Democratic Sentinel, Volume 19, Number 15, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 19 April 1895 — Page 6

TO THE OLD YEAR. Good-by, Old Year! While others ring The New Year in, and loudly sing Of what delight and peace ’twill bring. Ere the last tolling of the bell To the world soundeth thy death-knell I bld thee now a fond farewell — Good-by, Old Year! Good-by, Old Year! While others raise To thy successor hymns or praise, Til thank thee for the by-gone daya Many a blessing hast thou brought. Many a sacred truth hast taught; Fruitful changes have been wrought By thee. Old Year! Good-by, Old Year! Should I alone Remember thee when thou art gone. I'll thank thee for the good thou'st done. The world forgets the absent friend; To each new-comer doth It bend. And casts It off when near the end. Like thee, Old Year! Good-by, Old Year! Dost thou forget How men wltl> joy thy advent met! That praise the New Year hath; but yet. When once again its reign Is o’er, The world It may be, as before, Will leave me to say once more. Good-by, Old Year! •-Harper’s Young People.

CHRISTMAS FAIRIES.

ACK was the dearest, roundest, rosietest little lad imaginable. He was a wgß’ picture of happy -pY boyhood that afternoon, three days beliMl fore Christmas, -ifiEl w^en > ’ n h* B smart coat, trimmed in the wk most delightful military fashion with bands of Persian lamb and black frogs, and his

Jaunty cap set on fair hair, and his fat went into the park with his sled for a romp. He ran and shouted and pranced until his eyes glowed like stars and his cheeks shown like apples, and everybody hands protected by fur-trimmed gloves he who saw him said: “What a handsome boy!” Jack, of course, was looking forward to Christmas, just as every boy and girl who reads this is looking forward to that day of all days. He expected to have al) sorts of line things in his stocking, and with very good reason, for Santa Claus had never neglected him. Jack’s father was rich. Grandmamma, who was richer, was coming to spend the holidays, and Santa Claus had been telephoned on the subject of skates, drums, swords, guns, and sweetmeats, and there was every prospect that when he called at Jack’s home his sleigh would bo very full Indeed. Jack was like all boys who have no brothers and sisters, a trifle selfish. But he was a manly, kind-hearted little chap for all that, and so, when he was through with his play and was dragging his sled homeward and came upon a scene on a street-corner which aroused his sympathy, he paused to find out what it meant A crowd of rough boys were tormenting a poorly clad little girl, whose wan, haggard face spoke too plainly of misery and poverty. She was frightened and almost crying as Jack came up. “Here, now!” said Jack, with sturdy determination, “you stop that or I’ll call a p’liceman.” Fortunately, at that moment, a bluecoated officer came in sight, and the hoodlums fled with one wild departing yell. “Thank you,” said the little girl, timidly, “those boys alius are picking on me.” “What’s your name?” asked Jack. “Susie Greene.” “Well, Susie,” said Jack, with an air of business, “you look cold and sidk.” “I ain’t very strong ” “And hungry,” continued Jack.

HE STOPPED TO COMFORT HER.

into tears. Thit was enough for. Jack. “Get right on my sled," said he, determinedly, “and I’ll take you down to my house, and you’ll hate something to eat.” Susie obeyed, and the officer saw with grim pleasure the young heir to Mr. Newton’s millions dragging off the little waif to his home, a block away. “He ao be a foine chap, he do bq,” re-marked-d’oliceman Mulvaney. 7Jock tow Susie into the kitchen, and gave Orders she should be fed forthwith. Then he hurried up to his mother’s room. She was there with his grandmother, and in a few words he told them about the little girl, he had rescued. “She’s poor and hungry, and she’s got no decent clothes. Mamma, can’t you fix her up?” His mother looked at him a moment, then asked, quietly: “Jack, would you rather have this little girl made comfortable or have a big Christmas yourself?” Jaek, hesitated. He thought of all those presents he was expecting; then he thought of Susie’s thin dress and bursting shoes. “Yqu can take the money you .were going to Spend on my Christmas and fix her up,” ha bravely said. Then his grandmamma, a statdig old lady, in black satin and white lace cup, called him to her and kissed him, with tears in her eyes. • >.,.* • • • • • • . JackjMt bolt upright in bed, and rubbed lushes very hard. No, he was not asleep. . There was the open fire, there r S&f '.f'r' ‘.U* » • . ■ I' ■ ■

