Marshall County Independent, Volume 5, Number 2, Plymouth, Marshall County, 23 December 1898 — Page 7

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THE CHRIST-CHILD. II I 3 world has whirled on in its way For nineteen hundred years, Bethlehem's babe, who earuo in Love, Wept over us His tear3. Still swings aaove the golden star That cn that night stood still Above the humble village inn, Uy the Judaean rill. ' 'And wise men seek the path today The crowned Magi found Tie mother heart of womanhood 2d&kes that, Earth's holy ground. The sitging ar.gels hover now Above the manger, there. 7lfcre God's light "shone upon Iiis trow, The Prince of Peace so fair! The wondrous story, never old. Thrills on the wakened heart. T'Lo led U3 to His Heavenly Fold, Who walked from men apart. AwakS, today, in spirit .strain, The scng that never dies! JInd out that glittering star again, The scales dropped from our eyes! ycr God's dear love Is potent now As when His reign began; The chanting of the seraph band Shames restless heart of man. 3Iere, In ouv midst, the Heavenly Dove Seeks ar. eternal rest; iceading from His throne abovo To hide within each breast. TFie! Better Natures, sleeping long! Cast off the thralls of sin! Ust to the choiring angels song And let the White Dove in! Sßnte ty the graves of vanished hates. Greet all in love today! Lift up your brows with hearts elate. And meet Him on our way! Richard Henry Savage. V ,i'.rtViSX I i rist mas free. II E U E did the Christinas tree originate? This Is a question that doubtless would puzzle most people to answer. It came to lis from Kurland, and It Is pretty well settled that A - A - 'V' ii was iahen mere fc from Orniany, for tbe custom of eettiDg up a tree hung with sifts at Yule-tide was by no means uniyersal in Uritain until after the marriage of Queen Victoria to a Gerxxm prince. Uat prior to this there was a sort of CfcrUtxsas tre la England. The

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"Wassail hob," a bunch of holly cr ether evergreens cm a pole, decked with ribbons and hung with oranges and apples, and sometimes bearing a pair of dolls, was carried about in Yorkshire at Christmas nearly a eentury ago. And until 1$:J0 the "besaut" was escorted by a procession with music at Shaftesbury it bring a tree-shaped framework covered with ribbons, flowers and peacock feathers, on which were hung jewels, coins and other articles of value, loaned by the local gentry. Hutchins' history of Dorset states in 1803 that the decorations of this "besant," or "byz?nt," or "bezpn." as it was variously called, were sonminies v.-orth as much as 1,500. These and kindred customs prevailing in the England of a century ago are generally regarded by archaeologists as survivals of tree worship, which seems to have existed everywhere. Germany probably received the tree from Scandinavia, where the ancient legend tells of Yggdrasil," the ash, which binds together heaven, earth and hell; its branches spreading ever the whole world, and reaching above the sky; its roots running In three di-

5s- - "THE WASSAIL BOB." rections, one to the Asa gods in heaven, one to the Frost giante, and the third to the under-world. In the far East, Japanese sacred books, written a dozen centuries ago, relate how the gods pulled up by the roots on the mountain Kager the Saka tree, on the branches of which they hung jewels, a mirror and blue and white peace offering? to the shining goddess of the heavens. The Hindoo Parijata and Kalpavriskfcha yielded all the objects of tho desires of gods and mortals, and so, too, did the Iranian Harvisptokhm, "the tree of all the seeds." At cremation ceremonies In Buddhist Siam a framework repreeentiug a tree, to which are tied limes and nutshells containing money and lottery tickets, occupies a prominent place, and after the rited these "fruits," which aro called "karaphruk," are scrambled for by the crowd. In Upper India the scavenger caste carry In processions, in honor of their god Zahir, a bamboo framework decked with bright colored cloths and peacock feathers, and hung with fans and bunches of cocoa nuts. Lucian described trees covered with ornaments and sacred attributes which were brought each year to be burnt ofTeringH to tho goddess Ateigatis at Hierapolis of Syria; and he told also of great trees, loaded with goats, sheep, garment and gold and silver objects which were burned before tho SyroPhoenician gods. Conventional, or "made-up" trees are pictured on Babylonian cylinders, and one of the bilingual hymns translated by Prof. Sayce describes how the "Place of the Tree" (of which these pictured .rcia were undoubtedly sym

bols) is the central spot of the earth, while its fruits obviously the starsare of brilliant crystal and reach into the liquid vast." The pine of Cybelo and Attis is still to be seen on the ancient has reliefs, hung with bells, a reed flute, a wheel and other objects, and there are sacred birds among th3 branches and a ram

