davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Grit-advocate., 1904-12-30

vas very prevalent in most Of the
large cities of the United States for .
Long while, many gentlemen making
IS many as forty and fifty calls on
That day. This custom has been gen.
erally discontinued except in Wash
lngton city. Here the presindent and
VIE, assisted by the wives of the
cabinet members. hold reception al
the White House. all the morning. Il
is most brilliant spectacle, as al
the Diplomatic Corps and the arm!
and navy are in full uniform. Bots
houses of Congress also pay their re
spects to the chief Of the nation, and
then the general public are admitted
Charles Lamb, ore Of the tenderes'
OF English essayists. says: "Of all
sounds. of all bells. the most solemn
and touching is the peal which rings
out the old year. They take a per
sonal color. Not childhood alone. but
the young man. till thirty. never feels
practically that he is mortal" He tell.
us that every man hath two birth
days, two days in every year which
set him upon revolving tie lapse o.
time as 1t affects mis- mortal duration:
Ills own birthday and the birthday q
the New Year"
The Grit-advocate., 1904-12-30
NEW YEAR CUSTOMS
Old Time Rites and the Origin of Some That
Are Still Practiced.

New Years day was a great day in
New York with the early Dutch set
tiers. II was ushered in by the ring
ing of bells and firing Of guns. Wash
ington Irving. in lis humorous "knick.
erbocker's History OF New York.
gives a delightfully."- amusing account
of the observance OF New Year among
these Netherlandcrs. The whole COM
munity," he tells us. was deluged
with cherry brandy. pure Holland
and mulled cider: every mouse was
a temple Of the merry god. and many
a provident vagabond was intoxicated
out of pure economy. drinking liquor
enough to serve him the remainder OF
the year"
Irving dwells especially upon the
great ball given at the Governors. old
Peter Stuyvesant, New Years night.
when the good Peter was devoutly
observant OF the pious rite Of kissing
all the womenkind for . Happy New
Year"
On this day the governor also dis
tributed hddles to the old nesroeS
who fddled all night while the youi
peor!e danced. Under Peter was in.
stituted quilting bees" "huskfns
bees" and other rural assemblages.
where, under the inspiring influence
OF the fiddles. toll was enlivened by
gayety and followed by a dance.
The governor did not approve OF
the short skirts worn by the ladies
and ordered a ruffle put at the bottom
of them. He likewise disapproved Of
some Of their steps IN dancing. and
ordered that no other step should be
taken but the shuttle and turn" and
the double trouble"
The custom OF New Years callinE
The Grit-advocate., 1904-12-30
streets, asking for presents, and sing.

streets, asking for presents, and sing.
ing:
IL wish you happy New Year,
pocket full of money
And a cellar full OF beer,
And great fat pig
To serve you all the year.
Ladies and gentlemen.
Sitting by the fire,
Pity We poor boys
Out In the mire.''
The French make a great deal of
New Year. In 1854 Charles TX. of
France decreed that in accordance
with the Roman calendar, the year
should begin on the first day of Jauu.
ary.
Christmas with them is a religious
festival, but the New Year is domes.
tic festival and holiday. The day COM
mences at an early hour, with an ex-
charge of bonbons and visits among
friends and relatives. somewhere
sew an estimate that one hundred
thousand dollars was spent upon bon
bons alone every New Years in Paris,
The French revolution brought New
Years day to this great prominence.
With the first empire 1t was one o..
the most brilliant festivals Of the
court, a. 1t was also Of the second en-.
pire.
The Grit-advocate., 1904-12-30

