Newspaper Page Text
THE CLAYTON TRIBUNE, CLAYTON, GEORGIA.
HE Anglo-Saxon notion of the German
try- Christmas is drawn from childhood hours
f\, -< spent over Hans Andersen and Grimm, and
y the sight of a Christmas tree brings to
■*■1 USH mind the woodcutter tramping home
through the snow-laden forest, trailing be-
i bind him the fir tree for his family Christ-
jr4j> . mas celebration, while, in the towns, the
* black quadrangle of the venerable market-
f* place Is picked out in lights blazing on the
trees In the windows of the gabled houses.
Somo GO years ago, before the German giant had
awakened from the sleep of centuries, this idea of the
peaceful German Christmas waB correct. But of one of the
burghers of old Berlin, returning from making his Christ
mas purchases on Christmas eve, were to be transplanted
into the roaring hub of empire which his Haupstadt has
become, the good man would probably expire on the spot.
Fifty years ago, when Berlin was a dirty, unpre
tentious, provincial town, with ill-lighted, ill-paved
streets, with a population renowned even in those days
for its surly manners and uncouthness, and with the Iron
hand of militarism unchecked over it all, the Christmas
festival was the tranquil celebration of which one has
read. In the Lustgarten, before the castle, a ChriBtmas
fair was annually establisljsd which the king and royal
family used to visit t^tfiy jumping Jacks and ginger
bread for the palace Christmas trees, like auy other Ger
man family. The Luslgarton fair has passed away, the
king of Prussia has become German emperor, Berlin has
developed into a fair and beautiful city, and all that re
mains of the Christmas of once upon a time Is the spirit
—indeed, a precious inheritance. That still holds su
preme sway, and rests concealed in the branches of the
myriads of Christmas trees which rich and poor alike set
up in their homes on the eve of the feast.
Otherwise the old German simplicity has vanished.
In the house of the rich merchant electric lights take the
place of the “Christ candles,"
and the motor car or the
steam yacht which he gives
his son as a Christmas pres
ent can Ilnd no place under
the Christmas tree, as did the
woolen comforter, the hand
ful of gingerbread, or tho
new skates in the day of his
father. Caruso or Destlnn on
the gramophone take the
place of the Christmas hymns
which used to be sung as an
act of pious reverence to the
“Tannenbaum,” or perhaps
even, horribile dletu, the tree
will be fastened to a clock
work contrivance which, on
being wound up, revolves to
a tune jangled out by a
musical box. The bulging
one-storied shops with ginger
bread and gilt angels stuck
In their dtamond-paned win
dow fronts have vanished,
and their places are taken by
stores built on the same style
of palatalal magnificence as
across the Atlantic. From the
sand years ago In fair Bethlehem.
For weeks before the festival thou
sands and thousands of trees are
brought by rail and water from the
forests of Thuringia and Mecklen
burg to the capital where they are
sold by dealers on the public squares
and places. In the last fortnight be
fore Christmas the trim grass plots
vanish beneath a forest of Christmas
trees ranged up in endless lines,
each resting on a roughly tacked to
gether, deal wood stand. And here
from eight In the morning till eight
at night, according to paragraph so
and so of the police regulations, the
millionaire captain of industry, the
uniformed official, the bespectacled
professor, and the miserably paid,
hungry looking school teacher rub
shoulders, haggling and bargaining
over their Christmas tree. The lat
ter can be had at all prices, from 60
marks for a forest king to 60 pfen
nigs for a stunted dwarf. The one
may be destined to be hung with cor
uscating electric lights and decked
■with diamonds for the banker’s wife,
the other feebly illuminated with
farthing dips and miserably tricked
out with a handful of nuts for the
workingman’s family. The men on
duty at the electric plant stations on
Christmas eve have their tree, as do
the engine drivers as they sit in their
quarters at the railway yards waiting
for tho night shifts.
The soldiers in the barracks, the
sailors at sea, the patients in the
hospitals, the convicts in the prisons,
even the poor, miserable wretches,
the submerged tenth, cowering about
the fires in the refuges for the home
less—they all have their Tannen
baum at this holy season of the year. In the German
colonies, under a tropical sun, where the cactus must
perforce replace the native flr, ChriBtmas celebrations are
held and the same songB sung as at home im lieben Vater-
land.
