i
Merry Christmas in Monkville -
M -rrrr i ,i, , 1 1
Christmas in the Mak
ing Many Nations
Have Contributed
and Many Customs
Art Blended
Christmas In still in the frisking. In
this respect It Is different from other
holidays. The 22d of February Is fixed
and limited in meaning. It cannot be
made to appeal to the feelings of a Rus
sian, who believes that Peter tho Great
Ib the true type of a nation builder! La
bor iy does not' arouse emotional In.
terest In a poet or a musician. Memorial
day. like tfic Fourth of July, Is intensely
American in origin and meaning, Easter
has a clear-cut, definite significance. That
significance Is not likely to change.
Christmas Is a complex holiday. To It
many nations have contributed and many
customs are strangely blended; It has not
yet taken on its final form, it Is In the
making; but wp can already see that It
is to become the one supremo festival of
humanity, the one tlmo In tho year when
men of various traditions come nea t
to realizing the fact that "God ,hath made
of ono blood all tho nations 'o'f tliearthV
It Is a pleasant cqpcglt to supjjqso jtha,
the Christian, faihers,- somewhere .In- tho
latter part of the fourth century, were
impelled by a happy divination when they
fixed on December 23, the Roman Sa
turnalia, as tho day when most appropri
ately Christ's day could bo celebrated;
for on that day presents were exchanged
mong friends, children being given little
earthenware toys. Carnival processions
formed, hospitality made universal, and
the slnves allowed their freedom, and
even Invited to feasts served by tho mas
ters themselves. It was also a happy
thought to weld together the Christian
traditions that came down concerning the
good St. Nicholas with those Norse tradl
Hons which represent Father Odin, riding
out from the north, far above tho house
top., and bestowing his favors on the no
ble and true, thus creating a symbol of
Ierennlal generosity a glft-bringer who
makes no distinction In his benevolence
between Norwegian, Spaniard. Triton or
.Italian, but bountifully remembers all
sorts and conditions of men.
Much of the past has gone into the mak
ing of Christmas. Tho idea of the
heathen Druid survives in the mistletoe;
tho evergreen treo recalls the ancient
Saxons; the lighted wax candles at the
windows brings to mind the custom of
the Jews, who celebrated, and still cele
brate, tho "festival of lights." The yule
tide, with Its flaming log. Its laurel and
red berries, links Itself to the Persian
'Mlthrlan feast, and that with the Macca
bean holiday of tho Illumination, and
'that again with the Saturnalia, and so on
through many blended national customs,
'until the original holidays arc hidden in
a primitive past.
Christmas, bfcauso of its associations
with Saxon and Scandinavian. Jew and
Honian. pagan and Christian, can be
Imudo Is being made the ono supreme
human holiday when men nnd women
realize that each is debtor both "to the
(reek and the barbarian, both to the
Aviso and the unwise." What Ih now td be
especially Its tone chord which, when
'struck,' will vibrato . In unison with the
,heart-beat of every human being? Surely,
'it can be nothing that will have deeper
significance than the 'angel song of
'Olory to God, peace on earth, good will
to man." In that divine pliant thero is
Inspiration enough to set everybody look
ing up to the Source of all goodness; that
Id Its flr.t idgnMcance, and then peace.
(Peace to young1 and old, pence toward
the German and the nusslan, the Mexi
can and the Chinaman perhaps of most
Importance in a democracy, the impulse
Vjf good will; good will toward the heads
f corporations and labor unions, toward
'tho Japanese in California nild tho Ital
ians In New York; good will toward tho
'Hungarians Ih Pennsylvania and the
negroes in Mlssllppl; toward the debtor
class and tho creditor class. Christlike
,ood will. Our human relations here Ir.
America are not all they ought to be.
imld the struggles of commerco and com
petition the principle pf good will seems
somehow to sink Into the background.