MERRY XMAS TO ALL

his clothes on the chair, there the door into his mother’s room. It was Christmas Eve. Jack had not hung up his stocking, for he did not expect any presents. Susie had been warmly clothed and her wretched home had been brightened by the visit of Jack and his mother. The boy was satisfied. He had made his choice, and expected to abide by it. But, marvelous to relate, as he looked toward the fire, he saw a crowd of tiny people hurrying and fussing about on the fur rug before the fire. Three or four had a miniature ladder which they were putting up against the side of the fireplace. Several others had hold of one of Jack’s long stockings. When the ladder was in place, a little man, with elfish eyes and spider-like legs, climbed the ladder, dragging Jack's stocking after him, and

It is Christmas in the forest, where softly falling snow Seems to touch with benediction the waiting earth below. The long, slim fingers of the wind upon the barren trees

hung it on a hook, and then coming down put his hands on his hips and surveyed his work with great satisfaction. “That’s what I call a good job,” he said. “Now, hurry up, you folk, and get your presents in there before St. Nicholas gets along.” Then fairy after fairy climbed the ladder, and put in his presents. There was a fat brownie, who brought a basket of nuts from the woods. “1 have worked all day,” he said, ‘looking under hedges and dead leaves to gather these nuts for the boy who was kind to Susie.” A quaint little fairy In a curious foreign gown and cap approached. “I have come clear from the borders of the Black Forest in Germany,” she said, “to bring this music-box for the boy who was not ashamed to look after a poor little girl.” There was quite a stir as a remarkable fairy approached. He was coppertinted and had a feather stuck in his black hair, and he bore on his shoulder a beautiful bow and arrow. “From the lands of the setting sun I have come," said he. “I am a Puckwudjie, an Indian fairy, but 1 wanted to bring an offering to the young paleface who has a good heart.” A merry little man in green climbed the ladder, hauling up a beautiful toy sword which he had brought from England for Jack. Then there followed one of the “good people” of Ireland' with a drum which he had brought from the Emerald Isle. “Shure it’s hurryin’ I must be after doin’,” he cried, “to be back before daybreak.” In the midst of all this excitement there came a pawing of tiny hoofs over-

JACK RUBBED HIS EYES.

head and a jingling of bells, and a voice down the chimney, cried, “Whoa!” very loudly. At this every fairy vanished abruptly. But the stocking was left hanging there, and presently, with a scramble and rush, down the chimney came the good Saint

himself. Jack knew him directly from his pictures. He examined the stocking attentively. “So they’ve been here ahead of me!” he observed. “That’s a great idea! I never was left before. Well, no matter! There are a few things they've forgotten. Here are the skates, the games, the box of caramels, the books,” and as he talked he piled the packages up on a table near the fireplace. Jack’ eyes were so heavy he couldn’t hold them open. He shut them for an instant. and when he opened them again it was Christmas morning. He sprang from his bed and rushed to the fireplace. Yes, there hung his stocking full and running over, and the table near by was loaded with gifts. And, if you were to argue forever, you could never make Jack believe that there

CHRISTMAS IN THE FOREST.

Play Nature’s Allelulia in a multitude of keys. And bird and beast they wake alike to join a common note And swell the reverent carol which wells up from Nature’s throat.

is no Santa Claus or such things as fairies. “I know better,” he says, with a decided shake of his curly head, “I know better, for I’ve seen them.”

A New Year’s Eve Adventure.