Naturally, when all Germany’s children are celebrat
ing, her model family leads the way. At the imperial
court Christmas is celebrated in exactly the same way
as in every other household throughout the empire. Two
especially fine specimens of fir are selected by the royal
foresters for the emperor and empress, and other trees
in diminishing sizs for the numerous other members of
the emperor’s immediate family, that is, his six sons and
one daughter, the wives of his three married sons, and his
two grandsons, the latter being favored with proportion
ally tiny trees. The whole number are set up in the shell
hall of the new palace at Potsdam, where the kaiser al
ways spends Christinas, and the various gifts, about
which the same secrecy is observed as in the families of
the bourgeois, are disposed at the foot of each separate
tree. But before the imperial family celebrates the feast,
the emperor and empress attend the “Bescherung,’’ or
presentation of gifts to the members of the imperial
household, valets-de-chambre, personal attendants, lack
eys, and footmen.
On the afternoon of Christmas ->ve the emperor, ac
companied by an adjutant whose pockets are stuffed with
newly-minted five, three, and two mark pieces, takes the
traditional walk through the park of the hew palace and
distributes money to the beggars who rally In great force.
He has a kind word or a cordial greeting for them all, nor
does he Xorget the guard at th9 gates of the palace.
HELPING SANTA CLAUS.
Gftmstant
hrtetma*
^hUtips (ftrooKs
O H, never falling splendor,
Oil, never silent Bong!
Still keep the green earth
tendor,
Still keep tho gray earth
strong.
Still keep the brave earth
dreaming
Of deeds that shall be done.
While children’s lives come
streaming
Like sunbeams from the sun!
Oh, angels, sweet and splendid.
Throng In our hearts and sing
The wonders which attended
The coming of the King.
beginning of December till the feast they devote a con
siderable portion of their space to Christmas bazars,
where one imagines one’s self transported to Toyland.
There are tremendous set pieces with electric trams, air
ships and railway trains careering about amid wonderful
papier mnche mountain scenery ravishing visions; of fair
doll-women and army corps on army corps of the most
gallant tin soldiers that ever manned a fort. The air Is
rent with an ear-splitting cacophony of noise emitted by
mechanical toys, and the atmosphere reeks with the smell
of shavings and glue, that peculiar pungent odor of the
toy shop which brings back to the old fogies the mysteri
ous delights of the birthday table.
On Christmas ova every German must have his
Christmas tree. When one passes through the streets
on a wet Christmas eve—tho sparkling frost and snowy
mantle of the feuilletonist rarely put In an appearance
before January—-oue has the curious feeling of being in
the midst of 60,000,000 of people all engaged in doing the
same thing. One can Imagine the traveler, looking on the
thousands of Mohammedans laboriously threading their
way across tho desert of Mecca to win the title of Hadji,
regarding the scene with similar emotions. For when 1
say every German, it is literally true. The streets of
Berlin are deserted, save for the cam and omnibuses and
cabs, and an occasional policeman, and from behind the
blinds of the windows the candles on tho Christmas trees;
throwing out their little beams Into the darkness of the "a
light, as did the star to the shepherds nearly two thou- a
Within a few years there have been organized several
associations whose purpose it is to assist parents, especi
ally mothers, in the proper development of their children.
Some of these associations
look to physical development,
others to mental and moral,
and still others to both. In
a little book prepared by an
association of the last named
class, the writer recently
found this statement: "Par
ents are as much responsible
for the selfishness of their
children as they are for their
existence." This rather em
phatic statement led to quite
a discussion of the matter
with the mother of several
children, who told the writer
that she had been engaged
ever since her first born In
combatting selfishness and
developing generous impulses
In her children. In relating
her experiences she told this
little Btory:
"At this season of the year
my children got into the habit
of expressing their desires
for particular Christmas gifts.
I did not tell them that if
they would bo good boys and
especially In reach-
tuuat.e. I told my
could, and every
ome poor child or
whom they have
Claus they have
forgotten
w .of them.