The emigrant dreaming of the free land
where opportunity and work are gladlv
offered, finds too often that he is met
juot by helpers and compatriots, but by
thieves and robbers. Then comes Christ
anas. Kmployer shares with employe, the
.rich give to the poor, the emigrant as
'well as the native feels the spirit of the
day. Everybody takes new hope. The
"world family, for twenty-four hdurs, an
way, Is a fact. Christmas is the festival
f the world family. That Is its value,
tnd that Is what if must come to mean
nore and more, especially In this complox
'American democracy of ours -Christian
iRegtster.
rhe e e;
Tony Angelino's Christmas A Story from the Juvenile Court
By Anthony M. Easterling
mONl Angelino frouzy-headed,
incorrigible Tony Angelino
waited his turn among the
other newsies who were hud
dled in defiant or apparently
submissive groups In the probation of
ficer's "bull pen" Just off tho Juvenile
court room. A truant officer, noting
tho dreamy-eyed newsy, shook him good
naturedty, but the friendly approach
failed to bring the usual ready response
from tho little Italian.
"Maybe he's sorry," Bald the probation
officer, who called him the "Dago."
"Whnt'R Tony been up to this time?"
asked a newspaper reporter, remembering
that on divers and sundry occasions not
many w;ecks ago Tony had stolen expens
ive articles to give to his little friends,
"That kid has stolen J100 worth of
Christmas goods and had them cached In
a vacant shack on lower Eleventh street.
He's the limit. We'll have to send him
up this time."
Tony was In bad, thero was no denying
It. The case lopked serious. Alrendy
tho walls of the reformatory, looming up
In the distance, out In the clay hills near
Kearney, were waiting to receive him.
"Nig" Callgllo and Joseph Ijivcro, each
of whom was a good five years older
than Tony, sat silent together in one
corner of tho "bull pen." They, too,
wero In trouble again, but as usual It
was some mirror affair. They had
broken a window with a snowbull. They
know what tho court would do.
"Boys, you want to bo good American
citizens, don't you?" the Juvenile Judge
would enquire, and they would pledge him
their word of honor that it was their
great and only ambition in life to be
model Americans.
"Of course you knew it was wrong to
break that window and you nre sorry"
the Judgo would continue, but they would
oply hear when he put them on probation
again and set them free.
It was different with Tony. The Judge
would be stern nnd relentless with him.
The little curly-headed lad walked over
to Nig and Jo. They wero his old pals
they had stood by him In adversity, had
established lilm In tho news business. To
them ho owned his success.
"You nlnt'a goln'a peach, are you?"
Nig Inquired tremulously, although he
knew and every newsy In Omaha knew
that Angelino's word was as good a gold
the kind of gold that looks like tho pen
nies with which papers are bought, but
will buy ever so much more.
Tony did not answer Nig. Ha was med
itating, his mouth puckered Into readiness
to whistle, but he was not whistling.
Now Tony knew and all of these boys
knew that the crimes against property
are more serious In the eyes of tfle law
than are the crimes against tho person.
They were not loquacious, but they were
wise, knowing well how the scales would
weigh.
In the boy's dark eyes visions of the
holiday season were vivid, for' it was the
Yuletlde when the glory of Christmas
days ought to throw its mantle of gentle
ness over the harshness of the world.
Tony began to whistle.
How he could be so cheerful with such
a fate ahead of him, none of the other
newsies could understand. For that mat
ter all of them would never understand
and whether they did or not was of no
Imcortance to AjiitUaa, He, wqs dream
ne faazire p)a
:Sherlocko as Santa 01aus
ing. It had become a habit of his to
dream.
Urchin of tho Htreet, flotsam of the
chastised and legitimate offspring of a
commercial system that Is hurnano but
to scourge, and gives but to take away,
Tony had learned that real life Is up and
beyond and awny from the every daj- oc
curences. In the land of vision.
The yesterdays of hi life were sordid
In reality, but to him they had been n
succession of dream-voyages to strange,
enchanted palaces, nestled In low green
valleys through which flowed tho silvery
ribbon of a river. Thero tho only music
was tho sound of running water and the
laughter of enrofree children who waded
In tho strenm or played In the soft, green
fields. Thero no children worked.
Sharply Tony was called from his rev
erle. His case was next. The probation
officer was already stating the charge:
"Judge, I found this boy In a shack on
lower Eleventh street and he had stolen
at least tlCO worth of toys nnd other
Christmas goods nnd stored them there.
Ho wouldn't admit his guilt, but we
traced the stolen goods and clerks re
membered having seem Tony Angelino In
the stores where these things were stolen.
