The Palatka news and advertiser. [volume], December 21, 1917, Section Two, Image 14

About The Palatka news and advertiser. [volume] (Palatka, Fla.) 1908-19??

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What the
Christmas
"Waits" Sing
SANTA CLAUS being about to de
sert the city streets for his annual
reindeer ride over the roofs, the
"waits", prepare to sing their ceuturi'es
old carols.
In several American cities has been
revived the beautiful old custom of the
"waits" going about from house to
house singing the familiar old songs.
Light the Christmas candles in your
window if you want tkeiu to stop be
fore your home!
Ood rest you merry, gentlemen; let
nothing you dismay
they will surely sing that, perhaps the
best known of all old English carols.
And this too:
Hark! The herald angels sing,
Glory to the newborn king.
And, of course, "O Little Town of
Bethlehem,"
Perhaps, too, they will sing what is
said Jirlbe the earliest known Christ
mas carol, dating from the Anglo-Nor-niirii
days of the thirteenth century,
which begins:
Lordlings, listen to our lay
We have come from far away
To seek Christmas.
In this mansion we are told
He his nearly feasts doth hold;
"Vis today!
May joy come from Ood above
To all those who Christmas hive.
This carol ends with the toast of
thosodays :
"Here, then. I bid you all wassail,
cursed be he who will not say drink
hail." Wassail" meaning your health
and "drinkhail" being the usual and
courteous acknowledgment.
One of the best known of all the old
Carols, although not one of the oldest,
was written by Nahum Tate in 1701!
and is called the "Song of the Angels."
It begins:
While shepherds watched their flocks
by night.
All seated on the ground,
The angel of the Lord came down
And glory shone around.
Many are t lie carols in which Brit
ain's ancient holly ligurcs. "Then
drink to the holly berry," pledges one
writer of songs, while another in "l.'n
der the Holy Bough" summons "All ye
f '
f
Singing at the Doors.
who have scorned each other or injur
ed friend or brother, come gather here."
And then there's that grand old hymn
"Adeste Fideles," sung in every church
in this land and in others, at this
Christmas season :
Oh, come, all ye faithful,
Joyful and triumphant!
Come ye, oh, come ye to Bethlehem!
Christ mas would not be Christmas,
of course, if the "waits" were to neg
lect one other of the most beautiful of
old carols :
Holy night, peaceful night!
Through the darkness beams a light.
Holy night, peaceful night!
Through the darkness beams a light!
Yonder, where they sweet vigils keep
O'er the babe who, in silent sleep,
Rests in heavenly peace,
Rests in heavenly peace.
If there are any of you who have
in mind an after Christmas dinner even
ing of s'ong to the accompaniment of a
harpsichord, a spinet, a lute or a piano
or even the modern and much adver
tised disk machine, it might be well to
try this ou the company: j
"Hark the Herald Angels Sing."
Hark! The herald angels sing.
Wory to the newborn king;
Peace on earth and mercy mild.
Ood and sinners rectnciled!
Joyful, all ye nations, rise.
Join the triumph of the skies.
With the angelic host proclaim
Christ it born in Bethlehem.
HarM The hertld angles sing,
Qlory to the newborn king!
A Lesson In
Christmas Spirit
It was the day before Christinas last
year. All' my shopping had" been done
(orso I thought) when I suddenly re
membered hearing my eldest son, a
lad of eight years, say, "Oh, I hope
Santa will bring me a harmonicon tills
Christmas,", says a writer in the New
York Evening Sun.
Of course I could not disregard such
a wish, and, although it was raining, I
put on my storm coat and rubbers and
with umbrella in hand started out for
one of our large department stores.
On arriving at the1 counter where this
particular article was displayed I
found every one so busy I could not
IMmm
The Two Boys Looked at Me.
get attention for some time, and while
waiting my turn I noticed two sadly
neglected looking little boys of about
six and eight years respectively stand
ing very close to the (Minuter and look
ing, oh. so longingly at these same bar
mouienns, when suddenly one of the
young saleswomen turned sharply
around and in a loud voice s;..d, "Now,
then, if you two boys don't get away
from here at once I'll call the floor
walker and have you arrested." At the
time this sudden attack.vas made upon
these poor little wail's I was holding
in my hands two of these same mu
sical instruments, trying to decide
which of the two kinds I would take.
