The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1902-01-07

Our Christmas is over. but the memory
o. it will linger long. Most all the kith and
kindred gathered at the cid homestead
and brought love and gladness with them.
All the far away boys save one were
here and / never saw them so happy De
fore. OF course we had prepared a christ
mas tree for the little ones and Santa
Claus came down the chimney and filled
their stockings and then filled the tree
With beautiful presents and decorated II
with gorgeous ornaments. That part q
Christmas has passed. The anxious *
Jectation and wonder OF the little ones IS
All over. hut the old mansion Is stlll
aide C~c1 eai running over with happy
children and grandchildren and Moore
first verse was changed to
Twas the night after Christmas the
rooms and the hall
Had the holly and mistletoc still OF the
wall,
The Christmas tree stands in the p%arior
~forlorn,
Its beautiful hangings all given and
gone
4NcfI a w otNNANH
song and the quiet enjoyment Of all the
good gifts that Christmas brought. includ-
ing turkey and oysters for dinner and
turkey hash for breakfast every day
While the Boys were with US. These boys
are al! natural born musicians and what
with the piano and flute and violin AMI
half a dozen sweet voices We had a cholr
of our own. and when they got onto the
"buzzard lope" and other hilaritles the
girls formed 4 ring and danced ana
pranced to concord of sweet sounds ana
all Of a sudden the maternal ancestor
lost her self-control and Joined the pro-
~cession and bowed and c%urtsied and
chased all and held out her hands in
vitingly to me. What could | do but ac-
cept the uxorial banter and as | was
about to take her hand in mine and fiy
round she flashed her PocahontaS eyes
and declined my soft approaches she
firted away on her No. ? feet as gay as
a girl and went ccquetting with one OF
the bows. That's the way she treats me
now in my antiquity. Time was wheA she
was glad enough to take my hand and
keep it and dident dare TO play coquette
at nv expense. But now ! am discarded
and so l retired from the ring singing
that pathetic old song:
I'm the last rose Of summer left stand"
ing alone,
Ny lovely companion has left me ana
gone
But the frolic is about over and the
children have settled down to the calm
endowment OF their dolls and horns ana
other toys and are still happy. The cay
before Christmas it was a touching sight
to see some Of the old men slipping
around silly 10 the stores buying pretty
things for the homo folks. | met my sotu
brother Yarbrough waddling along ABOUT
dark with some bundles and under ms
orn was = new umbrella. He said the
UMBRELLA was for Hezekiah. his falthlul
servant who had lived with him all these
vaars and was true and tried and had
never owned an umbrella. That was
good and kind and was proof enough
that Brother Marlborough belongs to our
old set and had slaves TO serve him be
fC' de wah.'
But. Mr.. Editor. l am still perpiexed.
Nv Christmas pleasure has been marred
by my pity for the poor cred
uIous dependent women all over the land
who are the dupes of that Monticello
man. Every day brings more letters from
those who have long since sent the 80 10
my son at Monticello. Fla, and get
nothing back. They say they trusted
him because he was my son. Many of
them begged or borrowed the $25, for
they could not get the subscribers, and
so they made up a list of names from
their acuuaintances and then they went
to work on the endless chain humbug and
got other women in to send more money
and be duped.
Now. Mr.. Editor, l beg you to put it in
large type and print it in red ink that
Joel Smith, of Monticello, is no son OF
mine, nor do ! know anything of him or
his paper. ! saw a late issue in which
boasts of having 40, 900 subscribers,
which | suppose mean $4,000 that these
dependent women have sent him. He
them $50 a month to write
three hours a day and some of them sold
their jewelry and other precious things !,
to raise the 1925. Mr.. Editor, do please
your columns to stop this fraud upon
our poor Southern women. And now We
that another endless chain paper has
started in Athens, Ga. These frauds are
bringing discredit upon the press and
distress upon poor women. l enclose a
sample circular. Please stop it. Kill II.
Crush il. 1t is worse than the cherry
tree sWindle. BILL Arr.
2. 81 will give so to find out who
that lie that the Monticello man
was my son. I have received at least
fifty letters saying, Your son at Month
cello etc. They make me tired. had I