The Ocala banner. (Ocala, Marion County, Fla.) 1883-194?, 1905-12-22
* Christmas Celebration in *
~ Various Lands ~
AS Seen in the Embassies at Washington City.

seen at his best at the embassies and
legations in this city. There, as else
where, his toddling subjects rule, and
that their sway is absolute is proved
| by the way they force the rich and
great of all nations, regardless Of re-
| ligion, to honor, their patron saint.
There are thirty-six of these homes
of distinguished foreigners who are
| here as the representatives Of their
governments They represent all the
great countries of the world and
many of the small ones. They come
| from all parts of the globe. They
are white, black, brown and yellow.
There are Christians and heathens
| among them. They bring here the
| customs of all the great races under
| the SUM-
! No Christmas day passes without
a tree, and gifts in the big Chinese
| legation on the hill.
French Custom.
| The lucky children in the French
! embassy nave two days of joy. In
, France -. Nicholas attended by little
/ saints dressed in furs and carrying
| packs, makes the rounds of all the
| houses on December 6. He leaves
| gifts for the good children and switch
/ es for the bad.
| Gifts are brought to the Haitian
! legation by the infant Jesus. There
| can be no doubt of that, for one
morning a youngster of the household,
[ almost bursting with excitement. de-
! clared that he had seen the holy child
| leaving them.
| The Russian Christmas comes
J twelve days after December %. In
I the absence of children only the Rus
sian day is observed. 1t is time o. re
! unions and The exchange of gifts.
J In Holland.
In Holland just at midnight, in all
| the various villages the men, dressed
| in costumes of their own Seleo ton,
! meet III the principal squares: here
| they chant the Gloria in EXcelsis,"
and a vote is taken as to who shall
| have the honor of being star-bearer-
/ 4 large star containing d number of
| flaming candles, is fastened on a pole
| and carried through the dark. crook
: ed streets, the men singing in glad
! tones the Gloria"
In Belgium.
In Belgium, the children expect the
| good ST. Nicholas to visit them They
| think he rides on a white horse. SO
| they polish their shoes with great
! care, fill them with hay, oats or car
| rots for the saints horse. and put
| them in the fireplace or on a table,
| in the morning instead Of the forage
| they find sticks for the bad children
and candies for the good ones.
In Montenegro.
The peasants of the mountains Of
Montenegro celebrate Christmas eve
! in strange manner. First they light
the great yule log; when this is
| burning, the master of the house and
his son take candles, and, going to the
! stables, stand for a moment in each
corner; back to the door they hasten
| and lift up their flaming candles, while
someone drives the animals in, sin
gle file.
The mother then SprinkleS wine
| over each female of the live stock,
and kisses the animal softly on it's
\ head. After this important ceremony
| is at an end the whole family cluck
| like hens, and make funny little
I chirping noises like tiny chicks, so
that there may be an abundance of
| fowls during the coming year.
The first bit of burning wood that
falls from the yule log is picked up
by one of the sons. using his teeth in
stead of his hands: this is an exceed
ingly unpleasant task, as he must car
ry it into the yard and leave it there,
at the risk of receiving a bad burn
Custom at Lima, Peru.
The people of Lima, Peru, call
Christmas eve "the good night" and
the whole city is in an uproar. In
the middle is a magnificent fountain
decorated with lions, grifhns and an
gels, surrounded by statue of Fame.
Here hundreds of jets of water leap
up in the air to the height of fifty
feet filling the atmosphere with fresh
ness from the spray.
Bands of negroes dressed in flowing
red robes, some with their faces COW
cred by odd masks, sing weird chants
and dance with wild, fantastic steps
to the accompaniment of guitar and
castanets. The Indian women fol-
low, their long black hair sweeping in
masses almost to their feet. Waving
light wands, they circle around with
a graceful, floating motion to soft mu-
sic played on flute and harp. Ice
stalls are scattered over the square,
where the merrymakers can indulge
in what to them is necessity during
the long saltry night, as Christmas
comes in midsummer.
South American Customs.
In the South American legation the
day IS solemn religious festival
Mass is celebrated at midnight on
Christmas eve. The place of honor