davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
, 1889-12-26
THE DAY WITH THE POOR
IN NEW YORK.

The feasting is not confined TO the
mansions of the rich and the homes of
the poor. Those TO whom homes, by
reason of misfortune, are unknown, are
provided for either by public institutions
or private benevolence. There Is
scarcely u relief, or reformatory, institu-
tion In the metropolis which does not
set forth an unusually good dinner for
its beneficiaries, or inmates, on Christ
mas day. The Department Of Public
Charities and Correction, which cares for
more unfortunates thun any other New
York institution, provides O genuine
Christmas dinner for the inmates
prisons under its charge. The Chill
thirty lodging-houses and schools for
juveniles, does it's best to make the
little ones known to II to remember the
Christmas season with pleasure. Beside
the work of the great corporate institu-
tions In this direction there are Christ
mas dinners and Christmas exercises at
each of the mission houses and other
smaller organizations, and by public
contribution many deserving poor peo-
pie are provided with clothing or other
means of remembering the day, moro
substantial than any nero dinner. Most
of the great newspapers Of the city call
upon their readers to forward Christ mas
contributions for the poor, and so In
dozens Of directions the organized effort
to spread the Christmas rejoicing and
benevolence Is carried on. In addition
TO this organized work no little good is
accomplished through private bencvo-
lence.
, 1889-12-26
"BeboldI Bri39 You Good 6idi39s Of GrQat Joy

at amt much, Mickey" she said,
"but. may the good saints make 1t taste
as relishin' as II twas rs big as barn
and cooked In gowld skillet"
Therel were five charter members OF
the dinner party. so to speak. "Rocks"
$50 named from his manner of defend
ing himself In his frequent Scraps }
y little bundle, which was undone with
duo ceremony. When piper" came in
he stopped u minute Just inside the
threshold and held the door open while
he beckoned to some one on the outside
"C'mon ill.," said ho. "rhe fcllers ii
be glad ter see YER"
Then there entered little fellow not
moro than years old. He was very
much embarrassed and held his fingers
to his lips. Piper, by way of introduc-
ton, said
"F'ellcrs-and Suze-this ERE little
cove" (Piper himself was big cove,
having seon thirteen years, and being
the oldest member of the dinner partly
"is comm TO our Crismuss. He's just
amt got no Doodle. Tsa takin' care o.
him till he gifts started. Soel"
For minute an embarrassed silence
hung over the little group Then the
little people opened their hearts to the
newcomer land they were big. hearts for
such very small bodiesl and he was one
OF the dinner party.
"You see" said Piper. 1--WE fellers and
Suze had heard a lot bout Crismuss,
We don know 'gzac'ly what 1t is, but we
do know that every body, wot is any
body, has Crisnuss dinner. So we
les' chippcd In, and-and" (waving his
hand around the room) here y are"
"Dut amt Clipped in" said the new
conner.
"Well, wot If y amt. Y can mex
time" SO that was settled.
Suze in the meantime had produced
pail from somewhere, and an old stew
pan from somewhere else, and some
broken crockery from still another
place.
YOU'LL make tho coffee and warm
the cabbage and meat, darlint,' said
Mickey. TYez are the only woman
here"
So Suze went at it,
1t wasn't long before everything was
ready, and they gathered around the
box. The savory odor from the coffee
pot and stowpan ha,l tickled the twelve
little nostrils, and the six mouths were
's eager to taste the poor little dinner us
ever yours was to pick your succulent
Christmas turkey bones.
They fell to at once.
I'm fraid the coffee amt very good,
said Suze. But she smiled the satisfied
smile that every housewife smiles while
decrying her own daintics. and was as
pleased as you ever were, my fine lady,
IN similar circumstances, when Rocks
exclaimed in answer:
"Einern Delmonico's, I'll bet"
Before very long the dinner had been
eaten. They sat around and talked for
awhile, and the little 6-year-old fell
asleep with his head on Sues knees,
and her fingers passed lovingly over the
little fellows dirty forehead, and by and
by she leaned over and kissed him.
The tallow candle burned low in its
green bottle candlestick, and when
Piper rose and dueried
"Well, fellers--and Suzc-has we had
u merry Crsmuss2" A iervent "You
betp' Went from the mouth of every one
but the 6-year- old, and he smiled In his
sleep.
The dinner party was over
, 1889-12-26
OLD ENGLISH CHRISTMAS
SAWS.
from Table Talk.l