I think
girls they would receive those gifts, rather tried to Im
press upon them the Idea that if they did not ask for
more than they should receive, that is, were not selfish,
they might get them. With this admonition I coupled
the Idea that Santa Claus needed
ing the poor, the sick and the
children to help Santa Claus all
year they have managed to discovc,
some sick or unfortunate boy or gir
provided gifts. In thus helping Sa
found so much pleasure that they
their own desires beyond the mere
They have at least curbed their se'
that I have led them to be generous
In this woman’s experience
value than can be found In all the
Ushed by all the associations In
the root of the whole matter, and
remedy—a remedy that did not
not punish, but effected by Jndlr
that she wished to bring about,
today treating tho selfishness of
same way? How many need to
same way? And how many can eas 1
to help
. holly,
hearts
More heneltive and Kind.
We are much more sensitive than
we were. On the other hand, we are
more kind. At the present moment
the western world is clamoring for
physical comfort The power of en
durance Is, at any rate, less wide
spread than it was. Misery in the
sense of bitter poverty engenders not
resignation but revolt. The very con
templation of It is sickening to us.
Burdens which men bore and yet kept
a mind at leisure now fill every
thought of their bearers. The world
has become completely conscious. We
know what we suffer. No sense of the
inevitable gives us ease. We cover
up so far as we can the ugly side of
life, or, rather, we look at It only as
It is reflected In print The effect
upon the general mind of a public
execution would now be too emotional
to rlBk. The fear of ill health takes
an immensely much larger place In
our thoughts than it did when health
was worse.—London Spectator.
Would Share the Leg.
At a recent election a ready an
swer secured one woman canvasser a
vote for her party. She had fluently
advanced several reasons in favor of
her candidate to a grumpy elector, who
told her she could talk the hind leg oil
a donkey.
“Well," she replied, “It would give
me much more pleasure to drive you
to the polling place than to the hos
pital.”
The retort so tickled the voter that
he promised to support her side.
How Congressmen 8wear.
A typical old-timo “uncle” of Wash
ington was overheard recently enlight
ening a colored visitor from the Blue
Ridge mountains of Virginia on tho
way congressmen take office.
“An’ dey swears on de book dat
dey'll s’port de New-nited States, do
dey?” the visitor asked.
“Naw, suh.” said uncle. “Dey
swears dat de New-nlted States’ll
s’port. dem as long as dey kin mek
’em.”—Now York Evening Post
Tribute to Ma’s Prowers,
"My pa can lick your pa.”
"'That may be, but he can’t lick my
ma.”
HOW FLIES CARRY INFECTION
Strong Wind, Blowing Steadily, May
Convey Them Many Miles From
Afflicted Region.
It seems that the inlet cribs In Lake
Erie for tho water supply of Cleveland
are overrun with flies. The crib far
thest out in the lake is six miles from
shore. Last summer Professor Hodge,
being In Cleveland, was asked to go
out to the cribs and look the situation
over. He went, and as stated found
all the cribs supporting a numerous
fly population of blue-bottles, stable
flies, and Musca domestlca. The six-
mile Inlet was as bad as any of the
others. There was nothing on the
cribs for the files to feed upon, and
careful inquiry showed that transpor
tation by boat was extremely Inprob
able. The professor was led to the
conclusion, therefore, that the flies
were blown out over the six-mile
stretch of water by the strong south
winds.
If they are transported this distance
over water, the possible extent of their
travel aBhore must be very consider
able. Assuming a steady and strong
wind blowing In the same direction for
some time, the chance of flieB from an
infected region being blown In succes
sive flights ten, fifteen, or even twen
ty-five miles, deserves at least consid
eration.—New York Evening Post.
Poor Prospect
When Senator Kern was running
for governor of Indiana he stopped
one noon at a little hotel In Brown
county for some food.
“Hurry up, now,” Kern said to the
proprietor “I have only 15 minutes
before my train comes.”
“No hurry, governor,” the hotel
keeper replied. “You can eat all there
is In this hotel In five minutes.”—Sat
urday Evening PoBt.
Answer That, Now.
He—Madam, you promised to obey
me. Do you do It?
She—Sir, you promised me your
worldly goods. Do I get ’em?
