The Saint Paul globe., 1899-12-24

interviewer with our ideas of Christmas.
The Christmas celebrations have, how
ever, largely lost their primitive bolster
Gus character in England, and family re-
unions and evergreen trimmings are near
ly all that remain of the various rough
merriments which formerly marked the
festival.
THE DAY IN NORWAY.
In Norway there is a peculiar Christ
mas way Of Offering to a lady brooch
or pair of ear rings in a truss of hay.
The house door of the person compli-
mented is pushed open and there is
thrown into the house a truss of hay or
straw, q sheaf of corn or bag of chaff.
In some part of this bottle of hay en-
Velope there Is a needle of present to
be hunted for. A favorite way for
lover to send q present to his mistress
is to make large brown paper bundle,
which, upon being opened, reveals a sec
Ond parcel with a loving motto on the
cover. And so on, parcel within parcel.
motto within motto, till the kernel of this
paper husk is arrived at, which, opened,
contains some delicate and valuable orna-
ment.
One Of the prettiest Norwegian customs
at Christmas is the practice Of giving on
that day dinner to the birds. On Christ
mas morning every gable, gateway or
barn door is decorated with a sheaf of
corn fixed on tall pole, wherefrom it is
intended that the birds shall make
Christmas dinner. Even the poorest peas
ant will contrive to have q handful set
aside for this purpose, and what the birds
do not eat on Christmas day remains for
them to finish at their leisure through the
winter. The caroling of these birds about
these poles makes a Norwegian Christ
mas CHEEKY.
On New Years day friends and ac-
Quaintances always call upon each other,
exchanging calls and good wishes. In a
corner of each reception room stands a
little table, which is kept furnished all
day with wine, cakes and sweetmeats
for the visitors, who talk, fiirt, cOmpli-
ment, and sip wine and nibble cake from
house to house with great perseverance.
Between Christmas and Twelfth day
mummers are in season. They are called
''Julebukker,' or Christmas gob.ins. They
invariably appear after dark in masks
and fancy dresses.
CHRISTMAS IN SPAIN.
Christmas in Spain is a religious fes-
tival rather than a social one. 1t was
so originally in Porto Rico, but the pop
ulation has been influenced partly by the
spirit Of the new world and partly by the
many foreign merchants who reside in
the cities and who exert an influence
much greater than the numbers would
seem to warrant.
The churches welcome the day with
chimes, which begin at midnight and
last until the midnight Of the next day.
The churches are crowded, so are the
clubs and most of the places of recrea-
ton. Every vehicle is in use, and here
and there can be seen young men and
women trying to initiate English mod
els Some of the jibaros of the noun
tain districts carry out some of their
early superstitiOns in regard to Christ
mas They hang boughs Of trees which
are supposed to possess charms over the
doors of their houses and often conduct
marriage ceremonies under great canop;es
made of these charmed trees.
A great many wild fla wers are in bloom
at Christina slide, and these are worn by
children of the mountain districts In
wreaths and garlands about their heads,
necks and waists. The Christmas giving
is sadly missing in our new possessions.
The churches hold no Christmas tree, and
there are few charitable societies to give
feasts.
SOUTH AMERICAS CUSTOMS.
In no country, perhaps, does Christ
mas wear so strange garb as in the
half Indian and half Spanish cities Of
the South American republics. OF these
not one presents so singular and so in
teresting an aspect as Lima, the capital
Of Peru It's Moorish architecture. It's
MAGNIFICENT religious festivals, its many
colored population, its picturesque cos
tunes, and its strange mixture Of the
customs of old Spain with those Of the
ancient empire of the Incas, combine to
form picture Of rare attractions.
On Christmas eve-nOche buena-the
good night, as the natives call 1t, the
whole city is alive with prepare tions for
the approaching festivity The Alema-
aas or public walks outside the walls are
on Christmas eve crowded with pleasure
seekers, and the great square is filed
by q motley throng. whose faces pre-
sent every shade of human color, from
the aristocratic white and slender figure
10 the pure Spanish creole through fifty
crosses and gradations to the jetty black
and robust frame Of the equally pure ne
gro.
Numerous ice stalls, surrounded with
chairs and benches, are scattered over
the square and drive busy trade, for to
the Limena ice is a necessity of life, and
never is it mere welcome than during the
sultry Christmas time. AS the night
dcepens the crowd increases, and pres
emily is heard above the hum Of voices
the wild chanting of the Peruvian Waits
bands of negroes dressed in flowing robes
Of red, with their black faces sometimes
disguised by ugly and still blacker ma SKIS
and carrying in their hands calabashes
flied with pebbles. To the ronotonous
music OIL the guitar ana gathering CdSta-
nets they sing cultural songs and dance
uncouth measures, rattling the pebbles
to mark time. After the negroes come
groups Of Indian women loosely dressed
their long, black hair, unbound, falling
to their anlIles-carrying long, slender
Wands huttering with ribbons. In low
soft tones they sing sweet melodies and
move in circles, performing the most
graceful dances, waving their light
y wands in time to the music Of a flute and
harp.
All the house doors are wide open, mu-
sic is being played in every house, and
one catches glimpses of the dark faces
OF the dancers as they move through the
graceful evolutions of the zambacucca,
the favorite dance Of the colored races.
HOSPITABLE CITY.
Lima is perhaps the most hospita BILE
city in the world, although many Of its
old hospitable customs have fallen into
disuse. Even yet, as its streets are trav-
ersed every nightfall, shining in almost
every gateway is seen the welcome
lamp" once universal which tells the
passing friend or stranger that the fam
lily is "at home" and ready to receive
him. At Christmas every house is open
Strangers enter without fear. To be a
foreigner Is to have a double claim and
to be greeted with q double welcome.
The ceremony and restraint which we
associate with Spanish manners have no
existence here, and no Introduction what