" xiJlwiwi'''tTwwi'if'i'1 I'lhipmj,!!' i-'
The Commoner
10
Vol. a, No. 48.
'Tnnr"" ' trri"jmmru wnwpiftt
It
c ..,.
JfH
Whetber Common or Dot
a
The Lonsr Ago.
JTIs Christmng eve! Turn low tho
lights: let nuiv'ring shadows fall
f 'Athwart tho curtained windows there,
and play along the wall.
Lay work aside. 'Tis time for rest;
fc 'tis time to put away
Tfie cares and trials that beset the
: . weary hours of day.
I 'Tis Christmas eve. Quick stir the
fire! Now, in its ruddy glow
We'll live again the happy hours
Christmas times of long ago.
.We'll walk again the old-time paths;
the old-time friends we'll meet;
'And to the old-time 'homes of youth
," we'll trip with merry feet.
And hand in hand, and heart to heart,
? we'll tread youth's golden ways,
And live again the joyous hopes wo
lived in other days.
'The clock ticks on; its pendulum
r swings slowly to and fro,
And ev'ry tick a mem'ry brings
Christmas times of long ago.
And so another Christmas comes. We
linger in tho gloom,
While ghostly forms of childhood's
friends troop in and fill the room.
No words wo speak. To mem'ry's
. view come visions thick and fast,'
-And for an hour we live' again the
- dear days of the past
Old time the tide of life turns back,
and on its ebbing flow
We glide again through golden hour3
Christmas times of long ago.
to
w w t 5 t5 w t w t w w
&.
SNOWBOUND CHRISTMAS.
A True Story. &
The train, puffing bravely and push
ing over the new road into the new
and sparsely settled northwestern part
oj Nebraska, was one" oiLthat class
commonly called "mixed." It was
made up of a few box cars, and on the
rear was a combination passenger
coach. Tho compartment ahead was
filled with cattlemen who smoked al-most-as
prodigiously as the little' en
gine, and in the rear compartment
were several women, a clergyman, two
or three Omaha traveling men and a
played "cinch" and "hearts" when not
talking about the weather, and the
women gazed out into the gathering
darkness and looked gloomy.
But there was plenty of life and
jollity in the car. A little, care-worn
woman had. two children, both girls,
the eldest not more than "nine years
old and the younger one about four.
They romped up and down tho car
aisle, making frequent trips to the
water cooler, and every time the
brakeman came in to stir up the Are
in the little stove, they watched him
with childish awe for his brass but
tons and jaunty cap. They did not
make friends readily, but when spoken
to replied bashfully and sought refuge
with the tired mother.
"Think we'll get through, old man?"
asked a traveling man of the con
ductor. "Don't look like it. The drifts are
getting deeper and" we're likely to
buck into one that will hold us."
"Well, that's what we get for ven
turing out the day before Christmas,"
said another traveling man. "I
wanted to go home for Christmas, but
the house ordered me to Chadron to
sell a fellow who's getting ready to
open a new store."
This set the men to talking and the
way they grumbled at not being able
to spend Christmas at home was re
markable. Just as the brakeman came in to
light the lamps the train slowed, up
with a jerk that threw the passengers
out of their seats, and fairly made
the windows rattle. Then, instead of
backing up for a new .start, the train
quivered for a moment, -and tho whis
tle gave a despairing' wail. The brake
man rushed out, and' when he returned
a few minutes later it was to remark:
"Stuck tight in a drift and the near
est station eleven miles off."
When ho went ill and told the cat
tlemen not even the thick partition
and the closed door could keep out the
echos of their lurid remarks.
"What are we to do?" asked one of
the women.
"We can't dp nothing," replied the,
brakeman. "We's got to stay hero
till a snow plow can get us out, and
that may be twenty-four hours from
now."
This calamity produced a silence
that was thick enough to cut with a
1 knife. Then one of the traveling men
newsnanor man who was coins wa into
the "Hills" in search of material for arose with the remark that he had
sketches. 1 a few things to say that would much
The train was hours behind its better be said outside.