from Table Talk,l
After Christmas comes Lent.
A light Christmas, a heavy sheaf
Now's now, but Yule's in winter.
A Yule feast may be quit at Pasch.
They keep Christri las all the year.
He hath eaten many q Christmas pie.
Christmas, long looked for, comes at
last.
A white Easter bringeth green Christ
mas.
"A black Christmas maketh a fat
churchyard.
Itsmells of muscadel like an English
Christmas.
st. Andrew the King, three weeks and
three days before Christmas comes in.
The devil makes his Christmas pie Of
lawyers tongues and clerks fingers.
He that maketh at Christmas his dog
larder and in March his pig his gard
ener, and In May TOOL u hecper Of wise
counsel, he shall never have good
larder, fair garden nor well-kept counsel.
Christmas comes but once ayear,
And when II comes It brings good cheer.
At Christmas time, or q little after.
A crab In the hedge, and thanks TO the
CRATER.
Bounce, buckrsm, velvet's dear,
Christmas comes but once year.
II Christmas day on Sunday fall,
a troublous winter we shall have all;
II Christmas on n Monday be
Then great winter we shall SEQ
, 1889-12-26
CHRISTMAS NOVELTIES.


II Is said that n stocking has been in.
vented which will hold drum and a
bobsled.
A toy dealer guarantees to deliver
presents at the house without the small
boy seeing them.
climable Christmas tree will be con
sidcred one Of the most useful inyen-
tions by fathers who have q houseful of
boys.
One of the most ingenious novelties
OF the year is contrivance to keep the
youngsters eyes closed when Santa
Claus is making his visit.
A lovers thermometer fills q long-fclt
want A young man has only to test
the warmth Of his girls affection to
learn whether she expects q watch and
chain or only box of bon-bons.
Optical illusion has at last been
adapted to a practical purpose. A
Frenchman has invented u device which
makes pretty girl fail to see she is
standing under the mistletoe until it is
too late.
A new skate will be on the market
this year. The inventor claims IL can
be put ON in half the time that other
styles take. Those who have watched a
young man put ON his best girls skates
will not feel disposed to dispute this
claim.
"Yorick," said the king, as he handed
the Jester a roll Of gold pieces, 'have
AYE, mary, that I have" rejoined
the jester, May your presents never
"Ha, har' roarcd the king, "that is
new indeed" !" and SO it was, dear reader,
in the year 1917.
"See that nice mistletoe, kiss for
every berry and q hundred berries. I"
whispered Hugo de Bleondard to his
lady love.
Berry nice" whispered the high-born
damsel.
please your Majesty, the Yule log
wal ked away last night" whispered a
frightened slave to the African king,
Bumbum, on the Christmas eve of I'LL.
ut was boa constructor which lac mis-
took for a log"
"Sol" roared his Nibs; "tlien use yon-
der traveller for the log; he will cele-
brate in grand Style" And that was
why the first explorer to that part OF
Africa never returned.
"Horati0." remarked Hamlet on the
ramparts OF the castle on that memora-
BILE Christmas; 'if Ophelia hangeth not
up her stocking she gets no gift from
me-"
''Good Hamlet, economical forever"
chuckled his friend; "thou sayest the
price of tho gift for thou knowest stock
ings have not been invented yet"
Hist, disturb not the queenV' whis-
| persd an attendant at the door Of Eliza
beth's study.
"Ha, caitiffl and whyf" inquired Sir
Walter Raleigh, with an impatient
stamp.
''Because, my lord, she is busy dictat-
ing her autograph to the learned clerk
| sbe will distribute the same on the NOR.
row ~ her Christinas gift--and she de-
sireth peace"
"Why all this funeral gloom about
tho castle ON the eve Of the blessed holy
dsyT inquired the duke, impatientiy.
"My lord, sobbcd the steward, "Vic.
toria, our queen, has but to-day learned
that 6anta Claus Is . myth"
, 1889-12-26
THE STOCKING.

