The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1902-12-25

father and mother started on Their
! journey over the shining white roads
soon after the sun began It's descen<
| of the western sky.
The air was so crisp that it made the
! boys cheeks Jingle. Before the three
took their seats in the sleigh a fiat mai
BILE slab had been well heated in the
oven for them to rest their feet on SO
| that they shouldn't freeze. About Them
they wrapped a great hairy buffalo robe.
the like Of which couldn't be bought
anywhere today no matter how much
money was offered fer it.
The drive to Brother Nelson's was
through narrow valleys where the air
was so still that the cold was hardly
noticed, and over steep hills on the tops
| of which the wind piled the snow into
drifts which made the roads nearly inn
passable. and almost froze the boys
eyes shut, so keen was it.
This made the arrival al Brother Mel
sons so late that the big camDhene
was already lighted. Like the buffalo
robe, the camphene lamp is now a thing
of the past: no one in ALL that region
boosted such a luxury but the Nelson's.
and they never lighted theirs save on
festive occasions.
OF the evening, the solid citizen re-
members only that the boy fell asleep
soon after the meal of bread and butter.
honey, preserves, cold ham and SO on,
called tea to the accompaniment of
spirited discussion between his father
and Brother Nelson as to whether there
was likely to be war over the negro
slaves. and that some one vainly tried
to waken him so that he might hang UP
his stocking.
He was wide awake early the next
morning though. He had slept in
trundie bed in the attic along with two
of the Nelson boys. and with them, III
| the gray dawn he scrambled out of bed
to find what "Sindy Clos" had put in the
stockings
Of 10 Of =, ic cfao "a
boy recalls only one thifig-a globe
shaped fruit OF a rich reddish yellow.
which the Nelson boys said was an
''orange"-the first orange, in point of
fact, that the minister's son had ever
seen. It was of the most delicious
flavor, he found, later in the day when
he was allowed to eat it, and he still
remembers the awe with which the
statement was received that every one
of the three dozen oranges which Broth
er Nelson had bought at the county seat
the day before for the Christmas dinner
had cost a dime, and that it had been
hard to get so many specimens of the
precious fruit at all
| From this and other circumstances
which the citizen remembers of that
midcentury Christmas it is clear in his
mind that Brother Nelson was the rich
man of all that region. Indeed, the
| settlement had been named for him.
He had big farm, which kept himself
and his three or four hired men busy
all summer and fall. and he also owned
| a Sawmill, the running of which occu-
pied their time and attention in the
/ winter.
The pond which furnished the power
to run the mill was the source of great
| sport that Christmas day for the young
Nelson's and their guests. 1t was GOV
cred with ice foot or more thick, with
a surface as "glairy' as glass, and the
bigger Nelson boys. the three or fon
mill hands and lot of the neighbors
spent the morning skating upon it,
while the children made a slide at one
side, which they enjoyed immensely.
Some of the boys had sleds on which
they rode down hill''-nobody coast
ed then in that misunderstanding
up their rides on the ice, each one strip-
ing with much screaming and laughter
to make his sled go farthest over its
level surface. Few of the women and
girls ventured to skate. for that sport
was generally thought too boisterous
for members of the fair sex, but many
! of them took part in the rides on the
sleds.
1t was quite as cold on that Christ
mas as it had been the day before, and
! some one built a great bonfire of pitch
pine stumps and logs on the ice, exactly
in the middle of the group of happy,
! red checked young folks, who jOked and
laughed and told stories while they
| warmed their fingers and toes. Some OF
them brought apples, which they roast
ed in the fire and ate with much gusto.
With all this the boy was pleased huge
~, InOugh mostly as an OniOOker, LOT MS
copper-toed boots had way of slipping
| out from under him when he tried to
! slide, and he had skates He rode
down hill on the sled few times with
the biggest Nelson boy, and that was lots
of fun and highly exciting. One the last
| trip the sled was overturned, and the
boy had to be hurried to the fire to be
dried and warmed When the biggest
Nelson boy was ready to take the young
ster on another trip he shivered and said
in his politest way, mo, 1 thank you"
/ to the invitation
The great event of the day was the
dinner. Brother Nelson and his wife
were hospitable souls, and had invited
half the settlement to sit around the
board with them. So many accepted the
Invite" that there were four or five la
blesful, and the serving of the meal, which
began in the big kitchen with the first
tableful at sharp twelve. was not COM
pleted for the last tableful till nearly
three in the afternoon. The minister
and his wife ate at the first tablefsl and
the minister asked the blessing at
each. The children ate last, and would
have been pretty hungry by the time
came if Sister Nelson had not stayed
their stomachs meanwhile with liberal
pieces (mostly of bread and butter and
sugar. between meals
All the tables but were waited on
by Mrs. Nelson's 'hired girls but at
one table they sat down the same as
guests These girls were the daughters
of well-to-do neighboring farmers. were
quite as good socially Mrs. Nelson,
and helped in her kitchen chiefly as all
accommodation. Mrs. Nelson herself and
the minister's wife waited on that table.
The sun was low when the last table
was swept clear of it's holiday feast, and
then Brother Nelson called in as many
as could get into the spare parlor and
asked them to listen while he made g
little speech He stood up and hemmed
and hawed a moment, after which he
said he thought, having found out that
Christmas day was the minister's birth