New Years LAY has been . day of
ceremony and rejoicing for great
many centuries in the worlds history.
Its origin is traced back to the Roman
festival Of Janus. after the establish
inert Of the empire. The old Romans
divided the year irto ten NOR this only.
Numa Pomrilius added January ara
February. and dedicated the former to
Janus. 7I3 B. C.
'''Tis he The two-faced Janus comes in
view;
And sundrops. rivals OF the morn.
He spurns the goal aside
But smiles npon the ncw-emerginE year
And now unlocks. with agate key.
The ruby gates of orient day
On this day the Roman consuis, fol
lowed by the court, went to the cap
ital. all gorgeously appareled. where
they sacrificed two white bulls, never
yoked. to Jupiter Capitolinus.
The Druids observed New Year with
great pomp and ceremony. One fca-
ture Of their ceremonies was the dis
tributiOn of the mistletoe among the
people on New Years eve. The
priests went in annual procession, On
the sixth day Of the moon nearest the
New Year. wearing white robes and
bearing golden sickle with which to
detach the sacred parasite from the
tree. So much did they esteem it that
it was carried in a white cloth. 1t
must be cut from the divine oak, IN
the forest dedicated to the gods. The
apple tree mistletoe. used in England,
is a different thing altogether. We
all remember the NEUROLOGICAL story
OF Eneas. who. when descending to
Avernus. was comrelled to take with
him = brarch OF this plant to Proser-
The Grit-advocate., 1904-12-30

Among the Saxons the New Year
was ushered in by friendly gifts.
Later. tEis custom of making gifts
Henry III. of England extorted costly
gifts from his court. Queen hess car
ried it to such an extreme. says Or.
Drake. that her costly wardrobe and
jewelry was supplied in this way
When Henry VIII. was receiving
costly presents from his courtiers. we
read that hoEest old Latimer handed
him Eible. with some pertinent
chapters marked. much to the burly
kings disgust.
DR.. Drake tells us that. in the six.
teerth century. rrince and peasant
alike celebrated the New Year with
regularity and parade.
Much was made OF the wassail bowl
at this season. 1t was carried from
door to door with loud singing and
nerriment. TIE word is derived from
was halle. the Saxon for Here's to
you!" an expression still In use by
men in pledging each other at SUP.
pcrs. The present loving cup takes
the place OF the ancient wass1n bowl.
In some. OF the country districts OF
England old customs are still obsery.
ed. On New Years eve. at midnight,
the last Of the Christmas carols IS
sung. outside of the house. by the
yourg people. then there is a rush for
tie nearest spring. and the first one
who fills his or her glass gets what
they call the cream Of the WELL" and
will be the most fortunate during the
coming year.
In TIE early hours Of the morning. a
funeral is held. at some public houses.
over "old Tom" las the old year is
called, when the boys parade the
The Grit-advocate., 1904-12-30

The Tall One always gives me the
feeling of a lamb before a wolf"
Even had the likeness never oc-
CURED to her before, it would not
have been strange if she had thought
of 1t to-day as. followed by the Mar
shal and preceded by their fair usher,
the old warrior came across the grass
to the little court under the apple
tree. She relapsed into kind OF
lamb-like tremor as she invited them
to be seated and commanded the at
tendance Of her cup-bearer. When she
caught sight of the misery Of discom.
fort in Scbert's frank face, she lost
her voice entirely and waited in utter
silence while they drank their wine.
Yet Thorkel's manner was unwont-
ed.y genial when at last he broached
his errand you lack the eagerness
that is to be expected. lady" he said
as he gave his mouth last polish
with the delicate nakpin. will it
not interest you to hear that at last
the Palace is ready for a Queen?
Canute is going to give the Angles a
gift OF the elves.
For an instant, she was betrayed
into believing him. and bent forward.
her flushing face transfgured with de-
light. She was starting to speak
when the Etheling rose abruptly from
his seat.
Lord Thorkel," he said angrily.
this cat-play would bring you little
thanks from your King, nor will l
longer endure it. pray you to explain
without delay that the name OF Ell
giva' is borne also by Emma OF Nor
mandy"
He did not address the Kings wife
indeed. he refrained even from look
irg at her-but he spoke swiftly to the
dark haired girl who stood beside the
seat. "Randalin, beg you to tell your
lady that Eltgiva Emma. who Is
Ethelreds widow and the Lady OF Nor
mandy, arrives at Dover tomorrow to
be made Queen of the English"
As all expected. the Lady of North
ampton started up shrieking defiance.
screaming that it should not be so.
that the King was her husband and
the soldiers would support her If the
monks would not. that he was hers.
hers-and more to that effect. until
the plunging words ran into each
other and tears and laughter blotted
out the last semblance Of speech. At
the point where her voice gave out
The Grit-advocate., 1904-12-30
PROBLEM OF OLD AGE.
Question for Political Economists to
Puzzle Over.