II. NJ. Gregory in Judged
Now blessings on the full-archcd foot,
the stocking to the toe,
The gracious amplitude above, the
daintiness below!
Not ever yet web too small to hold the
overflow
Of Christmas gift and Christmas heart
since centuries ago.
Not ever yet heart so small 1t yielded
not the cheer,
To fill the soul the stocking means at
Christmas time of year.
That dame who knit by candle light had
lovers Just as dear,
As lovers of the girl who wears her stock
ings nearer here.
That good old story winds its way the
centuries along,
And makes the warp and woof of heart
IN story and in song:
The Christmas stocking holds its own
for good, and, short or long,
II is the horn of plenty and its richness
ne'er goes wrong:
The old girl and the little one, the large
boy and the small,
NJ ust hang theiI stockings by the fire or
tack them on the wall;
The Saviour reiGns to-day, always; His
glories all enthral,
And the God who reigns above Him, He
Is the God of all.
The knitting of that older girl has run
down, toe and heel;
The modern ways have seen II out, with
that old spinning wheel;
But hearts are just as young as when the
Father set lis seal
On that small boy of bethlehem to
whom we all are leal.
The Christmas stocking kicks the moon
with its convivial toe;
"Look down on me-" It says, "and
bring your heavenly rays below"
And Christmas gift and Christmas
prayer are one and one, and so
Each stocking shall be bounteous from
Iimh IN m iatlatae
, 1889-12-26

thoroughly Tiny Tins petition, "God
bless us all every onel" There are few
among those who are now celebrating
Christmastide who did not feel a tight
cning at the heart strings at the passage
God bless us all every one," said Tiny
Tim last ofall.
He sat very close to his fathers side,
upon his little stool. Bob held his with
cred little hand in his, as If he loved the
child and wished to keep him by his
side and dreaded that he might be taken
from him.
Spirit, said scrooge, with an inter
est he had never felt before, 'tell mo if
Tiny Tim will live?"
II see u vacant seat" replied the
Ghost, in the poor chimney corner, and
cructh without an ow ner, carefully pre-
served. IL these shadows remain un-
altered by the future the child will die"
just how much sorrow this prophecy
has brought to the lovers of Tiny Tim.
who accepted II in all faith, it would be
hard to say. How we have followed
Scrooge throughout ntil he was brought
back to human condition again, it is
needless to tell. Tho tale never grows
old. But the christmas CAROL is too
well known now to discuss. II formed
more than popular appreciation at the
outset. Jeflreys, whose criticisms were
worth something, wrote:
Blessings on your kind heart! You
should be happy yourself, for you may
be sure you have done more good by
this little publication, fostered more
kindly feelings, and prompted more acts
of beneficence than can be traced to all
the pulpits and confessionals in Chris.
tendon since 1842.
And Thackeray, his great contempor-
ary, called the Carol" "a national ben
eft and to every man or woman who
reads it a personal kindness" Writers
have come and gone since first Dickens
wrote his christmas Carol" but he still
remains as it were the guardian of
Christmas time. He enjoyed his Christ
mas stories as well as his readers did
and do, as is apparent for in his books
every character whom Dickens loves
loves Christmas and all its jollity, too,
and every one who does not love Christ
mas is thoroughly fiouted.
Few are the writers, great and small
who have not dipped into Christmas
literature. But, since Dickens waved
his magic wand and changed our CON
ception of Christmas, as IL should be ::
since he drew Scrooge, Tiny Tin, Bob
Cratchit, the Seven Moor Travellers and
all the others who drift through his
Christmas stories and sketches, there
has been no question as to the position
of Dickens among those who have at
tempted to write of Christmas. He is
pre-eminently the first of them all, tho
genuine wizard of Christmas.
, 1889-12-26
A HUMBLE CHRISTMAS DIN
NER.
Now York Mini and Exnres.. /


