Frostburg mining journal. [volume], December 16, 1893, Chimes and Wishes, Image 5

About Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913

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Year!
*•- *?8 summons clear,
Message of hope, despair tq quell,
Is borne upon your silvery swell.
Ring, bells of cheer, across the snow
Till with courage faint hearts glow.
Hath friend seemed faithless, love grown cold?
Hast lost that wand of magic, gold?
Saddest of all, hath death snatched one
Whose presence was to thee life’s sun?
Yet look not back. The darkest cloud
Hut serves an azure sky to shroud.
Thy friend his fealty yet may prove,
Love that eoidd change was never love,
And folly ’twere lost wealth to mourn.
While fickle fortune’s wheel doth turn,
Grim death, though conqueror of clay,
Bows to a mightier Conqueror’s swav.
Thy loved one hath but crossed Time’s sea,
To it 3 fair shore—Eternity.
—Mary T. Safford, in Godey’s.
THE HEART OF CHRISTMAS.
How to Make the Holiday Just What It
Ought to Be.
Merry Christmas, friend! I do not
mean especially that you shall have a
merry Christmas as much as that you
shall make it merry, by giving some
one tvlio is out of the sunshine and in
the shadow a generous slice of Christ
mas cheer. Then your food will have
something in its flavor it never had be
fore—a rich, full cup of sunshine to
warm the cockles of your heart.
To begin with, you must believe in
the Christinas Child that founded
Christmas. If you find this hard to do.
make believe as hard as you ever can
and a special dispensation of belief
will be measured out to you. And you
must believe in Santa Claus, reindeer,
roof-tree, chimney and all. If you have
brought up your children on the prac
tical plan and told the poor things
that they needn't hang their stockings
in the chimney corner, because there
won' t be any Santa Claus, I am sorry
for you. Just throw away that potato
you carry in your pocket to keep off
rheumatism —it is a much greater and
more foolish superstition than Santa
Claus. And that brings me to a story
which 1 will write for the sake of illus
tration:
Farmer Hlank didn’t believe in
Christmas nonsense in his house —
wasn’t going to let his boys spend a
cent for any such foolishness, not he!
I>ut he did love those dear,
little twins that made the sunshine of
his house, only he loved his own big
oted opinions more.
lie had gone to the city a few nights
before Christmas and his wife had
asked him to buy some toys for the
twins, and a few picture books and
some oranges and candy to put in their
stockings. Hut when he turned his
horses’ heads homeward that night he
had none of those things—he wasn’t
going to spoil his boys.
It was not late.but dark, when Farmer
Hlank drove into his yard and saw a
bright light in the barn. “Tim, the
hired man,” thought Mr. Hlank.
Hut no. lie looked through the win
dow and this is what he saw:
One of the twins was representing
the babe in the manger. He was lying
in the hay, dressed in a white night
gown, his lovely eyes closed, his
dear little hands clasped, and candles
burning beside him, their flame within
easy reach of the tons of hay that
pressed down from above.
TShe other twin was praying:
“Please, (lod, make papa believe in
Santa Claus, so he will come here
Christmas like he does at other little
bo3'i4’ houses —Amen.”
The twins were awfully frightened
when their father dashed into the
barn, caught them up in his arms and
carried them straight into the house
before he returned to put out those in
cendiary candles.
The next day Farmer Blank went to
town again, and he must have seen
Santa (Taus and made it all right with
him, for the stockings were filled to
overflowing on Christmas morning.
And the twins were not happier than
the big foolish man who followed them
about with tears in his eyes, and
thanked God for the children, without
whom it would have been a sorry
Christmas.—Detroit Free Press.
Wilkins Remembers His Cook.
“Mary,” said Mr. Wilkins to his cook,
“you have been a good and faithful
servant to me, and I intend you shall
be rewarded now that Christmas has
come. You may use the telephone for
ten minutes every Saturday afternoon
during the holidays.”—Judge.
i
A HAPPY CHRISTMAS.
Barents and Children Around the Glow
in p: Yule-Lo#.
The happiest Christmas days mail
ever experiences are those on which
his children are gathered around him
enjoying the annual invitation of Santa
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F®f a Jolly o@®<dl F<dE@Wo J? —^
Among all the jolly good fellows
Who travel the wide world around.
No fellow so good and so jolly
As Santa Claus ever was found;
Each Christmas he comes around promptly
With goodies and gifts loaded down,
His rosy old face always smiling
And never defaced by a frown.
‘ Claus and the joys he brings to them
' in so many and sueh varied forms.
My own life has been particularly
happy in this respect, and although
shadows intervene now between me
and the place where the stockings used
to hang I can look back upon those
times with the perfect conviction that
i at no period in my existence have I ex
' perienced such perfect joy as when I
i could hear the prattle of many childish
voices at peep of day—voices that were
impatiently awaiting sunrise, longing !
eagerly for the fire to be lighted in the
nursery, that they might spring from
their beds and hasten to see what St.
Nicholas had brought for their enjoy
ment.
There were six of those little folk
born to us within ten years. As they
Yes. Santa 's a jolly good fellow—
At least so the little folk think,
And were you to question the elders
They’d surely agree—with a wink;
The merry old saint is o’erflowing
With love and a hearty good will.
Each Christmas to him it’s a pleasure
His little friends’ stockings to fill.
stood in line, side by side, their little
heads formed the stepladder to hap
piness over which any father’s fancy
might climb with that calm enjoyment
which supersedes every other worldly
pleasure.
