The Muskogee cimeter. [volume] (Muskogee, Indian Territory, Okla.) 1901-19??, 1907-12-13
began to throw gifts right and left,
s~A 60 xa1 v,bx, hc ros

soon all laughing and chatting MUNICH.
ing the great red breads dough,
nuts), tasting their fruits or nibbling
at the sweets In the familiar little
bags.
"One man wondered which end up
he was to hold the fork Santa Claus
had given him. Another Immediately
tried on his new shirt. The girls ar.
ranged their bright.hued handker-
chiefs into nobby turbans, while 9th.
ers tried to find some place about
their scanty clothing where they could
stow away the bunch OF bread. paper
OF needles and cake OF soap given to
them.
Each one tried to talk louder than
his neighbor, SO they examined the
costume OF good old Santa Claus, who
had frightened them almost to death.
One man said he thought Elijah had
returned, another that It was John
the Baptist. Yet another thought 1t
was Satan himself. and all my sins
rose up before me- while fourth
confessed: My only thought was to
hide myself"
Among the Head Hunters Of Formosa.
Through the center OF the beautiful
island OF Formosa there runs, like a
backbone, a great range OF forestclad
mountains. The original inhabitants
Of Formosa, wild, savage, ferocious
race OF men, live upon these noun
tains. Christmas was first carried
to these people by brave missionary
named George Leslie MacKay.
MacKay had spent several years on
the coast and In the interior, but he
hesitated long before he took his life
In his hand by seeking out the bar
barians Of the mountains, to whom
no white man had ever ventured.
The favorite pastime of these saw
ages was to cut off the heads OF their
enemies and decorate their huts with
them. They had been induiging in
this sport when MacKay drifted into
one Of their villages and spent Christ.
mas day with one Of their chiefs.
"The chiefs home consisted OF one
large room 80 feet long" said MacKay.
"A fire blazed at either end. The
| men, dressed in coarse linen sacks
| with holes cut for the arms, and a
| broad belt Of braided rattan, in which
was stuck long, crooked, sharp-point-
| ed knife, stood around one fire. while
| the women, with much the same dress,
save that In addition they had many
rings Of brass around their arms and
| limbs, and innumerable ornaments on
their bodies, squatted around the
| other fire.
80, on that Christmas night, I sat
there with these rude people, tho
room lighted by the fires and by can.
dies made from the heart of the fir
tree. The men smoked their bamboo
pipes, while the women were busy
threadmaking on curious little ma
chimes OF their own; and all. men and
women, were laughing and talking
merrily and making a great noise. 1t
was certainly merry Christmas and
a strange one to me.
After a time, with the help OF the
native converts, who had accompanied
me on this dangerous trip, sang
some Christmas hymns to these saw
age mountaineers, who had never
seen white man before; and | spent
Christmas evening trying to explain to
them the old, old story that has been
told 30 often In so many lands since
the first Christmas morning."
The savages took great pleasure In
the singing OF the Christmas hymns.
and MacKay and his friends came to
no harm by their bold expedition.
| Balances Of Justice.