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FROM A BASRELIEF. and a bull standing beneath, ready for sacrifice. Pictures and other votive objects wero attached to the laurel of Apollo. Summing up all the evidence, it certainly seems that the Christmas tree hung with gifts has descended to U3 from the time when decorated trees laden with offerings were worshiped as representatives of the abstract -Universe tree " whose trunk was the cosmic axis, whose roots were in tho under-world, and whose branches, lifted aloft into the skies, bore up the heavenly hosts. The custom of decorating the churches with greenery at Chrißtmas had its origin in a pagan ceremony. Tho great feast of Saturn was held In December, when the worshipers hung the temple with such green things as they could find; and the Christiana adopted the same method to celebrate the birth of the Savior, giving it an emblematic turn by referring to the "righteous branch," and justifying it from Isaiah 55: 13 "The glory of Lebanon shall come unto thee, the fir tree, the pine tree and the box together to beautify the place of my sanctuary." The holly, or holy tree, 13 called Christ's thorn in Germany and Scandinavia, from its use in church decorations and its putting forth its berries at Christmas time. THE YULE LOG. Christmas day in the primitive church was always observed as tha Sabbath day, and, like that preceded, by an Eve, or Vigil. Hence our present Christmas Eve. On the night of this Eve, peopls were wont to light up candles of an uncommon size, called Christmas candles, and lay a log of wood upon the fire, called a Yule log or Christmas block, to illuminate the house, and, as it were, to turn night into day. This custom is still kept up In the north of England. The sizu of these logs of wood, which were in fact great trees, may be imagined from the fact that in the time of the civil wars of the last century, Capt. Hosier burnt the house of Mr. Barker of Haghmond Abbey, near Shrewsbury, by setting fire to tho Yule log. At the bringing in of the Yule log at Chri tmas Eve in the ancient castle of England, the great hall of the castle was profusely decorated with ivy and holly berries. As soon as the log was lighted the Christmas festivities began. The servants were then given a general holiday and did not go to bei at all, but rambled about until the church bells called them to prayer at 12 o'clock. The word Yule signifies Christmas, which was called In thi Latin or Western church tho Feast of Lights, because they used many lights or candles at its celebration in honol of Christ, tlit Light of all Light

ESSIE REHi 111! Report of Proceedings in Senate and House. N1CARAGUAN CANAL GILL Mr. Turpep of Indian t Opposes the ."Measure in the Semite Two Aitemllucntst Offered Home Occupied with L'ui tu porta 11t l-cUSat ion. Wednesday, lire. 14. In the house .Mr. Danfonl (Ohio), chairman of tho immigration comniit-u-v. trioil to .-oi-ure consideration of thn Lodge immigration bill, but the house declined. 100 to 105. to take it up. The Xh arasuan canal bill h Id it? idace in tho senate as tho principal subject. Spcfvhos wero made by Messrs. Harris. .Money, Stewart and Morgan. An agreement was reachod 1o take a vot- on th Turpic postponement motion to-morrow. Thuratl.iy, Dec. 1.". The housi" .-urpassod all rorordr? in (ho expedition with which it passed the ponsion appropriation bill. I'.-uiallj one of tho most fruitful themes of aciimouious :ar;isan debate, it was passed in twenty minutes wiihout crituism, although carrying SH.V.'oo.S"'. ?1..ki,ooo more than the act of the cm reut year. In tho senate the urgent defi.-ieney appropriation bin iuakir. provision IV. r tho army and navy for tho next six months displaced the Nicaragua canal bill, piovciuin;: oven tho taking of a vote on the question of postponement of tho latUr r.io:i-urr until after the holidays, as had been intended. The dopciency bill v:i- passed aft r a spirited diseiissiuu. Tho senate adjourned untii Monday. Friday. Dec. It;. In the house th-' bill to incorporate tho International American bank wa:; buried umW a:i overwhelming adver majority. Mr. Pinley, the lloor le ider of the majority, mada an argumojit in its support. 'Ike vote by which tho biil was defeated stood HC ye::,; to lis nays. The senate amendment Jo the army and navy dohYieney bill wero non-concurred in and the bill was sent to conference. WRECKED IN INDIANA. CSeriou Accident to lisen.sr Train cn Indiana, Decaltir :tnd Western. PiLssrnsor train No. . niht express, oast bound, on the Indiana. Decatur r.nd Western railroad, was wrecked at (Juion, forty-five: mile.-; west of Indianapolis early in the morning ed Doc. 18. One pa.-senr was kilb-a and eleven hurt. The financial Joss, ii heavy. Carrj inj; Soldiers . Sp.iin. The French steamer La Xavairo has started l'reui Havana to Spain with three Spanish gonerals sixty-nine other officers, and s-oldiers Ilritaiu .'May Occupy Crete. The London Daily .Mail says: "We understand that tho Uritish occupation of tho island of Crete is to become pel manont." Maj.-Cen. UrooKe In III. Maj.-dcti. llrooke, who was' appointed military governor of Tuba, is suffering irom a cold and lever ai Washington.

