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sHANTmea rhyme of
HENEVER possible I pre
urmstrnas
Smd me a lbvial
Andthough it is filled vith
I - laudhter
j Let it be pure and strong
Sihd of the hearts brimmed over
with the story of the day
Of the echo of childish voices
That will notdieaway
Of the blare of thetasseled budie
And the timeless clatter and oeat
Of the drum that throbs to muster
Squadrons of scampering feet
ButOJetyour voice tall fainter
Till blent with a minor tone
ftra temper your song with the beauty
Of the pity Christ hath shown
Andsind one verse for the voiceless
Andyet ere the song be done
A verse for the ears that hear not
And a verse for the sidhtless one
For thoughit belime fbrsihging
A merry Christmas See
Let a low sweetvoice ofpatnos
Hun through the melody
JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY
MISS DUPREES HOLIDAY JOY
She Recalls One Memorable Christ-
nrtas Performance in the City
of New Orleans
VESBESm
fer spending Christmas
with my family out on
Long Island and unless my
engagements take me too
far away I always make it a point to
be with them on that day
There are times however in this
profession when the wish must take
second place to necessity and from
the viewpoint of actual novelty I sup
pose my most interesting Christmas
was the one I spent in the southland
Our routing took us into New Orleans
at Christmas and to me who had al
ways up to that time spent the day in
the colder north the novelty of seeing
trees in leaf and flowers blooming was
as pleasing as it was unusual
On Christmas afternoon when oth
ers were home enjoying the big dinner
with the family I was getting ready
for a special holiday matinee I was
not pleased with myself or with a pro
fession that demanded of its members
that they labor on Christmas day
above all others and it was not with
a particularly light heart that I
dressed for my part
But when the curtain went up on
the first act and I made my entrance
the welcome I received compensated
for the disappointment I felt
It was a special matinee arranged
for the poor children of the poorest
quarter of New Orleans and the en
joyment of those childish auditors
soon melted the disappoinment out of
my heart
After the matinee I had arranged
with my manager that I would receive
the little folks on the stage and the
wise man in his knowledge of childish
hearts sent out a hurry order for
candy and other things that make
Christmas a day of cheer to kiddies
At the conclusion of the last act the
stage was cleared and I held the most
unusual reception that I ever experi
enced
Clean as pins but with their little
bodies clothed in many cases in gar
ments ragged and frayed they came
up pa the stage were introduced and
sent away after a handshake each
with a box of candy -9
I have spent many other delightful
and out-of-the-ordinary Christmases on
the road but none that afforded me
more real rarefaction than the one
In New Orleans
AIINNIE DUPREE
i
MISS GEORGES CHRISTMAS
Happy Memory of a Season When She
Did Not Write One Glad
Holiday Story
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H my happiest Christmas
I did not then realize it but
I recall it now with a ra
diant glow of delight It
was my first season upon
the stage I was only a novice one
day soaring upon the buoyant wings
of boundless ambition the next
plunged in an abysmal depth of doubt
despair and self depreciation It was
a very tiny part that had fallen to me
The compensation was hut mffioiont
for the barest necessities The route
bristled with all the horrors of the
one night stands
At midnight huddled miserably
worn dejected and wretched in the
waiting room of a country station
listening in vain for the whistle of a
belated train I confess to a sudden
flood of tears What a mockery this
Christmas day had been Even the
chimes had sounded like the tolling
of a funeral knell The cheerless rite
comforts of a cheap hotel the unsa
vory slatternly served travesty upon
a Christmas dinner the cold chill of
a shabby musty dressing room the
added toil of an extra matinee for a
mere handful of people and now the
hungry wait for an accommodation
train of dingy day coaches
That was all Christmas had meant
to me Iowa was blizzard swept
Mails were delayed and tangled wires
hung useless vin gathering snowdrifts
No message of cheer no souvenir of
remembrance had come to any of us
Our hollow half hearted exchange of
Christmas greeting had carried no
conviction We were only strolling
vagabonds outside the pale of sym
pathy debarred from the domestic
joys of living mere dispirited rain
bow chasers with success ever mock
