1
Dark fere Santa Comes
LOOKING FOE SAHTA CIAUS
The Gift
By FRANK H SWEET
Copyright 190S by American Press Asso
ciation
HE Christmas chimes are sounding
on the air
And as I sit and listen to their
sweet
Unearthly music gone is every care
Forgot is all the turmoil of the street
Eha troubles that the path of man be
set
The vast anxieties of human life
Wfade away and every fond regret
is lost in ail their glad and joyous
strife
HAT though I seem alone on
this fair day
From happy comradeship
stand isolate
With- none to greet me as I walk my
way
To merely live I count a happy fate
So merely listen to those joyous sounds
That through the crisp of winter call
so free
Uthough the merrymakers on their
rounds
Pause not to think of or remember
me
TST not enough that on this Christ
I mas morn
This glad birth morn of him whose
day it is
My heart but yesterday so sad forlorn
Doth open to the message that was
his
Ist not enough to know that from
above
The tidings of a sacrifice divine -Come
as a gift of an eternal love
That I have but to take to make it
mine
ma - i
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IRISH POINT OF VIEW
It is a merry Christmas
When there is lots of snow
For then through my good shovel
Some golden coin I know
And tis a merry Christmas
When not a flake is seen
Pop Christmas to the Irish
Ismerry whenifs green
E K WntKLTTBICK
Why
Copyright 1D0S by American Press Asso
ciation
w
dot Nicholas
By ROBERT BONNELL
HX is Santa Clans sometimes
called St Nicholas For
the most excellent reason
that Nicholas is the real
name of the saint Until comparative
ly recent years there was no Santa
Claus at Christmas time When the
old saint comes down the chimney
Dec 24 Christmas eve and deposits
gifts for the children in the suspended
stockings he is just nineteen days be
hind time for his true and proper
time is Dec 5 that being the eve of
St Nicholas day Just how Nicholas
got to be the Christmas eve saint is
not altogether clear but those icon
oclasts who dig into ancient matters
are probing this secret They have
discovered or claim to have discov
ered that the Christmas eve Santa
Claus really originated in America be
ing transported to England from New
York
In the saints calendar Dec 6 is St
Nicholas day Nicholas was bishop of
Myra in Lycia He is believed to
have lived under the Emperors Dio
cletian and Constantine and Is the pa
tron saint of poor maidens sailors
travelers merchants and children
Rich maidens of course are also quite
willing to acknowledge him when he
comes along with diamond dog col
lars necklaces and tiaras
Before the great religious reformation
the custom of giving presents on St
Nicholas eve was general throughout
Christian Europe When the worship
of the saints was abolished the prac
tice died out in England where for
about three centuries St Nicholas fail
ed to visit households on the evening
of Dec 5 to leave presents for good
children By the way it should be
pointed out that Nicholas was noted
even in infancy as a particularly good
and pious child Therefore his visits
are not made to bad children only to
those whose parents can vouch for
their good behavior during the previous
year
In Austria Holland and Poland St
Nicholas eve is still observed Good
children get presents secretly left in
their shoes placed upon the hearth
stone for the purpose or in their stock
ings hung from the mantel When
New York was settled by Hollanders
the devout Dutchmen brought over to
America their religious customs not
forgetting that of St Nicholas eve In
old Kew Amsterdam the saint made
his visits the night of Dec 5 St Nich
olas day being celebrated by the set
tlers as a holiday In time the Dutch
were supplanted by the English New
Amsterdam became New York and the
old St Nicholas eve gift giving custom
was reintroduced into England fro a
Kew York But in England the cus
tom of giftmaking on Christmas eve
had grown up There was however
no Santa Claus ceremony Gifts were
made outright and without secrecy
When St Nicholas sailed back to
England there was consternation
among fond papas and mammas in
the tight little isle
What Shall we have two days of
gift giving and lessthan three weeks
apart they cried
Thrifty English parents it is sup
posed determined that one day of
giving was enough and so they sim
ply transferred St Nicholas to Christ
mas eve
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9eaeeoe
o
o
Pat Cronan and
e
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HE heroic conduct of Lieutenant
William P Cronan U S N
In saving a turrets crew