Ho's a bad boy. He has stolen overy
time he had an opportunity. He stole
expensive valentines and gave them to
bis friends Inst year. He stole a load of
bread last week nnd a policeman, en
couraging him, paid for the broad and
let him oft
"Ho is Incorrigible, There are at least
twenty-five cases known to the Juvenllo
officers where this boy has figured as a
thief. I recommend that, he bo sent to
Kearney."
He did not say that always Tony had
stolen that he might give and never did
he give that he might steal.
"Tony, I thought you promised me that
you would not do it again." the Judgo
J Selected Uy EDWIN MARKI1AM.
James Lone Allen In his delicately ar
ttstlo novel, "The Heroine In Bronze," a
i story pervnded and vivified by poesy.
gives vistas of New York as the seasons
come and go. Note the prosy streets and
work folk touched by the light of his
imagination:
"All that day I wandered over the city,
an unobserved spectator In the ancient
open-nlr theater of great passions. As
Into many lands, I entered; I passed', as
through many races; traversed many un
age, met many a story.
"I beheld Abraham as he dwelt troubled
of old on the Plains of Shlnar. I saw
Job crouched faithful amid the ashes of
Vr. In an open square I encountered
Rebecca with her pitcher; and away
from me once Ituth went, not walking
barefooted amid the cleanness of allan
corn, but slouching foulshod amid tho
squalors of alien alleys.
"In the Italian quarter, behind a scar
let rag which curtained a doorway. I
came upon Tarqulti leering at chaste
Virginia. Along the nty shores of the ,
Greeks, leaning against n door-post of i
I a tenement (as once she leuned against
i the golden splendors of her proud father's
THE BEE: OMAHA, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 25, 18)1:
Coyprlght, 191!,
stated slowly. He was In his heart u Just
Judge, and he did not mean that bin do
dsloiiH should do great Injustice, nor did
lis fully comprehend that If Tony stole
It was not his fault, but the fault uf tho
system which kept away from him tho
things that wore his, made him old In
childhood and wlao with tho' wisdom of
use. And had he understood he would
have been helpless.
"You have thrown me down. It looks
like the only thing I ran do for you Is
to send you to Kearney. They will help
you out there for the superintendent Is a
good man. He will help you to grow up
into a real American,"
Tony hnd heard these words many times
before and had wondered if the time
; iuA I - rt
Romances in New York's Streets
from her lips the word which the world
has never ceasrd hearing In memory
stricken Nauslcan. who loved and was
not loved In return.
"Where the Sicilians throng I met young
paphnls, tuncfulest of herdsmen, without
his crook and pipe and goatskin mantle;
but not without his thick locks and tawny
skin and resistless smile, as centuries ago
Theocritus found him Idling, comely,
shapely, In the slopes of woody Aetna
home of fires and snows.
"Down at the pier of it German steam
ship company on the seaward edge of a
waiting cfowd, I saw Elsa with her
wrapt gaze turned down the bay, and as
the mighty steamer approached I saw a
warm Ixmengrln Just come from the val
ley of the Scheldt yellow-bearded, yellow-haired,
blue-eyed arrived never to
leave her for the whiteness of Mont
salvut. "Through the windows of a French
pastry shop I saw Pierrot flour-sprinkled,
and darting Into the shop from a rear
loom 1 raw Columbine fly at hln.. take
his pasty cheeks between her thumbs
and forefingers and admlnUtor to his
proper feature things well understood
by them, then disappear again Into the
myslerle of htr wpjk nnd jir j0y.
National New As iv
X C you've throw 1
would come when the Judge wotdd say
them to him.
As an afterthought the Judge nuked
the boy why ho had stolen the Christ
mas goods. Thero was a long pause
and Nig and Jo shifted uneasily In their
chairs. The time had come when they
would know and perhaps to their norrow
whether Tdhy Angelino would "peach"
or stand true blue to the bigger boys.
"I wanted to give tho other boys a few
Christmns presents. Judge," tho boy ald.
He spoke without pleading. Ho had
chosen a "reformatory" to "fredom."
The reporter could read the heart-hunger
that shone In the boy's eyes ns he
tumbled from the chair, ready.
"Why not?" seemfd the question In the
"Once I thought I had n glimpse -jf
Highland Mary once u sticct Ophelia
of some unprinccly Hamlet passed m
with eyes too eager for the water's brink.
