Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1898-01-22

off in triumph to the humble home, FOR
those OF the better class VIII always
have u servant TO transfer 1t to the
dwelling.
have seen boys and girls with their
little wooden shoes racing over the
pavement to see who Would first reach
the tree market. and no matter what
the ways are. some kind OF n tree must
be had in every family. f
If you visit the house of friend the
children will hil1tlse YOU by rehearsing
their little recitntions and songs pre-
pared especially for the Christmas
feast. ts .tl,t
The weihnacht Baum or as we say
Christmas tree is first lighted on He'll
ger Abend, the same as our New Year
Eve, the various colored candies cast
ing their light upon the lovely trim
mings and beautiful hangings of gold
and silver appearance, now rejecting
upon the glass decorations of such
quaint workmanship, OF perchance
throwing a ray of light upon the group
of presents near the tree. cause an
angelic smile to Illuminate the coun-
tenance of the little ones as they pass
in from the adjoining room to view
their favorite display. Songs and reel
tations ars now given, the family in
dulge In nice social chat. coffee and
cake is sure to appear. the presents
are distributed, soon the candles are
eStinguished, all depart to their nights
rest.
II Is the custom among many of the
people to reserve the presents until the
morning following Heillger Abend.
On Christmas the family form a
group about the tree the candles arc
again lighted and that beautiful song
Taunenbnum l. rendered by all. The
songs of the Germans for this special
time OF the year are indeed grand, and
the, spirit and life placed therein make
them all the more appreolatlye.
Such songs MS Reiligc Nacht. Tau
nenbaum, Weihnacht etc. are rem
dered by all Glasses alike, they are the
melodies which have grown ripe with
age, but as Is ever the case, old songs
are always the best.
Speech making and singing again go
the rounds OF the little ones, and i'm
lucky in the youngstcr who Is not pre-
pared with his part, IL for any reason
one fails to respond, he lives in fear of
the Weihnachtsmann (Santa CLAUSE re-
turning and claiming the little presents
he has received, but very few failures
are noticeable on such an, occasion.
Throughout the whole OF Germany
two days are observed for Christmas.
the 25th and goth of December both are
national holidays. and during this tine
business of all kinds are suspended
The second holiday is celebrated quite
similar to the first. and with some a
tnlru uhN rs ODserNeu, Dul tllls Is OIliy
among certain societies.
During the few remaining days of the
year the children amuse themselves
making visits, displaying their toys and
in fact, enjoy themselves somewhat
after the fashion of the little ones at
home, If any special occasion presents
itself, such as one family calling up
on another. then the tree is lighted and
a good social time Is enjoyed, and so
the tree continues to serve Its purpose
until after the holidays,
The new year is celebrated in all its
splendor and among the young men
especially Is Sylvester Abend or New
Years Eve, looked forward to with in
terest, the young ladies, however. do
not seem to think so much of this
special evening, as their company In
the sports are not particularly solicited,
in fact under ordinary circumstances
a respectable girl would hardly dare
venture out on the street after the hour
of ten. From this time on the main
streets of the larger cities are crowded
with a mass of humanity, SILK mats, so
very common in this section, nre noted
for their scarcity on this particular
night, and II the wearer OF one is
noticed by company OF students or
the members of n club, he will undoubt-
eddy be followed until his "stovepipe'
either makes it's disappearance or the
cnne carried by one OF the club mas
found its way to it's silky head gear
and driven the same over his rufiied
countenance. The cry OF police VIII now
greet the ears of the bystanders. but
no one knows who the guilty one Is.
and although double force of officers
are on duty very few arrests are made.
At the hour of midnight as the clocks
on the various steeples chime the de-
parting knell of the Old Year a deafen-
ing cry arises and is waited through
A. III ,l- awtr rv,a n ne n
the call of "Prosit Neujahr." From
now on as YOU pass along the street
your time is pretty well occupied by an
swering this peculiar greeting. and no
one is supposed to pass a person who
has used these words without repeat
ing the same, generally In as loud
manner as possible. If perchance a
young lady is delayed at the house of
friend until a late hour on her re-
turning home a company OF students
will march up to her, circle around her
five or six deep and II not interrupted
by an officer they will each kiss the
fair one, It would be folly to become
angry as worse treatment would be
sure to follow. Many times the young
people are apprehended by an officer
and marched off for safe keeping, but
their pluck Is shown to the last as they
generally depart with CHEEKY "Prosit
Neujahr" to all.
III many Oh tnt HaTTOWeT StTeetS tne
people are only allowed to pass one
way; in this manner the members of
the different societies are kept from
surroundings the wearer of the cylinder
and thus n Jam" is avoided.
Excitement often runs SO high that
the unfortunate Is followed and many
times he barely escapes by reaching a
hack and being rapidly driven away.
The sport Is often kept up all night
long. especially Is this the case in most
of the beer-halls and / suppose more
beer is used on this night than during
the whole of an ordinary week. With
those remain at home II is somewhat
different: the mother of the family
busies herself in preparing kind OF
dough-nut, friends gather and the
whole night is set apart for social en-
joyment. the children many times will
amuse themselves by filling a common
thimbe with salt. IL they can balance
the same so II will stand then they will
live during the coming year.
There is a novel little game played by
old and young alike, n glass OF water Is
provided and into the same Is slowly
poured hot lead, as soon as it comes in
contact with the water 1t hardens and
many very beautiful figures are
formed. the Imagination will readily
help one to classify and name the OBJ
iects presented. in fact II is much like
the viewing of the clouds on a nice
summer days and noticing the various
forms which are so easily detected and
which are ever changing.
On New Years Day the usual calls
are made, congratulations are extended
and all are happy in the realization of