from death on the battleship
Connecticut last year was to have been
expected from a man of his character
Pat Cronan as be Is known In and
out of the navy belongs to that class
of officers who reflect credit on the
country and the service It was my
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IT WAS THEIR LAST
BOX
waters for a long
though the Christmas
with him on the
gunboat Mariet
ta during the
blockade of Ven
ezuela In 1S02
by Great Brit
ain
and Italy There j
was no duty too
onerous for him
to undertake no
service he was
unwiliingtoface
His men stood
solidly behind
him ready to go
where ver ho
would lead
As the Marc
ta had born in
Caribbean sea
time it looked a3
dinner would
consist only of canned stuff and fresh
vegetables and the peculiar cigarettes
of the tropics Fortunately the steam
er Philadelphia arrived at La Guryra
one of the ports blockaded and as it
could not unload Captain Diehl the
commander of the Marietta succeeded
in inducing the commercial vessel to
part with two turkeys and some cran
berries which among other things
had been brought from New York
carefully stowed away ta the icebox
The Philadelphia had no Egyptian ciga
rettes and the question arose wherO
they could be got Cronan pondered
deeply over the weighty problem and
then asked permission for a boat
Without Indicating what he proposed
to do he gave the orders to proceed to
the British cruiser Tribune which was
one of the ships enforcing the block
ade
Cronan wa3 received by the ward
room mess of the Tribune with open
arms As p special mark of apprecia
tion of his visit a box of a hundred
Egyptian cigarettes was brought forth
by the executive officer Cronan was
invited to take one His eyes lingered
longingly on the box as he extracted
a lonely weed He remained about a
quarter of an hour and then reach
ing over to the box closed it and to
the astonishment of the Britishers
put it under his arm They were too
well bred to remonstrate but their
eyes spoke volumes It was their last
box Cronan went orer the side and
was pulled away to his own ship leav
ing behind disgust and desolation As
soon as he reached the Marietta he
asked Captain Diehl for one of the
turkeys and this
he carefully
packed up and
sent to the ward
room of the
Tribune with the
compliments of
the American of
ficers and he
accompanied it
with fifty ciga
rettes
The Christmas
dinners on the
Marietta and
Tribune as well
were great suc
cesses The on
ly bar to com
i
NJWBmM
plete enjoyment wnT 1S cbonak zjke
on the part of J Ua Wi
every one on the American gunboat
not in Cronans confidence was the ab
sence of cigarettes When the coffee
was served Cronan announced that
Santa Claus had commissioned him to
convey a splendid gift to the mess
He then produced the half filled box
Why is Cronan like this box en
thusiastically asked one officer who
belonged to the conundrum class of
humanity
Hes not full one wit replied
Hes a delight to the eye said an
other
Hes white straight and whatever
yellow there is in him is the best yel
low there is hazarded a third
Peitiaps admitted the questioner
But my answer is this You find Cro
nan always where the smoke is thick- j
est Chicago Tribune
A Prayer to the Christ Child
Behold ye season is again at hand
once more ye snows of winter lie upon
all ye earth and all Chrystantie is ar
rayed to the holy feast
Presently shall ye star burn with ex
ceeding brightness in ye east ye sky
shall be full of swete music ye angels
shall descend to earth with singing
and ye belis ye joyous Chrystmass
bells shall tell us of ye babe that was
born In Bethlehem
Come to us now O gentle Chryst
chiJde and walke among us peoples of
ye earth en wheel us round about with
Thy protecting care forfend all envi
ous thoughts and evil deeds teche
Thou our hearts with the glory of Thy
love and quicken us to practices of
peace good will and charity meet for
Thy approval and acceptation Eugene
Field -
The Bargain at Home
Bobby Mamma lets give papa a
lovely gold scarfpin
Mamma That will be nice Bobby
Bobby Mamma you put in 490
nnd Ill put in a dime Brooklyn Eagle
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-
do
uarters for Christmas Gifts
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FOR MEN AND BOYS
FANCY BOX NECKWEAR
FANCY COMBINATION SUSPENDERS
LATEST FANCIES IN TIE PINS
SILK LINED GLOVES
LINED MITTENS
SILK MUFFLERS
PHOENIX AND WAYS MUFFLERS
I 1L
The Bon Ton Window
Have you noted the Bon Tons win
dow display of Fancy Bon Bon Boxea
for Christmas They are unequalled
for the finest in fancy and home made
candies in fruits and nuts
