Rensselaer Republican, Volume 28, Number 16, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 19 December 1895 — THE OLD FOLKS CHRISTMAS [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

THE OLD FOLKS CHRISTMAS

Thar won’t bo any V'hri'nius ft;n' Eround c.ir house this year. - ,'Fer Sandy Claws, in passin' by, ’ Ull Jest “1 rati dow rr hts car. An' w’en lie feels the cliiinbloy's cold, —He’ll grunt: “I'll put ng'lit on; No need o' stnppin' in to Cldy’s. The ciriliern’s all gone." •■- ■ ~ ■ An' yit I’ve seed the time when he 'Ud her to hump liisse'f To fill tlie stockin’s bangin' up Er 1 >n’ our ehiinbley shelf. An' me an' maw’d be up till twelve Er one. a-poppih' eo’n No ugp o' seeh-like (loin’s now; The cbilieru's all gone. o' I uster feel plump like a boy. To see them young 'tins sit . ' An' talk o’ Chri'tnus bein' nigh, An' wonder wliut they’d git, An’.fix theirse’ves to stay awake _ Till Sandy kem alon'l Thar's no one watches for him now, The chillerm's all gdne. They're-all grow',l tip a tt' ma rrled off— Exceptin’ little Joe. , They spoke for yander, An' we had to leave him,go. *Twuz po’rful rough to lose him, Rut now we're glad -thar’s-one-That’s still a little shaver, —. Though the ehillcrn's all gone.”' /' .. .. ; ~ A—: ——An ? set t in ' yore th is..£hri,s’ntuamight, I sez to maw, it seemed Kz It I sensed his rosy face Kight whar the firelight gleamed. An' maw. she 'lowed that mebbe he ; " Had lent us back our own. Cuz Chri’mus an’t it smeller w’en The chlllern's all gone. . ’ » It kinder made my bones thaw out "To jedge thet w'en we die. We’ll -find our little tad ag’inj Not grow’d a smithh more high I want him like he uster be, Jest big enough to run. I won’t stay up that—es I find The ehillern’s all gone. »>J<ew York I.edger.