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About The Falls City tribune. (Falls City, Neb.) 1904-191? | View Entire Issue (Dec. 16, 1910)
THE FOOL’S SEARCH EPISODE IN JOSTLING THRONG OF CHRISTMAS SHOPPERS. Order for Purchase of a Fool’s Can endar Brings Funny Experiences — Men. Women and Children All Are Mad. HEY are all mad; men, women, chil dren, spinsters and bachelors, floorwalkers and • lerks, drivers and delivery boys, it would seem there (inil.1 be no madder, merrier time. The funniest things happen, if one only had time to dwell on them and laugh over them, l»ul such i enjoyment is de fy nied in these ' days of strain and struggle. in a moment of thought less good nature we prom ised to do the rnmlly shopping Among me mou Band snd one commissions handed over In Immediate response to the thoughtless good-nature was the or der for purchase of "The Fool's Calendar." We set forth, a list three-timps forty long In our groan ing, much-abused hand-bag. and entered the first shop come upon, in our sub-consciousness feeling Hint we, like the rest of the Jostlers, fitted In pretty well with the title of that calendar. Down the aisle came a rattled looking, hair disturbed, gen erally disturbed gentleman whose province seemed the directing of Tren ded fanciers to the respective de partments of their fnney, but the Christmas spirit so possessed him he was not quite himself, not able to place his "Madames" and "Sirs ." As short-skirted, roRe-wreathed hatted, we steered his way, ho glanced with wrinkled brow and questlonlng worry to what might be our demand. "Do you sell calendars here?" We asked In heat of hurry, to which he replied glibly, “Yes, Sir," nnd never knew he was not using the usual form of address to a woman Ho led us then with rapid step to the calendar square, where spread out and uprose floor, roof and pillars of calendars, It would seem every time—chronicler for every taste. And then feeling very like a fool ourselves, we asked In a low voice, “Have you 'The Fool's Cal endar?’ ” "No,” says he, "But,'* und s gleam of keen Intellect lights his eye. "We have 'Saints nnd Sinners."' We wanted to shriek with laughter, we forgot all the hurry and not-monev rnough or time-enough. It paid for all the crowding and mobbing and back-ache nnd heart-ache of the day. Funny enough was the woman en countered In mid afternoon entering the mtich-advertlsed, much-crowded hook-room of a department store In haste to get nt the forty-eight centers nnd thlrty-nlners; she was high and broad and muscular, an Amazon that need not have put on extra effort to make her way but the spirit or Christmas -the modern- was strong upon her, and as we passed tier on the way out Into bl .d out-of-doors even In our hurry we could not but notice her wild look, her panting breath, tier elbows out on defensive and offensive the "av In which she marched on, unswervingly', unrelent ingly, like nil avalanche, toward the bargain book® Overheard at Hie book counter “Don't you think a nice little book like this Is a good present to give?" “A little book? What is the name?" “Why 1 don’t know, but It’s a nice little book In clean white binding. I believe I’ll get a dozen A dozen, please, and see that they're all fresh." The calendar square again. Wom en madly struggling; another Amazon, this one brow-beating ft pale faced girl afflicted with a cold and. wearing a too-much Christmas air: "Can’t you get me envelopes to put those calen dars In?"—dimensions of calendars 1S by 21 Inches- "It's so hard when you get home to hunt around nnd pack things. I wouldn't have bought the calendars If I hadn't thought you would pack ’em. Say. take that new one out of that, nice box, hang It up and give me the box. Not allowed to? What’s the dif, they’ll never know." And the pale-faced clerk bends to the Amazon's will. A large, canny, prosperous gentle man at a candy store, carefully select ing and considering purchase of 25 cents worth of Kindergarten mixed. llrave, foolish, big-hearted shop girls many spending their present all, and drawing on the future, to make a Christmas for the army at home. We do a generous deed one that calls for large sacrifice. We have gone down town all saddled, all bridled, for the day’s work, three neat long pencils neatly sharpened to long points, when we become one of a mob assailing the enclosure where blank books. tissue-paper, holly-stickers and all that are confirmed frm the greedy hands of thousands hungry to get their share for the urgent necessity of doing up gifts with approved ornate complexity. The clerks here all pale and grippe-y looking; one, so