Ten years ago, writes a correspondent, I went with my friend, Ned Provost, into the mountains of Northeastern Pennsylvania to hunt. It was December 30, and the region being wild, we found that we must spend our New Year’s day in the woods. At a deserted lumber camp we came to a log shanty that was half full of meadow hay, and here we determined to spend the night. It .took us but a short time to get the place into a comfortable condition, and we were soon sitting around the fire that we had built, enjoying our pipes and talknig, While the three dogs lay on the floor beside Us. It was about 10 o’clock when we heard a noise outside. It was a low howl, and instinctively we knew that we were about to receive, a visit from timber Wolves, than which, when many of them aro together, there is no more dangerims foe. Jumping up and glancing out of. the one window in the shanty we could see away, in the distance?—for it was a clear moonlight night—an immense pack of animals approaching. The dogs, too, heard the sound, and before we could prevent it two of them escaped, but the other one we caught just as he was about to crawl out.

In a very minutes the wolves had reached the shanty, and the dogs ’Which had gone out to fight them were dead almost before we knew it. Taking my gun, I stationed'myself at the window and awaited developments. During the day we had killed a fox, and its body now lay outside of the shanty on the ground. Soon one big fellow made a dash for the body of reynard and got a load of buckshot that finished him at once. Another tried it and had his back broken by a rifle bullet.. The rest left for the timber, thirty yards away, and howled dismally. We now resolved to stand guard by turns, as we could not believe that the vicious brutes would storm the shanty; so I lay. down after building up the fire. How long I slept I cannot say, but was awakened by the howling of the dog and Provost crying out: “Look out! There’s a wolf in the shanty!” Sure enough, our dog had caught him crawling through the hole and was fighting bravely. We could not shoot; the dog was getting the worst of it, and more. In the scrimmage a bunch of hay was kicked in the fire and the place was ablaze. Fortunately Provost got hold of the hand-ax,-and,, jjist in time to save our dog, split the Rolf’s head open, but from a snap from the brute he had the little finger of his left hand taken off. I had succeeded in putting out the fire and could look around. The dog was moan-

ing with a big wound in the throat, Provost swearing, and I was amazed at the size of the wolf. He was quite as large as a Newfoundland dog, with teeth three inches long. It was evident that we were fairly besieged, and from the window could see at least a dozen brutes that were excited by the smell of the blood. I killed two and Provost one, while we must have wounded five more. It was a long, weary night. The wolves never left the shanty, but hang around it or slunk into the woods near by. Just before daylight a rush was made from the outside, and I killed the leader with his head and front legs inside the cabin. When day broke, with one long howl they left.

A BEAR’S CHRISTMAS GIFT.

The Dude Was Not Warned by Words of Man or Growls of Beast. It was Christmas Eve in Moscow, and every one was busily preparing for the great festival of the next day, when a tall man, so muffled in a thick sheepskin frock that he might almost have been mistaken for a woolsack, came tramping over the crisp snow past the red, manytnrreted wall of the Kremlin, leading after him by, a chain a huge brown bear, which plodded gravely at his heels without taking any notice of the admiring stares and pointing fingers of the countless groups that eddied carelessly to and fro through the “Krasnaya Ploshtchad” (Red Plain). “Hello, brother,” cried a stout, redfaced, blue-frocked izvoshtchik (hackman), who was driving slowly past in search of a fare. "Where are you going with Meesha?” (i. e., Michael, the Russian nickname for a bear).

There is worship in the woods, though the patho be yet untrod, When all the world goes joying at the birthday of its God. —Eve H. Brodlique.