ingly elusive
But as I recall it all now I am sub
merged by a great wave of passion
ate longing regret for I know that
such a Yuletide will never come to
me again while I am upon the stage
It was my happiest Christens be
cause the first and only ozie since I
began to tread the thorny and tor
tuous path of my profession that I
have not been called upon to write a
Christmas story
GRACE GEORGE
Speak as you think be what you
are pay your debts of all kinds
Montfort
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HAT a lot of things
can happen be
tween July and
Christmas Kate
said it to herself
and said it aloud
SM5re8K8H startled her For
she was alone
Mother was off on an eleventh hour
and unsatisfactory wrestle with the
Christmas shopping problem Sis had
chosen this gray afternoon to call on
a chum home from college So Kate
had opportunity to make herself as
miserable as she desired
It was now six weeks since Jack
had called and six weeks is a long
time when a man is 25 and a girl is 20
and each is very much interested in
the other Just how much Kate was
interested was something unsus
pected Once Jack thought he knew
but now all he knew was that he did
not know When Jack suddenly disap
peared from Kates perspective no one
noticed his absence from the picture
To most people Jack had seemed a
part of Kates social background
Some who had seen them together at
Grand Traverse had advanced him to
the middle distance But of the fore
ground no one thought
What happened in July was this
The Wilsons were no more than
firmly established in their cottage
which looks over Grand Traverse bay
than Jack appeared at the hotel
which looks over them both That
was not remarkable for all had been
members of that particular summer
colony for years Then the day of
the picnic on the Point Jack and
Kate found themselves sitting at the
green fringe of the forest looking out
over the blue expanse of the bay A
hundred yards in front of them Mrs
Wilson was gathering up the table
cloth and things
There was a little sense of chill in
the air a harbinger of autumn And
there was a change in the atmosphere
between the two The girls lips were
tremulous The man was agitated
and strangely tender and brutal in his
speech
It will not interest you he said
but I am going down to morrow
But why so tragic We will be
back in town in a week ourselves
and yet I do not feel so horribly blue
about it
Well things down there are dif
ferent
Yes they are different but not un
pleasant when you first get back to
them I shall miss the canna in front
of your hotel but I have no doubt the
fall millinery on State street will be
quite as gorgeo
You are clever and like most
clever people a little hearties You
know how things are different down
there The people are diffez sat wh
we are different ourselves And it is
just the difference of which you
speak the difference between these
flowers and flowers of silk and satin
between those lilies out there and lily
stems of wire and paper
You are a little unkind Jack she
said gently 1
The soft reproof more suggestive of
tears than anger brought the story
to his very lips He wondered how
he should tell it Then an old schoolboy
trick came back to him He brought out
his penknife Beside them was a little
spruce and in the soft flaky bark he
carved a heart Within its lines he
dug deeply the initials of two people
The girl caught her breath anti blushed
a little which are the proper and cus
tomary things for a girl to do at such
a time
Then he told her what was in his
mind It left her a little panic stricken
and she took the refuge her sisters al
ways have taken she asked him to
wait for his answer
In such a case there is but one thing
for the man to do and that is to wait
until to morrow But when a man
is terribly in earnest he takes people
seriously
When I see this carving of yours
again then we will talk about this
Jack if you still think this way
She thought she was putting him
on a most proper probation It was
only a womans reluctance to give up
her freedom
But he took her at her word Next
day he went away
Back In town again at first he saw
her often His restraint she imagined
was resentment In November a
month of storms arid dreary skies
they quarreled That was six weeks
ago
All that six weeks he pondered the
matter by lonely fires and over break
fasts late and bad Then he resolved
to end the suspense and still keep his
word
One day a young man whom the na
tives were satisfied was most cer
tainly insane stepped off the train
into a snowdrift He wanted a team
a guide a shovel and an ax As he
had money and determination he got
them
