New-York tribune., 1900-12-25
ON CHRISTMAS DAY.
CELEBRATION OF THE LAST ONE OF THE
CENTURY-QUAINT SUPERSTITIONS.


Their ovens they with baked meats choke,
And all their spits are turning.
And II for cold it hap to die,
Wen bury I in a Christmas pie
And evermore be merry.
This was the spirit with which old England
greeted Christmas. If the day has been somewhat
shorn of Its ancient and festive honors. this last
Christmas of the nineteenth century has not
wanted welcome peculiar in character to its
own age. Whether the modern tendency to overdo
will be the undoing of the holiday those who cele-
brate the last Christmas of the twentieth century
| will be able TO tell A holiday shopper being
| jostled by the throng heard to say the other
| day, Lucky the first Christmas CAROL Gloria
Excelsis Deo' sung to the peace loving shep-
herds on the quiet hills Of Judea instead Of here
| in this department store whirl. Nothing short of
| a brass band Of trumpet toned pieces could be
heard. and no one would have time to stop to listen
| II 1t were"
Love of display and luxurious living have pos
| siby driven much of the simpler perhaps
| more joyful. Christmas spirit: yet part of that
| first carol must have been listened to here, for
the good will to men is exemplifed by the bring
| ing Of cheer to more sad. forlorn and homeless
| people this Christmas than in any other single
4 day of the city's history.
The Christmas dinner will be the feature of the
| celebration in institutions. and the Christ
mas tree, with the distribution Of its precious
| fruits, will in most cases be another happy event
for later day in the week,
! Irving, reproved for describing an English Christ
| mas which he had never seen, replied that al
though everything that he had described might
! could be seen somewhere in England at Christ
to-day. With the addition fh % Of many of the best
! Christmas customs of other lands. Santa Claus
and the time honored hanging of the stocking come
| from Holland, the Christmas tree from Germany.
and the ivy. the holly and the mstletoe from the
misty past: Among the Scandinavian population
+ NeW Raf the No druDR
1t it is true from % & the SKULLS Of enemies XII killed ed IN S war T
seasoned as OF old with sugar. ginger and nutmeg
Children Of the East side are munching the Christ
mas cakes which their mothers learned to make in
italy found their shoes ied With fruits and sugar
In few spanish Families in this city the nacie
miento in corner Of the living room was in wait
sists Of clay figures to represent the manger the
cattle, shepherds and magi arranged with more or
| less elaborate setting, according to the means OF
the owner With some it is a custom for the chill;
gift time with the spanards is twelfth Night, and
it Is to the magi that they look for 300 things @ %
more faithful than Young America and When 1;1 It the
and will be betrayed to younger brothers and
l ~'~.ers. This illustrated in Brooklyn family
longer believing in mysteries; Harold, aged four
and believer. and the mother, who believes in
| everything good, were assembled for a family con-
fersnSe G on,,ar. sal, ~. latter vou are not 60
ing to have goar ree in hs
| this year 1t is going to the dining room Yes. II
know il cannot be quite so tall but guess II VIII
be tall enough for every purpose There was a
oT. OF Io no santa Clans cannot get down
that dining room chimney. It isn't big enough"
To this Percy, with arti1ce beyond his years
| added And there Is pipe across the chimney.
That is the never have fire in that
| CRATE. Papa said How can Santa Claus get
down If the smoke can't get rp?" The argument
was unanswerable and the tree was placed IN Its
usual position.
The old superstitions regarding Christmas Day
are countless It considered most unlucky for
| a house have some mistletoe in It, for a fiat
| footed woman a barefooted squirting person
| to enter the where the Yule log was burning,
and owrst of all. to keep the Christmas decorations
after Candlemas Day. If the latter were not burned
then, the forest sprites had power to vex the In
mates of the house. According to old authority,
The angel lights of Christmas MORN
| Which shot across the sky,
| Away they at CandlemaS,
| They sparkle and they die.
The charred fragments of the Yule log care
fully treasured until the following year. when they
were employed kndling for the fresh log the
remnant serving meanwhile insurance against
fre Not only cattle supposed TO kneel in
alteration at midnight, but bees said to sing
In their hives and the cock to all night. Bread
baked on Christmas Day, housewives averred was
immune from mould. 1t was the popular belief. in
fact, that on Christmas Day evil influence could
be exerted mankind. The holly decided who
should be ruler of the house through the year. II
rough and prickly, the husband master: II
smooth, the wife held sway.
THE TRIBUNE PATTERN.