“They’re going to have him and me in a Christmas show at one of the big circuses,” replied the bear leader, “and to give us twelve rubies (nine dollars) a night. Not bad, eh?” “And by what name are you two going to appear in the bills?” asked a dandified young fellow in a smart new fur cap. “You’ll be ‘The Renowned Bear Brothers,’ I suppose.” “That’s it, my lad,” said the beast tamer; “and as bears generally have a monkey to perform along with them, hadn’t you better come and join us?” The laugh was now turned against the jester, who, irritated by the retort, took off his fur cap, and began to tease the bear by flipping him in the face with it. “You’d better stop at that game, my fine fellow,” said’ the bear’s guardian, warningly. “Meesha’s a good-natured creature enough in his way, but he don’t understand being joked with by strangers, though he doesn’t mind it from me. He’s got teeth of his own, I can tell you; and if he makes one bite at you, I rather fancy you’ll find your sum comes out wrong the next time you try to count on your fingers.” But the dude was not to be warned, either by the words of the man or the low growls of the beast, and was continuing to plague the bear, when all at once the shaggy head was thrust forward, and the huge jaws opened and shut with a snap like the falling of a steel trap. The joker drew back his hand just in time to save it, but at the same moment he saw his fine new fur cap (which had cost him seven dollars) vanish like a pill into the bear’s capacious mouth, amid a roar of laughter from the crowd. “Serves you right, young fellow,” said the bear tain er, with stern satisfaction. “You’ve made him a nice Christmas present, anyhow; and there’s no fear of your brains catching cold for want of it, for you don’t seem to have any.”

Satisfying Him.

“I have, called,” said the captious critic, “to find out what reason you can give for representing the new year as a nude small boy.” That is done,” responded the art editor, “because the year does not get its dose till th&3lst of December." Then the captious critic went out and broke his nice new pledge.—lndianapolis Journal.

A Merry Time.

Tomdik—“Did you have a merry Christmas, Hojack?” Hojack—“Yes, indeed. Johnny killed the cat and smashed the parlor mirror before he had his new airgun an hour.”—Harper’s Bazar. “I don’t see any mistletoe in your Christmas decorations, Miss Marjorie,” said young Blifkins. “No; we went everywhere and couldn’t find any, but,” she added, brightly, /“I told mamma that you wouldn’t need any.” He didn’t.

LAW HAS WEAK SPOT.

CIVIL SERVICE ACT DOESN’T PROTECT EMPLOYES. Head of an Executive Department Need Not Give Reasons for Dispensing with the Services of a Government Clerk —One Report Missing. Capital City Chat. Washington correspondence:

THAT the Civil Service act is inadequate to protect Government employes is showu in the fact that the • rules do not prevent or regulate dismissals, even nominally, except for political or religious reasons, and even then experience has shown %ppj>-that they are practicully useless. In the recent ease of EuGaddis, who applied for an into prohibit I II I. his dismissal from i" ’ the Treasury De-

partuient by Secretary Carlisle for pelitical reasons, the court held that there was nothing in the Civil Service rules that required the head of an executive department to give reasons for dispensing with the services of a clerk, and therefore the law will permit a cabinet officer to dismiss as many clerks as he pleases for any reason whatever. His power of removal is absolute, and the Civil Service Commission is not advised of his action in this respect except where appointments are made to the vacancies thus created. The commission has jurisdiction over appointments only. I have been endeavoring to ascertain the actual number of persons removed from the executive departments during the present administration, but find it almost impossible to obtain accurate information. During the fiscal year ending June 30, 1894, according to the records of the Civil Service Commission, there were 4,855 appointments in the executive departments of the Government. Of these 2,281 were made to fill vacancies caused by dismissals and 2,440 to fill vacancies caused by resignations, but there is nothing to show how many of these resignations were voluntary and how many were compulsory. The number of vacancies caused by death was only 234. These figures do not include the changes in the government printing office, where it is estimated 2,500 persons have been discharged by Mr. Benedict since he succeeded Mr. Palmer as public printer last spring. Nor does the total include 609 persons who have been dismissed from the censtfs office since Col. Wright took charge in October, 1893. But their removal was necessary and proper because the work on which they were engaged was completed, and they have understood from the beginning that their employment was only temporary The census is taken once in ten years, and it usually requires about four years to prepare the returns for publication. There are now 385 persons in the census office, and the most of them will not be needed after March 1.

