Cherry County independent. (Valentine, Cherry Co., Neb.) 18??-1896, December 22, 1892, Image 15
y dt r -- RSr - - m J WJ9 y V l 3 -V - V- S2aHh2222KZMeiU34 v rill jr tfi vf a vJI ITUOlT - woarFftBwsase3raEH GOOD od - fashioned Chrismas with the logs upon the hearth The table lilled with f casters anthe room a roar th mirlli With the stockins criinimcd tobustin antlie tnedders piled ith snow old fashioned Chrismas like wo had so long ago Now tlihiS UiR thing Id like to see agin afcrc I die lu Chrisnias in tho city here its dif ferent oh my With the crowded hustle bustle of tho nlu hy noisy sroet An- the scowl upon tho faces of the stran Ci that you moor Dh theres buyin plenty of it of a lot o gorgeous toys An it takes a mint o money to please modern girls and Loys Why 1 mind the time a jack knife an a toffy lump for me Made my little heart an stockin jus chock full of Chris mas glee An theres feastin Think o fesdin with these stuck up city folk Why ye have to scuk in whispers an yo darsnt crack a joke Then remember how the tables looked all crowded with your kin When you couldnt hoar a whistlo blow across the merry din You sec Im so I dont care much for style An to eat your Chrismas banquets hero I wouldnt go a mile Id rather have like Solomon diuner set With real old friends than turlcle soup with allthe nobi you d goL Theres my next door neighbor Gurley fancy how his brows ud lift If Id holler Merry Chrismas Caught old fellow Chrismas gift Lordy Lord 1 d like to try it Guess hed nearly have a fit Hang this city stiffness anyways I cant get used to It Then your heart i kept a swellln till it nearly bust ycur side An by night your jaws were achin with you smiles four inches wide An your onemy the wostone you d just grab his hand an oay Jlebhe both of us was wronz John Come lets shake Its Chrismas Day Mighty little Chrismas spirit seems to dwell tween city walls Where each snowflake brings a soot flake for a brother as it falls Mighty Httlo Chrismas spirit An Im pin in dont you know For a good old fashioned Chrismas like we had so long ago Centurv SOMETHING TANGIBLE I fKiMwa 21 sBwf NK i A at i E was tired the look ot ennui on the stern cold face the drawn expression about the eyes the listless pose of the body the aimless uncertain wander ing of the thin ner vous fingers bespoke it verified it made iYWl r port a i n Yes he was tired As he glanced about his elegant offices now deserted by the clerks for the Xew Years holiday the suggestion of wealth power and high financial standing had no charm to evoke enthusiasm To Eichard Penrith the handsome balance in the ledger the princely securities locked up in the massive sfe the plump bank account at the great trust insti tution across the way were no more at that moment than a heap of dross a bundle of withered autumn leaves One oclock in the afternoon the clerks had gone home and he sat lost in gloomy profitless motiveless rev erie Two he still stared at vacancy thinking of nothing of everything wishing the wheels of business would never stop feeling as lonely and out of his element in the festive pros pects of the next day as if he was an uncongenial spirit from another world Three oclock From the stone paved court below there was wafted to his hearing the merry voices of jroung clerks and messenger boys engaging in the pranks and capers that followed the last settling up of the year The earty boyish accents made him wince How long it seemed since he was a boy How many years since he put love emo tion every human sentiment into a sealed casket buried it fathoms deep and became a sordid money making machine With a sigh bitter and resentful he put on his hat hurried from the office stepped into his hand some carriage at the curb below and was driven homeward down the mag nificent boulevard one of the richest certainly the most wretched of men in all the great city The portals of his -princely home opened to admit him to luxury and comfort a king might covet His sister who directed in domestic af fairs and well maintained the social status of the establishment met him attired with the elegance of a queen Eichard we shall need you to night He frowned irritably What is it now be queried A reception I expect two gener als mj artist and some of the best i2 KF people of our set Do try and come out of your shell of uncongeniality for once And shrivel in tho hypocritical glare of false friendship and hollow pleasure he interrupted bitterly No sister I thank you but a quiet corner for me I am tired I am weary of all this show vanity and vain labor Five years a drudge five more a cynical flint hearted money maker and what is the recompense nis sister stared at him in amaze ment The recompense Was the man going mad Wealth social emi nence a proud name What heights could possibly lay beyond that pinna cle of earthly grandeur and success Excuse me for to night pleaded Penrith I am tired of it all Oh if out of it all I could extract one grain of comfort one genuine emo tion of enjoyment something akin to the old boyish zest something tangi ble Something tangible ne dwelt on the words at the stately dinner table They lingered with him as he tried to settle down to a quiet smoke in the library There arose in his mind a picture of the past It was poverty obscurity then but a thought of the bare footed rambles through the woods of the real coziness of the lit tle attic room back at the old home stead of ambitions tinged with ideal sentiment and glowing hopes glori fied the years