There was not very much ON the table
in fact, II wasn't very much of table,
being made of dry goods box stood on
its side. The room belonged to the
grocer, but he had told them they could
have the use OF II for Christmas night.
In the corner there was little cracked
stove, which was SO hot that 1t shone
like big lump Of Christmas cheer In the
semi-darkness.
Pretty soon ''Swipcsy" came In out Of
the roar of the city street. He had few
unsold papers under one arm and a
small-a very small-bundle under the
other. With him was his sister Suze.
They were orphans, trying 10 make
their own way. She had had good luck
anu had sold all her papers. She took
what was LEFT Of "Swipcsy's" stock and
spread nice clean paper over ths dry
goods box. Then lac unrdiled his
bundle.
"Oh, Swipesyi" said the girl.
There was can Of cooked corncd bcei
and little box OF figs.
Pretty soon the Others began 70 come
In. There was Mickey" with little
pocket of coffee, some sugar and (whas
luck) some cabbage tina. the apple wo-
man ON ,he corner had cooked and given
him with big iears in her honest, Iris h
eyes when he told her about the dinner.
, 1889-12-26
The
Christmas
Wizard.
Charles Dickens the Man, and
His influence Is With
Us Still.

Lg now is como our j99yiurst feast!
Each roome with with yyvie leaves is drest,
And every post with holly.
Now all o1r.neighbors chimneys smoke
Their ovens they with bak'd meats choke,
And All their spits are turning.
Without the door let sorrow lie,
And II for cold 1t hap TO die
Well bury I in a Christmas pie,
--wlthers' Juvenilia.
There is a good ring in this old song
that is appropriate to this time. Some
Of the good old customs of Christmas
times that are past and gone are all too
little known to us now The Yule log is
all too little burned now, the old wassail
bowl is not passed around as of old; the
boars head, all bedecked with bays and
rosemary, would seem barbaric to the
young American of to-day, all corrupted
Is he or she is by turkey and cranberry
Sauce. Even the ivy green is not so
green as 1t once was Mt Christmas, and
fair maids are not kissed under the mis-
tletoe, as they were in merrier days Of
Old England. The Waits no longer sing
under our windows and the masques
and murmurs are unknown. In fact. it
might seem that we might say with the
character in the Hue and Cry after
Christmas:"
But is old, old, good old Christmas
Sone2 Nothing but the hair of his good
aid head and beard left? Well, l will
have that, seeing can not have more of
him.
1t is a long time since those lines were
written and from them IL would seem
that Father Christmas was outwardly at
least very old and correspondingly
feeble. However, this is q peculiarity
that the old gentleman has. There was
= time when he was in even worse
ptraits. This was more than two cen-
luries ago, when that august body, the
English house of parliament, after seri.
pus debate and careful consideration OF
divine writ, solemnly abolished Christ
mas day.
1t is now forty-fve years since Charles
Dickens wrote Prof FELTON,, one of his
friends in America, a letter from which
the following is an extract:
Now. IL instantly. on the receipt of
this you will send free and indcpend-
ent down to tho Cunard wharf at Boston
md in that parcel you will ind a
"Christmas carol in prose, being a
short story for Christmas by Charles
Dickens. Over which Christmas carol
Charles Dickens wept and laughed and
wept ngain, and excited himself i'm a
most extraordinary manner In the com
position, and thinking whereof he
walked about the bleak streets of Lon
don tifteen and twenty miles man, a
night when all the sober folks had gone
to bed. Its success is something
prodigious, and by every post all manner
Of strangers write all manner Of letters
10 him about their homes and hearths
and how this same carol IL read aloud
there and kept ON little shelf by itself.
Indeed, II In tho greatest success, as
sm told, that this rutlian and rascal has
= ever achieved.
As 10 the success Of that story We
know now more than Dickens himself
could have dreamed. There Is no child
who has no: seen Mnrlcy's Ghost.
There is none Who has not shuddercd at
TIE shadow OF an imaginary Scroogc.
nor is there any one who dogs not know
, 1889-12-26
YUDE TIDE.
[EnglIsh Illustrnted Mapazlne

