The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1904-12-25

Mrs. Bertha Slower, the wife OF a mis-
sloinary stationed at Bailundu. Africa.
Claus terrified the black children at ho-
mission station when he first appeared TO
tnem year or two ago.
hey mad celebrated Christmas at Bail
undu before, but they had never had
santa Claus. so Mr.. Slower dressed him
self up as the benevolent saint
He had been padded and powdered and
packed until his own mother would not
have known him. said Mrs. Slower.
Presently we gave the signal the door
new open and In walked Santa Claus.
But; dear me. what CONSERVATION,
He was greeted with shrieks and
Gr0ans and cries Of:
Let me Outi'
1T is the evil one"
IT is the day of Judgment
The small fry. catching the infection
OF terror from the elder black people fled
10 the bed rooms, fell down prone upon
their faces. crept under chairs and tables
anywhere to hide themselves.
Poor Santa Claus never had such a
greeting before. As soon as he realized
the D@niC he had caused he tore off his
tall hat and white cotton beard. ana from
the bags on his back he began to throw
gifts right and left. ard to tell Who he
was
'Reassured once more, they were soon
all laughing and chatting. munching the
great red bread (doughnutsD. tasting
their fruits. or nibbling at the sweets in
the familiar little bags.
"One man wondered which end IN he
was to hold the fork Santa Claus had
given him. Another Immediately tried on
MS new shirt The girls arranged their
bright-hued handkerchiefs into nobby
tuTbans. while others tried TO find some
place about their scanty clothing where
theI could stow away the bunch Of
thread. paper Of needles and cake of soap
given to them.
Each one tried to talk louder than his
neighoor. as they examined the costume
Of good old Santa Claus who had fright
cned them almost TO death. One man
said he thought Elijah had returned. an
other that IL was John the Baptist Yet
another though il was Satan himself
and all my sins rose mp before me while
a fourth confessed. My only thought was
to hide myself. %
Nearly Caused Bloodshed.
The Rev. Frank Patton. son Of the ia
nous South Sea missionary, John G.. Pa
ton. tells Of a thrilling Christmas which
he spent in 1899 at Lenakel, on the island
of Tanna in the South Pacific
he had mission station there. and his
native converts were no strar gers 10
Christmas observance; but they invited a
large number Of their heathen friends to
come to their Yuetide feast. These
heathens knew nothing about Christmas.
and were quite unaware that 1t is sup
posed to be 2 period OF ''peace on earth
and good will toward men"
over Loo natives were gathered for the
great feast. The crew Of a "blackbird-
ing schooner" eager to get kanaka la
Dor by fair means of foul for the Queens
land sugar plantations heard of the gath
ering and dropped anchor off the island
on Christmas morning The captain.
however. seeing the numbers Of the ma
tive1 hesitated to modest them
Telling the story. Mr.. Patton said:
MY first anxiety was the labor schoon-
er. but soon q new peril threatened. Some
Of the heathens had not met since war
had ragged between them. At first they
simply glared al each other. and tEen old
spoken.
Again and again I started some con-
test that would scatter the excited
groups, but they soon came together
again. Then I went from group tn group
and tried 10 spread a better feeling. our
Christmas gathering was nearly turned
into scene OF bloodshed in our very gar
den. but fortunately all passed eff most
happily"
Among the Head Hunters of Formosa.
Through the center OF the beautiful
island Of Formosa there runs. like back
bone, a great range Of forest-clad noun
tains. The original inhabitants of Formo-
sd, a wild, savage, ferocious race OF men.
live upon these mountains. Christmas
was first carried to these people by a
brave missionary named George Leslie
MacKay.
MacKay had spent several years on the
coast and in the interior. but he hest
tated long before he took his life in his
hand by seeking out the barbarians OF
the mountains. 10 whom no white man
had ever ventured
The favorite 9astinle of these savages
was TO cut off the heads of their enc
mics and decorate their huts with them
They had been INDUCING in this sport
when MscKay driftod into one Of their
villages and spent Christmas cay with
one OF their chiefs.
Tho chiefs home consisted of one large