VOLLX
INDIANAPOLIS,   DEC.  23, 1905.
NO 51
Zxptvtente flepatrtmeut
My Merriest, Maddest Christmas.
lsi I'l'iiiiuui.—We liail moved from
Ohio tss a farm aloiiir the Wnluish, in
thoae s'arly slays, when friensls wan loved
and appreciated, for sometimes doMal
neighbor! wire miles apart, and just to
visit eaeh other brought pleasure into siur
isolated   live-.
We didn't get lonely at our home, for
tin re was a houseful of us, miming in
stairstep   fashion. A   traveh'r   passim,
ihe house in winter time might have seen
u face pressed against each winslssw pane.
This was not through rudeness, but every
new* fnce was somethiu-g to break the
monotony in onr lives, aud a theme to
speculate on.
The older children finally married ainl
moved to homes of their own, leaving only three of us under the old roof-tree with
father and mother. But we three were
surely a houseful for dear old mother, who
was very religious nnd tried so haril to
check our excessive good spirits. Poor
soul, she might ns well have tried to stop
the lauilis from frisking in the sunshine, or
the colts from romping in the fields. If
there even enme a day when one of us
was off in appetite, down from the old corner cupbonrd came the bottles of castor
oil or vermifuge (those never-failing remedies of pioneer days) and we were all dosed
alike, the ounce of prevention doctrine being   soundly   observed.
Brother Ned was the ring-lender of all
our youthful prnnks, but somehow he
was most always able to crawl through a
loophole and evade punishment. I used
to bitterly resent this, and thought it was
lieeause he was father's favorite, being
the only boy at home. Sister Isou was the
baby and always had an innocent look in
her big, blue eyes, and so as justice had
to be meted out, I was considered the real
culprit and generally received a triple portion. Of course, in plain terms. I was the
"Tom-boy."
Oh, the long days, when I helped to
plant and hoe corn, and it seemed to me
mother never would have dinner ready!
The usual chores of the farm boy fell to
me, and I soon found myself quite ac-
loniplished in many boyish feats. Indeed, I was quite proud of my horsemanship, and I believe the best fun Ned and
I had was when we were sent horseback
to hunt for stray cattle. A belt of timber
had been left standing close to the house.
Beyond        this        was        a cleared
tield, and here        we would
race back and forth unobserved. Having
grown old, we can behold our duplicity in
its true light, but, nevertheless, when we
meet and get to talking over early days,
we cry with laughter. Poor little Isou
has passed beyond this life, but Oh, how
dearly is she remembered.
One year, when Christmas came, we
could not have our usual family gathering.
Brother George's wife was very sick, so
father and mother said they must go
there.
Poor mother was worried nt leaving us
alone, but we asked for no greater boon,
for each of us was secretly planning the
good old time we should hnve. How-
dutiful we were, getting the coverlids good
and warm nt the fire, hunting father's extra mittens, promising to sweep and to
water and feed the stock, and so on. Mother told ns what we might get for dinner.
gave us maple sugar eggs she had saved,
and saiil we could parch corn and roast
apples at the fire place if we would be
careful of the fire. After they were gone,
our feet (clad in cowhide) made some live
ly music on the old bare floor, as we rush
cl back ami forth doing what we had
promised. Ned got down the old sh.st
gun and said he was going after wild turkeys, but LOU and 1 declared if he did
we would wade the suow to the ncjirest
neighbor's three miles away, so he finally put the gun up. We played hide ami
seek, aud other simple games till noon.
After our luo. h of bread and butter, jcrk-
s'si venison anil doughnuts. Ned ami I fed
the stock.
"Say." said  Ned, "after we    water    Unhorses, let's have a ride to the cross roads.
roasl. As Bet made her sharp turn, the
tne catlgbt ine and I was hurled from the
horse. I- was taken home in ths' sleigh,
but I did not know it then nssr tat ss'veral
slays afterward.
Ned was Hie hest of brothers while III)'
bruises were healing. One slay I asked
l.ou ir father hail sai.l anything. "I
heard him till Ned that as he was so fond
ol' music he might go with him to the
barn, and he woulsl Bddle ami Ned might
dance." Poor Neil. I Couldn't help but
feel sorry  for him.
Mrs. EL S.
Artesian Well in Howard County.      See Article on Page 7.
I'm tired of staying in the house like an
old sheep; here goes!" And before I had
time to remonstrate he had his horse out
of the  barn.
"Bring Old Bet. and come on."
Well, I followed, as I usually did, but
at the same time I knew father and mother
er would have said no, had they been at
home. We had  made  severnl  trips  on
the half mile stretch, and were making
ready to start again. I.ou was standing
at the front gate, our starting point, and
called out: "Say, you chaps had better
get those horses ts> the barn. It is getting late, and father and mother will be
home soon."
We were too reckless to heed the voice
of warning, but Ned had an inspiration (he
generally had) and, jumping from his
horse, said, "This is Christmas, the day
for good cheer and music. We are having the good cheer and we are going to
have the music."