The larger one of the boys looked up
at me with a frightened look, as if to
say. "(Mi, we didn't mean to steal any
thing," when I said, "Boys, would you
each like one of these harmonicons?"
They said nothing, but the look of sur
prise (gratitude they knew nothing of)
when I j mt one in each boy's dirty lit
tle hands I shall not forget to my dying
day. and before you could say "Jack
Kuhinsou" they were out of the store
and out of sight. I turned to the young
woman, saying, "I will pay for them,"
when I noticed the tears in her eyes.
When she finally found her voice she
said. "Oh, madam. I am so sorry I
spoke as I did." "Well, never mind,"
I said; "you didn't understand. I am
the mother of two boys and know what
a boy craves." When she handed me
my change and pai kage she said. "I
shall never forget this day; it has
taught me a lesson."
Tuning Up For Christmas.
With a whirl and a swirl and a terri
ble roar
It bleir in at evening from an arctic
shore:
Traffic it blocked and the treacherous
street
Glitters and twinkles with silvery
sleet.
Dolls in armies and soldiers a-pleniy
Gifts for kiddies and sweet and twenty.
Gifts for grannies and amities and
dads.
Gifts for using and losing and fads!
Gifts for nurses and chauffeurs and
, cooks,
Gifts for bookworms, who read all
their books!
Gifts for sinners and sneerers and
sain ts,
Tops for spinners and pastels and
paints.
Music, mechanical, mirrors or lamps,
Turkeys for orphans and newsboys
and tramps.
Gifts that are fluffy and gifts that are
grim ;
A necklace for Jessie, a scarfpin for
Jim.
Full sets of the classics and gleaming
gold pieces
Suitable very for street Httle nieces.
Calendars, virtuous, witty or wise.
Flowers and bonbons and puddings
i and pies!
i
Cynics there be who deride and defy
I them,
But we, in our dreams, even buy them
and tie them!
At ever old winter, with tnovsdrift and
fleet.
Transmutes the whole town into Santa
j Claus street!
Elizabeth Newport Btpburn in Xew
York Timet.
T EVERY ONE:
nd ' I
W ,
W
Cliristmas Tree
For the Birds
MEI
MAM
YEAE!
'Mr and Mrs. Song Sparrow," the
Misses Flicker, Cock Robin, Miss Jen
nie Wren, Sir Woodpecker and other
members of the feathered, Four Hun-
! dred who were lured by warm days at
beginning' of 'one winter into stopping
: with us, only to find themselves sadly
hit later by the high cost of living,
were thrown into a flutter of excite
ment by cards Issued by- Miss Louise
Laldlnw of Sands Point, N. Y., to a
birds' Christmas tree party.
It was held in theblrdsanctuary on
the Laldlaw place, near the commodi
ous home built for bird tenants in a
sheltering elm there. The tree was
the finest ever.
I For days little Miss Louise was busy
in the pauses of her lessons, stringing
A IF
fir
1 Slr
11
Dufresnay's
Christmas
Awakening
ON Christmas morning of the year
KIM M. Pufresnay's apartments
were in some confusion. .Mon
sieur himself as lie slept on a spindle
legged sofii was not the very image of
order. I lis rose colored satin coat was
under bis head, and bis si 1 U stockinged
calves dangled over t.be end of his all
too brief bed. The cards of yesterday
and yesternight bestrewed the Hour.
He was disturbed by the insistent
tinkling of a bell. Pufresnay groaned
and strug
ed to his feet.
On opening the door he beheld a
very beautiful young lady quaintly dis
guised as a working woman and carry
ing a large basket such as laundresses
use. pufresnay retreated in confusion,
bowing profoundly and wrestling with
his coat.
"I pray you pardon me, mademoiselle.
I did not expect a a vision!"
"And I pray you, monsieur, not to
mock mo." she replied, with a wry lit-
11 n r
i I'
will
w nl
"I Did Not Expect a Vision!"
tie smile. "The Inst time I came your
servant said you had no money. You
owe me 17 livres."
Pufresnay gazed In speechless incre
dulity for a moment and then burst
out laughing.
"A merry Christmas to you, made
moiselle !" he cried. "Is the basket for
me?"
"I wish you also a merry Christmas.
But please, please listen to me. Per
haps the wine is not yet out of your
head. But I must have money today.
Surely you can understand?"
