The Progress., 1898-12-31
BARLOW MAN APPROVES JUBILA.
TING JUST NOW.
IS GLAD THAT PEACE IS ASSURED.
Christmas Approaches and William
Household Are RusilY Pre-
pairing Therefor.

| peace. The nearer to Christmas the
better, for next Sunday all the Chris
tian world will celebrate the day and
the event when q multitude of the
heavenly host sang "Peace on earth
and good will to man." Christmas is
near at hand and the.usual signs are in
almost every household. Ny folks are
! splipping around and picking up little
things and hiding them from the chill
dren and me. They keep all secrets
from me for fear I'll tell or let the cat
ont Of the bag some way. Ny wife
has said for fifty years that 7 can't
keep secret and I reckon it's so. T
| never have any secrets myself and I
don't see much good in them. They
are selfish. Ny female folks are max
ing a lot Of rag dolls-great big ones
and they are fine and made from first
class patterns and stuffed with cotton
and their faces painted. Every year
ling grandchild and two years and
three or four years has got to have one
and some Of them have got to go to
Texas and Florida by express. But
they are indestructibIe and have on all
the garments Of sure enough babies
except some.
It looks like that girls never get too
old for dolls until they get married.
The little grandchild who lives with
us is now ten years old and has beau
tiful Paris doll that her Uncle Tom
Brumby gave her, and since he has
made such good name at Manila I'M
der Dewey she is prouder than ever of
her doll and had to have finer dresses
made for it and had to put canopy
top on her cradle. These children
have been saving every copper they
get to buy little presents for each
other and seem to realize that there is
as much pleasure in giving as receiv-
ing.
Christmas seems like rest from a
years work--a time when everybody
tries to lay aside the cares and ankle.
ties Of life and give pleasure to those
around him. Peace and good will and
good things to eat prevail and always
have ever since Christmas began to be
observed. Three hundred years ago
an English poet, who was farmer
named Tom Tusser, wrote Christmas
poem beginning
And now let's play and have good cheer
For Christmas comes but once a year.
Later on in the centuries the couplet
was changed in old Virginia to-
Apple jack and simmon beer,
Christmas comes but once a year.
And away down south in Dixie the
darkies made another change
Christmas comes but once year,
And every niger must have his sheer.
And they did have it in old ante
bellum days. The household servants
were always remembered with shawls,
handkerchiefs, store stockings, pipes,
tobacco. pocket knives, scissors, etc.
The old time darkies haven t forgotten
it, and are proud to retaliate when
they can. Old Uncle Sam killed his
three hogs yesterday and sent US up
big pan full Of spareribs and back
bones as Christmas gift. OF course
we will have to remember him when
the day comes, and he knows it.
But our people have for years made
too big frolic Of Christmas. Christ
ians ought to observe the day with
solemn, grateful thoughts and feelings.
There is no excuse for frolic and
levitv.
For centuries the shepherds of the
mountains in Germany, Italy and
Switzerland have religiously observed
the day by marching down into the
valleys with music and song, and their
Christmas carols are heard echoing
from cliff to cliff for miles around
them. I wish that our boys would
quit shooting guns and frecrackers
on that day. 1t looks heathenish.
Away down in Mexico they celebrate
Judas Iscariot's day about like our
boys observe Christmas. They make
pasteboard images Of Judas and fasten
them on the trees and lamp posts and
telegraph poles and stuff them with
frecrackers and set the fuses all on
fire at once and burst the figures into
q thousand fragments. This day is
the next after Easter and belongs to
the boys and the rsbble. But Christ
mas day should be observed as seri-
ously as Easter day, and all this noisy
racket with firecrackers should be
postponed until Christmas is over.
There is an old English superstition
that even the cattle kneel down in
nravor IN Chrisfnooa dov hooonua &ho