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ciiclllnnr of c Always Christina fROM the rusn and bustle of busy American city streets, alive at this season of the year with Christmas shoppers, back to old Nuremberg, in Germany, where the Christmas spirit lasts the year around, where Santa Claus spends his working months for the joy of the world’s children— surely the step is not too great for the imagination nor its goal uninteresting as a study. Come out of your crowded streets, your people-packed stores, leave off for the time being your breathless chase after that troublesome ’’last present,” and turn Into the quiet winding streets, the Irregular hilly passages dovetailed by houses older than any thing in the oldest parts of the United States, douse rises above house full of a history as roman tic as the proudest mansion of our city streets, and yet marked by a simplicity and single-hearted ness seldom present In things modern. It Is here that the toys are made w hich you buy in your home across the sea. Here in the quietness of the un modern, the playthings are invented and perfected for your restless, buoyant children. You read “Made in Germany” with a skeptical tilt of the eyebrow, but the fact remains that by far the greater number of all the toys manufactured come from Nuremberg. The ancient feudal city, around which cluster the grim traditions of the Inquisition and the thrilling epic of the times of Charles V., has for four hundred years or more been the center of the children’s fairyland. It has been and is the nucleus of Christmas happiness for the youth of every place In the Occident, and its charm is the perpetual one of joyous creation which de lights in planning the amusement of little people. In the factories' they will tell you that 72,000,- 000 marks' ($18,000,000) worth of pleasure is sent out from Nuremberg every year, and that $6,500,000 of tills export is for the benefit of Young America. Only a few years ago all of the necessary labor for. this immense production was done by hand, and much of the finishing and fine last touches 'are performed by special artists. Even now In the factories the old spirit of an almost consecrated enthusiasm lives and is evi dent in the interest of the village artisans for their craft. Not merely the reason of bread and butter goes toward the making of those marvel ous walking dolls, >ithbse phenomenal speaking picture books, those thousand and one games that have called for all the imaginative as well as practical genius of these honest German peasant folk. Rather has their unique industry called for and developed in them a romance, a sensitiveness of perception which is remarkable. Follow the lurching, worn curves of the Al brecht-Durerstrasse, and you come to one of the many homes of this Nuremberg spirit. In a min iature red-roofed house, wedged in among a hun dred squat brown huts, live two old men —broth- ers, of sixty-five and seventy—whose white heads are constantly bent over small circles of wood —shaping, paring, carving, painting. All day they sit there, sometimes all night, toiling over the delicately ornamented dolls’ dishes which .perhaps you have bought, as a small insignificant thing, just this afternoon for your small daughter's tree. You looked at them carelessly; they were not especially original or attractive, and you shoved them into your bag with a half-hesitating accept ance, thinking that maybe they would please ca pricious Dorothy. How could you know that back in the village of Always Christmas old hands had fashioned those trivial plates and pitchers, old eyes had strained with loving anxiety over those fine traceries of columbine, and old hearts bad warmed over those completed trifles with the same thrill of the master painter over his best? But this was true. Indeed, nearly all of the simple wooden toys are constructed by hand, in some humble volkshause which goes to make up the aggregate creative force of Santa Claus’ workshop. Take the tiny sets of soldiers, the doll’s chairs and tables, the painted wooden ani mals whose realism is a delight to all children, actual or grown up. These are fashioned in homes, sometimes by the efforts of whole fam ilies, but most often by children themselves. Sixteen is the age limit for child labor in the factories, but no young person is prohibited from assisting his parents at home, provided he spends the required period of time at school. So that many of those playthings which give most hap piness to the children of America have been made by the children of Nuremberg. And if babies must work, what work could one find for them more appropriate or more pleasurable than -X Mil'll h Ml I 't ? / " " ~ —»1 I J-AS- I this business of toy making. They grow up in the midst of It, all their hereditary ideas are colored by it, the history of the city speaks of it. Inside of half a doz en blocks you have trains, up-to-date ho tels, electricity, motor cars, Parisian frocks, primitive carts drawn by hugs mastiffs, funny tucked-away inns near the market place full of peasant women In wide black silk aprons and snowy vfhite caps—crumbly fountains and a castle with a secret passage. All the elements of the fascinating past and the strangely progressive present within a stone’s throw of each other. The realization of all that Nuremberg has been and hds undergone comes to 6ne most vividly as one stands looking down into the Schloss well 650 feet deep, where prisoners used to come to fetch water. Underground their passage led from the - ' dungeons to this unlit circular pool, for state pris oners