Every Christmas eve was a gala time
in our house then. It was a delight to
contemplate their eagerness and inno
cence, to answer their multitudinous
questions, to indulge them in their
raptures of expectation, to administer
! to the fond fancies which arc all in all *
to child life, all in all to the fathers
and mothers of such children.
It was no small task to induce the
little ones to retire Christmas eve, but
when at last they were asleep the joys
that I experienced in playing the part
of Santa Claus and in filling each little
'‘O
How nice it would be if Old Santa
Could travel about through the day.
And give folks a chance to behold him
A-sailing around in his sleigh ;
I’m sure they would greet him so warmly
And keep him so long by the way
He’d scarcely find time all his visits
Among people’s chimneys to pay.
stocking with longed-for toys were
greater, I know, than any that can
ever come to me again.
Now, even though sadness is mixed
with that precious season of the year,
it will ever remain a glorious event to
me, for with it comes the memory of
the days that were. My own boyhood
sinks to insignificance in the con
templation of the happy faces, rosy
cheeks, eager voices and light foot
steps I have seen and heard around
1 m3’ own fireside among my own chil
dren.
The father and mother of a famil3 T
should be the happiest people in the
world at Christmas time, even though
some of the merry voices may have
been stilled by the changes which
times invokes: but when the children
But. then, that would spoil all the pleasure
Of hanging up stockings at night
And finding them full Christmas morning
Before it is fairly daylight;
I think, on the whole, it is better
That Santa Claus keeps himself dark.
Because, if he didn't, the children
Might not think him up to the mark.
Frank B. Welch.
are all there, laughing, dancing,
shouting, singing, running, stamping,
blowing horns and whistles, and
pounding drums, words utterly fail to
depict the acme of happiness a parent
feels; the heart falters and is dumb
when joy such as this becomes its por
tion.
The happiest Christmas days I ever
lived were with my own children,
when 1 knew them to be happy.—
Charles P. Crisp, in Chicago Tribune.
—-
| A maid beneath.
J® And ohi she made
*V JO I might get the kiss I woo
* Vk_y Beneath the mistletoe.
And now again
The sweet refrain
Of Christmas bells and carol's strains,
Reminds us that the time is come
When all the world again is young,
And evergreens on high are hung
Beneath the mistletoe.
Ah, Rose, how sweet
That we should meet
When good old Christmas turns our feet
To seek the dearest spot we know;
For shelter from the blasts and snow
We turn aside the world, and go
Where hangs the mistletoe.
Your cheeks are red,
You droop your head;
Ah! do you guess what I would beg? •
No. not a kiss! —do you suppose
1 ought to dare ask for a- -Hose
Beneath the mistletoe?
—Mary Olive Emmons, in Boston Budget.
IN SWITZERLAND.
How the Hardy Mountaineers Observe the
Hay.
As in a majority of the continental
nations of Europe the people of Switzer
land celebrate New Year's rather than
Christmas in a social way. The birth
day of the Saviour is given over to
religious observances by the older peo
ple. In the churches masses are said
and the usual midnigiit service ushers
in the great day. For the little ones
Christmas is a season for rejoicing'.
The French, German and Italian speak
ingl Swiss have all borrowed from the
Germans the idea of the Christmas
tree. It is lit up on Christmas eve and
freighted with toys and sweets for the
toddlers. But the older youths and
maidens are overlooked and Christmas
is strictly children’s day. On New
Year’s the gift-making is in order and
general hilarity is the order of the day.
The schools are closed for a brief
period and the families of Switzerland
gather together about their firesides.
A great dinner, to which the friends
having no homes of their own to go to
are invited, is the feature of the occa
sion.
Here in the western metropolis the
Swiss follow the American custom .and
make their presents on Christmas day
and generally observe it as the princi
pal holiday of the year. On New
Year's they simply pay visits and give
expression to their friendship and good
will.—San Francisco Chronicle.
A FEW TIMELY MAXIMS.
Sayings Appropriate to the Merry Christ*
urns Seasou.
A flat purse means a stout Christmas
tree.
The small boy cannot be judged by
his conduct on Christmas eve.
There are no Christmas presents the
tradesman gives with better grace than
receipted bills. Give him a chance.
We give our thanks on Christmas eve,
For the gifts we think we re ’bout to receive.
It's a foolish girl who gives her beau
the mitten before Christmas.
lietter a paid pork chop titan a fat
turkey on tick.
The man who quarrels with his wife
on Christmas day is worse than a horse
thief. Let him be anathema.
Blessed are the babies on Christmas
day; they can be put off with cheap
candy.
The head of the family expends
many dollars on presents, and receives
two handkerchiefs and a pair of mitts.
Then is the time to be merry.
A sealskin sacque makes a devout
Christmas church-goer.—Puck.
Too Common.
Mr. Swelset—Let me see, Christmas
is almost here. It comes on the 25th,
doesn't it?
Mrs. Swelset—l believe that is the
date observed by the people generally,
but it has become so common, don’t
you know, that this year and hereafter
I shall observe it a week earlier.—De
troit Free Press.
Space Enough.
Turner Van Newleaf —That diary
you sold me is not complete. I asked
for a diary for the year, and this one
has spaces for the mouth of January
only.
Salesman—Yes, sir; I thought you
said it was for your wife.—Puck.
Generous Man.
Gargoyle—What are you going to
give your wife fora Christmas present?
Glanders —I thought I would give her
: permission to go home and spend tin*
I holidays with her mother.—Judge.