wee and pallid, has momentarily lost her rea son because of the loss of her pencil. A line of people wait with feverish impatience, scowls deepen, muttered [growls are heard, the wee, pallid ghl grows more pallid and grippe-y look ing. With mighty effort of the will, we hand forth one of those precious, neat. long pointed pencils; the pale face glows, the tension of the crowd lessens, we feel ourselves both prl vate and public benefactor. Another pale-faced, grlppe-y look ins clerk, this one standing looking wistfully at cases where bright silver gleams through the glass "(live me a Spoon for a child, something cheap,” And she herself needs a pair of shpes! Husband and wife shopping In un Wonted personal partnership, always the talk of what "It” will like. The Child. And the sight of the deeply interested faces of the many husband and wife groups, sets us to believe, after all, There Is method In the gen eral madness, for who would not be a fool for The Child’ll sake! KATilKitINK l'OI’K CLD STORIES OR CHRISTMAS Some Have Interest, Freshness and Beauty That Keep Them Al ways New. There are some so-called "old sto ries” that are really not old, for they have an Interest, a freshness and a beauty that keep them always new. Of such are the story of Christmas and all the legends and talcs that he long to the great festival. There is a leg< nd In Germany that when Kve plucked the fatal apple the leaves of the tree Immediately shriv eled Into needle points and its bright green turned dark. The nature of the tree changed and It became an evergreen, In all seasons preaching the story of man’s fall through that llrst act of disobedience. Only on Christmas does It bloom brightly with lights and become beautiful with love glfls. The curse Is turned into a blessing by the coming of the Christ child, and thus we have our Christmas tree. The visits of St. Nicholas to the homes of the people on Christmas eve as an annual custom grew out of a festival In honor of llertha, a Norse goddess. At this festival the house was decorated with evergreens and an altar of stone was set up at the end of the hall, where the family assem bled. Front Hertha's stone we get our word “hearthstone.” On the stones so set up were heaped fir branches, which were set nflre, and through the smoke and flame llertha was supposed to descend ami Influence the direction of the flames, from which were pre dicted the fortunes of those present. EAT, DRINK AND BE MERRY Throw Forebodings to the Winds and Let Christmas Season Be One of Joy. Let Joy reign! Let care go to (he dogs. Throw forebodings to the winds! Christmas comes hut once a year. Let the young folks enjoy It to the full! Let the old folks stop their croaking about rheumatism for that day at least, and remember the time when they, too, were young and could dance with the merriest Ami let the little stockings be fill ed, and let. us all bear with equa nimity the blowing on toy trumpets, and the tooting on mouth organs, and the drumming on sixpenny-halfpenny drums, which are sure to follow! The boys can be boys but once, and what Is a hoy It he cannot make a noise? And so the years go on, and one Christmas lollows another, and we eat and drink and are merry; we greet our friends, and we part with them, and our lives march along, and through tafth in the sacrifice which our Christina day commemorates we look forward to a more perfect Christ mas when the guests shall gather in the Father’s house. Crippled. Beggar (piteously)—Please help a poor cripple at this festive season, sir. Kind Old Gent (handing hint some money)—Bless me! Why. of course, llow are you crippled, mv poor fel low? Beggar (pocketing (he money) — Financially crippled, sir. Christmas Giving. There are a great many people in the world whom we know more or less, but to whom lor various reasons we cannot very well seud a Christmas gift. But there is hardly one, in all the circles of our acquaintances, with whom we may not exchange the touch of Christmas life. in the outer circles, cheerful greet ings, courtesy, consideration; in the inner circles, sympathetic interest, hearty congtit illations, honest encour agement; in the inmost circles, com radeship, helpfulness, tenderness. After all, Christmas-living is the best kind of Christmas giving.