On July 1 last, by act of Congress, the offices of Commissioner of Customs and Second Comptroller of the Treasury were abolished, which threw out of employment, permanently, 164 clerks, and made an .annual saving of $160,000 in the pay rolls i_f the Government, but only about ninety of the clerks have been actually dismissed. The remainder are retained to close up the affairs of the bureau under a special appropriation of $30,000, but their employment will continue only a few weeks longer. There were also 400 persons discharged from the War Department under the act of Congress reducing the force of the record and pension division because their services were no longer necessary, and this caused a reduction of over $500,000 in the annual pay roll of this department. The total number of changes, therefore, since the present administration came into power has been 8,364, of which 5,790 were removals, and 7,355 new appointments have been made.

Report Is Missing. There is a good deal of inquiry at the Capitol for the annual report of the ser-geant-at-arms of the House, which, under the law, is required to be submitted at the beginning of every session. It was laid on the Speaker’s desk the morning Congress met, but was not presented to the House, nor were any newspaper correspondents allowed to see it. The Speaker returned it to the sergeant-at-arms for revision and it has not been returned. No explanation has been given, but it is understood that the portion of the re-port which refers to the deductions made in the salaries of members for absence is not satisfactory. Early last session when the Democrats had such hard work to keep a quorum in Washington, the House got very virtuous and passed a resolution directing the sergeant-at-arms, who is their paymaster, to enforce the law and to require from each member a sworn certificate saying how many days he was present during the month, and then to deduct his pay for the days he was absent. There was a great deal of nicking at this, and the Judiciary Committee made a report that the law was repealed several years ago when the section of the statutes regulating the pay of members was revised, and it is understood that the order of the House has not been enforced. Those who voluntarily informed the pay clerk that they were absent have been docked, but those who said nothing about it or drew on the ser-geant-at-arms for their salary through some bank did not suffer. A Horrifying Discovery. The swagger society in Washington has just received a severe shock upon the discovery that a certain wealthy widow, who assumed and was supposed to be descended from ancient and famous ancestry, is only the daughter of an honest, energetic and successful Irish contractor in the city of Philadelphia, who made a large fortune digging sewers and cellars, grading and paving streets, building railroads and canals and making other useful public improvements. She has worn a crest upon her carriage and her note paper, apd there has always been a difference of opinion as to whether she came from the Huguenot Protestants of France or the old merchants of Flanders, because her name has a French appearance and a foreign sound, but legal proceedings in which she is involved have disclosed the fact that her father and mother were Irish, and she is Irish too. Her house is closed this winter, and it is understood that she intends to spend three or four years in Europe in order to secure another veneer, and to let people forget that her money was acquired by honest and respectable toil and not by entail.

FEDERATION OF LABOR.

President Gompers’ Annual Address —John Burns Present. The American Federation of Labor met In annual convention at Denver, President Gompers in the chair. Addresses of welcome and responses opened the proceedings, during which John Burns, the English labor leader, and David Holmes, member of Parliament, entered the hall and were received with cheers. After the appointment of the committee om