were never permitted to see the light, and the hollow splash of the water which the attend ant drops Into the well seems to re-echo, after an interminable half-minute, the hopeless pilgrim age of those countless victims of medieval fanat icism. Such Is the potency of the ended. While the vitality of the occurring emphasizes itself, not far off, in one of the dozens of toy factories, whose very machinery whirs modernity, men, women and children—that is, children over six teen—are massed into this building, all intent on the one idea, the creation of better and newer and more wonderful toys for everyone’s children, in everyone's country. It is seldom the industrial planet can boast of a broader ambition than this of the craftsmen of Nuremberg. To bring the greatest possible amount of pleasure, legitimate and often educative pleas ure, to growing, active minds is surely an aim worthy of the finest art in the world. It even seems as though the thought back of the toys should surround them with a deeper meaning as gifts this Christmastide, since the added gift—the biggest gift—lies in the patient interested inven tion and accomplishment of which they are the exponent. As for the inventors, strictly speaking, their reward seems infinitesimal according to our stand ards. The “boss” controls ideas as well as mate rials of output, and it is chiefly to his profit that new inventions in toyland redound. The man or woman who first thinks of or improves upon some plaything gets a very small per cent, of the in come from it. To our new world standards of commerce it seems strange that the originator should receive such scant recognition and that without grumbling. Very, very few Nuremberg toymakers have ever grown rich over their ingenuousness. It is true that ideas as well as toys in Germany sell for double what they sold for eight years ago, even! On the other hand the price of living has gone up appreciably, and what would have seemed a large purchase price then is only moderate now. The staff of artists employed by the Nurem berg factory boss is in itself a not inconsiderable expense, and many a quiet charity is undertaken by these men who at home would be absorbed in getting rich. In the shop of Fritz Muller are f vCHnB \ IMjiiA! IlmsfM Ml *W /jp, *•' ■'•fut, . ejt v.' • /! ,jM ' ■ .jfk . / <// . ijfcw AyiAT <* :■/// various small kitchen gardens, carved and painted by a poor man and his sister after their regular working hours, and bought by Mr. Muller at high rates as his pet philanthropy. In this shop, now 100 years old, are seen all of the most novel ol the toy-village playthings. The store was crowded with ir\ore children over thirty than «tuler thir teen, and absorbed for hours over the clever and quaint attractions. The doll’s house of Nuremberg leaves nothing to he desired. Not only the usual rooms of a con ventional menage are found in it, but conserva tories with miniature orchids, fountains and wa tering cans; school rooms with tiny desks, a schoolmaster, very stern, with goggles and ruler, and children in aprons and carrying slates, the latter a sixteenth of an inch big; fields of flowers for the back yard and a swing for the smallest doll. In all German art, of which toy making is by no means an insignificant department, perfection of detail has always been the salient feature. Ev ery phase of home life is reproduced in micro scopic form in German toyland, even down to the wee pairs of hand-knitted stockings and sweaters the hob-nailed shoes and blue blouses which make up the wardrobe of the yolks boy and girl. The tourist season is a second Christmas for Nuremberg people, and they sell as many play things in the one period as the other. An inter esting point brought to light hv this fact is the early differentiation of the American and Euro pean individuality, which shows itself in choice of games and pastimes. They say in the shops that an American child is invariably fascinated over the mechanical and complicated, that he finds in tense interest in mastering the technicalities even of playing, while the European child likes a sim pler hut brilliantly colored toy, cherishing often a curious sentiment for traditional objects such as typify old world conservatism. They are blessed with imagination, those vil lage people, and they are not ashamed of show- J lng their simplicity of spirit. Their souls are bound up in the heritage of centuries. The trag edies of their city’s history wind about the toys they make, breathing into the wood a characteris tic vitality—the vitality that comes of centuries of striving, of centuries of patient achievement. As you sit In a swirl of red ribbon and foamy paper, “doing up” your Christmas presents, re member that many of thorn have come from this quaint little Village of Always Christmas. It may aad to your holiday happiness to know that no pleasure which the toys may bring can be greater than the pleasure of those who made them, and that no good will of yours can outdo the quiet sincerity of purpose with which the simple people of Nuremberg have given their part toward this season cf the universal gift. TOO BAD. Mr. Knocker—l had little faith in the curative properties of your medi cine. j The Agent—But it cured you? Mr. Knocker—Yes, of even the little | faith I had in it. A Long Chance. "I took a long chance when I asked her to marry me.” ‘‘She rejected you, eh?” ‘‘No, that was the long chance I j took. She accepted me.” Fulfillment. ‘‘Two great desires of my life have been gratified. One was to go up in an airship.” “And the other?” “To get safely back to earth." For COLDS and CiRIP Hicks’ Capidixk Is the best remedy—re lieves the aching and feverishness—cures the Cold and restores normal conditions. It's liquid—effects lmmediatly. 