Some of the rivers of Siberia flow
over ice many years old and almost
as solid as rock.
And many a man who has the cheek The habit of cutting the eyelashes
to raise whiskers doesn’t even try It. weakens the eyes.
Whenever You Need a General Tonio
Take Grove's
The Old Standard
Grove's Tasteless
ehill Tonio
Is Equally Valuable as a General Strengthening Tonic, Because it Acts on the
Liver, Drives Out Malaria, Enriches the Blood and Builds Up the Whole System.
Ton know what you are taking when you take Grove’s Tasteless chill Tonic, as
the formula is printed on. every label, showing that it contains the well-known
tonic properties of QUININE and IRON. It has no equal for Malaria, Chills and
Fever, Weakness, General Debility and Loss of Appetite. Gives life and vigor to
Nursing Mothers and Pale, Sickly Children. A True Tonio and Sure Appetizer.
For grown people and children. Guaranteed by your Druggist. We mean it. 50c.
Try MUSTEROLE For
Thai Lame Back!
Rub it on briskly — massage it In
thoroughly, and note how quickly
MUSTEROLE drives
out the stiffness and
soreness.
It beats a mustard
plaster seven ways, and
best of all, it doesn’t
blister or burn.
MUSTEROLE Isa
clean, white ointment made with oil of
mustard. It comes In handy white
glass jars. Get a jar from your drug
gist today.
MUSTEROLE is recommended by
doctors and nurses. Millions of jars
are used annually for Bronchitis, C roup.
Stiff Neck, Astnma, Neuralgia, Coa-
§ estion, Pleurisy, Rheumatism, Luru*
ago, Pains and Aches of the Back or
Joints, Sprains, Sore Muscles, Bruises,
Chilblains, Frosted Feet, Colds of
Chest (it prevents Pneumonia).
At your druggist’s,
in 25c and 50c jars, and
a special large hospital
size for $2 JO.
Accept no substitute.
If your druggist can
not supply you, send
25c or 50c to the MUS
TEROLE Cotnpany, Cleveland, Ohio,
and we will mail you a jar, postage
prepaid.
W. H. Tkcbmomd. Rockfish, Ve.. says:
“Musterolo is tho greatest thing I ever got
hold of for muscular rheumatism, affording iti-
6 tant relief to sore and stiff joints and muscles.’'
The Winner.
“So Miss Differs is married at last?”
“Yes.”
"And who is tho happy man?”
“Her dead old dad.”
RUB-MY-T1SM
Will cure your Rheumatism and all
kinds of aches and pains—Neuralgia,
Cramps, Colic, Sprains, Bruises, Cuts,
Old Sores, Burns, etc. Antiaeptlc
Anodyne. Price 25c.—Adv.
A cornet in a neighbor’s flat may be
as big % nuisance os a full fledged
corn in one’s own. .
Mre.Winaiow’s Boothlngr Syrup for Children
teething, softens the gums, reduces Inflamma
tion,allays pain,cures wind collc,i6c a bottle.**
Don’t lose what reputation you have
gambling for a bigger one.
that (tell to every womt.n
every.here. Pleasant work and Mg money for yon.
Writ* The Hvery Woman Co.,80 8. Slh Ave., Chlootfo
■a^^oa^iasBMBii
bmt Cough Syrup. Tut.. Owxl. Dm EjJ
la time. BoM by DrattMa
Constipation
Vanisnes Forever
Prompt Relief—Permanent Cure
CARTER’S LITTLE
LIVER PILLS never
fail. Purely vegeta
ble — act surely
but gently on
the liver.
Stop after
dinner dis
tress-cure *
indigestion,
improve the complexion, brighten the eyes.
SMALL FILL, SMALL DOSE, SMALL PRICE.
Genuine must bear Signature
THE SMALLEST BIBLE
S ize of a postage stamp. 300 pages. New Testament
laetrated. Wonderful. Agonui wanted. Sample LOot
do*eu 76c. Qlbbs & Co., St .Washington, 1>. O.
Atlanta Directory
V1CTR0US MUD GRAFONOLAS
Oomplote stock of Victor and Oo-
lnmblA Records. I. M. BAKE CO..
M Peachtree SL Write for catalogs