)
r
schedule time, and the passengers
were grumbling and growling because
those living far up the line saw all
lpe of getting home in time to spend
Christmas 'eve with loved ones disap
pearing. It was terribly cold and the
Irozen snow drifted before tho fierce
north wind, heaping up huge banks
cte the curves .and filling the cuts
level full ' Every now and then the
little engine would buck Into a drift,
jihiver and stand still. Then it would
tack off, take another run and drive
still further Into the drift. Usually
the second or third effort would clear
the track and the little engine would
give a shriek of triumph and gather
speed for the tiext one.
It was the day before Christmas
late in tho day, too, for the sun had
aipped far into the southwest and al
ready the chill gray of the December
cmngnt was over all. What the be-
lated cattlemen in the smoking com-
- apartment said Is not necessary to re
p 3aio. But they said their say in lurid
f language that betokened easy familiar-
J5 w,ttl the motno(1 of expression. The
uavuung men ana the newspaper man
The idea of spending the night on
the bleak prairie without supper or
breakfast was enough to daze every
passenger.
"Wonder what them kid's 'ill do?"
whispered the brakeman.
But this query was answered when
the tired mother opened a basket and
began dealing out lunch to the little
girls.
"Mamma, whenwill we get home?"
asked the oldest.
"Not tonight, dear."
"Won't we see papa, tonight?"
"No, dear. We'll have to stay here
in the car tonight, and we'll not see
papa until morning."
"But what will Santa Claus do if
we don't get there?"
"Perhaps Santa will wait for us,"
said the mother. "We must not think
The Combination Oil Cure for Cancer.
Was originated und perfected by Dr. D. M.
Bye. It is soothing and balmy and gives relief
from unceasing pain. It has cared more casos
than all other treatments combined. Those in
torosted, who dealre free books tolling about
the treatment, save time and exponso brad
dressintr tho Home Ofllca. DR. n. M. nvw nr
P. O. Drawer 505, Indianapolis, Ind, "
about him. dears, until wo get
papa."
One of the women went forward and
talked to the mother for a few min
utes, and apparently learned a part
of. the family's history. ' At any rate
she told tho clergyman that tho mother
and children werd from Ohio, and that
they wore on their way to Chadron,
where the father had gone nearly a
year before to ake up a homestead,
The children ate their lunch, played
a while in the car aisle, and then be
gan tqgrow sleopy.
"Mamma, can't Santa Claus find us
here on the train?" asked the oldest.
"I'm afraid not, dear."
"But can't he try, mamma?"
"I'm afraid he'll look for us where
papa is."
"But can't we. hang our stockings up
here so's if he comes he'll know it's
us?"
"Yes, but I'm afraid he'll not find
them, dears."
But the little ones insisted, and two
little stockings wero securely pinned
to the rack overhead, and two little
heads were soon pillowed on the vel
vet cushions.
About 9 o'clock the cattlemen came
trooping back, having been warned
that the coal supply was low and not
sufficient to keep two stoves going for
any great length of time. As they
came in one brawny man happened
to see the stockings and he stopped
in surprise. He didn't say a word,
but pointed to them and smiled. The
men gathered in the rear of the com
partment and talked in subdued whis
pers. Finally one of the traveling
men went forward and talked to the
mother, and when he came back he
told a story full of pathos. It was
the old story of a man striving to
make a home on the frontier and en
countering even more than one man's
share of hardships. But he had man
aged to get enough money to send for
his family.
"Them kid's has got to have a
Christmas!" ejaculated one of the cat
tlemen. "That's what!" said another.
And then there was some schem
ing. One of the traveling men rep
resented a grocery house and he hap
pened to haye a few samples of confec
tionery. These went into the "pot."
Another fished up a couple of palrtf
of pretty gloves out of his sample
trunks, and the other one produced
two pretty bottles of perfume from
his sample case of drug .sundries.
"I've got a few "toys up ahead that
I gottin Omaha for my kids," said one
of the cattlemen, "but I can get somo
more in Chadron. I'll chip them in."
He brought back a little doll buggy
and a china doll wonderfully dressed,
and a Noah's ark full of impossible
animals.