eredentials, T. M. Patterson, or Denver, delivered an address on the labor struggle. Adjourned until afternoon. Upon reassembling in the afternoon the credentials of David Holmes and John Burns, representing trades unions of Great Britain, were accepted and the delegates granted the full privileges of the convention. President Gompers’ annual report was then submitted. He complimented the organization hpon being gble to preserve its existence during the recent adverse circumstances. Referring to the coal" miners' strike, he said 125,000 men were out for eight weeks, and yet there was hardly a dearth of coal. Considering this, the establishment of a minimum rate of wages was a very great victory. He defended the action of the Federation in regard to the A. R. U. strike by the assertion that Debs’ proposition submitted to them was a virtual acknowledgment that the strike was a failure. President Cleveland's action at that time was severely condemned. The hondst effort of the Government to regulate immigration was acknowledged, but amendments to the laws were suggested. Hope is expressed that government telegraph and telephone would soon be established in connection with the postal department, and unions among the government employes were recommended as an aid to the movement. American seamen claimed to be the worst treated of those of any civilized nation. Bills in their interest and also for protection of cigarmakers, he said, would have passed the last session of Congress but for the prejudicial effect of the railroad strike. The convention was asked to endorse the Phillips bill for the creation of an industrial commission. The efforts of the officers of the Federation in behalf of free coinage of silver was mentioned and a better understanding of the subject by the laboring men generally was reported. A serious strain upon labor organizations was predicted fer the coming winter, but the speaker added that indications were favorable for an active industrial revival within a year. The proposition t<s estab lish compulsory arbitration was denounced and the charge was made that designing persons were advocating it as a means of destroying labor organizations. The successful mediation of the general officers in a number of disputes between workingmen and employers was reported and the statement made that labor must conquer the right to be heard in all cases. Secretary Chris. Evans, in his report, j said the receipts-of the past year were ! $22,493, and the expenditures $17,302, leaving a balance of $5,191, which is less than at any time since 1890. President Gompers then introduced Hon. John Burns, who made an address. | Mr. Burns said: “David Holmes and myself were chos- ■ en by the organizations of labor of the old ’ world to represent them in this, the first American labor convention at which English representatives were present. The convention that appointed us consisted of 400 members, of whom 100 were members of Parliament, justice or municipal officers. This shows what a hold organ- ’ ized labor has on the people of England. ; I shall be pleased to hear ten years hence that you have progressed as far as we ' have to-day. Our coming here is inter- ! esting for many reasons, one of'Which ; is that the country from which we come ■ initiated the employment system. I would ; say, however, that while England inau- ! gurated industrial competition, America has eclipsed her in monopolies.” President Gompers, in response to Mr. Burns, stated that under no government on earth have laboring men been so imposed upon as in America, but expressed the hope that conditions may soon improve and that improvement be aided by this fraternal meeting of laboring men of Europe and America.

STATE CAN CONTROL.

Massachusetts’ Oleomargarine Act Upheld by the Supreme Court. Justice Harlan delivered what is considered a very able opinion imthe United States Supreme Court, affirming the judgment of the Supreme Court of Massachusetts in what is known as the oleomargarine case. One Benjamin A. Plumley, the agent of Swift & Co., the Chicago packers, was convicted of the violation of the Massachusetts statute which forbids the manufacture or sale of compounds colored to look like butter. He took an appeal to and sued out a writ of habeas corpus from the Supreme Court of the State on the ground that he was restrained of his liberty in violation of the constitution and the laws of the United States. He claimed that the statute of Massachusetts was repugnant to the clause of the constitution providing that Congress shall have power to regulate commerce among the several States; to the clause declaring that the citizens of each State shall be entitled to all the privileges and immunities of citizens in the several States; to the clause providing that no State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunity of citizens of the United States, nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty or property without due process of law, nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws; to the clause declaring that private property shall not be taken for public purposes; and to the act of Congress of Aug. 2, 1886, regulating the manufacture and sale of oleomargarine. The writ was denied, and an appeal was taken to the Supreme Court of the United States, which holds that the decision of the lower court was good law. In his opinion Justice Harlan says there is no ground to suppose that Congress by enacting the oleomargarine law intended to interfere with the exercise by the States of their authority over the sale of that article, for the law expressly states that the payment of internal revenue taxes imposed shall not exempt any person from the laws of any State on this subject. In other words, by paying an internal revenue tax to the Government a man cannot violate any State law regulating its sale or manufacture, nor was that statute intended as a regulation of commerce between the States. The freedom of commerce does not include the right to practice deception upon the public in the sale of any article. If any one thinks oleomargarine which has not been artificially colored as to cause it to look like butter is as and as wholesome for purposes of food as pure butter he is at liberty under the statutes of Massachusetts to manufacture or sell it in- that State, but is required to inform his customers of its real character. The statute is only intended to preventi fraud upon the public and to promote fair dealing in the sale of articles of food. Justice Harlan says if there be any subject over which it seems that the States ought to have plenary control and in which they ought not to be interfered with by the general Government it is their protection of the people against fraud and deception in the sale of food products.

