The Syracuse Journal, Volume 4, Number 35, Syracuse, Kosciusko County, 28 December 1911 — Page 2

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a HRISTMAS at Mount Vernon In the peaceful days which followed the Revolution was always exceedingly merry. The Virginians of those days, be’ng cavaliers, made the most of the holiday ' which the grim Puritans of New England ignored. It was a season of profuse hospitality. But in all the northern neck of Virginia no house was the scene of more joyous doings than that cf George

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Often mere strangers, tsewrtng letters of introduction, came and went at wiiS. sometimes staying for weeks, or even months. Tfacmgh stern. Washington could unbend consider-

•srfely on such an occasion. Erie was getting to be an old man, and his adopted f! ®©K. George Custis. de- | escribes him as wearing | Ixabitually at that period I plain drab clothes, with a I iwoad-brimmed white hat, j carrying an umbrella with a long staff attached 1 tj» bis saddle-bow when he c-’oda to shelter him from vJie sun, his skin being render and burning easily. %, While yet a young man Ete had Inherited the Mount Vernon estate from Jala half-brother. The tiouse w?.s much smaller chan it is today, being vchat was then called a ‘'four-room cottage”—that fa to say, with only that many rooms on the ground ftwr. It had been built in . 743 by Lawrence Wash xigton by the labor of transported convicts from

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England, the main timbers being cut from the txearby forest, while the outer sheathing of North Carolina pine was hewn into blocks to resemble ®tnue , There were about a dozen bedrooms, all of £hem small, and doubtless they were rather crowded at time —some of the people, wery likely, “doubling up." All of the rooms had tow ceilings; there was no paper on the walls; water pipes of all kinds were conspicuous by tfbeir absence; no furnace heated the mansion <there were no stoves, indeed), and the only illumination in the evening was furnished by canslles: Yet, as things went In those days, this was ja luxurious establishment. The Christmas dinner was at 3 o’clock in the ““banquet hall.” and probably twenty-five or thirty people sat down to the repast. The table was covered with a snow’y damask cloth, and there A'.xere fine linen napkins—both being luxuries rather exceptional in those days. But this was by no means all. There was. a handsome service of pure silver, most of which'had belonged to the widow Custis when she married Mr. Washington, and also there was a big display of cut glass even snore precious. Most remarkable of all, however, there were real silver forks—-a rarity indeed! .Ladles and gentlemen ate with their knives in ’.Chose days in away that would now be considered shocking. It was a matter almost of necesefty, inasmuch as the forks they used, which had only three tines, did not serve very well for some purposes, such as the carrying of peas to the mouth, for example It is painful to think of the iFather of His Country at his Christmas dinner putting his knife into the mouth, but there is no doubt that he did so. Another oddity, as nowadays it would be considered, was the arrangement of the table, upon which all tbe dishes to tbe served, including even the puddings and pies, -were placed at once, No wonder that in those times a festive board was said to "groan” beneath <he weight of the viands!

A MERRY CHRISTMAS. Christmas brings the remembrance of a gift so great and wonderful that all who realize what it meant to tbe -world feel tbe desire to give some•thing In return though it may be oothiyg more than the expression of a wish for a merry Christmas. No one tM anxious tc receive the gift at krjrt. People do not always know the ulue of what is given them. The ®iy door upened to receive it, led j Ato a cattle etabie! But now. whose oor does not fly open at Christmas Ao send out some blessing, some word <rf good will? The old carol, sung to a few shepAerde, baa gone around tbe world o : • ■■■ V J

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As a matter of course, the Christmas dinner (as on other occasions) the table was waited upon by slaves, who did duty as house servants. Two . were allotted to each guest, so that quite a number were required. AR of the eatables had to be fetched a considerable distance, the kitchen being detached from the mansion, with which it was connected by a covered way. At the houses of thfe great Virginia families at that period it was customary for the slavesto wait on. thg> table in their ordinary plantation garb. But at Mount Vernon many things were on a scale of exceptional luxury, and the negroes who performed such service were clad in Washington’s own livery of red, white and gold, which was handsome and striking. One may suppose, then, that the conversation at the Christmas dinner was more than ordinarily entertaining. As a matter of course, everybody was hungry; for, according to the custom of those days, there were only two meals —breakfast, which was early, and dinner. The necessity for supper was removed by a great prolongation of the dinner, at; which each person was expected to eat all that lie or she possibly could. In fact, it was the duty of the hostess gently to persuade her guests to gorge themselves to repletion, while the host made it his business to press wine and other drinkables upon the men to an extent which in these times would ■be considered most imprudent. The ladies, however, drank little or nothing So far as they were concerned, the prohibition of stimulants was much more strict than it is today —a rather curious thing, when it is considered how copiously the men imbibed. As for the latter, if on occasions a gentleman took too much, the matter was politely ignored—such an accident, it was considered, being more or less likely to happen to anybody. But it should be understood that the really hard drinking was done, not while the ladies were present, but after their departure from the table.

