The Evansville journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ind.) 1866-1870, 1868-12-25
TIE PARKLNsEs' CHRISTMAS
PARTY.

been, it Is quite probable that instead |
of having a Christmas tree of their |
own, they would have gone to the lit |
tie festival of the Sunday School to |
which they-allowIng them to have |
been in existence-would have natu- |
rally belonged, and which celebrated |
the occasion by. presenting to each
irrespective of sex or merit, a
small muslin bag of candy and wax |
taper drops, and either a penny trump
ct, jumping jack, or bundle of
I" popped corn" This, however, Is, l
admit. somewhat speculative.
1t was not " German" The Par
kinses. although very respectable, and
indeed very nice people-Parkins IS
at the head of the old and we'll known
retail carpet warehouse of Benjamin
z. Parkins & Co., and has nimbly
turned his honest penny in his day
they can hardly be called fashionable,
and 7 doubt very much whether the
young ladies' knew, the German. If
they had known it, | am not at all
sure that Mr.. and Mrs. Parkins
would have approved of it. They
certainly would not have furnished
the champagne, because Parkins is
teetotaler He believes In prohibitory
laws, aud ne has got the pledge
which he signed a few years ago,
framed and hung up Ia his chamber.
Not that Parkins is a reformed ine-
briate. Oh, no, He. was always tenn
perate and has never drunk any
liquor since he was married. This is
what led MIN to sign the pledge: 1t
did not cost him aQV effort
The Parkinses' party was a-but
perhaps the better way will be to de-
scribe it.
The idea originated with Miss
| Fanny Parkins.
And here | should like to draw a
picture of Miss Fanny. Prudence
forbids. | remember that the sun,
| the photographer journeyman, has
| dimples and the ascending curve of
the nose tip, but the expression Is not
In the least like hers. Imagine, If
you please, Miss Fanny.
| Miss Fanny Parkins had lately been
| visiting friends az a distance, and
they had private theatricals. which
were perfectly splendid" This ex-
preston not only applied to the play,
but also to one of the players, the
young man who acted Captain Hawks
ley. and who had preternaturally
black hair and whiskers, aud was very
handsome, ever so much better look
ing than Mildmay, although, to be
sure, he was Wicked-that is, in the
play. This same young mans haiI
and whiskers we're naturally of a
| lively auburn, and we're dyed at a
monthly expense Of five dollars, bui
this of course was unknown to Miss
! Fanny Parkins, and indeed is of no
great public Importance, except as
showing the vanity Of all earthly
things.
AS [ have suggested, Miss Fanny
was delighted with the theatricals
and would have been very glad to
have turned her own home for a sea
son into a temple of ThesDis. But
this was not to b. thought of. Per.
kins. pere and 11e.e--I beg the read
er's pardon; Anglo-Saxon is much
better-her father aud mother were
oldfashioned people and were never
seen at the playhouse. And besides
Pamela would never eountenance it.
So Miss Fanny, after a good deal OF
times to crochet little romances and
hang them up IN secluded corner of
her brain determined on a comprO-
mise. They would have tableaux.
And this leads me to the remark
that the reader has not yet had the
pleasure of an introduction to Miss
Parklns,. to whom | have alluded
above as Pamela. Miss Parkins had
arrived. an uncertain number of years
before, at the age of discretion, and
was indeed eminent for that quail
ity. She had come to rule the house
in all matters of moment, aud her
words of wisdom were looked upon
as reverently as were the utterances
of the Delphian oracle, and, unlike
them, had besides the merit of being
Ineligible and to the point. [ has
ten to record my opinion that Miss
Parkins was a girl should say u
woman-I mean a young lady of re-
markably sound common sense, and
[ may add that on beholding her one
involuntarily looked at her hands for
mits and was rather surprised to find
that she did not wear them.
Miss Fanny Parkins preached the
subject to Miss Emily Parkins, who
was in years between the two sisters
and had an aquilioe nose and, if
may SO express myself, a slightly
aquiline temperament. Miss Emily
was on the instant greatly taken with
the idea. Then the two sisters laid
siege to the sensible Pamela, and. ad.
vaneing by regular approaches, car
ried one position alter another unit
she surrendered at discretion. Aud
then Mrs. Parkins was Consulted. and
having found that Pamela had been
induced to look iavorably on the
pan, she also conseIted as a mat
ter of course. But all this was {
work OF some time, and so it came tC
be December.
One evening, early in that month
Mr.. Parkins having swallowed his tea
and toast with that haste becoming g
man who knows that time is money
had settled himself in his easy chair
with his legs on another chair auC
his Evening B,owhard before him
" Mr. Parkins |" said Mrs. Parkins
who, blythe by, was rather a stou
lady, in good health and cap with
gay ribbons.
! Mr.. Parkins put his finger en- thu
|. paragraph he was just then psrusing
and looked up.
, " The girls want to give a party
Christmas eve. What do you thiuk
of it?"
A partyl Hsmphl I should thinl
they'd better not" And Mr.. Parkins
,, who really meant it to be understood,
that he emphatically thought the.
had better not, took his finger off hi,
paragraph and began it over again
But be. was really startled, aud found
., his attention altogether distracted
, The idea was novel in that family.
Il should like to know what pu
! that into their heads" he said, short
ly after.