Brieflets.

Thomas Brockway Bullene, a capitalist and merchant of Kansas City, is dead. Strong efforts are being made to have the Indiana University removed from Bloomington to Indianapolis. Bernardo Foglia, wanted in Now York on a charge of wife murder, has been arrested on a steamboat at Natchez, Miss. M. P. Pels, for seven years general manager of the Maxwell Land Grant Company, has handed in his resignation to take effect Jan. L

A rtyroe, and a r.jut end ntDe Tbat tway» like a ecppie Yinej A song, and a Prtglrt and biitte odc, Ar-Good kttfi t&e C&nstniaw&iDft A catch, cud a clear and glad one, . Like tte crook-note m ue ' A ctave, arid a gay and mad one That B&au make raftem Be tbe beet of me Oencera m n. The utb cod tbe laughing tp, Aad tbe tnu from tbe throat of a unaet T»a: '.M to a rapture aeep, Theo ire cteer, my maetcre merry, And cheer, my bonny malde; of Our oony» tor tbe bony berry, Car kiee ror tbe mistletoe.

LONG AFORE HE KNOWED.

Jes' a little bit o' feller—l remember still— Ust to almost ery fer Christmas, like a youngster will. Fourth o’ July’s nothin’ to It!—New Year's ain’t a smell; Easter Sunday—Circus day—jes all dead In the shell! Lord, though! at night, you know, to set around and hear The old folks work the story off about the sledge and deer. And “Santy” shootin’ ’round the roof, all wrapped In fur and fuzz— Long afore I knowed who "Santy Claus” wuz! Ust to wait, and set up late, a week or two ahead; Couldn’t hardly keep awake, nor wouldn't go to bed; Kittle stewin’ on the Are and mother settln* here Darnin’ socks, and rockin’ In the skreeky rockin’ cheer; Pap gap’, and wunder where It wus the money went. And quar’l with his frosted heels, and spill his liniment; And mo a dreamin' sleighbells when the clock ’ud whirr and buzz. Long afore I knowed who “Santy Claus” wus! Size the fireplace up, and Agger how "Old Santy” could Manage to come bown the chlmbly, like they said he would; Wlsht that I could hide and Bee him—wundered what he’d say Es he ketched a feller layin’ fer him that away? But I bet on him, and liked him, same as If he had Turned to pat me on the back and say: “Look here, my lad. Here’s my pack—jes’ be'p yourse’f, like all good boys does!” Long afore I knowed who , "Santy Claus” wuz! Wish that yarn was true about him, as It ’peared to be— Truth made out o' Iles like that un's good enough fer me! Wlsht I still wuz so confidin’, I could jes’ go wild Over hangin’ up my stockiu’s like the little child Climbin’ in my lap to-night, and beggln' me to tell 'Bout them reindeer, and “Old Santy” that she loves so welt I’m half sorry for this little girl sweetheart of his— Long afore She knows who “Santy Claus” Is. —James Whitcomb Riley.

Under the Holly Bough. Ye who have scorned each other. Or Injured friend or brother, In the fast-fading year; Ye who, by word or deed. Have made a kind heart bleed, Come gather here. Let sinned against and sinning Forget their strife’s beginning. And join in friendship now; Be links no longer broken. Be sweet forgiveness spoken Under the holly bough. Ye who have loved each other. Sister and friend and brother, In this fast-fading year; Mother and sire and child, Young man and maiden mild. Come gather here; And let your heart grow fonder As memory shall ponder Each past unbroken vow; Old loves and younger wooing Are sweet in the renewing Under the holly bough. Ye who have nourished sadness, Estranged from hope and gladness. In the fast-fading year; Ye with o’erburdened mind, Made aliens from your kind— Come gather here. Let not the useless sorrow Pursue you night and morrow; If e’er you hoped, hope now— Take heart, uncloud your faces, And join In our embraces Under the holly bough.

A Christmas Tragedy.

THE PLOT.

THE PLOTTER.

PLOTTED.

—Judge.