Puzzle Over.
What the country shall do with its
ex-presidents is not nearly so vital
problem as what it shall do with its
old men.
According to the new gospel Of bus.
mess economics a man is "old" at
fifty. That is to say, he can no long
ar remain an integral part of the
industrial machine.
Young men are in demand every.
where. Old men are in demand no.
where. The commercialism of the
age feeds upon young blood and re-
jects everything else.
Most of the railroads have placed
an age limit upon their pay roll ac-
count. 1t Is a tacit rule that no man
over forty.hve years of age shall be
employed, even at clerical work.
One OF the great steel companies Of
the country. employing thousands of
men. recently adopted a rule that in
certain departments requiring expert
knowledge and skill no man over thir-
ty-five years of age should be given
employment. Other large industries
are following similar policy.
Practically the same thing Is true
in the professions. Except as a
counselor the old lawyer is not in de-
mand. The churches are calling for
young ministers. and the schools give
preference to young teachers. When
a man reaches the age Of fifty he Is
supposed to have crossed the dead
line.
1t is strange commentary on our
modern civilization that while medi-
cal science is bending every energy
to prolong the span OF human life
to people the world with old men
the tendency Of our economic system
is to drive them out Of business--to
make them a charge upon the world,
which is said to owe every man a liv-
ing.
Here Is question for political
economists to digest. II possible. for
TIE benefit Of the coming generation:
What shall the world do with its oa6
asn?-Chicago Journal
The Grit-advocate., 1904-12-30
CHAPTER xxvI-Continued.

Elfgiva turned quickly. "Yes-Te-
boen my nurse. Have you seen herr
Il saw her between cockcrowins
and dawn. noble one. when l let down
the bars for the cattle to come In to
the milking. The herd-boy who drives
them said something to her-it
seemed to me that he named Dan
ish name and said that person was
waiting In the wood to speak with
her-whereat she set down her pitcher
and went up the lane. l have not seen
her since"
The lady's little white hands beat
the air like frightened child's.
"Taree candles have burned out since
then; It Is certain that evil has be-
faren her" She paused to gaze
eagerly toward figure that at this
moment appeared In the low arch OF
the doorway. "Tata! do you bring me
news Of herr"
Though she shook her head. Randa-
lin's manner was full of suppressed
excitement as she advanced. Not OF
her. lady. yet tidings. great tidings!
The King has sent
His Marshal again? I will not see
him."
May. the Marshal but accompanies
tho messenger In truth. lady. 1t is
my belief that the token has accom-.
plished its mission. The message is
brought by Thorkel Jarl. as this has
not been done before
Earl Thorkel?" Elfgiva cried. by
the Saints. It can be nothing less than
the token!" She dropped down upon
the rustic seat that stood under the
green canopy OF the old apple tree and
sat there a long time. After a while.
an enchanting smile touched her lips.
Surely. a rose garden Is fitting
place to receive the ambassadors OF a
lover" she said. and Strengthened her
self on her rustic throne. sweeping
her draperies into more graceful folds.
Bring them here, ladybird. Candida.
fetch hither the lace veil from my
bower, and call the other maids Is
you go. and all the pages you can f1.d.
The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1904-02-25

The plans for the international peace
congress in Boston next fall are still
undisturbed. 1t hardly seems as
though peace congress is necessary
now. There have been only five seri.
GUS wars in the last ten years and a
dozen or so little wars or rebellions.
A pretty good record-so good that
probably the people of the world will
not pay much attention to the peace
congress especially with the possibility
of general mixup in view.
The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1904-02-25
ID TIE FIXED.