now, and the message of peace and good will has been carried everywhere. Somehow, when you lay a new-born babe in a man’s arms, yon are pretty sure to bring a smile to his face, and a softening to his heart as well. An infant is a great peacebringer. What has touched and softened the heart of this grim world more than anything else, is the remembrance that Christmas brought a blessed child down to earth and laid him confidingly In the arms of humanity, brought him from home, and left him outcast, that the opportunity might be given to every man co take Mm in and give him tbe love and tenderness wkfch is every child's birthright

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This it is, which moves us to strive to make children happy at Christmas. They may be like those who float along with the river, knowing nothing of its lovely source high up in the everlasting hills. But even if they do not know why, most of us do want to make it a merry time for children It is emphatically the children’s festival. No one ever regrets it who goes out of the way to help some little ones to be happy at Christmas. They are the special,, friends of the Christmas child, and it is well to be able to entertain the king’s friends, if not the king himself. It does the world good to open its heart and take in the season’s greeting Business goes on all ths happier.

One may view the sceue in imagination, as, the moment tiavifk', arrived for au important aet o! ceremony, Washington rises to his feet from his place at the table, holding a glass of Madeira in his hand. He is a very tall man, two inches above six fe<.t in height and large of frame. His nose is slightly aquiline, bls mouth broad, his chin square, his cheek bones high, and his com, plexion rather florid, lie is’dressod in a suit of costly black velvet, with knee breeches, black silk stockings, and silver buckles on his shoes. At bis wrists are fine lace ruffles, and his hair is drawn back and done up behind in queue “Gentlemen,” he says, bowing right and left, “I drink to my guests!” The natural ressy mse. at the instance of the roost distinguisbfed guest present, is a health drunk to l.ady Washington. Ibis is jierbaps. by five <1 ten minutes ot general < Alton if ter whAh Mrs. M .gives the Xaf bv pushingfback her fe women r take tV-JEparmre. Th., walks’ to Vie M tnroMug it wide opjn. and each of the ladieslourtesies deeply as sf- goes out, in response t/the bows of the hqst and the Ot ß r when the time comes to rejoin the ladies, two’or three of the guests find themselves hardly In a condition -tq do so, they are handed over to the care of the African major demo, who sees that they are put to bed. Such things are bound to happen occasionally, and it is not likely that any of the women will have the bad ta,ct to ask wliat has become of them. = There -is a good long evening, which, appropriately te Christmas, is given up to a romp. Such old-fashioned games as blind man's buff and hunt the slipper furnish incidental opportunities for much incidental flirtation and love-making. Perhaps there may even be a kissing game or two; and a spray of mistletoe fastened over a doorway <nves excuse for some osculation and a great deal of merriment. It is all very delightful. Christmas gifts are exhibited, and Nellie Custis. it is likely, plays a bit on her harpsichord. A negro fiddler, one of the slaves on the estat®, in picturesque plantation garb, starts some roeiry music, while the young people choose partners for the dance. But the older ladies and gentlemen prefer cards, and sit about little tables, shuffling and dealing. The host himself plays, for small stakes only, gambling for money to considerable amounts being one of the vices be most abhors. As for Mrs. Washington, she talks to a neighbor and knits. When not otherwise busily occupied she always has knitting in her hands, having acquired the habit in camp during the Revolution, when she made stockings foi destitute soldiers. Fortunately, the frame, or setting, as it might be called, of the Christmas festivities here described in such crude outline is still preserved Intact, thanks to the efforts of a few patriotic women who have made this their loving task. The United States government has never paid one cent to keep the home of ashingion from destruction. Many years ago congress refused to give the money to buy it. But in the hands oi the Mount Vernon Association the historic mansion and its immediate surroundings are kept tn such excellent repair that Mount Vernon today is practically as It vvas more than a century ago, when George and his wife, Martha, kept open house and offered a generous hospitality, not only at Christmastide but at all other seasons of the year.

because there Is a warm charitable feeling in a man’s soul towards his employers, or employes, or acquaintances. We are all so busy, we are apt to forget to be considerate, forgiving. and kind. It is well to let the brain rest, and allow the heart to rule sometimes, or men may lose the faculty of loving and being charitable. Centuries of experience have proved that it is well also to make a clearing house of the season, to square accounts by wiping oft all the old grudges and settling old quarrels, and listen once again to the message of peace and good will. Anger and malice never gave a man happiness: nothing but forgiveness and charity can do that.

