Little Falls transcript. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1876-1894, 1884-01-25

CHRISTMAS IN BOH
Wilt @ the Yanlt Lilo tIls
S Corpses 81 the Kris Eve IS
Spent Bohemian Castles.
s1 CAs1nE MA noUssEA peolaI Corresponds
Eence, Dec week before, Ghristmas
found l,s ct the most d6lightfuI hotels In
the bohemian capita, and hereswe. remained
fora weak Words. cannot describe, the beau
~ OF the city shop wind oWs, nth their
Sspecialttes ot 8 Bohemia. 81 gaInet Jew
elry, and s exquisitely oelored M glass
Gloves made ragne n 81 are cer-.
tainly the most dellcatelN elastic and
perfect ftdng Ii the world and more than
4 halt the lovely PARIS gloves 20 sought
after by our rosebuds Of. fashion, are made;
in Bohemia andisent to, the Fnench capital,
where they receive the trade mark Of French
houses The wonderful bohemian glass,
especially that red, gold permeated color, is
dazzlingl beautiful Thaisecret Of making
it is known only in; the.noSal glass works OF
this city, but none Of the operatives, or en-
ployes even, know what is mixed with the
red coloring matter of the glass to give it its
sunny radiance; some say it is molten gold,
but the chemist-inrchief is silent, and CON
lectures pass! around him unheeded. Shop
ping and glass works have not
filed all ou1 time. Remembering
the lovely drives around Beraun and
it's neighboring villages, we took the express
thither one morning, and ordered convey
ance to take us to the Krisbek family vault.
It is q strange sight-that of father, mother,
six children and an old nurse, lying upon
pine boards in the crypt OF their village
church, where they were buried in silver COT
fms nearly thousand years ago That is
the story. Many hundred years since-but
how many even our guide, a priest, could
not tell us-au Czecks who would not bow.
down before certain usurper were sent into.
exile. The patriotic Krisbeks, however,
rather than leave their native land, took
poison One son, having a lady love who had
escaped to England, refused the poison and
followed his fiance. What the poison
could have been Is the riddle Of chemists,
ANTAGONISTS and physicians to the present Gay.
The bodies turned into the consistency and,
color Of leather, and there they lie, dressed
as dn life, in the dimly lighted chapel vault.
You can take their leathery hands in yours;
you feel no bones, but just mass of yielding
muscle. One of the bodies is that of q baby
only few months old. 1t looks like
leather doll, it's fat little face upturned as if
calmly sleeping, it's dimpled hands folded
over it's heart, and its tiny feet crossed under
it's short linen dress. The priest who showed
us these bodies allowed Sweet Fern to lift
the baby; it's head fell softly down on her
shoulder, and arms and legs be-
came as flexible as those of
living sleeping child When the rightful
Czeckish king was again on the throne, these
bodies We're put in solid silver collins, and
tom of mourning, were kept burning in the
vault where they lay for many years. The
parish becoming reduced to great poverty,
the silver sconces that held the candles were
melted up and coined, and a few years after,
when famine desolated the land, the cofins
bread for the poor. About six years ago, SO
our priestly guide told us, all English gentle
man registered at the village as eCrisbeck
RENTER aus England" spent many
hours talking to the rector E. Of the tn
bodies But no results ensued from this
conference. Gossip says the Englishman
tried to prove relationship with the krisbeks,
but above all things desired them to be re-
specially buried; but he failed to impress
the rector with the idea that such burial
would be the proper thing, SO there they lie,
in their tleplorably sad @state upon table like
biers, while the parish children look down
upon them from the n-latticed windows
of the crypt and the money offered by
strangers from other lands, who come to touch
and lift the leather-like corpses, is source
of revenue to the poor Of the parish.
CHRISTMAS FESTIVITIES.
The day before Christmas we left the
hotel and iOnrnnVinU EOuthWHr1 from
Prague, reached our present abode
under the Marousskau the hill of silence and
rest. The Bohemian is far colder than
Austrian winters, but this year the climate
hills we had hoped to see are great bouquets
of frs and frosted twigs Germany, the land
Of the Cristmas tree has given it's method of
celebration to all continental nations The
eve of Christmas is the proper time for the
|krisbaum" to be lighted, and although a
tivaL Every family has it's own stree"
consequently visiting among neghbors on
that evening is unknown; guests from other
cities, or strangers who have acquaintances
in the city may be invited to Christmas
tree party, but IT., it is 81 not ia, en- affair
per serving as in England Here
at the castle last evening the tree was
placed in the center of the great Rittersaal,
used on festivals as the dining hall A fir
tree twelve feet high, with 600 candles,
which it took six experienced lighters" to
poles, to keep from incendiary danger, is a
sight worth seeing, especially when fine
spider-ike webs of bright gold tinsel thread
CLEAN among the branches and diamond
powder glistens On all the boughs. Gifts for
which formed tie pedestal-iike support
for the tree, and this platform,
covered with light blue flannel spangled
with silver stars, was in itself lovely.
Small tables grouped near the great fire.
places at either end Of the room, and covered
with shining silver or gold damask brocade,
contained gifts for the guests, such as deli
cate flower vases crosses OF bracelets of
garnet, music with autograph of composer,
and baskets of bisque filed with flowers.
Needle-woEk. paintings or drawings, in short
the family are kept in the family, that is
presented to each other Sweet Fern who
has made an exquisite sketch in oils of the
Marousskau at sunset, placed it in bronze
frame upon an easel OF ebony and bronze
which 7 had ordered for it from Vienna, and
covering the picture with dark green Cloth
upon which were thickly pasted lilies and
palm ferns, we placed it behind the baron's
chair and persuaded several of the lady
guests to group themselves around it SO as
to hide it from view until our host should be
seated. s''
THE GIVING OF GIFTS.
The children's governess gave the chords
of the hymn Adeste, Ndeles upon the organ
in the library, and Instantly every voice in
the castle took up the song as they formed
into procession, led by the children, and
marched toward the Rittersaal, whose
doors stood !. widely opened With
hands Joined we encircled the
tree and sang II the, beautiful Latin
verses as far as the words avocate pastores,"
and then the window was thrown open, and
starligat perhaps as glorious as that seen by
hundred years ago, formed a background OF
regal splendor to the brilliantly lighted tree.
AS the. hymn ended, the family chaplain