Once I almost brushed against rouged
Carmen as she wound an awning on tho
sidewalk.
"And once, near a church, I beheld,
moving slowly toward It In spiritual
revery, saintly Elizabeth going to the
shrine for Tanuhsuser, whom Venus held
fettered to the mountain, while liar own
Prayers for htm took flight for Heaven.
"As I wandered that summer day, these
stories I saw and many others In imagin
ation and remembrance. I watched my
own story with many of them, under
standing It more clearly in their distant
lights, finding li overcast by their
kindred shadows Far back I tracked the
drama of the heart of man, forever
changing, never changed."
1'olntrd I'flrnKrntilia,
A man thinks lie would enjoy helping J
his poor relation--! f he hasn't any.
There's no monotony In the life of a )
woman who manic a man to reform
him.
Some people deuw a lot of plenbure
from spreading ad news abo'Jt their
friend.
Drawn for The Bee
child's old oyos forgetful that tincc tlmo
Immemorial the reformatory, known bet
ter ns the "Industrial school" was a
bugnboo to Juvlnllo offenders. ''Why not?
It won't bo no colder there. And X It have
as much to eat
Tho Judge ludn him goodby. Ilo had
sentenced him to tho Industrial school
until lio wns 21 years of ago or until
such tlmo that he showed ho hud re
formed nnd wns n fit subject to turn
loose among the otliiir youth of the city,
What u fine fiction!
Tony was taken to the probation of
ficer's room. Children were crying .there.
Nig nnd Jo were silent, a little ushnmed
that u baby should bear their burdens.
Tony's stoicism wan a cause of envy
utnong the other newslei. who could uo
supre.8 the sobs that tosn up and
choked thorn.
A little mulatto, laughing, inn to Tony
nnd called him by nnme. Tony pinched
him and the llttlo pickaninny squealed
with delight.
Nig and Joe were released wth u
reprimand, an they knew they would be.
An offlclnl from the Industrial school
took Tony In charge.
"We'll go this afternoon." he said.
As they left tho reporter, who had
watched the procedure, heard Nig whis
per to Jo:
"If tho coppers find out we did It apd
Tony wouldn't peach they'll sure sooU
us, Jo."
On the Instunt the roportt- bounded
through the door after tho rtl'"ntlng of
ficial and Tony. He came up to thum ns
they waited for the descending elevator.
"Why did you do It, Tony?" he queried.
He kney Tony well and by Virtue of
the fact that he treated him with re
npect und never Jibed htm was admitted
to the little tf Low's confidence Tnpv
had many a tlmo "tipped him off" to a
"feature" story. It wus Tony'H itmliiUon
to bo a newspaper man. To him they
were all-wise, omnipotent and very
wealthy.
"Say, you roixirter," be said cheorfully,
with the light of affection In his ey,
"don't you give It uway. Why. them
guys staked mo to every thing I evor
had. Whou dad and mother died thuy
saved me from goln' to the reformatory
Don't yon tell. Mum!" And as a matt
In his own right ho extended his hand
to bid his friend farewuU,
Tears came unbidden to the eyes of Hie
reporter, hardened ns he was to every
form of human misery und degredatlon
But there was a smile behind tho tears,
for somehow, by a queer quirk of circum
stance, Tony Angelino had vindicated nil
the trust and love that the reporter had
freely given hlin,
"Good-bye, Tony, and we'll see you next
summer when the weather's warm " For
the reporter knew the Judge nnd would
remember to tell him this story.
And so Tony Angelino loft for the re
form tchool, his only fit companion on
hltr Journey being the vague, day-dreumz
which had kept lilin as he was, 1 ;lit
and clean up through the muck. He wns
feeing on ahead.
And so he dreamed, as he had to dream,
for there was nothing about him fine and
good and clean to look upon. Learning
that this was true, had strangled the
gladness In the hearts of other little
children.
And so Tony Angelino dreamed.
But today I read In n book written by
a learned pmfemoi' that day-dreams and
all childish fantasies are low and sensual
and that no good comes of them. I
havo often read siKh things in the
abysmal depths of the learned books,
0
8e
by Gus Mager
Whin They Kiss and
Ttil-Whai Dt You
Think of the Man in
the CasQ?