Dufresnny partially mustered his
wits and attempted an elaborate com
pliment. "I have seen all the shepherdesses of
our Arcadian Versailles and By the
goddess of the laundry, you are not
crying! The baskel Is very henry.
And here are actual shirts !"
He looked In comic perptoxity from
the basket to the girl. Then he' said
gently, "Has no one ever told you how
beautiful yon are?"
"Certainly yon fire not the first to
ll.'itler ine imr ihe lirst that failed to
pay. me. but." she added, and her eyes
filled witli tears, "I had better hopes
of you. Fine words will not help me."
"1 know they will not. What have
I that will bring'17 livres? This ring?"
"I'.ut that is a wedding ring.''
"My mother's. And it is for my
wife. Tt is for yon."
"That is a cruel jest. And I thought
you were so different. You have never
seen me before, but I live not far
away, and I have often seen you. You
an not yourself now or you would not
mock me so."
"I was never myself before," insist
ed Pufresnay.
At this moment a stately personage
appeared in tbe doorway and rang the
hell with ureal vigor.
Pufresnay ..rooted him with delight.
"is his nia.' -t.v returned to Paris?
Xo? He is well?"
Turnh".' in ih" g:rl. he said: "I am,
as perhaps you know, the king's pour
kinsman, as poor as he is rich. M.
Itiliot lias lioen the bearer of many
uihwI gifts. Monsieur, mademoiselle is
my betrothed."
"Ahem! M. Pufresnay, his majesty
intniMed me with this Christmas
present for y.m tins purse of gold.
.Mill louis. I believe, and this commis
sion creating you valet de chamhrc du
roi. with a stipend of plo.OllO livres per
annum. 1 congratulate you, monsieur.
As I have many other commissions to
execute for his gracious majesty, I
must humbly take my leave."
"Present my grateful thanks and
Christ mas wishes to his majesty."
M. Itiliot made his departure with
somewhat the air of one who gladly
takes leave of ipiestionalile company.
".May I also congratulate you. mon
sieur?" timidly ventured the girl. "You
can pay me now," she added rather
tamely.
"You see my establishment how I
live. Could not the order of these
apartments be improved? Will you
abandon me timid such ruins? The
abbe who ministers in the church yon
der is my good friend."
"Why, ho is also my abbe !"
"Wonderful! White lambs and black
are alike bis care. - I jim a most un
lucky gamester. .ud ymi can give me
better luck than ever came of winning,
(in my honor. I .,vo you. And the
abbe will be , ry g!.-u to see us. Shall
we not make the g ."! old man happy?"
I "If you will, i iour." W. K. Van
Petlsen in New York Evening Sun.
La
The Birds' Christmas Tree.
cranberries, popcorn, nuts and other
dainties beloved of birds. Strings of
rod skinned apples, cut into tiny pieces
convenient for birds to peck at, were
a prominent feat lire of the decorations,
: ral so v ere bacon rinds and lumps of
Mtet, which are good to keep warmth
in ihe little bodies when the cold creeps
me! r their feathered coats.
Louise, who spent most of her
tii :-' ia the country, studied the ways
of Pii' Is and their likings, and she
i i; . C; t they nre -as strongly attract
ed by l.i;',g!; colored thrngs as are chil
.!' -ii. That is why the tree was made
1 roily wiih gay tinted berries.
Tlu re was a large attendance, and
no birds were turned away, no matter
how shabby their coats or disreputable
their reputations. The blustering little
English sparrows were welcomed with
the rest, although they t ried to bully
the others. Even grouchy old Sir Cl'OW
was permitted to peck a bit.
A Christmas Prayer.
God grant no little child may go
With hungry hcarttar empty hand
Give this thy world one radiant day
To understand, to understand.
Give us the fitting word to say,
The spendthrift smile, the brave ca
ress ;
Disclose our hearts and give us now
The courage of our tenderness!
Lord, we are old with toil and tears,
Our souls are veiled with various art.
Yet still the little children keep
Thine ancient slmplenest of heart
And they alone of all thy breath
May bind the burning angels eyes
Ami, striking laughter from the sword.
Retrace the years to paradise.
They are so brave with love and
dreams,
So eager eyed and, ah, so dear!
I think we must return them noio
The faith they bore across the year.
I think that we must give them now
The spendthrift smile, the kindly
wrd,
That earth may keep its ancient hope
Ani we thy fult commandments.