BIS MEDICINE CHEST Uncle Sam Has Many Patent Cure Factories. Census of Establishments Engaged In D atent Medicine Manufacture Shows Increases in Business:—Rapid Growth. Washington.—A preliminary statement of the general results of the thirteenth census of establishments engaged in the manufacture of patent medicines and compounds and druggists’ preparations has been issued by Director Durand of the bureau of the census, department of commerce and labor. It includes the statistics of bitters. tonics and so-called patent medicines and pills, salves, tooth paste and (Kjwder, hair tonic and dyes, extracts, 'tinctures, medicinal plasters and all ather kinds of druggists’ preparations ai'.d also perfumery aiuLcosmetics. It does not include the proprietary i.r pharmaceutical establishments. The report was prepared under the direction of William M. Steuart. chief statistician for manufactures, bureau of the census, and contains a summary which gives the general figures for I&Q4 and 1909. The figures are subject to such revision as may be necessary after a further examination of the original reports. The general summary shows increases in all the items at the census us 1999 as compared with that of 1904. There were 3,042 establishments engaged in this industry in 1.899 and 2.777 in 1904, an increase of 31 per cent. The capital invested as reported in 1909 was $99,912.009, a gain of $34.335,000, or 33 per cent, over $75.307,000 in 1904. The average capital P-t establishment was approximately $-7,000 in 1909 and also in 1901. The value of products was $141,912,::r,o in 1909 and $117,130,000 in 1904, in increase of 52t.500.900, or 21 per •at. The average per establishment was approximately $39,000 in 1909 and ’ in 1904. .The cost of materials used was’ $.’0.376,000 in 1909, ar • gainst $39,494,000 in 1901. an increasi as $1.9,882,000, or 28 per cent. The value added by manufacture was $91,560,000 in 1909 and $77,942,000 in 1904. an increase cf $13,624,009, or 17 per cent. This item formed 65 per cent, of the total value of products in 1909 and 66 per cent, in 1904.' The value added by manufacture represents the difference between the cost of material us: d and the value of yroducts after the manufacturing processes have been expended upon them, it is the best measure of the relative importance of industries. The niT-scellaneous expenses amounted to j|8j,027,000 in 1909 and $33,567.3(h) ilfllpi. an increase of $3,460,000, nr 10 perfeent. The salaries and wages HtnouutedWo $26,904,000 In 1909 and 517,888,00-11 1904. an increase of 59.01 G.O | rTß>r 50 per cent. The a\|rage horse power per establishment; considering all establishments, was approximately seven horse power in 1909 and six in 1904. A conqiarative summary follows, giving the gtnral statistics for the indus .try for 1904 and 1909: I’Ct. in’’ ‘ «904 —Census — to i%'9. 11*)!. 1909. > Number of establish- _ n ■ meats 3.1'42 ?.~77 St Capital $99,942.L'W $75.C:.’7,000 32 Cost of bki terials used ....<..x 50.3’«.«» 39.W.000 2S -lalaries and wages.. 26.904,00 v I,.BSS,‘U'o 50 Salaries K.oot.W !i.975.(w 70 Wages 9,897.00' 7.913.00') 25 Miscellaneous expenses 37.927,000 3:1.5’17.00*) 19 Vahte of products. .141.942.000 117.13»,0W 21 Value adfie*! by manufacture (products less cost of materials) .......... 91,5136.000 77.912.000 17 Em ploy vs Number of salarle*! officials ami clerks. 15.404 9.45., b 2 Average number of wage-earners employed during the year 2*89*5 20A72 12 Pi’imarv horse power tt.Wis ol The number of salaried officials and clerks was 15.41L1 in 1909 and 9,483 in 1904. an increase of 62 per cent.; their salaries increased from $9,975,009 in 1904 to $17,007,000 in 1909. or 70 per cent. The average number of wageearners employed during the year was 22.895 in 1909 and 20.472 in 1904. an increase of 12 per cent.; their wages increased from $7,913,000 in 1904 to $9,897,000 in 1909. or 25 per cent.