— Henry Van Dyke. Just a Smart Boy. There is nothing the matter with the small hoy who p ents his moth r with :• pair of !e!t slippers for Christum !! is t a smart boy, hnt is a! A CHRISTMAS HYMN DONATION CAUSES CONSTERNA TION IN CHURCH. | Little Ad Slipped Into Stat ly Anthem by Charitable Summer Cottager Breaks Up Christmas Day Serv ices in Confusion. T WAS it charita ble summer cot tager who put tip the money for n new church at ] the summer re tori of X—, down oil the Atlantic cor t The vil la; parson wa< ; ,a i,it (fill beyond Jsj words, for the old ir strut tore had \\ been an eyesore to the folk who desired of all things to attract wealthy hummer t erorters. I nt when the s on was over ;nd the new church was Un it ht- d Ids rever ence discovered tnai no provision linn been made for hymn books The congregation was notably poor and not in the habit of pinching ibclf for tho sake of charity, so the outlook for a supply of new hooks was very preca rious. It was. a late summer man-— a man of reputed wealth and Influence In (he distant city whence he hailed— who came to the relief of the devout clergyman. "I'll buy hymn books for the church," said he, "and send them down to you —on one condition- that you let me Insert a small ad. that will really not be noticeable, it's an ad. lhat I assure you will bring great comfort to your flock.” The simple country divine ponder ed the ofTer carefully, and finally, aft er a vestry meeting, it was decided lhat there could be no possible sin In accepting such an ofTer. The donor was a man of such Integrity and char acter that the rest was assured. "Well, the hooks came down from the city, 100 of them, liner than any thing the people had dreamed of. They were still very new at Christ mas—in fact, had never been In use uniil that day. In great pride, the parson called out the number of the good old favorite Christmas hymn: "Hark, the Herald Angels Sing." The congregation, equipped with their new hooks, turned the pages rap idly and were ready. The organ struck up the tune that everybody knew. And lustily sang the people, gazed sleadfastly ou the written words: Hark the herald angels sing, Faker’s pills are Just the thing.” The parson listened, looked, brush ed his hand over his eyes, and a mo ment's panic passed over the church. Hut It passed. Then on Into another verse they plunged: "Peace on earth and mercy mild Two lor a man, and one for a child.” rang the impious words. The parson coughed, closed his hook, and the serv ice broke up in confusion. Every body had forgot that the generous hymn book man was interested in a patent medicine, Christmas Superstitions. The United States is almost poverty stricken In so far as Its collection of superstitions is concerned, our early settlers having failed to Import many from Europe, and not adopting those of the Indians. Of course some of ns don't like to see the new moon over the left shoulder, or start on a journey on Friday, and the like, hut few of us take even these very serious ly. We must go to "the old coun tries" to get superstitions with any genuine thrill in them. There are a number which have to do with Christ mas. in North Germany, where the prac tical yet poetic spinning wheel still hums in (he cottages, one must not spin during the 12 nights of Christ mas lest he or she walkafter death. (To the American reader it may occur that this would probably be more disturb ing to others than to one's self.) If the spinning Is done after sunset on Saturday, mice will eat the work. If one wishes to have money and good luck all the year, one should not fall to cat herring on New Year's day. " Rustling of Leaves. Fntil a few years ago Hampshire rustics used to sit up till 12 o’clock on old Christmas night, and as soon as they heard the leaves rustling they went to the nearest comstall to watch the animals get up and lie down on the other side. The idea of watching the animals arose from the belief that at 12 o’clock on the night of the Na tiviy oxen knelt in their stalls in honor of the event; that the rustling of the leaves refers to the tradition that thorn trees blossom at midnight to commemorate the Saviour’s birth. Cornish folk believe that sheep turn to the east and bow their heads on old Christmas night in memory of the sheep belonging to the shepherds at Hethlehem, and in Yorkshire bees hum in their hives on the same occa sion. A Christmas Absent. Father—Sammy, what 13 your teach er going to give you for a Christmas present? Sammy—A holiday. Father—I should call that an ab sent Instead of a present Sell Land, Town Property, Stock of Merchandise, Hotels, Livery Barns, Mills, etc. Write Insurance of all kinds. Rent property, collect rents and pay taxes for non-residents. Loan money on real estate. Do Notary Public work, write deeds mortgages, leases, contracts, etc. Execute, Judicial, Contract, Fidelity, Official, Bank, Fraternal Order and Internal Revenue Bonds. We have