This crazy young man drove four
miles and waded through two more
Miilli
W limW
wl I III B
J f wwMlM
Rang the Door Bell Violently
On the Point now bleak with winter
he stopped by a tiny spruce protruding
from the snow and began digging as
furiously as if he were hunting for
buried treasure
A half dozen little trees he uncov
ered At last with a boyish laugh he
laid the ax at the foot of one until
the chips flew
That night the crazy man who had
come 300 miles for a Christmas tree
started homeward again Christmas
eve the man and the Christmas tree
mounted the steps of the Wilson resi
dence and rang the door bell violently
Well what else could she do That
night they went out into the Christmas
crowds together and bought the tin
sel for the first Christmas trea Kate
had had in years and the very best
Copyright 150S by Wright A Patterson
jlww rpr
IMstaas Sweett
WORSHIP AT CROSS OF ICE
Scattered Christian Tribes in Turkey
Celebrate Christmas with Im
pressive Ceremonies
MM
OHAMMEDISM is the pre
vailing religion in Turkey
and for that reason only
the few scattered Christian
tribes observe the birthday
of Christ in aay manner The Mo
hammedan Turks have but two holi
days in the entire year those being
Car Bon Biram the day of forgive
ness which is the Mohammedan New
Year and Bairam the anniversary
of the date when Mohammed gave
to his people his scripture The Fri
day of the Christian is the Sabbath
of the Mohammedan and is observed
by him in the same manner as Sunday
with the Christians
The Christian Turks who include
the Bulgarians Servians Monte
negrins and other smaller tribes ob
serve Christmas with impressive re
ligious ceremonies- s
Three days before Christmas the
Bladego appoints a delegation of 100
men form each congregation who go
to the river and hew out immense
cakes of ice after which they con
struct a huge pyramid near by A
great cross measuring about 40 by 6
feet and cut from the bed of ice is
set up against the pyramid and the
nlnpp of worship for Christmas day
is completed Early on Christmas
morning all the people march to the
pyramid where the initial exercises
are conducted by th Bladego A
small crucifix used by him in the exer
cises is the prize of the younger men
of the tribe who dive into the ice cold
water after it as the Bladego throws
it in Many are drowned annually in
this practice but they all consider
themselves fortunate to die while on
such a mission
From the pyramid the procession
marches to the home of the priest
where bread is blessed and broken by
the Bladego and all present partake
of the food
Keep ever in the path of duty but
tail not to climb the steep of
nedge Newton
Jam lPlk j
W WS Mi
IN THE REALM OF THE CZAR
Russians Look Upon Christmas as
the Most Sacred and Most
Celebrated Holiday
HRISTMAS is the most sa
cred and most celebrated
holiday in Russia Contrary
to the custom in nearly all
other countries Christmas
there always comes on Sunday and a
continuous celebration is held until
midnight on January 2
The Russian believes in devout re
ligious services In honor of the birth
of Christ and each day during the
season each family including all Its
members attends church at least
once On Christmas morning the most
important services take place Each
congregation marches solemnly to the
nearest river which Is always frozen
over the ice being sometimes as much
as three feet thick
After a large hole has been chopped
in the ice the priest dips his cross in
the water and prayers are pronounced
after which the priest holds baptismal
exercises Having been blessed by the
priest the water is considered to be
holy and as fast as the people can
file by the hole in the ice bottles of all
sizes and descriptions are filled with
the water
This water is prized the most
ly of anything in the home and bottles
of it are sometimes found a century
or more old Some fanatics secure
large quantities of it and bathe in it
at regular intervals during the year
There is one custom which many
Americans would cherish in their own
Christmas celebration and especially
the young people It is that of kissing
for on Christmas day every one steals
a kiss from whomsoever he meets In
some cases and among the older peo
ple the hearty handshake is much
used but the younger element clings
closely to the old style
Santa Claus is unknown to Russian
children but the Babushka
an old
woman witch carrying a long stick
and attired in the usual witch
cos
tume visits the homes In
every vil
lage and city and distributes greetings
and then comes at night and leaves
the gifts for both old and young
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