Burlington, Feb. 90. The Republi.
can State committee met in this city
last evening and set the date fort
State convention at which the.dele-
gates at large, to attend the national
convention, are elected. The conven-
ton will be held at the Howard opera
house in this city on Wednesday April
20. The committee was called to or
der by A. E. Watson, secretary of the
organization, and Horace W. Bailey
was elected temporary chairman The
first business transacted was the cleo
ton of f. S. Platt of Poultney,a men,
Der of the committee from Rutland
county, to succeed the late Ira r.
Allen
The name Of Mr.. Watson had been
prominently mentioned for the office
of chairman Of the State committee
but when the committee met Il. M.
Chapman of Middlebury was nominal.
ed by K. W. Hulburd of Hyde Park
and as he was the oldest member of
Wiz SpiiinibpCO AIls WdboOu uSCllu6O
to stand for nomination and Mr..
Chapman was elected.
Mr.. Watson, who has so efficiently
served as secretary, was retained in
that capacity. The committee decid-
ed upon the Hon. H. H. Powers as
chairman of the convention and the
Hon. W. E. Johnson of Woodstock
was elected chairman of the commit
tee on resolutions.
H. E. Wright of Essex Junction
was appointed to act as a committee
man to confer with the city committee
of Burlington and arrange the minor
details for the convention.
The basis of representation will be
on the governorship vote of 1900 and
that will provide 72S delegates.
H. W. Bailey, who was recently ap.
pointed United States marshal, will
retire from the committee and his sue
cessor from Orange county will be
elected at the convention to be held
here in April.
The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1904-02-25
THE SHAFROTH AFFAIR.

John f. Shafrcth was on Monday
serving his tenth year in Congress as
a Representative from the first Colo
RADIO district. He was probably known
to most of his colleagues but had ac-
quired no national reputation. On
that day by relinquishing voluntarily
his seat in the lower House and &C.
knowledging that his Republican OPP
he became at once an object of nation
al interest-almost curiosity. Public
men and editors have been throwing
him bouquets ever since.
Mr.. Shafroth explained clearly how
the frauds we're perpetrated which
secured him enough votes to get the
election. A hot contest was on for
the control of the State Legislature
ana the frauds which were perpetrat.
ed affected the congressional election
only incidently. The frauds which
concerned his case were mostly in the
cred light district of Denver and
consisted in ballot box stufling and
the use of crepe ating'' voters 81
must say" said Shafroth, "if were
upon the bench considering this case,
| would be compelled to find agains
myself. - Handwriting experts haC
been employed IN the Investigation
by the House committee and the re
suits of the expert and other testimony
could hardly have resulted any other
way than in the seating Of the Repub
llcau candidate. Ii is probable tina
shpfroth preferred to Get out, appar
entity of his own accord, rather than
20 be uusted little later
But perhaps the most interesting
fact about the case is that a largo par
of the frauds were perpetrated b.
women. Colorado has granted suffrag
to women and the way some of til
The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1904-02-25
INCOMPETENCE THAT COSTS
LIFE.

The Russian navy and transport SER
vice appear to be in as much peril
from Russian incompetenoy as from
Japanese aggressiveness. Two or three
torpedo boats were sunk at Port Arthur
by excited gunners in the forts, who
mistook them for the destructive and
demoralizing craft of the enemy, A
steamer carrying number of soldiers
fouled a mine in the same harbor and
went to the bottom, carrying with her
more than one hundred men. Several
warships are said to have been hit
during the attack by the Japanese
fleet by shells wildly aimed, either by
other Russian ships or by the shore
batteries, and now the climax comes
in the destruction of a fine cruiser by
collision with another of the subma-
rine defenses that make Port Arthur
This extraordinary succession of dis
asters indicates that the Russian cause
is suffering at the outset from stupid
ity as conpsicuous as the intelligence
displayed on the other side. War
cannot be successfully waged by mere
brute strength, truth admitted by
the dashing Skobeleff when he failed
to overwhelm the Turkish defenses at
Plevna with desperate sacrifice of
battalions. 1t is sweet and becoming
to die for ones native country, as did
the men OF the Variag who put to sea
from Chemulpo the other day, cheered
by British sailors-the friends of their
enemy-who knew that the Russian
cruiser was going to her doom. But
patriotism is put to poor use when
its sacrifices are demanded by negli
gence that materially helps the cause
of the adversary without inhictinf
compensatiug damages upon him. TIL,
loss of the Boyarin still further weak
ems the Russian naval force, although
the offensive sphere of the latter ha
for some time been limited to the in
jury which the elusive Vladivostol
squadron is capable of doing to Jana
uese commerce and Notifications.
Brooklyn Eagle.
The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1904-02-25
HOUSEHOLD DEPARTMENT.
NOTES FROM THE DAYS WORK