MANY MESSAGES. Before this session of congress passes into history. President Taft will have probably broken all records for messages to one body. This long series of presidential addresses to congress is the result of cabinet suasion. Every member of that advisory body urged Mr. Taft to cut the annual message down to the last word. They wanted, it read and they knew that if it was short enough the people would read it. After listening to the members of the cabinet and after reflecting upon his' past experience with long messages the president decided about the last minute to cut everything out of the annual message but his trust views. Other messages are to come. Some e? them will be longer perhaps than the inltk? message, while others will be very much shorter. The messages which Mr. Taft will soon send to congress will discuss the following questions of legislation; Foreign affairs, including arbitration with Great Britain and France. Departmental routine. including army and navy reorganization and two battle ships. The report of stocks and bonds commission upon the physical valuation of railroads. Tbe report of the postal commission and the parcels post proposition.

Conservation, including the regulf- I tion of Alaskan resources, with par I ticular reference to Controller bay. The general tariff situation, with specific recommendations based on the tariff board’s report upon schedule K. ‘ Perhaps a second tariff message ! dealing with the tariff board's report on the cotton schedule Added to these messages will be more that are not now outlined by the president. He will make all of his ; documents as short as poss/ble and as much to the point. ONE COURT NEAR FINISH. With tie beginning of the new year, in every state ot the Union there will pass out of existence a historic court practically as old as the state itself, j On that day 77 United States circuit courts will cease to do business at the 276 different places they have been j. accustomed to meet. Arrangements'; for this change are being perfected in Washington and throughout the circuits. Elimination of the circuit courts was ; one of the reforms provided in'the new I judiciary code, enacted by congress ! March 3. 1911, to become effective January 1, 1912. The code provided that , after the latter date there should be I only the district courts, the nine circuit courts of appeal and the Supreme j court. The existence of the circuit I courts since 1891. when the circuit , courts of appdal were created, has J been regarded as expensive and super- ' fl nous. The 29 circuit judges will not lose ; their jobs, as they will coetiuue to sit in the circuit court of appeals and help | cut in the district courts. ,\llii the ; clerks of the circuit courts wilij their positions abolished. At theisame i time restrictions will be placed; upon the amount that district court dlerks ■ may draw as salary. Under a special ■ law the clerk of the district and circuit courts in eastern Kentucky was I entitled to $3,500 and fees for each ■ place in which either court sat. As i each court sat in five different, places ’ he was entitled to $35,000 a year if the * fees amounted to that inffctn Other ; clerks were usually favored by special legislation. Hereafter it will be impossible for a clerk to receive more than ! $3,500*. The passing away of the circuit ' courts is only one of . the reforms of the new code. After January 1 the ; chief justice of the United States will • receive $15,006 a year and each associ- : ate justice $14,500. Under the n“w I code jurors for federal courts will r®- I ceive their summons by registered | mail instead of by personal visits by i deputy United States marshals and the govern;cent will have r. ages in selecting federal court , juries instead of three. Estill another * reform will come in shape of aj prohibition against members, ot' con- j gress practicing before the court of ( elairis here. \ ; PROBLEM of living cost. Another investigation by the con- ! gress of the cost of living seems in- J evitable. Nearly every one of the ■ members has this cost of living prob- ; lem on his mind. Each one says! frankly that he is thinking arjv..t it be- : cause his constituents are not uulj thinking about it, but are talking ' about it. No one seems to have any comprehensive idea as yet as to what i sort of investigation the, congress i might make, or as to what definite re- I suit might come out of another in- ; quiry. but there is pretty general agreement that the legislative body will conduct some sort of inquiry.: I “My constituents seem to think the congress ought to do something on the ' subject,” said one middle west mem-, I ber. “and I suppose the constituents of every member of the house hold the same view.” The depaptmeut of agriculture ' is thoroughly in sympathy with this demand -for a thorough investigation touching the cost ot living. It wants to conduct the investigation. Secre tary Wilson has had in mind for several months a broad gauge inquiry, , and it is now very well understood i among his intimate friends that he does not wish to retire from the cabi ■ net until this investigation is made. He cannot proceed without an appro print ion from the congress, and it is his intention to ask for a considerable sum of money at the coming session to be used in gathering information. Secretary Wilson has had a notion for a long time that the producer of farm products does not get all be is entitled to receive out o.f his produce, anfi, that the consumer in the city is compelled to pay extortionate prioes for farm products of all kinds. ONLY SICO RAISED FOR CHINA. From all over the United States there has come about SIOO in response to the appeal of the American Red ■ Cross, issued about a month ago. for funds to relieve famine sufferers in China and to aid in putting Red Cross societies on Chinese revolutionary bat tiefields. This sum, too insignificant to be forwarded, is being held by the Red Cross officials here, with S2OO col lected for the purpose last summer. It is hoped that the total will reach at least SI,OOO, as that has been the minimum amount usually handled in such cases. It is supposed that the closeness with which Chinese appeals have followed each other is partially responsible for the lack of contributions. Jt is suggested, too. that the recent mas sacres m ipetrated by both Chinese and Mauchus have tended to dull the sympathies of the American public. At the outset of the present trouble la China the American Red Cross sent SI,OOO from its emergency fund for as» there.