M. MUELLER, NEW PRESIDENT OF THE SWISS REPUBLIC.

The federal assembly has elected M. Mueller, who was vhe president for 1S!KS, to bo president of tho Swiss confederation. M. Häuser ol Zurich was elected vico president. They aro both radicals. .M. Mueller is a resident of I "eine. M. Mueller is a man of commanding talents and estimable private character. He is well known and much adWant lon Carlo. ltipelled. Spain wants Don Carlos expelled from Italian territory if ho does not cease his e tmspirac ies against the Spanish throne. Ill Ut 11 a. t 15 A mlmMilnr. It is said tin; president will send Secretary HIiss to tho court of St. James as America's representative. To llrluc Ireyfu Home. The Paris Solr reports that Dreyfus will leave Caj'enneon Jan. V, and arrive in Tali at the end of the intuitu.

THE TRADE REVIEW, Splendid !udnes in the ClosJus .Iocla f the Year. It. G. Dun cc Co."?? w( f kly review of trade says: 'December is a (hi ins: a surprising close to tho most surprising year o' -American history. November surpassed all other n.onths of the c tiny in volume of business and production, and thus far December is doing oven better in payments through (learing- houses, in railroad earnings iu foreign trade, in output of pig iron, in activity and strength cf securities. "Failures for thr week have boen 2cl in the United Slates, against 'M' hist year, and :)l in Canada, a'.ins: l'S last year."

MEET AT MILWAUKEE. Wisconsin t'itv Secure National IJui' inj; Trades Convention. Tho convention vi the Nation HuildiUi? Trades Coa:i il of Amrr chose- Milwaukee. Wis., for tho a'::v-'i tion of lSt;. The rime was fixed it 'I second week in Dec-inker. I'M'.wi Carroll of Chicago was elected u: -dent by a vote of e'S to '-'2. Wants Volunteer Mustered ::(. In an interview (.'ol. William nings Ili-yan said: "The voiuu' .r should b" mustered out at tho ear'! -s; io-siblo moment. To hold them in service for garrison duty would be J gross injustice." Mir Imports and Ip'H't. Tho monthly sia:omMit of th-" i.v.r.orts and expoits of the United ,-'a' -shows that during November. 1S. ta..iniports of morchandi.-o amounto-l t: $r.i,.le.D..";o. about ::4V,"M0 less than ,. '.ember, ls'.'T. Want Chea;. Tct llooks. The Illinois State tliange, in an:.':i sfssion, adopted a resolution r-' ?mia"i;ding tluvt tho state furnish a' I l k'coks Used in l!:r public schools cot, tho w(;rk to be done by iiv: ? labor. Tlie Annual ii. A. It. Fncaui piiieüt. The r.ece,jive (.i,n- ii of the natt )-.-- al council o'l administration c( th: (Ii ami Arp'.y of )!ie Republic appointed Sept. 5 to for t!:e annual cucauinni'iA at I'liilad -Iphia. lin Oscar Seriously III. The Copenhagen correspondent : l the London Daily Mall says tii.it KiaJ tVMa.r II. of Sweden and Nfirway hiiif'i; suddee.ly taken ill and hi n.iü' Hied to Iiis bed. Stewart tWay Ue Ief eated. It now scenis certain that Wi;I:;;::i M. Stewart wiil not be n-tmv.o.i t the Cnited States seriate from r'owt i 1. Cuiigrcs.-HKin F. (I. Xewlands xiy his successor. Grant Gi He It Leave Mexico. Craut C. Cilleti. the absconding c.ittle plunger of Woodbine, Kas.. is :":; his way to tho Argentine repub!:.. vheie Cillelt says lie will go into th? 'auk bu: ine-ss. Ilae Asl;e. for Arbitration. The Mount Vernon. Ilk, Coil company and its employes have i'lod a joint application with the stat04 hoar i of arbitration for an adjustment o. their differences-. Merriaiu May Succeed Itdiss. It is id at ol that ex-Cov. Merri un :;f .Minnesota is under serious consider ilion for tho post of secretary of ;. interior when Secretary Dliss retires. mired among his countrymen in America. He was born in Herne in ISIS, is a lawyer by profession, and 1ms achieved an enviable success in his private business as well as in his public eareer. At tho time of tho death of President Carl Schink, M. Mueller w is mayor of Heine, a colonel in the army and tho presiding otlieer of (ho hotis. of representatives. Itttrn St-sttion It Calleil. The proclamation (ailing tho extra session of tho Kansas legislature to pass pVoposed populist measures - h;ü been issued by (Jov. Loedy. Combination of )tuller Coucitih. A combination of all the rubber concerns vt Trenton. X. J., has been formed. Tho capital is ?ä.000,00i. May Arret 1'rluelpHl CarlUI. The Spanish government is considering tho (piostlon ot arresting thi principal Carl ist s.