Now that eggs are so scarce very
acceptable doughnut can be made as
follows: When the bread dough is
ready for the second kneading take
three cupfuls of dough, add one coffee
cuprul of brown sugar. piece of lard
the size of a hens egg. Knead thor.
oughly, cut in small strips, set to
rise. When light fry in hot lard. If
preferred the cakes can be spiced, but
after trying both ways we prefer them
unspiced This makes "a cakes.
Even if eggs are scarce it is often
necessary to make a cake. We have
yet to find a good recipe, where but
one egg is used as the following coffee
cake; One cupful brown sugar, one
cupful molasses, one egg, one cupful
cold, strong coffee, four or FIVE cup
fuls of -four, one cupful butter or but
ter and lard mixed, one cupful raisins,
one teaspoonful salt, one hesping tea
spoonful saleratus, two teaspoonfuls
cinnamon. This makes two good-sized
loaves. 1t improves with age and
rivals many pretentious fruit cake.
This year we are buying leaf lard
and TRYING it at home, the rendered
lard costing less than IL cents pound
the leaf costing 10 cents. The lard is
cut into small pieces and put ten
pounds at a time in an iron kettle.
1t needs watching, but with care and
a good fire the work is soon done, and
we have gallon crock full of the
purest lard. A neighbor prefers put
ting the lard in a large dripping pan
in the oven to try out The advantage
she claims, is that the lard will not
burn, needs less watching, an also
there is less odor in the house.
The children, and the older ones as
we'll, are very fond of "ice cream" as
they call it, This is simply blanc
mango set out of doors to freeze.
Sometimes eggs are used ia making
it, but oftener it is made of milk, corn.
starch, salt and vanilla.
Last year we corned beef according
to tried recipe. The result was very
satisfactory. This year we have corn.
ed larger amount, as follows: Four
pounds coarse salt. two pounds brown
sugar, two ounces saltpeter to so
pounds of beef. Mix salt, sugar and
salUpeter, heat, then rub beef thor
oughly on all sides Of every piece.
Put in tub, packed closely. Put on
heavy weight The beef makes it's
own brine, no water being used.
Those who have corned beef in this
way say it will not spoil. Ours GER
tainly kept for months. Rural New
Yorker.
The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1904-02-25

1t is reported that the Germans are
getting mad because "the Yankees,
who mistake German courtesy for
weakness" have not sent for the
statue of Frederick the Great which
the German Emperor has given to
them. The statue is intended to be
set up in the grounds of the War Col
lege. in Washington, and the authori-
ties say the delay is because Of the
fact that the proposed site is not yet
ready for the setting Of statuary The
truth is, apparently, that Frederick cut
in stone is something of white ele-
plant on the hands Of the acoeptors,
inasmuch as his record was hardly
in favor of liberty.
The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1904-02-25

Germany has a little war on her
own hands down in Southwest Af-
RIGA, and it is not SO very little
either. The territory which the
rebellion reaches over is as large es
that of Germany itself, though the
population is only little over 200, 600.
OF that number about 4, 600 are whites
and perhaps 1900 Germans. The cause
of the rebellion is not known though
it is probably owing to the severity of
German methods of control. The Ger
man press seems to believe that the
fatherland has good deal of job be-
fore it to subdue ths uprising.
The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1904-02-25
REMAINS Laid TO REST.

Cleveland, o., Feb. 1.-the re-
mains of Senator Hanna after lying in
state for twepty-four hours and being
viewed by nearly 60, people were
taken to st. Paul's CHI urch under
police and military escort this after
noon. Thousands lined the route to
pay their last tribute. The service
began at l O'Clock, Right Rev. W.
A. Leonard, bishop of the diocese of
Ohio, delivered the address .eloquently
eulogistic Of the Senator's life, the
vast congregation being deeply moved.
Interment followed at Lake view.