now dead He glanced from the window at the dying day Mournful inexpres sibly cold repellant unlovely seemed the wilderness of stately mansions and stiff precise equipages on the street without How different the dear old village where he was born The narrow streets its quaint homes its heart warming people fioated across his vision now and seemed part oL another world It was not so very far away little country town nestling 1 V PMS That among the hills was only an hours ride from the great metropolis Was he getting sentimental What was this strange impulse that lured him to steal thither like a thief ashamed and try to warm the frozen currents of his dreary life at the ashes of a dead past Ah the dear old town How natural it looked The old red school house the rickety depot the broad common once again for the first time in ten years Richard Pen rith trod his native soil that night He wandered about the place like an uneasy ghost haunting the scenes of former experiences He felt a keen pang of actual envy as he peered through the frost crested windows of the homely village store and saw its proprietor happy serene all one glow of perfect delight over the gathering in of an extra few dollars for holiday business Why a turn of stock in the city often meant a for tune for him and yet scarcely stirred a nerve All heart all sympathy all human simple felicity What a paradise compared to the hot house superfi cial life of the city He paused as a name spoken by a bent old man passing with a companion struck his ear with a shock Its all Miss Naomis doings sir Bless her dear heart Shes nursed my wife back to health shes got my boy a situation and we aint the first that angel of charity has helped Miss Hewitt is a great friend to the poor 3es Naomi Miss Hewitt Eichard Penrith stood stock still on the snowy street A slight flush surmounted his brow his eyes grew larger then tender Strange how he had forgotten her stranger still that after all these years the sudden recurrence of that once treasured name could stir his nature as it had not been moved for nearly a decade He tried to smile at the memory of their boy and girl love but failed Something choked him as he walked on and paused to peer through the windows of a neat pretty cottage Yes there was the best room brightly lighted and old Mrs Hewitt seated knitting surrounded by cozi ness and warmth There was the pretty rustic porch How often he had kissed Naomi good night under the dew spangled vines surroundingit All was the same only tho vines were dead and drooping now All was the same His heart gave a great bound as the vivid lamplight showed a little framed portrait on the wall his picture as he had been treasured esteemed faithfully by the winsome lass he had sacrificed to the cold cynical demands of gold He fell to wondering how Naomi looked now She was not visible about the house and he strolled re luctantly on and passing people stared suspiciously at him He fol lowed the concourse Ah another reminder of the past the old church its glowing portals an open welcome to all the weary and hungered and penitent He entered and glided to an ob scure pew It took him back ten years How a certain watch night meeting one New Years Eve long ago came back to his mind Naomi was there then and he was her com pany Why Naomi was here now Yesl his heart thrilled as he made her out Changed Yes as gentle years of sympathy and purity and love for fellow mankind change the face of a saint The glory of perfect woman hood in her kindly beaming eyes made Eichard Penrith shrink at a sense of his own callous unworthi ness Angeliic influences were here to night surely The white haired preacher seemed to appeal to his heart as to z brothers He was lis tressed awakened and then a peace ful calm swayed his soul he hated the things he had loved he realized the hdllpwness of the bright bauble he had striven for holding at its call only bitter dust and flight How his heart beat It must have been dead for years New Years chimes ringing he stood on the church porch he timorously ad vanced to the side of the trim lov ing fond woman he had watched all the evening Naomi Miss Hewitt do you not remember me Her face paled her little hand trembled as he grasped it Then her soul beamed out in honest welcome and then They were hoy and girl again keeping company walking home from watch meeting as of yore and the holy stars smiled down Eichard Penrith bade Naomi Hewitt good by at the cottage porch only to return the next day At evening he returned to the city to be greeted with dismay at his un explained absence by his sister You have alarmed us Eichard So unlike you too J3ut you look bet ter I declare You havent seemed like your own self for an age New Years resolutions Eichard she laughed archly Yes replied the brother his eyes sparkling I have determined to turn over a new leaf Indeed Give up your come out in society cigars As a married man ves Eichard I mean it sister spoke Eichard Penrith solemnly and earnestly This New Years day has taught me to value the true pleasures of life not wealth not power not pride Ah You have found something else Eichard Yes replied Eichard Penrith tenderly Back at my boyhoods home back where Naomi is waiting for me to claim her as my wife I have found something tangille love Maugaket Maiiax CHRISTMAS ON THE FARM The Day Should lie One of Joy and I Lr J r piuess in the Rural Home Because the regular routine of chores has to be gone through 365 days a year is no reason why