Bisbee daily review., 1905-12-28

on Christmas Eve and dropped uoNn the chimney gifts for the good and obedient. In Russia it is Saint Nich- olas, and it is not denied that he was a real man who lived about 300 A. D. We are told that this man was noted bishop. whose name, because of his good deeds and generous acts, became a synonym for kindness and generosity According to one story, this good old. saint, clad in fur from top to toe. was in the habit of going , around in a sleigh drawn by fieet-foot- ed reindeers. From one of his thought ful acts came the custom of hanging up stockings on Christmas Eve. IL is said that a poor nobleman in Russia having no money with which to pro vide marriage dowers for his three daughters. was about to force them to support themselves by a degrading passed the noblemans house one Christmas Eve and threw a purse of gold, shaped as a slipper, through the window. On the following night the second daughter received a similar gift. and the third night the youngest daughter detected the good old saint throwing a stocking filled with gold grown the custom of placing gifts in sho-s and stockings on Christmas Eve
 From these reputable ancestors the Santa Claus of today is descended. Don't let them fool you, children, He is not myth, the so-caiIed truth telIers to the contrary notwithstand- ing. He is a real being who acts; and so strong is his personality. so in spring are his characteristics. that l he sways the hearts of men in every cline where the crucifix is the em- blem and Christ is the Master. 1 Who would begrudge the world the happiness it has obtained from its conception of the generous old mes senger of Christmas Eve? Who would withhold from men the inspiration Santa Claus has given? Who would tear from the life book of ~of such is the kingdom of heaven" it's best and brightest chapter?
 Here's to Santa Claus! May his shadow never grow less! He is the annual reminder that "I am my brothers keeper" He is the walking delegate of the Brotherhood of Man. He is the living exemplar of the Ser mon on the Mount; the Declaration of Independence might have been writ ten within his tool shop; and the treaties declaring peace between war ring nations might have been framed upon his work bench
 The duties of santa Claus are not confined to the filling Of chiIdren's stockings. Where women have fallen he gives words of cheer and extends : a hsspans hand W here hope is dead within the breasts or men he rs-sixssfs it. Where Gods creatures are naked he provides clothes; where they are hungry he gives food; where they are disconsolate, he gives encouragement And whenever in the horizon of a life there is not to be seen 8 single star, he touches the situation with his magic wand, and, To and behold, ir that same horizon there is not 10 be found a single cloud.
 In the life of the adult he is 6 strong and permanent forceS accord ing to the alacrity with which mer turn from the shadows to the sun beams, and the earnestness with which they cultivate those habits of thought that lead men onward and upward.
 In the life of the child-ah. that is where the good old saint is at his best. There he is at his best not only for the happiness he brings tc the little ones, but because that hap piness is of the contagious kind and results in the distribution of blessings and sunshine and in the cultivation ot
 love and joy and optimism-eve sometimes among eminently pTacuca men and women, who, mingling witt the little ones as they empty theil
 stockings on Christmas morning may I learn that it is not all of life 10 live nor all of death to die"
 This New York newspaper asks how lit would seem to have placed over tho
 door of the little shop at The Nor,t
 Pole the sign: