Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1890-12-24

Take care you don't take too much;
Be not greedy in your clutch.
Snip. snap. Dragon!
with hi. bne and tapping tonsus
Many of you will he stunx.
Snip! Snap! Dragon,
For he snaps a, all that comes.
Snatching at his fexs; Of pluins.
snip, snap! Dragon"
When Snapdragon is plaved all the lights
must be extinguished 20 make the effect
Of the burning spirits as weird as possible. Gu
riously enough. there il little doubt that the
game is n survival of the fiery ordeal of the
middle ages. rs well as of the Druidical fire.
worship of = remoter epoch. Tradition also
saws that it was first invented by Pluto. god Of
the Internal regions for the amusement of his
wife. PrOsc-piEe. modification of ii. called
.ElapdragOn. is much inGulged in by country
people in Eagiand. who placs q candle III n
can of ale or cider and drink the contents Of
the receptacle at serious risk of smuggling hair
and beard
CoBwEB PARTY.
An appropriate entertainment for Christmas
eve il called ..cobweb party For each guest
q prize and ball of twine must be provided
and for the prizes such little inexpensive things
may be used Is spiders, flies. frogs, fishes and
so on of the sort Won can buy for few cents
apiece at the japanese or toy shops. The invi-
tation cards should each have a cobweb in enc
corner. Wrap each gift carefully in a parcel
BY lL-elf Then tie one end of ball of twine
to one of the parcels and conceal the latter in
so!ae hidden spot, behind a picture. under a
chair seat, or elsewhere. taking to fasten it
well in the place of hiding. Now. as the ball
unrolls. wind it about chair legs, door knobs,
over the chandelier. about picture nails. any
where and everywhere to all parts of the room.
When great length of the string has been thus
mvound. fasten it to the knob of the door
which the guests viii enter by. Treat each
package the same way, twiEing and intertwin-
Ing them III every possible manner. until the
room looks like a lab yrinth of cObwebs. Great
care must be taken in tying w and concealing
the prizes; otherwise the fun will be lost.
When the door is opened each guest is given
the end OF one string and Is directed to follow
his own line until he reaches the end. A party
thus engaged In making their way among so
many entangling cords. each guest irving to
get to the end of his own clue makes a great
deal of amusement and the observation-disclosures
may occupy two or three hours.
BLOWING THE FEATHER.
capital Christmas game is very little known.
1t is called blowing the feather" and all the
apparatus needed is a big sheet ard a small
feather. The players all sit upon the floor in
ring. holding on to the edges of the sheet.
which they try u keep taut possible. One
person Is 1t, and he or she tries to grasp and
capture the feather. while the others strive to
prevent this by blowing the feather across the
sheet out of reach of the pursuer- Meanwhile
ldttcI Eu1lS anu that dfOunu the
circle of players. grabbing here and there and
doing his best to get hold of the elusive object.
To accomplish this is quite difficult. because a
single weli-directed puff of the breath will send
the feather clear across the sheet. There is
certainly no Christmas game ever invented that
viii give occasion to more jollity and hilarity
than this. When the person who is it sue
ceeds In capturing the feather. the PLAYER to
whom the feather nearest when il was
grasped becomes 1t" in turn, his or her place
being taken by the capturer.
FOR CHRISTMAS EVE.
Here is another kind of Christmas party.
which may be given either on Christmas eve or
Christmas night. Invitations to it should each
be tied to a spray of holly and, If possible. be
delivered by a little carrier in a holly-decked
basket. The leaves of holly may be lightly
brushed with glue and sprinkled with ground
glass. which can be got at trihing cost to make
them glitter. To each guest a spray of holly
must be given at the door upon arrival.
Leaves Of holly also are employed for the even
ings entertainment Two sets of leaves are
prepared. On the stems of one set are pasted
slips of paper bearing foolish questions and ON
the other set slips with equally foolish answers.
These are then placed in fruit dishes. and when
the company is seated in two lines the dishes
are passed along-questiOns on one side and
answers on the other. When all are supplied
begin at the head and let the first one read the
question from his leaf and the one opposite
i
line to the end.
Next, bring in huge Christmas pie. napkins,
plates and knives having been previously
handed around Each guest helps himself to
piece OF the pie, previously cut into sections.
which is made entirely Of brown paper each
piece having between its upper and lower
erusts some little Christmas gift buried in
cotton The pie must be decorated with cedar
and holly. A pudding Of bran sawdust may
take the place Of the pie. IL so. the presents
aOhs 10
colors and large spoon furnished with which
70 dip them out
game appropriate to Christmas eve which
gives rise always to n great deal of amusement
Is played by hanging a bag-a small one will
do-full OF candies in a doorway from above.
The player whose turn il is il blindfolded
closely and then obliged to turn around three
times as near he or she can guess. Having
done this the player tries to go toward and
touch, with uplifted hand, the bag, which has
been previously SEEM Of course. If the bag is
touched. il and its contents become the prop
erty OF the person successful Each player
must have at least one turn at il. and there
ought TO be several little bags of candy pro-
around bindly after the suspended sweets.
Blind-Man +Buf is particularly q Christmas
game and 30 Is Puss-in-the-Corner.
PROGRESSIVE PARTIES
Of various kinds are always in order for Christ
mas. They may be given special adaptation to
the season of fun by the introduction of vari-
Gus ideas. For example. Mother Goose gives .
progressive Tiddledy-Winks party. The host
ess must be dressed in a high-peaked cap,
waving a broomstick as a wand OK welcome
Different guests take their choice Of characters
from the book Little Bo-Peep and Little Boy
Blue may attack the wink pot in competition
with Miss Muffet and Simple Simon, changing
tables with Old Mother Hubbard and Little
Jack Homer, and so on.
The invitation cards and tallies should cor
respond aud offer wide field for original con-
eepuons- Prizes for u Mother Goose party
might be silver crook hairpin, q spider. q
vooiiy sheep, tin pail. q tin horn, a bisque
Dog or any Of the things about which the
rhymes are made.
Questions and Commands Is q Jolly game
for christmas, the person chosen a. commander
oonging his subjects 70 answer any lawful
qaesuons under penalty of having their faces
sueaAed with lamp black or forfeits duly adj
judged This is very ancient.
LITERARY GAMES
ma Mother Goose party be considered too
eniidish for older players Shakespeare or
Dckens may be chosen instead, the guests
tkin8 such characters as please them best. In
seen case each invitation should have inscribed
Upon u quotation from the writer selected.
Asaor Rrizes, books by the author win do very
ven In the same line NAV be suggested the
SaPanese party tny fans and parnsolz beins