Christ mas and other holidays should not be days of gladness and good cheer upon the farm Make the same provision the day before for the lessening the amount of work that must be done as you do for Sunday then let it be done up as quickly as possible as thoroughness will allow and we believe in showing good will to even the dumb brutes by giving them an extra allowance of feed either in quality or quantity not that we think they have any ap preciation of the day or motive that prompts it but they will appreciate the fact The work done up turn about to have just as good a time as possible a day full of joy and happi ness because the pleasure of others is sought more than the gratification of self If the home consists of only wife and I sec that wife has as much at tention and waiting on as when you were courting her If there is sleigh ing the old times can be all the better revived if not and the wheeling is not good just make the day one of the best in which to see your girl If tho home nest has birdlings in it have a romp with these if the bird lings have grown to be great strap ping fellows show them that father can be a boy with them and have a good time at hunting trapping or whatever they choose If those who bless your home are fair maidens of sweet sixteen or any other -age consult their wishes and tastes as to how the day is to be used Id either of the last three cases be sure the wife and mother is consulted and her wishes put first Where there is hired help have the day a glad one for them too whether they wish to seek enjoyment else where or in the home of their em ployer Americans do not take enough holidays American farmers do not unbend often enough or long enough Try taking more leisure begin with New Years 1S93 and continue at intervals through the year and see if Christmas 93 does not find you younger and less worn out than Christmas 1892 did IVist Years Christmas Gifts I wonder where last years Christ mas presents are A great many of them have gone into the shades of the dust bin a great many of them are nuisances around houses a great many of them have been kept to give to somebody else this year I suppose some of them have been and are re ligiously kept Everybody has some little keepsake often the least costly that he does not want to part with Who knows A little hand has wrapped it in silk paper and tied it with blue ribbon and the ribbon is around it yet perhaps the paper too There is a little tender note in the packet signed with a little tender name and it carries indestructibly the whispers of a tender love The little hand has possibly slapped him since and rested affectionately before the minister in anothers palm but that little package recalls a lot of sweetness and in the seclusion of his thoughts even in the ecstasy of a new love he says to himself If I hadnt found her out San Francisco Chronicle Now Johnny youve had a merry Christmas and you must be good till next Christmas to pay for it Oh yes of course be good I dont be lieve you can hire me to be good a whole year for a tin horse and a story book just like what Bill Jones waa going to trade me for three marbles Not much MISS MAXWELLS PENNY THE GIRL REPORTERS CHRIST MAS ASSIGNMENT Her Purchase of a Rare Coin and Her Dis covery of the Mate to It Tvo Guests at a Cheap Restaurant Who Formed a Rather Interesting Acquaintance Brother Meets Brother i fe W I i W HE spell of Christ mas seemed over all at the Beacon office that morn ing though most of the boys were eating their din ners in hotels boarding houses and down - town cafes and those who had homes of their own could not take a day off to spend in them Even the dusty old bronze statue of Justice at the head of the stairs had blossomed out into holiday aspect The so- jciety reporter had filled her scales with bunches of holly until the severe goddess looked like a jolly flower girl out on a lark The elevator man was radiant over a small box fixed up in the corner of the machine a box in whose slot in numerable quatters were being dropped but from which nothing visible came out at least nothing visible to the boys as they straggled into the local room and began to rummage for mail in the wire basket or peep warily into the assignment book for the day By and by the girl of the office came in and leaning her elbows con templatively on the railing which hedged the divinity of the city editor from the hoi polloi looked down at that imposing individual dubiously She was among the latest of them all that morning for somehow after she had started from the boarding house she called home the thought of that other home down by the wide Ottawa and the carols they wore singing there came upon her and she had slipped back into her little hall bedroom again to have out the good cry that would come But this she thought truly was no excuse to offer to the city editor When men take the local chair they kbandon hearts Patient generous aind men have been known to accept the position and they were changed as in the twinkling of an eye It is not written that a city editor or a ballet master needs be heartless perhaps it does not require to be put in so many words Still she couldnt help hoping against hope that he would remem ber the day and send her home again She was very tired after all the society events she had reported the previous evening ana it was so nam to worK on Christmas The city editor called a message to the Press Bureau over the phone signed an expense bill for the relig ious editor ordered the sporting ed itor to look after that game of indoor baseball at the X Club and be sharp about it and to take in that sale of fast horses on his way back sent the pretty boy of the office on a social assignment then running his finger down the columns of the assignment book until he came to the initial B M said briskly Theres a nice little assignment for you Miss Max well Take a whirl around among the cheaper restaurants of the city perfectly safe by daylight and watch the kind of dinners some folk have to eat at Christmas Splendid chance for fine descriptive vriting Make about a column and a half if its worth it and have your copy in early as possible for were going to be loaded to the guards to night Mind the cheaper the restaurants the bet ter material for you to work up The girls heart sank She was a little bit of a body with a brave soul but now things really seemed to be getting too hard to endure She was even a trifle afraid to go to these places besides the actual unpleasant ness of it all but well were not jEalph and little Paul even now coast ling their new sleds down the hill of Monte Bello right on to the frozen white breast of the Ottawa and was not little Gertrude radiant in a new shawl and her Blanches pocket just so much the lighter Of a truth there could be no carping if there were to be more shawls and toys there must be more work So the girl slipped a bunch of copy paper and a couple of pencils into her shopping bag and started on her round It was the same story new to Blanche Maxwell perhaps but old to those who know city streets and city ways A dreary thronging of the men about town Christmas One of the holidays pleasant tis true But -what is the man about town to do All the clubs are deserted the men who have ties Are at home to day looking in somebodys eyes What -was it to Mobcs world weary and tired To see and sec only the land he desired It was not such a hard assignment after all and after three or four shabby restaurants she had become quite used to it and entered the shabbiest of them yet with almost a happy air It was indeed a cheap place even lower down in the scale than probably the city editor had dreamed of sending her a place where there was a 1 cent line in the menu thus- Bread 1 cent milk 1 cent etc The girl took a seat at a vacant ta ble and ordered tea and rolls she never expected to consume while she ensconced herself behind that morn ings Beacon and proceeded to size up the heterogeneous collection of patrons that filled the dingy place But first she took a long look at a man who had come in and quietly seated himself opposite her Then her eyes came back to him again and there they stayed and filled with all pitifulness He was a man of about 35 years pale with the pallor of exhaustion and hunger and threadbare in the extreme Yet he was unmistakably of finer stuff than those about him even as china excels earthenware though it be soiled and cracked The greasy waiter with slippers flapping lo sely from his heels pushed the bill of fare toward the pale man who took it anxiously then said in quiet tones at the same time laying a battered penny on the coarse linen cloth Bring me bread please The greay waiter stared impu dently Then seeing there was no earthly prospect for a tip he went off remarking audibly that there was a snide feller a blowing hisself on his Christmas dinner No doubt hed be wantin flnger bowls ar solid silver service The girls heart grew hot within her as she heard then she leaned for ward impetuously and said Pray do excuse me but I am making a col lection of coins and I would so like to buy that curious penny from you I will give you 50 cents for it may I have it please And before he could answer she had confiscated the penny and laid a bright half dollar in its place A faint red dyed the mans blood less brow I think I understand he said quietly and I thank you young lady for I am hungry I con fess and that is my last penny But pardon me this time you cant be overburdened with money yourself or you wouldnt dine here -Christmas day Oh please dont mind me Ive lets blundered Blanche and if you dont care Ill lend vou the money just The man looked grateful and as- tonished the greasy waiter into civil ity by ordering a beefsteak Then he explained It too was an old old story of wild oats wickedness illness poverty and repentance friends lost and utter loneliness The penny was the only novel feature in the whole tale only this was a silly unworldly girl and she wept behind her paper long before that was spoken of You see people from the country are so easily moved and well the mans face was a tragedy in itself The penny oh yes it wasnt an ordinary penny at all but one of two queer coins which had been given by an eccentric uncle to twin boys and kept afterward as talismans by them both Somehow he never had been able to get over the idea that that penny would bring him luck Perhaps it was only a remnant of the super stition that clung thick as the odor of tobacco to the wings of the wretched little theater where for a time he picked the banjo and sang topical songs And he hated to let it go this morning horribly but hunger is stronger than superstition or that queer thing called reverence and so Well would the young lady kindly keep the penny until he could re deem it He would surely get work soon Work exclaimed Blanche Do you mean anything Anything at all Then come to the Seventh Church corner of Mary Jane and Worthing ton streets Ho you know where