Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1904-12-23
OLYMPIA, WASHINGTON: FRIDAY MORNING. DEC 23 1904

never so sOrely. The thing has been
squeezed dry. Dickens and Thack-
cray, as | said before, have said it all
and have, moreover, said it so unap.
proachably we'll, that miserable scrib.
Ter, like myself, stranded in gloomy
times, when nobody believes in any
thing, has absolutely no chance at all
/ could tell you ghost story, OF
course, though what on earth ghost
stories have to do with Christmas, I'm
sure l don't know. But there it is.
Everybody reads about ghosts at
Christmas time, and you shall not
open a Christmas number without EN-
countering at least one blood curdling
tale in which spooks OF some kind find
place. And this association OF
ghosts with yuletide is of respectable
antiquity. There were people in olden
days who believed that neither ghosts
nor witches dare show themselves on
Christmas eve. Shakespeare, you re.
member, uses this quaint and vener.
able superstition to some effect in
" Hamlet" He says:
" Some say, that ever 'gainst the season comes.
Wherein our SaviOrs birth il celebrated.
The bird of dawning sngeth all night long,
Ana then, they say, no spirit dare stir abroad;
The nights are wholesome; then no planets strike,
No fairy takes, nor witch hath power to charm,
SO haliowed and SO gracious is the time
Yes, rather think 1 might have
told you ghost story. Indeed "when
in doubt, tell q ghost story" would be
a fairly reliable maxim for the poor
"literary pussen" gravellsd for pabu-
lum at his gay and festive season of
the year. But even the ghost etory is
done to death, after all. The
Evil things that walk by night,
In Jog or fire. by lake or moorish fen.
Blue meagre hag, or stubborn unfraid ghost
That breaks his magic charms at curfew time" !"
1 might babble to you of plum pud.
dings and roast beef and mince pies
and nut-brown ale, and all the rest OF
the conventional stage properties at
Christmas, to be sure. But, somehow,
I don't quite feel like it. For I much
fear that even the regulation "roast
beef," leaving such luxuries as the ale
and the snap-dragon and the mince.
pie entirely out of count, will be sadly
scarce this Christmas-tide hereabouts.
Industrially considered, it will be
quite otherwise than jovial this yule-
tide, am afraid. Many men are out
of work. And when you have work
less men you have worn.faced wives
and little children to whom the men.
ton of Santa Claus means sorrow in.
stead OF joy. read OF o case in a
California town recently, which, there
is only too much reason to believe, is
typical OF many. A laborer was
charged with that he had allowed his
little daughter to be out on the streets
selling fruit after the stipulated time.
They had nothing to cat, said his wife
who appeared for him. Her sister had
given them some oranges, and her
little girl had gone out to try and cell
these. There were six in the family
and they had to live. Her husband
was steady worker and q saving man
L" He can't get anything. We ore get
ting nothing to eat let alone anythine
else" No need for comment, is herel
=
And these things, which. unhappily
those of US who have eyes to see and
ears to hear, encounter every day just
now, that do not bend to make you
feel particularly Christmassy. So that
if object to filling space with frivo
lous chatter about misiletoe and holly
berries and plum puddings, and SC
forth, you can forgive me, 1 know
Wherefore, I won't write about Christ.
mas at all. All I shall say about i. is
that if any of you, in putting on your
L" best bib and tucker" or in other
words your best suit OF Clothes" that
you haven't worn for a while, happen
to find stray quarter that you have
forgotten all about in one of the pock'
et-well, you know what-well. There
are many homes just about now,
wherein that stray quarter would
make all the difference between a
merry Christmas and the other thing.
"A word to the wise is sufficient" saith
the proverb maker. And it might be
added that word to the truly kind
hearted at such time as this is quite
unnecessary. So merry Christmas
to you. And don't forget that quar-