tEnglish Illustrated Magazine.l
Come, all good folks, in roundelay
upraise a joyful stave,
As best may serve this Christmas day.
For gallant and for knave.
The churlish wind his course has sped
Through bracken and through brier.
And vagrants all are i'll bested
That lack winters fire.
So lip the bowl, each thirsty soul.
And pledge in brimming toast
The eyes we love all eyes above,
While winter rules the roast.
The drift is out both East and West.
Bv moor, and break, and fell,
Then speed the revels with the best,
And craft and care dispel.
With ale and spice the beaker fill
To keep old friends in mind,
And bid to-morrow's bode of i'll
Go whistle down the wind.
Then hands about In laughing rout
Beside the blazing Yule,
Aud foot 1t light in gay despite
OF graybeard winters rule,
So here's health. stout gossips all,
To simple men and true;
And let false rogues, both great and
small,
Their evil deeds cschew.
May no light word Of i'll intent
Invade your wonted cl,ser,
For Yule tide well and wisely spent
Shall bring brave New Year.
Come. sing we then, good gentlemen,
A gladsotnc roupdolay,
For mirth is right for Christmas night,
Which none shall dare gainsay.
, 1889-12-26
THE DRUMSTICK.
lTom Masson.l

Tom Masson.l
Behold my rotund wealth of meat,
With all its juices, rich and sweet.
How firm how solid are my parts,
And how go straight to the hearts
OF children, with distcnded jaws,
In wait to hide me in their maws.
All how love to lie In state
Upon the table, while you wait,
With eager eyes and teeth that burn,
Until it comes to be your turn.
How crisp my skin, and oh, how brown,
And how tickle going down;
And then, my bone. oh what delight,
10 pick it clean and white.
How would you like. on Christmas Day,
To tramp till noon, and then we'll say,
To come back home, we'll almost starved,
And find me waiting, nicely carved!
Between your finger and your thumb
You hold me up thus yum, yum, yum !
tickle every nerve, thrill
Your stomachs, and fill the bill,
And with all men nothing lack
In fact, l have the inside trackl
, 1889-12-26
INASMUGH.
A Christmas story.

ROBERT BRUCE.
You say you gulch
with pour ooks9 Wen me down for share
ranch at and see the cattle feed
proachin' tooby mon for preachm' born,
who let alone the ehuskso of fcreeda
And they twas to manse that the star Of Of glory led
III subscribe dollar toward tho manger and the stas
/ the best I've got whenever partner calls
No matter about you understand,
generally from rather hand
I've struck rich for farming you see, is Slow
whenever the fairly good the prices always low
isn't much, but helps to count the samoi
trump supports sometimes the
1t assists fellows praying when he's down upon his knees
"lnamuch ye have done 1t to ono of the least of these
know the verses stranger so you needn't stop to quote
ri tell you where learned hem youu step in from the n
Twas down in Frisco ago-had been there hauling
was lust h eferry,on the Sacame
sheds rather mixed and snanto scattern like
Not the ikelies place to be in remember the saloon
And this made up ,, the hair was not then gray
little girl with hasgad face stood at the counter there
And of raspy cold
Jus Just tho tone you % find n a children who are DID,
She hopes next week to work again and buy us all some
We've been hafstarved all winter but spring will be hcre
And she tells U.S. Keep courage for God always near"
Just then dozen men came I'M the boy was called away
shake the spotted cubes for drinks Forty
never heard from human lips such oatlr and curses loud
But the tired girl sat waiting lost last to
On keg beside barrel in the corner fast asleep
Well, stood there of waiting until a
"Helloi say, stranger thavey you overth
The boy then tod her story and that crew. SO fierce and wild
All day pouring whisky drinking deep our Christmas cheer
Here's two dollars I've feelings which entirely
dollar. "Hes lin
And they pnked the down
Then the spokesman took golden eegale from his belt
Softly and beside
girl dreaming
One by the warthy miners passed silence the
Gently awoke the sleeper, but she started to her
With was
nerosesgr
wear;
looked and the her gstening bright
"Wel, believe
where
have also angel cekng grocery
which to
to pointing clear.
of subscription will m
mark oil that dollar think I'll
, 1889-12-26
GLOW OF THE YULE LOG.