"One of my girls is a boy," he ex
plained, "so I can't dig up but one
doll."
The newspaper man produced two
measely little oranges from his grip,
remarking that if he had known what
was coming he would have bought a
crate. "It's the best I can do for the
babies," he said, but the oranges were
received with suppressed delight.
Tho women were allowed to contri
bute and one gave a little lace hand
kerchief and another contributed a sil
ver thimble.
"I ain't got nothing but chowing to
bacco," remarked one . of the cattle
men in an injured tone of voice, "and
I reckon that don't go in this pot."
"If it did I could chip in some con
siderable myself," said another,
"I ain't got no kids nor wife neith
er," said another. "That's why I
ain't stocked up considerable on
Christmas fixin's. If I had 'ein I'd be
so tickled I'd have a box car full
ahead."
"Perhaps you could contribute what
a few toys would cost," timidly ven
tured the clergyman.
"Say, parson, you'r a brick!" said
the cattleman. I'd a never thought of.
it. I'll just chip In the price of a
steer." And he tossed a bill with
two "X's" on it into the little pile.
"I'll see that raise," said another.
"I'll have to stay," said a third.
"I'll have to call for a 'sight'," re
marked the newspaper man as ho
added a small bill to the pile, the trav
eling men following his example.
Then the two women wore called
into requisition and were delegated
to fill the stockings. The mother was
shown the contributions, and her eyes
filled with tears.
"God bless all of you," she said.
"Amen!" echoed the clergyman, and
the rest of the men looked their thanks
at him.
Then silence fell over all.
A few hours later the passengers
were awakened by shrill shrieks, of
joy.'
"Mamma, mamma! Wake up! San
ta did find us!"
And such a scene of happinesc- en
sued that the beholders have not yet
forgotten it.
"Let us sing a song," said the clergy-
For Singers and Speakers
The NewRemedy Per Catarrh Is Very
Valuable
A Grand Rapida gentleman who represents a
prominent manufacturing conc'o'rn and travola
through central and southern Michigan, relates
the following regarding tho now catarrh cure,
ho says :
"Altcr suffering from catarrh of the head,
throat and stomach for several years, I heard
of Stuart's Catarrh Tablets quito accidentally
and liko every thing else Hmmediatoly bought
a package and was decidedly surprised at the
immodiato relief it afforded me and still mors
to find a complete cure after soTom! weeks' use.
' ' 3
Wft i w l -a H
"I have a little son who sings in a boy's choir
in one of our prominent churchos, and ho is
greatly troubled with hoarseness and throat
weakness, and on my return homo'from a trip I
gave him a few of tho tablots ono Sunday morn
ingwhon ho had complained of hoarsnoss. He
was delighted with thoir effect, removing all
hunkiness in a few minutes and making tha
voice clear and strong.
"As tho tablots aro vory pleasant to tho taste,
I had no difliculty in persuading him to usa
them regularly.
"Our family physician told us they wero an
antiseptic preparation of undoubtod merit and
that ho himself hud no hesitation in using and
recommending Stuart's Catarrh Tablots for any
form of catarrh.
"I have since mot many public speakers and
professional singers who used them constantly.
A prominont Dotrnit lnwyor told mo that
Stuart's Catarrh Tablets kept his throat in fine
shape during tuo most trying weatnor, and tuai
ho had long since discarded the use or cheap
lozenges and troches on tho advicoof bis physi
clnn that they containod so much tolu, potash
and opium as to rendor thoir ueo a danger to
h altb."
Stuart's Catarrh Tablots are largo pleasant
tasting lozenges composed of catarrhal anti
septics, liko Bod Gum, Blood Roqt, etc., and
sold by druggists everywhere at 60cents for full
treatment.
Thoy act upon tha blood and mucous mem
bra no and their composition and remarkable
success has won tho approval of physicians, as
well as thousands of suft'orera from nasal ca
tarrh, throat troubles and catarrh of stomacn.
A little book on treatment of catarrh mailed
free by addressing F.A. Stuart Co., Marshall.
Mich.
r ' 'J21JR
feVU
rt.s-i