10c.. 250„ and 50e. At drug stores. The girl in the silk stockings never gets her skirts muddy. The Human Heart a The heart is a wonderful double pump, through the action of Which the blood stream is kept sweeping tx 'ffifffiuH. I round and round through the body at the rate of seven /dA I miles an hour. “ Remember this, that our bodies will not stand the strain of over-work without good, pure blood anymore than the engine can run smooth- WjK|!f ly without oil.” After many years of study in the active practice of medicine, Dr. R. V. Pierce found If I that when the stomach was out of order, the blood impure and there were symptoms of general break- ~T down, a tonic made of the glyceric extract of certain roots was the best corrective. This he called Dr. Pierce’s Golden Medical Discovery Being made without alcohol, this “ Medioal Discovery” helps\the stomach assimilate the food, thereby curing dyspepsia. It is especially adapted to diaeaaea attended with excessive tissue waste, notably in convalescence from various fevers, for thin-blooded people and those who are always “ catchhSfccold.” Dr. Pierce's Common Sense Medical Adviser is sent on cent stamps for the French cloth-hound hook of 1008 pages. A R. V. Pierce, No. 663 Main Street, Buffalo, N. Y. sSlaßr During fifty years, four generations of shooters have sworn by the “old yellow Shells”—UMC NEW CLUBS. I found wanting where, wary, |fl| | lljjl i|f|j hard-to-kill game is concerned. Ifjjl j ■||{s||ji Misfires are never thought of ij j|| |jj with these old reliable, hard ||| ||||i A smokeless powder sheD equally popular in ijnljj its class is the NITRO CLUB Steel Lined jj||jj |J||ijjl'l steel lining guarantees a uniform load when fl jjli! M]|jlu|jj|lf:i hunting under the most severe weather Mr|jjS TjTfflwji THE UNION METALLIC CARTRIDGE COMPANY SMOKELESS POWDER 299 New York City BLACK POWDER wTI. DOUGLAS *3.00 *3.50& *4.00 SHOES E°" "I" L Boys* Shoes, $2.00, $2.50 and $3.00. Best in the World. Tho benefits of free hides. If I could take vou into my 9Kv*\, UK. which apply principally largo factories at Brockton, Wmj to sole leather, and the Mass., and show you how care- v Wh reduced tariff on sole fully W. L. Douglas shoes are />/ leather, now enablea me made, the superior workmanship to give the wearer more and the high grade leathers used, i value for his money, bet- you would then understand why fj ter and'longer wearing DollarforDollarlGuarantee S 3, $3.50 and $4 shoes My Shoes to hold their shape, Mvmfe&TrsiT than I couldglvo him pro- look and fit better and wear dSL A /mK . vlous to thetarlff revision. longer than any other $3.00, $3.50 >§§&/ LA/lPmmA. or $4.00 shoes you can buy. F V ? SZiE? 1 } wt? t hat T 7 fi hoes have been the standard for over3o .uffffl v 1 , e “ d ' B ® ll more *3-00. $3.50 and $4.00 shoes than M ~ President any other manufacturer in the United States 5 Duality count* 1/r L. n has insde Lllouglas shoes a household word everywhere! CAUTION !?. one without W.L. DougU«x»ire un SMBewmww If vnnT pril * damped on the boffom. lAKE NO SUBSTITUTE jour dealer cannot supply lonwiUi | ! i 8 Shoe«,_write for Mail Order Catalog. L ‘ COPULAS, 145 Spark. St., Brockton, Maas. COLT DISTEMPER be handled very easily. The «Ick are cured, and all others la aam * stable, no matter how “exposed.” kept from having the die* by using SPOHN’S LIQUID DISTEMPER CURE/*Give on tongTJe.or In feed. Acte on the blood and expel* germ* <3 HSmkaL all forms of distemper. Best remedy ever known tor maro in fo&L . £?®i bottl *in;* rmn ?^ d to cure one case. 60c ti a bottle; $6 and |<lodo*enof druggists and harness dealers, or sent erprees paid by ! manufacturer*. Cut shows how to poultice throats. Our fr^ »I Booklet glve6 everything. Local aerents wanted. Largest selling horse remedy Inexistence—twelve years. * SPOHN MEDICAL CO.e Chemistsßscterioioghu, COSh6», !nd. f U. S. A. AH A H AXLE GREASE Mbl I ■ ■■ Keeps the spindle bright and I wp! Wi 9 9 rn vk bee from grit. Try a box. ■9* 9 9 Ha 19 9Eh9 dealers everywhere. if |H Wsim ffl STANDARD OIL CO. mm. Oncnrnnratedi CURETHATGOLD TODAY **l vroultl rather presene ik|H9pitli nation than be its ruier.»^jHfr* r N- Thousands of people who are* suffering with colds are about today. Tomorrow they may be prostrated with penumonia. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Get a 25 cent bottle of Mun yon’s Cold Cure at the nearest drug store. Ihia bottle may be conveniently j carried in the vest pocket. If you are | not satisfied with the effects of the rem edy, send us your empty bottfe and we will refund your money. Munvon’s Cold Cure win speedily break up all forms of colds and prevent grippe and pneumonia. It checks discharges of the nose and eyes, stops sneezing, allays inflammation and fever, and tones up the system. If you need Medioal Advice, write to Munyons Doctors. They will carefully diagnose your case and advise you by mail, absolutely free. ,M u . ns ’°n. 53d and Jefferson streets, Philadelphia, Pa. IF YOU HAVF^— no appetite. Indigestion, Flatulence, Sick Headache, 'all run down” or losing flesh, you will find Tutt’s Pills lust what you need. They tone up the weak stomach and build up th* flagging energies. fl 9 TFMTyonr Invention. Frr« preltmia* rm I rra I ary search. Booklet free. MILO ■ B.BTEVkNS X 00., Kstab. XML, 853 14th 81, Washington; 2CO LHiarboru til., Chicago. DEFIANCE STARCH S-fiES — — W. N. U., ATLANTA, NO. 51-1910.