Evening capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1888-1893, 1890-12-24
Christmas Before the War.

From Barper's Bazaar.
Before the war Christmas WAS one
day OF all days, or rulh,ra pastoral
Saturnalia that set du | care at de.
hahce. From Christmas day Ia
Twelfth-night-porulurly known as
"o'd thtisimusn--thc only work
dohc Was that Of charity or neces.
siiy. December was taken up with
getting ready for the holidays. Axes
rang merri'y Mt every wood side;
wagons piled high with oak aud
hickory logs cut deep ruls IN tie soft
pianialiun iouds, aud at last made
them quagniirvs. Sometimes the
wood-pile covered half an acre.
Children white and black took
peri'"us rides on the loug plant
-aplines projecting from each end
When 1t came To be cut into fir,
lengl hs there was fun indeed. I he
choppers raced one with nuotl er
On the hig hickory bnck-l"gs they
showed dark, pr,spiring .ilboueiies
IN half rims If cleaning steel. So
rapid were their ne lions that the
eye quite lost the outline of axe aud
arm. That, of cculse, only through
the race; hut all day the big ], IS
nIened into tire-wmd that wa.
stacked and piled at the front and
hack doors. Wood sheds are IN.
known there, but the saddle h. us.
was half filled with clean, new,
sweet sniel ing CHI $ to kiudIe fires
with If there came rain or snow.
Picking them up was the chi,dr NJ
part. Wh.n the saddle. house bank
got higher than their small heads,
they tegan to pile them In the
Kitchen, where black nanny was
nuking Christmas cake. Each has
H. tIul WAS worth II lump of sugar.
not the tustelcss white sugar of tl.is
'ra; hut Il generous bit us tig a, youl
list from the heart of the LorsleaG
live, coarse grained, brown sweet
ne>s that was not II month away
rom its native Louisiana plantation
Of G. ur-e there WAS w.ite sugar ful
rost ny and 81 on.
All houses wele open houses
rbe young folk went nightly from
me To another To dance or play tln
I'D fashioned ring games. NheI
New Years cani-. the most siou.
Matched it in with hS mns an,
prayers. Those hot So pious dalced
lie old year cut, and slept deepl!
,htO the muIning of the new on,
So time flew Velvet winged til
came. There was
title dan"ing or play upon il, par,l!
,ecause of wearness, more hecnuse
Everybody wanted to lie fresh foI
he Ssh of January balls. "Jnckson's
Day" ranked with the Fourth OF
July. Wlaoso did not honor il was
indeed, So cards and
l,n slion gaines engaged he merry
makers until midnight struck. III Ell
verybody scrambled after liant, ri
+arer Ia the COW zen IL find Out
whether or not cattle really did
,n,el upon Old Chri-im ,s. Eeri.
ion lay usually in the mind of the
Believer. in tue tradi.
ion found the attitudes of the re.t-
ng runIinants wonderfully devout.
ntidels declared there could not be
much worsE ip in knecling, Il hams.
The dispute was lively enough to
Keep all hands awake till they got
l"nie. Ike darkies never doubted.
indeed, their faith in COW pay ers
vas only ,4ualled by ileir faith in
he DEVILS mark ON IL hog. Inside
he frreleg there ale five small curl
'us indenin,ious that the negroes
~ show where the devil went in to
,o-se.s them. If The h,'es get filed
With foreign subslanc he animal
lines and dies. Al least Plantation
wine herds willtcll you so toa man.
he race il, in fact, bora to believe.
freedom, ani free sclools have sadly
vi down their Chr.-lna., but faith
u the miracle of the manger re-
niins.