Come, bring with anoise,
THe Tbrlsi,nas loo IN ib.c burning,
While my good dame she
bius yeaii DC free ,o.,r,,n
-sIicrrlck.
oh now many American hearths VIII
the yuie log biaac on christmas hight
PROBABLY ON few.
IL is good OLD custom, the burning oi
the Christmas log, but like many otnei
good OLD customs, one now observed Dy
Snioii minority OIL our people.
4" 'hese Gays Oh neat py steam, oy
gus, natural ana arti1ciai' anu oy o'he'
means o, similar eharac'er' tho goou'
honest name Oh the sturdy yuie iog
wouiu look s'ranBe. Many OF us woui''
nov SNOW what 10 make OF Tive VINO
na'e never seen one Oh those great oiu
hrepiaces Gown which santa Claus
h'Rnt uriVe iour reihueers abreast with-
OUT tiear that the horns OF MS goou charg.
ers would be scratched, and around
which O whole family might sit on
Christmas Eve. telling stories of Christ
nooyas nas, and ia,in, ,,iar. cor ,ho.a 30
oa." ' f'' "''' '"' '"s P'"'' i0' '"''' "
come,
mas found no substitute for the yule
log, without which no old-time Christ
mas festival was complete, In fact.
manv of ma do not know what tho vnIc
loo ,,,os RI, no, %, 4, ,,,a ,,,,," ,o', So,
o s"1 u,o .oe io' so'
zen IN England. Win the slowhess ana
dislike OF giving up old customs, always
characteristic of the Briton, he still
burns tho "ponderous ashen favot from
,h. ,,ardn "a o,.ra,,i,,, ,,,,r.oa i,s a.
VIZ s"' '''' N"'e'u''y ''"'' '.s 10 '",he
rom Cnristnian Eve until twelfth
Night,
lie still clings to his old superstitious
concerning IL. If q squinting person
comes near # there il IN luck niyh.
tn ere is dire disaster likely to fall upon
the house. And in the olden days how
corsrnlIv was the hu,e loo os wood n,
roo, Of :omo % oroa, ,reo % c,rri.a g INTO ,ba he
root Oh soine great tree carried ihto the
baronial halls of some of the lords Of the
land on the shoulders of stout rotainers
and deposited in the great, gaping fire.
place.
IL was an honor even to light 1t with
brand from last years log, and once
lighted none was too great to do 1t revcr-
ence, to care for it and to see that dur
ing the time allotted its flame should be
ing trunk Of the forest monarch, some
times still further lit up by Christmas
candles, what singing, what feasting,
what merriment there WASP Around il
to the frumenty (boiled porridge with
milk, sugar, wine, spices and raisins)
was served, and before 1t the Christmas
pie was eaten. or this pie of Yorkshire,
the "bra' goose" pie, Herrick has sung
as follows:
Come Gucri this night the Christmas pie,
, 1889-12-26
THE GROWTH OF THE OBJ
SERvANCE.
New York Mail and Kxprcss.l

INoW Aoth <u0h ohu R~P'onS.l
It seems certain TINT Christmas, as
the anniversary Of Christ's birth. was
observed ~ far back - the fourth CEN
tury. But we have few details Of the OBJ
servancc. and It Is not until we come TO
the era whose customs are preserved to
us in song and ballad that we can dis
cover many details Of the festivities at
tcndant upon the time. We learn that
tho good King Arthur and his Knights
Of the Round Table made merry at the
Christmas season, feasting being their
principal method of observing the day,
as became such body Of worthless.
William the ConQusror duly OBJ
served Christmas, and since his
time the more or less formal observ-
ance Of the day has bscn uninterrupted.
In the oldeu times, before The Christian
era, che innumcrnble gods and goddssses
OF mythology had played important
parts In the fostivals of their believers.