The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1902-12-14
CHRISTMAS FIFTY YEARS AGO.
ONE BOYS FIRST ENCOt NTER
Z WITH StNTA CLAIS.
An Account Of the Celebration Of the Day
before the C,il war In a tOnn,Iinit,
WIN New England Traditions i.uNur-
les Which Are Now Necessarics.

\
into the middle Of The last century.
II was a different world then. The Civil
War was yet TO b. fought. Barring liz
Use on the Telegraph wire electricity was
still untamed
There were extensive stretches of coun-
try now criss-crpssed by railroads whore
| the locomotive whistle had never been
heard. Many Of the things held 70 he
nocessaries now by every one were lux
| urics To all bIt the very richl
The wel-placed citizen was then of
the are that delighted In copper-toed boots
Unknown 10 boys Of to- lay and he wore
| mittens on his hands and knitted com
forter about his neck in cold weather
His father was n NJ. 'hodist circuit rider
| IN one Of the Middle A lGutic States. who
| preached three times on every Sunday
az loin the morning ~ a Ii 'cchurch without
a ~tecpc. 2t H. The a!tccIcGu in the round
schoohou~o IN Rnuh,r'~ Hollov, and at
early candle light "a he ~ton" Schoolhouso
az Nelson's settlement driving som" thirty
tTo mile, weekly 10 make the circuit.
The day before that nr-t thristmas
Vas one Of the Iivclcst anticipa ions, since
the minister and his family had been asked
TO cat the Christmas dinner at brother
Nelson's All 10 come the night before
50 hat the boy could hang up HE stocking
with the haf-dozon young Nelson's.
just what tina, meant he didn't uuder-
stand very clearly. IN the community To
which his fath"r minis,ered il had been
transplant"i almost bodily from puritan
| New EnglGEi the observance of Christ
mas was "alv lightning. and the children
! Whprnd heard about Santa Claus were fow.
The winter was severe that year. and the
ou' lines Of he hills AM valleys we're softened
| by iwo-foot covering of snow. Brother
| Nelson's house was Il good fifteen m L..
away from the story-afld "a a!f parsonagc,
and the boy and his father and mother
started on their journey over the shining
Hh.t" roads soon after the sun began its
| descent Of The western shy.
The air was 20 crisp ,ha, il made the
boys cheeks tinglc Beror.. tie lhree took
their seats in the sleigh a Nat marble slab
had been n"ll heated ia the oven for them
70 rest their feet on 81 that they shouldn't
freeze. Aboui rh'm they wral ped a great !,
hairy, buffalo robe he like If which couldn't
hr bought anywhere to lay.
The drive 10 Brother Nelson's wa through
narrow valleys where the air was so p, al
that the cold was hardly noticed, and over
~'c"p ILLS on the tops of which the wind
piled the snow into drift which made the
roal- nearly impossible, and almost froze
the boys eyes shut, 50 keen wa il
lh'S made the arrival a. Brother Nelson :
=" ate thar the big camphene lamp which
Sric'i the Nelson paripr Was already
lighi I'll. Like the buffalo robe, the cam
! phen" lamp j. now thing of the past. no
ON" IN all that region boosted such luxury
LIt the Nelson's, and they never lighted
theirs save on festive cH>ions
Or the evening, the solid citizen remem-
bers only thai IA" boy fell asleep soon after
| In" meal Of bread and butter, honey, pre-
| serves, cold ham and 80 on, called tea TO
| IN" accompaniment or a spirited discussion
| between his father and Brot her Nelsor a. 10
whether there was likely to be a war over
| The negro slaves. and that some one vainy
| tried To wakcn him 80 that he might hang
, up his stocking.
| He was wide awake early the next morn.
| ing, though He had slept in trtIndla
| bed IN the attic along with two of the Nell
son boys, and with them, in the gray dawn,
| hr scrambled out of bed To- find what "Sindv
! Clos bad put in the stocking
or the contents of his stocking the bow
| recalls only one thing glohc-shape ped
! fruit Of rich reddish yellow, which th, Nell
| son boys aaid WAS an orangr.-, he first
orange. IN point of fact, that the minister's
| son had ever seen. II was Of the most
delicious havOr, he found, later in the dav
remembers the awe with which the state.
incnt was received that every una of Tho
| lhrc" doY0n oranges which Brother Nelson
had bought al the county ~rnt the dav
before for the Christmas dinner had cost
diino, and that Il had been hard 10 get so
! many specimens of tl,r prCCiods fruit al all
From ,his and other circumstances which
the citizen remembers of that mid century
Christ mas II Is clear in his mind that Brother
Nelson was the rich man Of all that region.
4 h.a lam. L
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 saw mill, the running of which occupied
their time and attention in the winter.
The pond which furnished the power
Ia run the mill was the source of grea,
sport thai Christmas day for the Young
Nelson's and their guests II was covered
with &c" foot or muIe thick. with a surface
a. gIarv az glass, and the bigger Nelson
boys, the three or four mill hands and n lot
Ct the neighbors spent the morning skating
upon II, while the children made q slide al
one side, which they enjoyed immensely.
some of the boys had sheds on which they
rode down hili' nobody "coasted" then in
That nc6hnorhOOd-iin finishing up their rides
! on the Ice, each one striving with much
screaming and laughter To make his sled
go farthest over IL level surface
re" OF the women and girls Ventured 70
skate, for that sport was generally thought
Y,
but many Of them took part in liz, rides on
the ~lCds
II was quito a. cold ON that Christina.
a. II had been the day before, and some one
built great bonfire of pitch pine Stt.nps,
aud logs on the lcn, exactly in the middle of
IN, group of happy. red-choekod young
folks, who Joked and laughed and told
stories Win" they warmed their fingers
and toes. Som" Of them brought applr,
which they roasted IN the fire and ate with
much gusto.
Win all this the boy was pleased hugely
though mostly as al onlookor, for his cop
per-tocd boots had way of slipping ON,
from under him when he tired 20 slide
and he had no skates. He rode down hill
on th" sled Il few times with the biggest
Nelson boy. and hat was lots of fun and
highly exciting
On the last trip the sled was overturned
and the boy had To he hurried 10 the fire
to Ice dried and warmed When the big
gest Nelson boy was ready to take the
youngstrr on another trip he rhivcred
and said In his politcst way, NO, thank
YOU, Ia the invitation
The great event Of tho dav was the din
ner Brother Nelson and his wife were
hosp'ablc soul, and had invited half the
settlement to slt around the board with
them. 80 many accepted that there were
four or five tablofus, aud the serving of
IN" m"al, which began in the big kitchen,