the strongest Insurance agency in Southeastern Nebraska. We represent sixteen old line com panies as follows, towit: Aetna of Hartford; Delaware of Philadelphia; Hanover of New York; Pennsylvania Fire of Philadelphia; Liverpool & Lon don & Globe of New York; Philadel phia Underwriters; St. Paul F. & M. of St. Paul; London & Lancashir of Liverpool, Central Union Fire of Kan sas City; Indiana <£. Ohio Live Stock Ins. Co. of Crawfordville, Ind.: New Jersey Plate Glass Ins. Co of Newark; United States Fidelity & Guaranty Co. of Baltimore; Kansas City Life; and Prudential Life of Newark, the combined assets of which amount to the enormous sum of Two Hundred and Fifty Million dollars. The Burning Question Is-Are You Insured? When the fire bell rings be sure that your property is insured in one of the above named companies. Have you read your policy issued by other companies? Do you know any thing of their financial strength. Is your policy properly endorsed? Do you know that you have ample pro tection? Have you paid the proper rate? The Insurance Department of our office is in charge of H. B. Willard, an Insurance Expert, who has had twenty years experience in the bus iness and has made insurance in all its branches a life study. If you will hand your policy to him he will carefully examine the same and give you valuable advice. In all business lines we are well equipped and qualified to do your work and we will do it right. Our business will be to attend to YOUR business, if you will consent. Give us a trial. When you call at our office make known your business to the Office Manager and your wants will be attended to promptly. Yours for Business, Whitaker Bros. H. B. Willard, Office Manager A POLICE CHIEF IN EXILE Lupoukhine, Former Court Favorite, Is Now a Broken Down Wreck in Siberia. Two Germans who have been trav eling In Siberia gave an account of the life of exile led by M, Lupoukhine, formerly chief of police in Russia. For many years M Lupoukhine wa-. one of the most influential men in th Russian empire, a favorite at court, the confidant of cabinet ministers a n! a favorite of St. Petersburg socle L. While at the height of his popularity he was suddenly exposed as a treach erous servant of the czar, dismissed from the government service and sen tenced to lifelong banishment to Si beria. It was alleged against him that he organized plots against the czar In or der that he as chief of police, might have the glory of discovering them and saving his imperial master’s life. He was also guilty of many other Irre gularities. The two travelers found M. Lupouk hine living In Danilovka, a small vil lage some 500 miles front the nearest railway, which can only be reached by a carriage journey of 17 days through a desolate region The ex polioe chief, who formerly occupied a palatial official residence in the Rus sian capital, now lives in a little log hut consisting of four rooms, badly lighted, insufficiently ventilated and too loosely built to afford adequate protection against the rigors of the Siberian winter. The exile himself Is now a broken down. feeble, unhappy man, a wreck of Ills former self. He has done Ills best to make one of his rooms resem ble in some degree a study, and on the wall he has hung in large printed letters “Thy Will Be Done.” Nearly all the Inhabitants of Danilovka are po litical exiles, and M. Lupoukhine en joys a privileged position among them by reason of the fact that the gover nor of the province when making his occasional rounds shakes hands with him. WONDERFUL BIRDS' HOTEL An Ingenious American Spends Over Four Years In Making Edifice. Arthur E. Dunning, one of the staff of the American embassy at Berlin, has devoted his spare time since 190S to building a wonderful hird house. The Hotel Canary, as he calls It. con tains 22 rooms, and has a window gar den with a fountain, also two con servatories. It Is 75 inches long, by 15 inches wide, and Including a tower Is 51 Inches high, All the rooms have the modern Improvements, such as elec trics light and running water. They are equipped with automatic feeding dishes. In the winter garden are two elevators running to the second floor and with four sliding doors giving access to the surrounding rooms. Batteries for the electric lights are in the machine room, which also con tains ihe apparatus for running the elevators, a reservoir for wa ter with a capacity of one gal lon and a wwitchboard for t He lights on the third floor. The lower room, which Is not occu pied by guests, is fitted with an elec tric chandelier and Loll and is reach ed by means of a spiral staircase