Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-12-31

w CHAD De tnat In the quiet OF
s~GN /, the monotonous years
1He ;'ss; : ss;',,, N: an. ;': :s::
" slant change Of those
ENH stirring times assume
2AE an undue importance
and everyday life is
stupid by contrast, or
It Is because then We were young? Certain it
| is Xmas never comes again" as it did when
We were children. 80 let me tell You Of one Of
our war time Xmastides, a merry one it was,
too, upon plantation way up among the North
Carolina mountains at a confederate post. Our
house stood on the top o: high hill overlook
ing the Catawba river, which rolled at the foot,
with but wagon track between precipice and
| stream, while further along on o narrow strip
Of ground, just wide enough to hold them,
! stood the government buildings. They were
/ the shops and extra offices of a factory which
had once occupied the edge of the little meadow
nearest the river, but which was now only a
/ charred ruin, rs il had been burned Just before
the site had been selected for a medical labora-
tory, d;stillcry and mandatory of such hos
| pital necessities were possible with the
! materials at hand.
THE BIO House on THE HILL.
My father was the surgeon in charge and we
/ h'et III tho Dig hOuse on inc hill. j ne noOr6
of this dwelling. in all other southern coun-
try houses, we're laid upon rafters raised some
height above the ground upon brick posts. so
that one could see under it as one came up the
4 hill on foot. and many time on winter even
| ing l have seen tho light from the big wood
! fires shining through the darkness beneath in
| long streaks coming through the chunks Of the
| floor, revealing perhaps a stray sheep or dog
which had sought quiet sleeping place remote
| from small boys Of any color. Carpets we had
| none, except one small square to lay in front of
| the fire in the room where it was at the moment
| most needed. for were in a way refugees
| even if father the the commandant of the
| post. All his military family lived with US;
mean Of course by that his staff, but in those
! days when a private might be- and often was
| the brother OF general. military and social
| rank were by no means always the same thing
PREPARING FOR CHRISTMAS.
| The first thing toward preparation for the
| great festival was the making of many beauti-
full candles BY my mother, and our little fingers
were utilized to plat the wicks for them, a very
| tedious business. l soon got tired Of doing nv
share by hand three plat. for the work had to
| be done very tightly, that the wick might curl
over when burning and save snuffing So got
| the bobbins upon which we made our shoe
! strings and used four threads, with excellent re-
suits in the way Of more time for play, in my
case usually synonymous with mischief
and most of them made at our house. as we had
especially fine holly and mstletoe on the place.
We would all sit in the big square parlor in the
evening before the great wood fire. Father cut
the letters for the Scripture sentences to adorn
the walls Of the church, and the ladies covered
them by sewing the holly leaves on one by one.
The little ones broke the leaves from the
boughs and handed them to the workers, and
| the young officers all helped. too. Some were
busy at fathers table cutting the pasteboard
for the letters, others made garlands or broke
the cedar, pine. holly and laurel into short
pieces for the wreaths, and the darkeys came
| and went with the wood for the fires, stopping
to look on, or grin at the children as they
passed in and out make up picture that hangs
only on .memory's walls now.
The morning of Xmas eve l went to town on
horseback My riding habit was a queer one
Over my short dress had an old riding skirt
belonging 10 my governess, dingy brown in
color. and a coat made of the same gray frieze
the soldiers wore, bound with bright blue
merino, the last bits of the best dress had
when we left Baltimore. Ny hat was either
homemade straw or corn shuck one, forget
which, as possessed both My escort was one
of the young officers, and we carried the letters
and the altar cloth, which had also been made
at our house. The cloth was the usual fair
linen CLOTH" arranged n frontal edged with
needles OF the long-leafed pine, sewed on each
bunch separately to form perfectly even
fringe, and the monogram in the center was
made like all the other letters, but the berries
of the mistletoe, white and iridescent rs
pearls, were used instead of the red ones of the
holly.
FOR THE LITTLE ONES.
Meanwhile Santa Claus had not forgotten
that there were little ones in the house on the
hill, and such preparations could be made in
his line were well under way. Mamma had
dipped yards of wick in brown wax and made
eli Ill fr. <bo xrls H.
corner Of the parlor, the young officers had
shelled and popped corn till they were we'll
toasted, and 1t was strung in long strings and
Topped here and there in festoons. as were also
the red holly berries and the gaudy yellow
paper made at the neighboring paper mill
Sorghum molasses had succumbed to hours
Of patient boiling and consented at last to
pull into tafy, while little cakes made with
1t for their sole sweetening, but cut into most
engaging shapes, filled up "a long-fel want"
In our little stomachs and many bare places on
the tree. Father had been able to buy at a eale
some few books-second hand. OF course-and
these were handed around as Xmas gifts to the
grown folks, but for mamma he had beautiful
work table made Of native woods, with inlaid
chessboard top. the men turned of walnut and
holly at the carpenter shop on the place. The
wood, by the way, had all been cut, dried and made
up at home, and the heads of the knights and
bishops were carved by his own hands with the
penknife made by the head blacksmith at the
forge on the flats below us.
SIMPLE DECORATIONS.
The room was Hastily festooned with garlands
and everywhere they were iooped was hung a
sconce made of wood with holes for the candles,
with three Of mammals best adamantine ones in
it. Indeed, these candles figured largely in her
Christmas giving, for thanks to fathers chemi-
cal knowledge she made as beautiful ones rs
have ever seen, hard, white and shapely; no
dips" for U.s. From the center OF the ceiling
hung the great work of art. 1t was a chande-
lier formed Of three hoops, each one smaller
than the one below it, held together by cords
wreathed in green. as were the hoops also, till
they were entirely covered, the whole pyramidal
in shape and the candles put as close together
as they could be all around the hoops. forming
three tiers of lights, and it was very pretty and
lighted the room well.
There is always babeIof: cries on planta-
ton Christmas morning, the negroes, young
and old, catching" everybody "Crissmuss
gif"' the children adding their voices to the
din. the merry Christmas of the older folks
and the general distribution of little comforts
to the servants. There was not much to give
this time, but the old men had their s.dram''
from Mars Doctor" and the young ones some
'goody" from "the house" while AUNT MilIy'
| spread herself as vol as che could with the ma
terials at hand upon the dinner. Aunt Milly
had the usual cook's femner the heat NJ har