New Ulm review. (New Ulm, Brown County, Minn.) 1892-1961, 1895-01-02
NEW EA RS LONG AGO
q DAY OF iEARTY GREETING TO
FRIENDS AND NElGHBoRs.

a DAY OF HEARTY GREETING TO
FRIENDS AND NElGHBoRs.
Callers RECALLED with Pure Apple Cilsr
and Doughnuts Cutting the New Years
Cake The Girls Of Bygone Days-Hayo
We Changed For the Better? i
New Years is nothing at all nova
days, and you may sail over it as easily
% over the equator and not see it in the
beast. But it was q day then that meant
something, and it came in at the head
Df the year in way that you should
understand it was there. Nor was itour
way to do as they did in the times OF
Its decadence. Nobody knew anything
about cards-those little infnitesimal
nothings that make up for respect and
honor and good fellowship Oh, fe, but
what shams there are nowadays! But
we took off our greatcoats and hung up
our hats, and we did not count up the
doorbells we had rung as so much Of a
contribution to society.
To be sure, there were not then SO
many of us in this land, and those that
were did not all live in the cities, but
we5had breathing room and elbow room
and were ashamed neither of work nor
of being known to eat our bread by the
sweat Of our brows. Now, your little
whiffet passes for humorist because
he can mimic country ways, and says,
"Oh, fe, but the fellow parts his hair
in the middle, and his shirt front is
bigger than his brains!" ''Come up to
the fire. said my little mother. aPull
up your chair" And the circle widened
out bigger till it took in half the room.
There were the minister, and neighbor
Hotchkiss, and old lady Denison, and the
twin old maids, and my uncles George
and Plat, who sat in the corners of the
fireplace nearer the heat, and there
were more besides, and every one was
happy. "Will you pass the cider?" said
my little mother, and then began the
fun. That cider was made of Spitzen-
bergs, every drop Of it. And you should
have tasted that cider! 1t was pressed
out in no patent mill, with million
bushels of rubbish and dirt 1t was
pure juice Of the apple It did no one
any harm, and it went around with a
huge salVer of doughnuts. o Lord,
but what has become Of the knack for
doughnuts, and caraway cakes, and!
gingersnaps? One would think it could
not have so evaporated.
1t was coming time to cut the huge
loaves Of cake, and our little mother al
ready had q knife in her Washington
cake, and my tall aunt had knife in
her Lafayette cake. Then could see!
that our father was uneasy, and he got
up and took the poker and furtiyely,
watched the two women as he gently
rolled over the front stick in the fire
irons and hsdI everything ready for
tremendous p3 ing Of the whole heap.
But happily just then the parson warmed
into a discussion Of st. Paul's epistle to
Timothy. "Pish!' said my little moth
er, "but st. Paul will do we'll enough
for Sundays, but he did not understand
women" "Eou are right, "-said my
aunt, ''and for my part hate old BACH.
elors when they set up to teach married
folk" You could see in a moment that
all danger was over, and my father
quietly laid down the poker, and the
two women drew together and began to
whisper, and instead of rival cakes we
had the two sorts put lovingly together
on one plate and a plate for every one
of u.s. I never saw such big pieces Of
cake before or since. It was all to our
advantage The rivalry had become
rivalry Of generosity. .-.. =:
Girls in those days were big, rosy
creatures, who could laugh and did not
wear corsets. They MIXED the COWS
and harnessed the horses and went to
mill on horseback without saddle.
They could knit and sew and could eat
like other folks. They did not nibble
confectionery and giggle, but were open
to a clean kiss and knew how to give
one. Our girls and our neighbours girls
were seven that day, and they soon had
things all their own way. While the
older women sat in easy chairs the girls
flew about and cared for everybody. All,
but what creature really beautiful
girl is! She needs no art at all. Bless
'em, but is not nature enough? Yes,
truly, there are fools who trick them
selves out till you cannot tell they are
girls, only by their wriggling walk, and
their giggling talk, and their heartless
disregard Of everything but themselves.
Rights! Dear me, but our girls had their
rights and gave US our rights. They
ruled the house with their honest be-
hayior. Our plates were not allowed to-
be empty for one moment. Each girl
had her own cake or tart or cooky as
truly as the aunt and little mother.
So it was our New Years day came
and went, and we slid softly into the
arms Of the great new days and great
new things, and here we are. Bless ME,
but why can they not all rise up just
for once to see the changes that have
taken place? Perhaps it is better as it
is, for I am sure that they would miss
about everything that made up the
world for them. The huge factories
have stolen away all that made our
homes interesting, and for my part I
think we have a long road to reach the
future millennium. But in those DAYS