Missouri Valley times., 1900-12-27
THE WEEK :.
BETWEEN
CHRISTMAS
* AND
NEW YEAR. 5;
BY R. X. ~
MUNKITTRICK. ~
BY X. x.
MUNKlT RICK.
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.

Christmas has just departed, and the
scent of the Christmas tree still fills
the house with its pleasant cheer. The
society woman capers around i'll the
Fcalskin sack and diamonds, the Xmas
presents which are not yet paid for
IND thus strengthens her husbands
:redt. The small boy displays his new
skates and sled and is the chief partic-
llar envy Of the hoy whose father fail
I'd in November and who got nothing
at all to remind him of the return CT
;he holiday of all holidays. Another
toy shows his independence of the fact
.hat he is in the citywherc the mill pond
doesn't flourish by skating along the
thoroughfare on his summer or roller
skates. The Christmas wreath is hang
ing on the wall to remind CAY of the
holiday just passed, close to the hor
nets nest that brings back pleasant
dreams of the summer and unpleasant
memories Of what transpired at the
time the nest was captured-memcries
that make one feel that his head is
again mass of thyobbing knobs that
seem like so many hot coals.
The Christmas turkey is not exhaust
ed yet. There are still two wings for
garnerng the ashes. and wishbone
drying over the library door. and car
cass which will be picked at for few
days more and then put aside to form
the base of next weeks pea soup.
The toy window has a sort of de-
bilitated look. The papier mache camel
looks sadder than IL lost in the middle,
of the desert. He looks as If signing
for some kind of medicinal SPRING
whose waters would brace him up. The
pasteboard rooster also looks as though
he feels that there is no real reason
for his existence. and the ducks seem
as though about to split for lack OF
moisture. The cast out Christmas tree
standing in the ash barrel is full of
the kind Of supreme sadness that pene-
trates the wistful soul Of the poet when
the demands OF the butcher make it
necessary for him to add an advertising
feature to poem intended for The At
lantic and sell it to q tooth powder con-
cern for Sits. This is the week that
women who love exchanged presents
are calculating the values between
what they have given and what they
have received, to see whether they have
been the gamers or the losers In the
exchange. The ice carnivals at various
northern points are in full blast, and
pictures and reports Of the same fill
us all with joy, except the iceman, who
Is making nothing, but who is filled
with golden dreams as he saws the
pond up like so much cord wood and
packs it away to yield him many She
kels of gold and silver when half doz-
sn weary moons shall have passed and
the poodle jangles q can of stones out
If tune every time he wags his woolly
tail. You can tell that Christmas is
over by the appearance of the proprie-
tor Of the toy store. He looks far sad
der than that most popular Of all sad
creatures known in figures Of rhetoric
the attenuated rooster that has been
out all night in the rain. Before Christ
mas he was all smiles, and now he is
all sighs of Woe He is the reverse OF
the before" and "after" portraits in
the patent medicine ads He is not look
ing forward to the Fourth of July With
the small boy, but to Christmas of next
year. Everything has an after Christ
mas air about it. You can see 1t in the
shopping districts and i'll the benev-
olent smile of the clergyman as he
| strikes bee line for the nearest mart
TO dispose of the many pairs of fancily
embroidered slippers with which he has
been presented and which he could not
| wear at once, even if he were human
| confined