Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1899-12-21

A western lady who formerly lived at
Cambridge, Mass, writes entertaining
ly Of what she declares was the hap
| piest Christmas of her life. The climax
Of this merry occasion was a house
party given at the home of her uncle
not many miles from Cambridge. The
lady writes:
my uncle owned big place about
twenty miles from town, and every
spend the Christmas holidays with
him. He was a widower with two chill
dren--a SOC 26 years old and daugh-
ter Of II. This girl, my cousin, Stella,
was one of the brightest and most
fun-loving girls have ever known. /
was just two years her senior, and be-
tween us we managed to stir up that
house party to degree nothing short
Of startling! Twenty people beside
our family were invited, there being
altogether about thirty guests in the
house. Among them were young law
yer from New York (for whom l i'm
mediately conceived violent admira-
tion), naval officer, three Yale men
from New Haven, my two brothers, an
antique female cousin of ours Gage I'M
known, some girls from New York
and young married couple from st.
Louis. Before the end OF week Stel-
la and had almost originated a di-
vorce case, where the young st. Louis
couple we're concerned. or course,
there were some other people, but they
were sort of chaperones, cid iogies who
didn't count much. Well, that year
the 25th of December fell ON Wednes-
day, and the guests were invited from
Dec. % to Jan. 2, and l can tell you
we made Rome howl. My brothers
ard /, with our parents, arrived at our
uncle's lato Monday morning. The
snow had been falling steadily for
thirty-six hours, and was many inches
deep.
I'VE drove from the little rickety
station three miles cross country to
the farm. We were the first arrivals.
anu we made coed use Of the advan-
tage over the other invited guests. The
next train, at o'clock, brought them
all, and at they came shouting and
singing up to the house, an sleighs.
wagons and carriages, borrowed from
the farmers all over that part Of the
country. Well, the first evening was
passed In the big dining room, all of
US crowded about the roaring log fire.
That Is, all of us, excepting the young
lawyer from New York and-myself.
We were seated on a chintz-coyered
soap-box, of in a dim corner of the
room, discussing-er-the possibilities
of effect of mistletoe on-ah--mankind.
Before the candles were brought In to
announce the time for disappearing
we two had begun to understand each
other. II was our first meeting, but IN
the country, and at Christmastide, peo-
pie become acquainted very quickly.
1.-THE next morning we all arose at 8
o'clock, and after the tolliest kind of
breakfast, we hauled in great lunches
of evergreen, reels of crow-foot moss.
and pile after pile of holly and mistle-
toe. We spent most of the day on step
ladders or tables. hammering and tack
ing the Christmas decorations In place.
And in the evening my uncle had big
pine tree brought In and set up In the
parlor. We had each brought scores
OF little PACKAGES from town to present
ON Christmas morning, and these
were suspended from the branches of
the tree. Mistletoe was everywhere,
and so were the girls. The conse-
auense wiz b readily understood 1.-The