Lord.
Dana Burnet.
The Spanish Santa Claus.
In'Spain, however, it is not Santa
Chius, but one of the three kings, no
less a person, indeed, than Balthasar,
who is the purveyor of gifts, ' He is
always represented as a negro, even
in the pictures of the old masters, and
as such he survives in Spanish legend.
On the eve of the Epiphany the chil
dren leave their shoes and boots out in
some convenient spot near the chim
ney, to find them laden with gifts In
the morning. Boots, in fact, preceded
the stocking everywhere, the superior
advantages of the latter as a recep
tacle having been n recent discovery.
In Belgium to this day the children
give their shoes an extra fine polish on
Cliristmas eve, fill them with hay, oats
or carrots for Santa Claus' white horse
and put them on the table or set them
in the fireplace. The room is then
carefully closed and the door locked.
In the morning a strange thing is
found to have occurred. The furniture
is all turned topsy turvy, the fodder
has been removed from the shoes, and
in its place the good little children find
all sorts of nice things and the had
ones only rods made of birch. In oth
er localities baskets, dishes nnd wood
en ware are made the receptacles. But
the elasticity of the stocking, its
adaptability'and the fact that, while
it preserves the individuality of the
owner like a shoe, it may yet be clean
ed and made ready for the reception
of edible presents these characteris
tics have caused it to grow into general
favor among the juvenile votaries of
Santa Claus.
Derived From Days of Yore.
It is a beautiful arrangement and de
rived from the days of yore that this
festival, which commemorates the an
nouncement of tin" religion f peace
and love, has been made the season
for gathering together sf family con
nections and drawing closer again
those bands of kindred hearts which
the cares and pleasures and sorrows of
the world are continually operating to
cast looscj, of calling hack the children
of a family who have launched forth
in life and wandered widely asunder,
once more to asseiiihltyibout the pater
nal hearth, that rallying place of the
affections, there to grow young and
loving again. Washington Irving.
"A Visit Ft
Q XT:.?.
WHAT is the Iicm
the 'world? v.
gy"" nor "Tli.
Shirt,"-, nor "The li.r
Night Before Christ n
is not so well known
.One recent -Christ!
Clement Clarke Moor,
never before. Above
chapel of Holy Tri
York, the choir boys
night before Christ -a:,
of light was held, 'i ,;,
monial starts with a
torclibearers who-.,. ,,
from the leader's II:
winds through fln: L,
is passed hack from o
til the lights grow h, ,
pel the surrounding d ,
The father of , l :.
was once the bishop
"The Night P.efor .
published originally v,
thor's knowledge in th.
two days before i
Moore had written it
Christmas just for l! .
own childrenN but its .
ped beyond tla family
unknown friend sent it
The Sentinel r aders p
to it, and it passed .
until seven yo;rs later
paper reprint. ! it. 'j :
tion was very diffoiv:.
"A Visit From St. Xh 1
then entitled, was ...
and its author awoke
if not himself, famo ; .
Although Clement i
educated for the v
took orders. For the
his life he was idemi ...
York General Tie .
being professor o; ;
and Greek and Int. r
guages.
Clement Moore's ' ., ..
sorrows. His wife
age of thirty-live, :.
daughters, for id i
Night Before Chris- .
their childhood. I i
sake lived to the a- .:
Is buried in the ; ..
When "The X;gV V..
was first publish- -i in
nel the editor w iv ;
"We do not km. '
Indebted for I'm f. do ,
UU--.'-
The "Set
of that unweari
that homely In:;
tion of parental
ids custom and t
about visiting t
py land, laden
ties, but from
have come we
There is to our a,
cordial goodness
of fancy and a I
enter into the f.
simple pleasures
altogether clian
tie patrons, boil,
accept It as a pi
good will toward
warmest w isli t '
many' a merry
may long retain '
for these unhung!,
which derive th'
piety nnd frateri.
they may be ussii;
loyed that time en
Philadelphia Press.
Christmas
Oh. Christmas i
lVften human ti''t
And human hat--And
all the i'-'-
And Christmas is .' '"
Christ was bow r. '
The joy thai
But not alone at ' r
Im hnnnineSS 0t'
mo ''"i-i "
For he who really - if'
Hath Christmas
A-
h
t
I't
.' 'S
ail
y
T
is
th
di
;rc
ell
for
id
Mlfl
in
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het