Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1879-12-25
4 PaWnbIoker as Santa Claus,
BY HAROLD FREDERIC.

tnAC WnlCn come before CHRISTMAS O.
1878, and Boston is never dingier thar
on such days. The common was clad il
q mantle of snow, but it looked mois
and uninviting. The streets all wore
the same livery Of chocolate tinted mud
into which tho big wet nakes melted a
they fell. Over this the heavy drays
groaned laborously, and through it the
swift sleighs cut with EXPERIMENTING
clangor Of clashing bells. Now and
then 4 huge mass Of snow would come
sliding down from q roof above, with q
great splashing as it broke upon the
walk. The streets were thronged. One
was conscious of an air of preparation in
everything. The whirling visions of
liveried coachmen, charming female
faces, and dazzling robes, With their
accompaniment of muthed hoof. beats
and chime Of jingling silver, seemed to
tell Of childish glee on the morrow.
The wonderful throngs Of people which
poured in ceaseless streams up and down
the central arteries Of the city, bore
with it the inspiration Of coming Christ
mss. The chimes to the west of the
Garden were ringing out Joyous notes
Butcher boys lodged through the crowd
with suggestive bundles, out of which
protruded long black claws which limited
1T toothsome pleasures. There was the
clerk from Milk street with a superb
Lougfellow under his arm which had
cost weeks wages, and which was to
60 to serious schoolmistress, who had
written:
lives Of great men all remind US, etc..
on the puce- colored page in his autograph
book; here the CHEEKY mother fastening
for the Brighton car, her arms loaded
with parcels, and her eyes cleaning with
here the pretty schoolgirl, there the
doting OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES faces
upon which the coming dav had set its
seal of hope and happiness.
No, not everywhere. Here is little
girl slowly crossing the Common, upon
whose thin features there rests only the
signet of sorrow. She is scantily clad.
Her bent, ragged shoes sink into the
drenching snow at every step. Her dress
is old and rent. She is tiny creature,
with face 60 wan and pale that one
sees only two great brown eyes, red and
which tell PiIeuus ~.ls: I. l. Eat an
tho P.aaasr.hy, each eager with thoughts
Of what the morrow brings for him.
Though the day is mild, she finds it cold
Her fingers, as they meet about a bulky
bundle in her arms, look painfully red.
The others have Joys of their own.
Let US 60 with the little one.
The cracked bell il Bowdoin SQUARE
rings out a ghostly six o'clock az che
comes to the end Of her journey. Our
little one stops in front of tall, dismal
house of dingy brick, with q narrow
black door at one side. The rest is given
over to a pawnbroker, whose rusty wares
are sprawled behind the stained and III
lighted panes in unattractive chaos,
She opens the narrow door and is lost in
the darkness of the hallway. Shall We
follow her.
Paint to yourself an attic long, low
and dark, with two small windows which
look out upon dull outline of irregular
roofs, against gray sky. We are in the
tenement part of the CITY now and the
roofs are hung with squalid garments,
depending straight and motionless in
tho wet air. BY the aid of q candle
which our little one places upon the
bare table, We can look about. There is
no carpet upon the floor. In one end
stands stove, q poor tumble down affair.
into the crate of which her numb finp.
ers are laying paper and splinters Of
wood from an old barrel stave. There
is big basket of linen, smaller one
with 90, = chair, q wooden bench upon
which stands q tub, q soap box with a
cover and an old chest, such as sailors
use. That is all. "
Josephine-so our little oneis baptised
takes from the box smallish piece of
bread, and eats, standing meanwhile by
the stove and warming her hands over
the: now roaring fre. Az she stands
thus, we can see that she has womsnly
face. The nose and chin are childish
enough, and the head is almost iufantile
Ia form. But the eyes are old and large
and serious. The light from the broken
CRATE shines. upon her bare feet. They
look tar more comfortable than the old
wet ones. 3: @S':F"j i''':.i - r..
Supper over, the girl opens the un,
conthz bundle and sorts over its couteutz
swiftly, dumping them into the tub one
by one: STheR : cloth IL zspreadz upon
the table md the. work of ironin9 ~.
gins. Mwih last until midnighs. q,
she sta9ds lpon the. chsltt, bending oyei
her labo, the ysIloW fiji, framin1 he,
baby hsad, It nsl leave 6sI. she isnsven
used e aoiMda 9h6 Il twelve yesrl
old, and saa ssned her brad 8 many
In the room two stories below, there il
also 4 solitary figure. a mo1e CHEEKY
figure, stout and glowing with health, il
that of Aaron Ashermayer, who sits bv
. sraae. resdisE His book, = Hebrew
volane bfackswitA age, he holds far III
front q his EYES which glisten through
his specfscles Ike ascat'a.s x1atstrss s,,,isg
Aaron fsoe is pleasing one to study.
It IL . thoroughly Jewish face broad.
short and 4 ,rid. The nose is lsrxa. and
enjoys The tradillonal hawk,lfks bend
The forehead IL that Of . scholar-wide