1 FEDERAL HEALTH BOARD. It is gratifying to note that the bill ’or the creation of a federal health joard will not be allowed to pass without a protest Reports of organized risistance come from all parts ot the country, and it may be that the opposition will soon be sufficiently solidified to defeat a project that promises infinite mischief for the community, snd suffering and injustice for the inr iividual. > The proposal Is based upon those specious claims tbat are notoriously hard to controvert. If a federal health board were to confine its activities to the promulgation of salutary advice upon hygienic matters, to the abatement of and to the purity of drugs, it might be possible to say much in its favor, although it would still be difficult to say that such an organization is needed. But we know that it will attempt to do far more than this, seeing tbat its adherents have loudly proclaimed their intentions. Indeed, there is no secrecy about them. It is confidently expected that the board will consist cf advocates of one school of medicine only and that the methods of that school ‘ will be not only recommended, but enforced upon the nation. Indeed a board that was«in any way representative of the medical profession as a whole would be stultified by its pwn disagreements. Outside the domain cf simple hygiene, for which we need no federal board at all, there is no single point of medical practice upon which allopaths, eclectics and osteopaths could be In unison. Any board that could be devised by the wit of man must be composed of representatives of onq school only, and this means that all other schools are branded as of an inferior caste, even though nothing worse happened to them. And something worse would happen to them. If we ar© to establish a school of medicine, if we are to assert that the government of the United States favors one variety of practice more than others, why not establish also a sect ot religion and bestow special authorities jupon ,Uaj> tists, Methodists and Episcopalians? An established school of religious conjecture seems somewhat jectionable than an established Wet o( pseudo-scientific Conjecture. Those who suppose that a federal board of health would have no concern with individual rights aro likely to find tiu.'mselvH undeceived. It is sot the purpose of interfering with individual rights that the proposal been made. We need no special knowledge of conditions to be aware that what may be called unorthodox methods of healing have made sad inroads into the orthodox. Homeopathy claims a vast number of adherents who are just as well educated and just as Intelligent as those who adhere to the older school. Osteopathy, eclecticism. and half a dozen other methods of practice are certainly not losing ground Beyond them is tbie vast and < increasing army ot those who may b® classed under the general and vague name cf mental heaiers. Those who are addicted to any of these forms oi unorthbdoxy need have no doubt as to the purposes cf the federal health board. These purposes are to make it difficult for them to follow theif particular fads and fancies, to lead" them, and If necessary to drive them, from medical unorthodoxy to medical orthodoxy. Now thp Argonaut holds no brief for any of the excesses and the super stßions connected with the care of the body in which this age is so rife. But it does feel concerned for the preservation of human liberty and for the rights of the Individual to doctor him self in any way he pleases so long as I he does not indubitably threaten the . health of the community. He tnaj take large doses or small ones, or n® doses at all; he may be massaged. I anointed with oil, or prayed over, just i as the whim of the moment may die* i tate, and probably It makes no par tide of difference which he does. Bui he has the right te choose, just' hs chooses the color of his necktie or th< character of his underclothing. It is not a matter in which any wise govI ernment will seek to interfere. This I is precisely the liberty that the health. , board intends to take from him. ■ Orthodox medicine, conscious of its i losses, is trying to buttress itself by i federal statute, to exalt allopathy to ’ the status of a privileged caste, and . to create an established school oi > medicine just as some other countries : have allowed themselves to create an established school of religion. It Is for the common sense of the community to rebuke that effort and to r& pel an unwarranted invasion upon el» mentary human rights.—San Francisco Argonaut. A Drain of the Company. On bls way home from the theater, wuere he had seen a performance ot j “Othello*” Bobby was unusually quiet “Didn’t you enjoy the play." his grandfather asked at last “Ch, yes, very much,'* replied Bobby. “But. grandpapa, there’s one thing I don’t quite understand. Does the black tman kill a lady every nightT“— Youth s Companion. &■ i - i.n..|- ---—■1 Natural Deduction. I “Papa, are lawyers always bad-tem» I peredT” “No. daughter; why do you ask that?” “Because 1 read so much tn the papers about their - cross-examinations.“ Kindred Spirits. “Lady," said Plodding Pete. “I alnt Bad a square meal In two days.” "Weil.” said tb» resolute woman, as she turned the dog loose, “neither has Towser. so 1 know youTl excuse hlxn."