The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1892-12-25
SECRETARY FOSTER ON PIE.
Especially the Christmas Pie His Mother
Used to Make.

Especially the Christmas Pie His Mother
Used to Make.
Christmas is the one day in the year
which above all Others should be the oc-
casion of family reunions and general re-
foicing. 1t is the mid winter festival when
we should celebrate the fact that we are
alive. I doubt if there be a man living to-
day who, having attained the r~ipeness of
middle age. does not look back upon the
simple manner in which Christmas was cell
ebrhted thirty or forty years ago and COM
pare it to the present decade very much to
the disadvantage of the latter.
Tie pleasantest Christmas / ever passed
was at my old home in Ohio when l was a
boy, with no idea of the nonors and respon-
Bibiiities of life.
remember one occasion when the sleigh
ing was excellent-it was about the winter
of 1880, l ~think-when We were all to.
gether at the old home. Nothing can ever
efface the memory of that day from my
mind, for to US it began on the evening be-
fore and ending the morning Of Dec. 20.
/ can see the old kitchen now where we
spent Christmas eve together, cracking
nuts, pulling candy, with q pitcher of
mulled cider on the table, while the smoke
begrimed walls and ceiling of the quaint
old room rang with laughter and light
hearted frolic. There was. of course, the
usual contingent tiddles-we never called
them violins In those days--and when the
nuts were cracked and the candy pulled the
floor was cleared and fun ran riot in that
oli house until nearly daylight. We
danced, we sang, we told stories, we played
the good old fashioned kissing games like
"Snap-and-Catch-'e Fem" "Ihe Needles
Eye "Postofice" and a dozen others that
/ have forgotten. and the old folks enjoyed
them just as much as the young ones.
1t was nearly daylight when We went to
bed. but we were up and at it again bright
and early Christmas morning just the
same.
u remember that there were q few simple
presents exchanged, but in those DAYS such
things wsre given more as msmentos than
for the purpose of defnonstt ating the status
of the donors TO tune, as seems to be the
custom now. The presents that pleased
most on the occasion to which 1 refer were
a pair of susu enders from my father, and
and some soft, thick mittens from my
mother.
The morning was spent in talking over
the glorious time of the preceding nigh,
and in laughing, chatting, playing jokes
and telling stories.
Then dinner!
What a gathering it was, to be sure! The
table in ordinary use was not half large
enough to seat the company or to accommo
date the vinnds. and our ingenuity was pa
to the test 10 make it larger. What a din
ner it was! There was wild turkey, coon
rabbit pie and 'possum, with vegetables
galore. mulled cider. tea and coffee ant
such pies as only a msn's mother ever sue
ceedsd in manufacturing. l don't think
woman ever learns to make a pie until sh,
has q son who is old enough to appreeiat
IL.
After dinner nobody wanted to move
everybody had eaten too much. G adually
however. digestion got In its work and W
came to life again.
In the middle of the afternoon We boy
got tho horses and sleighs ready. 1ha
consisted in filling the boxes with stra'
and robes. placing the boxes on travers
sleds and hitching four horses to each Out
ft. Then We went TO each house. piokin
up all the boys and girls in the nolghbol
hood I'M plling them into the boxes poi
nell.
/ can hear those sleigh bells y. w-som
of them were COW bells to be al ;e-I ca
hear the shouts of laughter, the singin,
the witty sayings; l can teel the fun of TIN
day to this hour.
What a ride We had. covering abor
twenty miles! One rig was overturned in
snow bank, and it looked for an instant /
though u dozen enterprising barbe 8 hn
begun business in that region. We dug tt
girls out, however, put them back in the
sleigh and drove on, happy, merry, full {
life and energy.
We reached our designation about ds,