from the third storm. It also contains the means of controlling ihe water in the reservoir. At the back of the structure is the food supply 'cox. from which differen' mixtures of seeds are distributed to the fortunate inmates of (Ills birds' hotel, while immediately to the rlghi and left are the places into which thej seed Is poured for the rooms. It may be added that sonic of the rooms are j provided with balconies and that thej flags bear the initials II. C. The whole building is a marvel of ingenuity and constructive skill. _ Luxury of French Prisons. Last week I spoke of the intelligent | deputy who is hoping to introduce thej cat o’ nine tails into France. Today • comes to light facts showing the lux- j ury in which French apaches live I when they are the guests of the state. The French criminal is taken to n prison called Fresnes palace, and here he is housed far better than any com mon French soldier, though the lat ter may have served his country ever so valiantly, while-the former lias sup posedly done the reverse. The cells are steam heated at an always level temperature, and stalls tics show us that in a garrison and a prison each holding the same number of inmates, where in 1909 the con sumption of coal for the garrison was IS wagonloads, the prison consumed 30u wagons full. So, to quote Clement Vautel, our brave French soldiers "shiver around a fire meagerly fed with a few pieces of coal from time to time, while our criminals stretch them selves in lazy luxury before a cozy hot steam pipe."—London Court Jour nal. Rice and Curry. Rice and curry is the national dish of India. Just barely enough curry to flavor, and each grain when cooked is puffed up all by itself of snowy light ness. Small quantities of meat, or dried fish, are served with the curry sauce, freshly made of cocoanut wa ter, peppers, turmeric, etc. The west African and West Indian do not use curry, but season by boiling it with a piece of salt fish, salt pork or chick en. Polished rice is a cheat, and eaten exclusively is deadly, so should by right and law be kept out of New York. Ashland, the home of Augusta Evans Wilson, the author of “St. El mo,” and other books, combines the salient features of the Greek revival In Its later phases with West Indian ideas, it well illustrates the class of work executed some ten or twenty years before the Civil war when the white columns of t lie classic revival and the double-deck veranda from Jlcrmuda had so adapted themselves to one another ns to produce some thing similar, yet different, something typically American -a type and a pro . totype. One can blit wond( r, however. In re viewing the matter, what the south ern planter would have built had not Greek ideas been dominantly the architecture of the day. Certainly noth ing could have more perfectly suited the climate, and th large, yet simple purposes of his life, or his tastes, which were as a rule ire or less grandiose. One must veranda in the south, so why ’ave it ex tend all around the and h« done with it? One i rive post* to support the roof of randa, why not have Greek o as instead, since they were the fashion? Tho proposition was beautifully simple, rv simple indeed that once introduced, this style spread with remarkable rapidity. The grandeur of its effect and the simplicity with which it was obtained were both in its favor. The more columns the southern planter used, the better he liked It, and since one was copying Greek temples why not copy the greatest temples of all, the temple of Theseus or the Parthen on and be done ’with it? Hence the popularity of the peristyle. SUMMONED BACK TO EARTH Imaginative Man Is Just Beginning to Feel Like a God When His Wife CaP The imaginative nei Coed on his front steps and dis I learned ly with the man across ireet, and his subject was the c opment of aviation. “They’ll work it out all right in time," said the man over the way. “Of course they will," replied the man on the steps. “I believe the time Is coming when an aviator will rise up through the air envelope that sur rounds our globe, and get up so high above It that he can hang there in space and watch the earth and its air whirl around beneath him, and when he gets ready to descend he can ulight wherever he blamed pleases." “That’s magnificent!" said the man across the street. “You bet it Is," the neighbor on the steps replied. “It makes a man feel like a god!” , Just thne the door behind him wa^ thrown open and a commanding fe male figure appeared in the doorway “If you got through your fool talk. Henry,” said a shrill voice, "you’d bet ter come In to your dinner.”