T IIKATIUCIS FAIRFAX.
Her lips were so near
That what else could I do?
You'll bo angry, 1 fear,
Wut her lips wero so near
Well, I can't muko it clear.
Or explain It to you,
But her Hps wero so near
That what else could X do?
-WAUTKIt nUAItNEt).
Was tho limn very wicked? Was the
girl too cold, nnd did tho punishment fit
the crlm7 Head nnd reflect on It.
A. M. writes:
"A young man had been courting a
young lady fur six months, during which
time he called on her thro times a wet U
Ho proposed and was accepted. He
called on her one evening nfter they were
engaged and was standing nt tho dour
about 10 o'clock taking leave of her. He
shook hands with her, then drawing he
to him. he kissed her. This was the
first tlmo he had hissed her during .ill
tho time he was courting her.
"She slapped him In tho face for doing
H, nnd he left very angry, and did not
go to see her annin till she nsked him Vj.
"M. claims he was right In doing
what she did.
"H. clnlms that she did not love hlin,
or she would have been more affection
ate."
H would l Interesting to know how
M. nnd H.. being disinterested parties,
happened tn know about It, for
The ureineM sin 'twlxt heaven and hell,
la first to ks. nnd then to tell.
But since (l,ty do know, und through
them wo are learning of the story of a
great crime, this first kiss Is not the
dear little secret It should bo. No lon-jir
a secret. It Ioi.k nil of Us sweet
ness. A UHh that Is analyzed, discussed,
or proclaimed on the bill botirdp, Is of
no more vuluo than a handshake. Not
so much, for there may be a tender
pressure In a handshake that nover
reaches the ours of M. and H.
At, claims tho girl was right.
H. asserts rh did not juvo the man, or
she would have been more affectionate.
I do not know If M. U a man or woman,
the Judge trying this case, or simply
OH the Jury, but M. Is right'
This man cnlled on the girl three times
a week for six months, He proposed mar
riage, she nccfpted. And he didn't kiss
her.
He made of the sweetest experience
life holds' ns cold and dummy an affair
nn Jf ho were u tradesman engaged In dls
licmjnr of a kit of mackerel.
Tho rraten of heaven were opened to
him and he did not enter therein. The plrl "
did wrong In lettlnu Imr acceptance Btand
Thore Is no one -with any knowledge of
lovo lu IiIh hcHrt who will hold a girt to
a vow mde In such arctic conditions.
She thought she was ncceptlng a man
Shi' learned she had engaged herself to
an Ictelo.
She didn't slap him then She was tou
badly congealed. And women, even when
badly congealed, havo a way of going on,
hoping. Hn called again and again, and
then, one evening when tho engagement
had become as old as It was cold. Jie
kissed her. Then, with her dliappolntment
rankling In her- mind, she slapped him
And alio had more than one motive In
administering this very unladylike rebuke
-she wanted tn ex..e her anger, of
course, but r (i er'real reason
Hhe want -.. 'i were made of
Ice. She sl.i. . 4 him to see If the side
of his face alio hit would crack and drop
off.
ft didn't. He was not the snow man she
hud feared., He was flesh and blood, and
ho was no very human that he got mad,
Her heart was relieved of a great fear
and flifi asked him to come again. She
did not take his anger as an opportunity'
for breaking the engagement. She re
garded It hb a proof that her lover hadn't
all Jcewnter In Ills veins, and asked him
to come back.
And here Is where M. and H. and you
atld I aro no longer concerned, jr.. kod
hr and ha be-" -so
long. The rest of their courtship will
be a happy repetition of what olhurs
havo experlenceu hi youi.i
tender remembrance, all through Ufa to
ur-vent their hearts from growing old
More Trouble Afoot.
Tho stranger from N.w Zealand touched
the Ixmdon native on the arm.
"Tell mo why that company of women
walks m clumsily and with so much
clattering?" he said.
"You'll find hoqt soon enough, guv. nor,"
the native replied. "Them loldles is on
their Wy to tit" Ouses of Parliament, an'
they're wearln' the 'eavlest 'obnalls the
can l?y 'old on. It's 'shoe throwln' day
miste". an' you want's to git ready to
dodge an cut ' -