Into the house he rushed, ami came out
with the old drum. I had never heard
the folks tell that Old Bet had been a
cavalry horse in her young days, and wa*
wholly unprepared for the start. Isou
held the drum while Ned mounted. "Now,
ready!     One, two ," and he gave the
old drum one resounding blow. It seemed to me I felt every nerve in Old Bet
quiver as she gave the first leap. We
were off like the wind. I might just as
well have tried to stop a charging Buffalo.
My only hope was that Bet would keep
straight ahead, and I might possibly keep
my seat till she got quiet But, alas!
The way of the transgressor is hard! As
we reached the cross-roads, father and
mother turned in from the south. This
caused Bet to swerve to the north. An
oak  tree stood  right at the edge of  the
The Pate of the Vegetable Man.
2d Premium.—A long time ago people
did not forget that Christmas came on
the 25th day of December, and were never
too busy to observe the great holiday of
all days.
It was celebrated in various ways, and
most especially were the needy ones re-
menilscred. and in- substantial ways that
did much good. In one instance that   I
know of a grain sack was filled with potatoes. A good shirt for tlie mnn of the
house, was put over the sack. The sleeves
were filled with flour. Then a good pair
of pants, filled with apples, antl turnips.
was attached. Then came the coat,
which was stuffed here and there with ears
of popcorn, dried fruit, etc., to make it
fit this vegetable man. Then a solid head
of cabbage and a good hat to fit, with a
handkerchief round the neck to make him
look more respectable. Mittens were fastened on, and boots filled with cakes, as
we called them in those days, and sweet
things for the children. The cont pockets contained a dress, handkerchief and
mittens for the wife, also mittens and
handkerchiefs for children. Then this
vegetable man was carried silently nnd
carefully to the house of the neighbor in
need of just such articles, and set up
against the door of the family  room.
Well, the man had a small ax in the
house. He arose enrly nnd went to prepare kindling for the morning fire. As
he opened the door this vegetable visitor
fell in full length, and so frightened the
man that he split the cabbage with the first
stroke ot! the nx, ami of course killed him
instantly. Upon investigating, they
soon found what manner of man he was,
and tenderly took him in, rifled his pock-
hss sh,' spent ('hrislnias in Holland, wheu
this old fashiisiiosl way the npodj were pro-
rided with such things as added tsi tlieir
■ •■sailor!, ami they were happy tss lm re-
ini'inbiicd.
There were other homes where the
children hung their stockings near llle large
lire-place, for in llu.se slays it was always
understood  that   Santa  Claus came in    a
■led drawn by reindeer, ami came down ihe
chimney wiih his presents. To carry s.n
the fun s..in. times large stockings would
be found hanging with the small ones, and
you  may  be sure all   would  bo full,      ami
frequently the shoes ami boota silting by
would rec-ahra a share, as Santa C'aus was
always   a   cl rful   giver.        Then     came
the children    and    grandchildren to take
Christinas  dinner  with   the   grandparents,
ami   how  happy   the old   | pie  wsrs'  lhat
there was a reunion of their own dear ones
again On  this memoral Is' da\ !
May we all (he Christinas holidays be
thankful; may we Iry lo make others
happy, and mny we ever sing, "l'eac .m
Berth, good will toward men."
Mrs. V. A. M.
Grandmother's Sinter-Klaas.
.".il I'rcmiuni.- My old Hutch grandmother
would never weary of idling us children
■ ts, and reji.i. ed that he had come. Iu
slic was a  little girl. Her parents were
thrifty, well-to-do fanners and the young
folks wcrs' brought up wiih a knowledge of
tlie worth of small limits, but. despite the
economy practiced in this ami other Dutcl
households throughout the year, at Christmas time tliere was no pinching or saving.
uud large sums of money were expended iu
the purchase of gifts, and iu otlier ways
that lirought happiness to family and
friends.
But the manner in which presents were
exchanged was unite different from that
employed in this country. When great
grandfather was the recipient of a dia-
inonsl stud, he was obligo.l to crack a large
basketful of nuts before he came to the
[articular nut whicli contained his beautiful prize. The housemother was sometimes forced to cut scores of potatoes or
apples, ere she discovered the gold earrings so skilfully concealed. 'It was the
same way with all the gifts received by
the grown people of the family; the book
was hiihlou iu a basket, the ring in the
bs.sly of a toy mouse, the gold thimble in a
heert-ehaped cake, etc., etc
But it was Sinter-Klaas iu whom grand-
tttother was most concerned in those days.
He was no myth either, but a real, visable
being. who regularly made his appearance on Christmas eve. A tnll, dignified
old man was he, with long, flowing beard,
as white as cotton. He invariably wore
a crimson- mantle, nnd over one arm hung
a pack of toys, ami. alas! under the other
arm was a bundle of rods, to lie presented
to basl children. Sinter-Klaas would inquire of the parents as to the behavior of
the little folks, and. the answers being in
most cases satisfactory, the good "bishop"
was pleased to hami the unlighten-ed load
ssf sticks out through the window to his
servants, a number of African boys, who
by the way were never seen by mortal
eyes.
Among numerous other presents grandmother and her sisters each received a big
doll weighing several pounds. The reason they never had an over-supply of those
interesting dolls was because they were
made of deUdoualy flavored candy, and
when their beauty was duly admired they
were promptly introduced to the science
Continued on page 10.