Evening Republican, Volume 22, Number 30, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 5 February 1919 — IN FRANCE OF OLD TIMES [ARTICLE]

IN FRANCE OF OLD TIMES

Before the Cruelty of War Led the Minds of Men Astray From > Proper Things. When you think of Christmas as !t used to be in t'rance, the first thing that comes into your mind is the “creches” that are set up in all the -churches —the Virgin, the Child in the manger, Joseph, the shepherds and their sheep, the three wise men from the Orient, with their camels. Soinetlmes even a shepherd dog is added for “realism” —although he is apt to be modeled on the lines of the chien berger of France, ♦rather than of Palestine. In the poorest village.church and in the cathedrals alikejthe Christmas candles shone on this charming tableau, and in the evening, biter the day’s work was over, whole families went to pay their respects to “la Sainte et le petit Jesus”—old grandmothers and grandfathers, fathers and mothers, and dark-eyed children in black sateen aprons—even little Pierret went in his mother’s arms, although he would “faire dodo” and keep on sleeping peacefully in a mosF unappreciative way.