The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1897-01-06
CHRISTMAS IN GERMANY
SCENES AMID THE room AND Lowry
AND THE RICH AND PROUD.

SCENES AMID THEPOORA AND L0WLY
AND THE RICH AND PROUD.
Street Incidents Mt the Yuletide Season
How the Observance of the Day Differs
From Its Observance in This Country
Many Notes From Many Places by New
Havener.
Weimar, Dec. "a. 1896.
To the Editor of the Journal and Courier;
Now is the season of which Charles
Dickens wrote so charmingly, pathetl-
cally and delightfully."- at hand. The
German youngster rejoices and pays
attention to his Sunday school, a habit
which Is not indigenous alone to the
youth of America. l have been trot-
ting about Weimar fiattening my nose
against the shop windows with the
usual Christmas crowd of poor children
who have the greater part of their hol-
iday fun by gazing at the things which
they cannot possess and II am not
mistaken, they enjoy themselves TAR
more than their weather. brothers and
sisters, for what they see in the win
dows they take turns in choosing, and
the great squabble they have over a
particular doll, glittering helmet, or
an especially fine gilded elephant of
gingerbread, would make one think the
articles were already theirs. Now,
now, Max, you pig, chose that long
Eos. ,tyn No hnIr iS
for you; you can have that wonderful
" beautiful sabre, and then you can
cut off the dogs tails finely!' so cries
one of these little blue-nosed Teutons,
dancing up and down In his thick little
boots, but Max, who Is somewhat OF
diplomat and 'acquiesces as to the he'll
met, chooses the sword, the next finest
helmet, and in the same breath gasps
out in tiny pipe, ia, ia, Heinrich
and I shall with a triumphant Wheeze)
take that much-to- be-admired horse
with real skin' And so the Christmas
election goes on among the boys While
the little girls, pigtailed in the main,
select the dolls "Ah, Elsa, look! do
see that heavenly countess in the cor
ner She is to be mine; see, she slaiies
at me; no doubt she is inspired with
my love; ,Ach Wehl And yet she must
stand in her corner; come, make haste
to CAN'T shop, where the puppen are
not so human as to reply with eye
glances" The little women, you see
are more philosophic. The toy shops
are full of purchasers, and a most jolly
crowd they are to be sure. Christmas
in England is made much of, but there
ri o1,
as it is in France. 1t is in Germany
and Russia, and especially in the for
mer country, that no one is too poor
and I have seen Christmas in the
Grand Dukes circle and in the village
peasants cottage-to have tree with
a few candles and some gingerbread
figures. / have not found the usual
German crowd such a pleasant one as
many have said of it, but at this time
of the year every one seems to try and
out-do his neighbor in politeness, and
so much bowling and doffing of hats
goes on that young men with dark hair
rapidly become aged in their looks
from the feathery pandering of snow
they receive At other times of the
year should you happen to jostle
passer-by you would receive deep
growl Of Nov, you, what make your
But at Christmastide, bump you never
SO hard, and you find a ready smile and
q polite "Bitte sehr, fine weather for
the children" and If, perhaps, you
have brought up against a friend, it is:
'Welcome, well met; have you time for
a liter, or must you follow your nose?"
Which means join the throngs who are
CHI ya al q
enough of Christmas in New Haven,
nor vet in any part of New England.
I beg that no one will raise their eye
brows in surprise, but it Is so. Fer
haps it is a bit of the old Puritanical
spirit which yet lives (and if so, the
more shame.) Then again there are
New Englanders who, in order to dis
guise their close fistedness, lay claim
to the habits of their ancestors and
Scrosge- like remark Bah, humbug!
out upon a merry Christmas; / help
support establishments which look af-
ter the poor, and therefore I have no
wish to do more. We have too many
Scrooges; too many Scrooges at heart |
mean, who open their purses just so far
as public opinion expects of them and
no further. We have our Boys clubs"
with what real success is is needless
to ask; why? Because those who give
their money consider that all Of their
share is done. We have our church
Christmas trees, at which festive occa-
sion the superintendent is very much
in evidence as well as the teachers who
make such kind and willing helpers of
themselves, all swelling with impor-
lance with the degree of swelling visi-
BILE reduction from the superiatan-
dent down to the newest teacher whose
dress buttons have not had to be set
forward to allow for increased pres
surei And as for that most popular of
Sunday school officers, the librarian,
when! Now can / ask what this
Christmas tree means to the average
child? Perhaps there is an entertain
ment and Willy or Edith have some
thing to recite; for weeks they have
been coached by their teachers in
"'Twas the night before Christmas"
or Santa Claus in Sandy Hollow" or
some other equally inane set of rhymes
which so take up the minds of the lit
tie ones that the true reason of the
holy cause in which the twenty fifth
day of December is remembered is lost.