Huber has the largest line of Christmas
Candies in town Come in and see us be-
XU1W UUJUIJ Ok VllU U10VUUUl IU WUULWUWU
and schools Also have nuts oi all kinds
The ladies of the W O T U will
give a public reneption at the home of
Mrs C A Fisher on New Year day
between the hours of 300 and 500 P
M A cordial invitation is extended
to all 18 2ts
McMillen Druggist has a very select
line of dressed and kid dolls as well as
a novel assortment of doll toilet articles
Leave your order now for that big fat
Christmas gobbler at D C Marshs
We have the finest line of Olives and
Olive Oil in McCook The full Reid Plur
dock line HUBER
P E Reedeb is in Lincoln
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THIS PIANO GIVEN AWAY
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CONTEST OPEN UNTIL
DEC 24
SANTAS
HEADQUARTERS
The Ideal Store
THE BIG
ASSORTMENT STORE
iPiihtJ ii iiii1 liitUiiiiiiiii
L
SMOKING JACKETS
FANCY VESTS
BATH ROBES
SUIT CASES SATCHELS
50c and 75c FANCY HOSIERY
CUFF AND HANDKERCHIEF CASES
COLLAR BAGS Etc
A Christmas Warning
In giving Christmas presents to
children said Mrs Frederick Schoff
tue president of the National Mothers
Congress our first aim should be to
transport to overjoy to enrapture
I once knew a little girl who on fire
with excitement rushed in from her
bedroom to see her presents on Christ
mas morning and after one look burst
into loud sobs of disappointment and
disgust
It was some such experience I have
no doubt that had befallen a little girl
friend of mine
Are you going to give me anything
for Christmas she said one day to her
aunt
Yes if youre good the aunt re
plied
The little girl gazed at her aunt with
wistful earnestness -Then she said
Please auntie then nothing use
ful Cincinnati Enquirer
A Christmas Hope
We do not pretend to be
but we can all dare to hope
prophets
And this
is what we hope That some day the
strong will help and not exploit the
weak that some day fraternity will
be more than a rhetorical flourish that
some day love will beget justice rath
er than charity And Christmas Is
the one day in the year that such u
venturesome hope seems more than a
World Today
A Christmas Hymn
No tramp of marching armies
No banners flaminjj far
A lamp within a stable
And in the sky a star
Their hymns of peace and sladnesa
To earth the angels brought
Their Gloria In Excelsis
To earth the angels taught
When in the lowly manger
The holy mother maid
In tender adoration
Her babe of heaven laid
Born lowly in the darkness
And none so poor as he
The little children of the poor
Kis very own shall be
No rush of hostile armies then
But just the huddling sheep
The angels singing of the Christ
And all the world asleep
No flame of conquering banners
No legion sent afar
A lamp within a stable
And in the sky a star
Margaret E Sangster In Colliers Week
ly
The aigret Is the crowning beauty of
an aigret mother The collector seizes
the bird while she is on her nest with
the young just hatched and tears off
her plumes and wings leaving her to
die beside her little ones who de
prived of her fostering care also die
Exchange
His Wife writing Which is proper
disillusioned or disillusionized
Her Husband Oh just say married
and let it go at that
ARGER
UTFITTERS TO THE PEOPLE
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COURT HOUSE NEWS
Special
COUNTY COURT
Licenses to marry issued by the coun
ty judge since our last report
Oscar F Trasper 21 and Malinda A
Purvis 18 both of Cambridge
A Guaranteed Cure For Piles
Itching JfcSIind Bleeding or Protrud
ing Piles Druggists refund money if
Pazo Ointment fails to cure any case
no matter of how long standing in 6tol4
days First application gives ease and
rest 50c If your druggist hasnt it
send 50c in stamps and it will be for
warded postpaid by Paris Medicine Co
St Louis Mo
SsXa2XSsxSs
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Our line of dainty and useful
presents is so large we cannot
enumerate our complete assort
ment of desirable gifts We have
a big line of
Dolls Doll Toilet Articles
and Teddy Bears
Toys in Abundance
pleasing and durable
Gift Books Childrens Books
and Bibles
Games for all Ages
Doll Buggies Go Carts
and Shoo fly Horses
In Imported China the finest
hand work incrusta ware
Steins and Dishes
Albums Toilet Articles
Pictures Novelties
Statuary
Postal Albums Fountain Pens
Razors Etc
Decided bargains in Holiday
goods at this seasonable time are
worth your attention Bring in
the little ones and show them
around
Respectfully
A McMillen
Drnggist
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