Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1890-12-13

Much that occurred cannot be described
but may be imagined from the fact that
in Abyssania the average female re-
CARDS the imputation of virtue as an i'm
plioation that she is not gooi-looking
enough to attract the attention OF men,
Far different is the Christmas of the
Russian exiles in the far-of mines OF
SsghalIeu, that island in the Northern
Pacific, " ich is the Siberia Of Siberia,
to which convicts are banished for whom
Siberian methods are believed to be too
lenieut. The worse convicts in that
wretched Island, bleak and iuhospitable
az any on the Asiatio coast, ami in Rus
sian interprs tation the worse convicts
are generally the best OF their class,
political offenders, suspected agitators,
men aud women who have been guilty of
aspiring for free aud constitutional
government are never permitted TO see
the ligh. of the sun, except on the lead
ing holidays, of which Christ mas is one
and the birthday Of the Car is another.
Few voices have ever reached the out
side worli from the hopeless hades
Ssghlieu, and what little we know is
gathered chiefly through Information
passed from convict TO convict and ut
length reaching some free country by the
escape of victim OF Russian oppression.
On Christmas morning the prison.
ers, who sleep below the ground,
are awakened by the guards and
told to prepare for the day.
This they do by drawing their rags
around them, and STUN bling after their
keepers TO the upper air. As they ap-
proach the sky they have to shield their
eyes from the light, and at first they
staggsr like drunken men. They are
marched into the rude quarters provided
for the detention Of prisoners above
ground, and there an extra ration of
bread is distributed to them. The re-
ligous serv ices begins, and lasts through
the greater part of the day, being varied
by dinner at which an extra allowance
of meat is served. In the evening the
wretches are again led underground amy
who show reluctance being stimulated
with the knout of the bayouet. Then
their weary toni Is resumed, to be inter-
rupted only by death or the next holiday.
The Assyrian Christians, who live al
most isolated from the Western world
and the eastern regions of Asatic
Turkey, have lovely custom on the
early morning of Christmas. They all
repair from their dwellings to the open
Dir, and wait for the morning star to rise.
hHilIug its advent with deep devotion.
In that land Of cloudless skies the
heavens present spectacle difficult to
imagine, and the joggy north, and the
scene, as these simple and faithful be-
levers stani or kneel outside their
homes, looking toward the blue, star
spgngled vault above. is we'll fitted to in
spIre devotion. 1t ia only of late years
that these poor Assyrisns have had any
freedom in their religious rites, but now
they enjoy com parative liberty. Christ
mas, among these people, is the great day
for match making. 1t is the only day in
the year when the various families
mingle in common festivity, and the
young folks, Of both sexes, have an op-
portunity to meet each other. The
daughter OF manageable age looks for
ward with longing for Christmas, when
she may have chance to clasp the hand
OF the youth. Whose good looks and win
ming ways have won her heart; and none
the less ardently does the boy lover long
for the sacred morning to dawn, when
he can freely ovow his feelings to the
choice of his affections. Hence Christ
mas among the Assyrians is d day of re-
joicings, apart from its holy character.
Soon after Christmas the engagements
are announced; but weddings do not