Martinsburg independent. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1875-1900, 1884-01-05
tNKER HILL LETTER.

Special Correspondence INDEPENDENT.
JANUARY / 1884. The last weeks
issue of the INDEPENDENT indi-
Gates that you and just one half of
your staff officers were taking ad-
vantage of the festive season which
closes to-day. only judge from the
size of the paper. Well, it would be
a difficult matter to guess which
half was on bust, and which half
was waiting to get on one, only
that it is natural to suppose that the
boss always takes the lead on all
important occasions. Who is the
boss /? This question might have
been answered satisfactorily, if l
had been there about the canonical
hour, but then I would have you to
know that this canonical obedience
is not strictly confined to the pre-
cincts of your city, nor to your pro-
fession. but extends widespread in
fluence even to the quiet precincts
of Bunker Hill. About the first
thing we do here of Christmas
morning is to look for our stocking,
hunt up the boss, and manifest our
readiness to obey his mandates.
This we do, not through any desire
to be bold, or that we expect any
favours at his hands, but simply to
show our respect for the boss. Ifhe,
through sympathy or politeness in.
vites us to taste his apple toddy sam
pie his sherry, or try cut of his
cake, we DO not hesitate TO obey;
not through any appetite that we
have for such stuff, but only as a
mark of respect to the man on
whom we look as our superior. We
stick to him until we find something
fresh, something that our appetites
do crave In the shape Of egg-nog,
tom and jerry, or something like
that to sharpen up our olfact0ries,
and when we get the scent Of scol-
Hoped oysters roast-turkey and chick
en- salad, we lay by that chap, let
him be boss or no boss, until some
shrill voice pipes forth that meliflu-
que nalcdye I won't GO home till
mornin' till mornin' till mornin'
n wont 60 home till mornin' till
broad day light" and there that
beautiful and soul-stirring response
from lips emaculate and heart of af-
lection. -"Where in the dickens
have you been cumming ever since
the dawn of Christmas 2" no where
in particular, ma'am (hic) ev'ry
where in gen'a ma'am, (hic) gim'-
me're'rm (hic) mad'm. an I'll
scort'er home (hic-cup). Aside;
"I'llnot tell anybody your off your
pins, (hic) I'll take it all on myself,
(hic). Now sir, this is the way part
of us enjoy our Christmas, / won't
say who, nor how many, but we
know our boss and we'll stick to him
as long as he has drum stick or
drop of lemonade. 1t is day of re-
joicing, some rejoice in one way
some in another, and when a man
woman or child is restrained in
their natural inclinations that en-
joyment is to greater or less degree
destroyed, "Let us eat drink and be
merry" / don't think this scriptur-
al quotation was intended to be con-
strued into anything like intemper
ance, but do think it meant TO sat
isfy the appetite, and to amuse our
selves in any way that our inclina-
tions prompted US, so that we were
not interfering with the pleasures
of others.
We had two beautiful Christmas
trees-one at the Presbyterian; the
other at the Methodist church.
Each S. school enjoyed the tree of
the other, they being held on differ
ent nights, and / am free to say
that everything was in perfect har-
mony. The EXERCISES were con6uc-
ted by the respective ministers, Rev's
Wilson and Wood, they both made
pertinent remarks and gave the chill
dren as well as older heads whole
some lessons to ponder over until
the next Christmas. Never to nv
recollection did enjoy ANYTHING
more than to scan those anxious
faces as each child gazed upon that
tree of presents, and listened with
so much attention to hear their
name drop from their minister's lips
when they would spring forward,
and almost grasp at the coveted
prize ere they reached the spot. l |
almost wished was a child again
just for tonight" The presents
were very nice and appropriate.
Many individual presents were made
and among the rest was the happy
recipient of nice cup and saucer,
from the Presbyterian school for
$50 n.