil. Linnaeus
adopted tho nanio Uox for tho gonus,
and preserved tho nanio Auulfollum
for tho niosl anciently known species.
Our popular nnnio, holly, probably
Is a corruption of tho word holy, ns
Turner in his horhal calls It holy, and
holy tree. Tho thorny foliage, and
tho borrles Uko drops of bright blood,
could scarcely fall to remind a Chris
tian of tho crown of thorns, and this,
together with tho universal uso of tho
plant lu tho churches at Christmas
otiRlly would account for tho nanio.
lu tlormany It '.h known as Christ
dnrn. Tho Danish name Ih Chrlstorn
Hiul tho Hweditfh ChrlHttofu. Tho
nanio immo. ChrlMt's (horn, Is found in
Koiiui partH of ISnglnnd. Hut as uo
lKuil coumii'tM thu holly with tun
orowu of (hoiiiH, thU muito, universal
atOtiuK th (lonimnlo people, must bo
merely tho nmult of Ut) appuarnuuu
nud of ItH ChitNUutu popularity, mi
before amuwlud.
A
MSFOUSFCES its third annual bargain week dur
ing which subscriptions will be accepted for the
whole year or 1909 at the cut price of only $3 with
out Sunday, or $4 including Sunday. This Bargain
Rate is good only during the week of December 21 to
28 and the "regular rates after that date will be $4
and $5. All new subscriptions commence January 1
and continue until January 1, 1910 at the $3 and $4
rate. All papers stopped at the end of that time
without any effort on your part. One reason why
this cheap price can be made on such a big news
paper is that everybody pays in advance, thus having
no dead-beat bills. You pay only for your own paper
this way. IText, by cutting out traveling solicitors'
salaries, hotel bills and railroad fare, and doing all
business through Uncle Sam's mails at a cost of only
a couple cents. When an agent calls on you to
present a proposition, remember you pay every cent
of his salary and expenses; inmost cases the solicitor
gets more than you are making. It's a wasteiul
mTiHIIW flWIIW !! II ! I IM mi If rill I1ITHB rM TM1 1 11 WHITI 1 Ml
metaod and you pay for the waste. Everybody is
trying to dodge the middleman -here's a chance to
cut him out. The Journal does not print liquor ad
vertisements or unclean medical stuff accepted by
. other state dailies. Why not protect your family
from impure advertising? The Journal is not under
obligations to a political clique because it has no job
to hold or none to get. It is free to treat every
subject in tne interests of the people. Ho matter
about your politics, during the legislative session
you will find The State Journal the one newspaper
whose reports are completest, fairest and earliest.
We are right on the ground and spend the mosey to
get the news. Remember, just this one week of cut
price and then back to the old rate. Why not try
this big state paper until January 1, 1910, at this
low price. Send your money to
Stale Journal, Lincoln. Nebraska
4