it is I WOULD LIKE TO BOV TIIAT CUKIOOa PEVNr Ive an assignment to do their Christmas tree gathering to night at eight oclock and maybe I can hear of something before then and let you know A more unworldly person than Blanche Maxwell would scarcely have expected her penniless acquaintance to keep his appointment a less in genuous than she would never have made it for innocence is the most daring thing in the world But he was there pacing up and down in the bleak air which penetrated his worn garments like a steel knife She almost felt a sense of proprietorship as she greeted him and hurried him off into the pastors private study where she had often held converse with the keen witted eloquent pas tor of the church Leaving her rag ged friend seated on the crimson hor ror of a couch presented by the Ladies Aid Society she went in search of the minister Mr Miller she began breathless ly Ive such an object for you to work off some of your charity on Im sure hes worthy though I was introduced to him through no more responsible source than this penny The ministers benign face con tracted suddenly Lifting the penny from her hand he beckoned her to lead the way She brought him to the study and then stood aghast at what she had not thought of before The same height hair eyes every thing save the marks of dissipation and what contrasted with health happiness and plenty Thcyre enough alike to be twin3 she thought and then -Henry brother Eobert forgive Blanche stole outside and crouched on the doorstep while within tho chorus rose Peace on earth and mercy mild God and sinnors reconciled God and sinners reconciled said the pale man lifting his hat rev en tly v And Blanche the young heathen l - ym I 1l 1 r Irani hesrv nnoxunal as she turned in the last page of her copy that night murmured So there was luck in the crooked penny after all Chicago Times Columbus and Queen Tsubclln As it happened Isabella had no money at hand Her war with Granada had cost a prodigious sum She found herself in debt even to her own servants Political reasons of great weight with the resolute Ferdi nand who was justly content with the practical results of concentration of power and economical reasons of great weight also with the conscien tious Isabella who was most anxious to bring about some system and regu larity in her revenues induced their refusal in view of the fresh outlays required for the expedition and of the exaggerated demands for rank and office should the expedition yield its promised results But to the friend of the discoverer neither of these considerations appeared suffi cient to warrant the abandonment and rejection of such marvelous plans As soon as Santangelo heard of the flight of Columbus he went to the Queens chamber and implored her to order him to return being sup ported in this by the Marchioness of Moya And when the Queen com plained of the exorbitant demands of the discoverer he reminded her that the cost would be but a trifling consideration if the attempt succeed ed and if it failed could be reduced to next to nothing When to thi3 cogent reasoning the Queen objected the emptiness of the Castilian treas ury and the need of again pawning her jewels to raise the means San tangelo unhesitatingly assured her of the flourishing state of the Aragonese finances doubtless because of the revenues yielded by the expulsion of the Jew and of the resources there available promising at the same time to win over the perplexed and inert mind of Ferdinand the Catholic Thereupon messengers were sent post haste who stopped Columbus at a neighboring bridge some two leagues away and made him turn back to Granada where in April 1492 the articles of agreement known as the capitulations of Santa Fe were signed granting Columbus all he asked Thence he went to Palos in May to set out in August from that port upon the new and in credible Argonaut voyage in the course of which his search for tho oldest and most historic regions of the earth of olden time was to lead him the revealer unintentionally and unknowingly to chance upon a new creation -Century Talent Kccojynizcd Many citizens of Illinois who at tended the recent Democratic con vention at Chicago owe a debt of gratitude to genial Hank Evans the Aurora statesman who presided over one of the doors of the convention Henry has a warm side for all Hli noisans Many a man who was un known to Evans imposed upon his good nature by gaining admission under the plea that he resided afc some cross roads hamlet of Illinois On the second day of the convention a short pudgy fellow brushed up t the door and said I have come all the way here to see this convention and I want to do it Where is your home Aurora Indeed What is your name My name is Evans Hank Evans Well I am very glad to meet you rejoined the doorkeeper and if you are really Hank Evans I gues3 I will have to let you in because I know Mr Evans is a stanch Demo crat and I would be sorry to do any thing to offend him Thereupon he passed the insistent stranger into the convention hall at the same time pressing into his hand a calling card with his own name on it The fellows face was a study at that moment Go in continued Evans You dont deserve recognition as an Hli noisan but your qualifications as a Mar entitle you to a seat Chicago HAiiibAT the inventor of the cable street cat system states that the sight of six hoises vainly endeavoring to draw a car up a steep hill at first suggested to him for his invtntion San Franfiifio the foundation