Arizona republican., 1899-01-03
One Christmas
 Day in Arizona.

MT. C. Nick Stark, who for several years was connected with the Williams News, and who held desk in The Re publican office two years ago, is now with the Detroit Free Press. In the Christmas edition of the Free Press ap- peared a story by MT. Stark entitled "One Christmas Day in Arizona, '' which The Republican reprints here with, with the explanation that thers is a reasonable doubt in this office as to MT. Stark's concluding statement:
 'fOf course there will be no paper to- morrow" casually remarked Mir. Pen well, the managing editor and proprie- tor Of the Daily X-Ray, of Phoenix, Arizona.
 Peter Paragraph, the reporter, came to full stop in his graphic and gairish account of the shooting affair over at Skull Valley, between AlkaH Ike and Missouri Bill, from the effects of which the latter unaccommodatingly died just before the hour of going to press, thus giving MT. Paragraph an opportunity to add another story to his Eiffel tower display head and to introduce a few more blood-chilling adjectives. Pen wells sudden interruption uncOupled the reporters train of thought and sent brilliant scintillations scurrying down the path of obscurity to the realm of oblivion. This remark of his managing editor, coming so unexpectedly from a usually uncommunicatiVe and very busy man, caused Paragraph some un- easiness. He had a vivid remembrance of a former bitter experience in Ari zona newspaperdom, when he returned to his office one day, his face aglOw with enthusiasm over the report that the Apache Kid had been killsd again, to find the sheriff sitting upon the front steps, the GCCr barred, a foreclosure notice tackled upon the sanctum win dow, and the compOsitors celebrating the demise of the Epitaph amid strangely incOngruOus surroundings in Gay Alley. Paragraph had no back salary due him at that time, and he had left Tucson as d stoaWay passenger on a side-doOr Pullman. He was still in his usual state of impecunioslLy, there fore his mental disturbance at Pen wells remark.
 No paper" he repeated, in pug zled, half-alarmed way; ''why?"
 'TWhy, stupid it will be Christmasl" spoke up Miss Bright Eyes, the society reporter, regarding him mischievously.
 "Christmasi WeHt well!! weIl!!! So it will" exclaimed Paragraph. By George, if the calendar didn't say so, l would not believe it." he added, as he dropped his Faber and gazed pensively at the beautiful full landscape before him
 "Christmasi" muttered Penwell, who had only recently arrived in Arizona and was not yet fully acquainted with her climate and customs: Christ mas!" he growled, and no sign of snow, no merry jingle of sleighbells, not the slightest thing to indicate the joyful occasion of the visit of Santa Claus and his galloping reindeer. And back there in Washington my wife and babes-oh, pshaw,' he broke off impa- tiently, this winter climate is all very delightful, but I'd like a little Christ mas in mine" and he bent over to the window and looked longingly at spec tral mist of snow on a distant peak of the Superstition mountains.
 'tChristmasl" murmurad Miss Bright Eyes, whose engaging and always charming smile had been chased away by a sadness of expression unusual to her bonny face. Christmas, she echoed, and back there in New York -I-" Her voice waYered, and a tru- ant tear trembled on the dropping eye lash
 Poor girl,' thought Paragraph, as he rounded out a climax to his murder story that was unapproachable in vel low journalism, there is some sad mystery in hey life' Paragraph was a newspaper nOmad with no definite hailing place, but he had been home sick once and he could sympathiza with those similarly afflicted He mentally resolved to make the next day as happy a Christmas as possible for Miss Bright Eyes, whose Sunday column had won for her many warm admirers. Her ex- pressions sparkled with wit and gIowed l with sentiment, and in her cynical moods her sentences were short and i snappy. For this reason she was jocJ- larly known among her professional | associates as The Girl of the Period.' 1