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HITTS FOR TEA LOVERS. Kules for I.rewer ami Drinker L!d Down by jv Scientist. Dr. Gcodfellow, an English analyst of note, emphatically denies the oftheard statement that "anybody can make a good cup of tea." The doctor has given much consideration to the eup that cheers and lays down half a dozen rales for careful consideration. Here they are: l. Always use good tea. 2. Use water which has just got to the boil. C. Infus about four minutes. 4. Do not allow the leaves to stand in the infusion. 3. Avoid second brews and ued tea leaves. G. If suffering from heart or nervous complaints only use ho very finest qualities of tea, with short infusion. If this cannot be afforded, give up tea altoS'?thor. Coming down to other details, Dr. Goodfellow insists on earthen tearots, of which there should always be two. and they should be comfortably warmed and thoroughly dry before bei:uT used. Then put the required amount of tea in the pot, and allow it to remain with the rover on for about half a minute. Next pour on tho boiling water as quickly as possible and let it stand front three to live minutes, according to tho kind cf tea used. In tho ease of tho highly cultivated Chinese teas, four or five minutes might be allowed. In the ease of the cruder Indian r.nd Ceylon varieties, three to four minutes will he snl!k-ieut The infusion should then lie used at once, or, if necessary for it to stand, pour it into 'l:o othe- hot teapot. Xow, as to the effects of the cup which "cheers but not inebriates." The throe principal solublc-eonstituer.ts of tea aro theine, which nets on tho nervous system; an armutic oil and tannic acid, which is injurious ingredient of tea. la arefr.Hy prepaud tea the two first aboum! and the latter only appears in a. minimum quantity. Deep color in or.tmon tea is due simply to the tannin .vaieo. is pi-nr.. Such tea is usually poor in theine the stimulating property which is olorl-ss If the water .'s allowed to stand en the leaves or tho tea is boiled, then the tannin is developed ir. in.iuriuus quanti'ie?. Taken in moderation, properly prepared tea stimulate.- tho nervous system, the circulation and cieats activity of thn sweit glands. Vheino acts as a gen oral rousor to tho brain.

DID HIS OWN COOKING. DUastrius Mperiment ?.Iale with IUo ly :t NnrtJi sido Citizen. While his wife and baby were paying a Thanksgiving visit to her former heme in Iowa a certain north sider kept bachelor quarters. Before going äway the wife informed her liege lord he would find plenty to cook in th5 pantry, but added warningly that he better not try it if he did not feel equal to the task. For a few days the hus-i-and took his meals at a restaurant, but lie tired of this mode of living and decided to try his hand at home cooking. As a result of the experiment ho knows a great deal more about rice now than he did before. The gentleman in question thought boiled riee would make a good dish, and about tha easiest thing to cook that he knew of. He got two pounds of tho cereal from the grocery and proceeded to cook tho whole of it at once. He believed that tliis amount would last him two meals. The rice was dumped by him into asmall dish and sot on the fire. In about fifteen minutes the rice began to swell and run over, a portion wxa taken out and put into another dish, hut the rico continued to swell, until the husband had every dish in tho rantry smeared over with rice. lie had no idea that rice would act in that manner. His wife always seemed to him to have an easy time in cooking it. At .last he gave up the effort as a bad job. When the wife returned she found partly-cooked rice in every dish in the pantry, on the kitchen floor, and stains oi it on the stove. Sha told a few women friends of her husband's efforts, nd it was soon known in every home in the block. His male friends arc how all smoking at his expense, and Mr. Xorthsider is convinced that rice is expensive food. The Origin of "Cocktail." Tew people, says a writer In Fearson's London Weekly, are aware of the origin of the magic American word cocktail," the mere utterance of which is sufficient to bring a look of happiness to the features of any well conditioned American citizen. The word comes from Mexico," where pulque, a kind of liejuor obtained from the cactus, is the national tipple. The Azte-1 word for pulque is pronounced "octel," and the American army which, under Gen. Scott, invaded Mexico some fifty years ago. corrupted the word into "cocktail." and carried it back to the United States. There is a tradition that pulque was discovered by one of Montezuma's nobles, who sent it to the emperor by the hand of his daughter Octel. The monarch tasted the liquor, looked at the maiden, smiled, and thereupon gulped it down. It not only tickled his palate, but touched his heart, and ft is reported that he married the girl. From that day to this the Mexicans have kept themselves well supplied with pulque, and when drinking" together invariably look aud smile at one another before swallowing. Yankees, the writer tells his English readers, have adopted a similar custom when imbibing their whisky, and frequently, when desirous of inviting a friend to take a drink, ask him to take a "smile." There are few things Impossible la themselves, and the application necessary to make them succeed is mort often wantiDg than the rr.eaus.