The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-12-20

Christmas story ever written. It is not one of those purely artistic productions that critics pronounce hawless. It is not primarily literary, but primarily human No person, whether cultured or crude, can read aloud the chapter about Tiny Tim without trembling voice; none can read the description of the Christmas streets without a new thrill of love for his kind. It is no wonder that England almost looked on modern Christmas as being the creation of Charles Dickens. Had he written nothing else in all his life, "A Christmas Carop' would have made his name immortal
 ~ ECRET and self-contained as an
 oyster. a frosty rime on his head 0 his eyebrows and his wiry chin, old scrooge sat busy in his counting house on Christmas Eve. The door of his room was open, that he might keep an eye on his clerk. scrooge had a very small fire; but the clerks fire was so very much smaller that 1t looked like one coal.
 scrooge kept the coal box in his room; and so surely as the clerk ventured in with a shovel the master predicted that it would be necessary for them to part Therefore the clerk. Bob Cratchit, wore his white comforter and tried to warm himself at the candle, in which effort. not being a man of strong imagination, he failed.
 "A merry Christmas, unc1el'' cried a cheerful voice It was the voice of scrooge's nephew. scrooge glowered at the ruddy, handsome fellow, all aglow with fast walking. and snarled.
 "Bahl Humbugl Merry Chr1stmasl What right have you to be merry7 What reason have you to be merry? You're poor enoughP
 Come, thenl' said the nephew, laugh ing. What right have you to be dis mal2 You're rich enoughp'
 'Tf I could work my will" growled Ecrooge, indignantly, "every idiot who goes about with Merry Christmas on his lips should be boiled with his own pud- ding and buried with a stake of holly through his heartr'
 ''Uncle!" pleaded the nephew. 'ComeI Dine with us tomorrow. I want nothing from you ask nothing of you Why cannot we be friends9'
 '.Good afternoong' said Scrooge.
 "I am sorry" said the nephew. "But have made the trial in homage to Christmas, and I'll keep my Christmas humor to the last So, merry Christ mas, uncle"
 Good afternoon" shouted Scrooge.
 The nephew left the room. but stopped at the outer door to bestow the seasons greetings on the clerk. who, cold as he was, was warmer than scrooge, for he returned them heart fly.
 "There's another." muttered Scrooge. My clerk, with 15 shillfngs a week, and a wife and family. talking about a merry Christmas. I'll retire into Bedlam."
 This lunatic, in letting Srooge's nephew out, let two other people in portly gentlemen, pleasant to behold who now stood with their hats off, lowing.
 "scrooge and Marley, believe" said one.
 MT. Marley" replied scrooge, "died seven years ago this very night"
 The pleasant gentlemen explained that they had called for donation to Christmas fund for the poor.
 Are there no prisoners" asked Scrooge. "Are the Union warehouses in good operation?" he demanded anx- 1ously.
 I've are sorry to say that they are. and very busy" anwered they.
 "Ohp said Scrooge, relieved. "I was afraid that something had occurred to stop them in their usual course. halp to support the establishments mentioned. Let the poor go there."
 Many cannot, and more would rath- er die," replied one of his visitors.
 Let them die, then" said scrooge, land reduce the surplus population. Good afternoon. gentlemen"
 They withdrew and Sorooge resumed his labors with an improved opinion of himself. The fog and darkness thick ened. The piercing, searching, nippTng cold increased. The lights were lit and made the shops glorious pageants. The Lord Mayor gave orders to his 50 cooks and buffers to keep Christmas as a Lord Mayors household should. The little tailor. whom he had fined five sh.l1ings on the previous Monday for being drunk and bloodthirsty in the streets, stirred up tomorrow's pudding in his garret, while his lean wife and the baby sallied out to buy the beef.
 scrooge scratched on with his pen, count ing up how much people owed him and making memorandums to come down on those who were behind. He permitted these chesrful labors to be interrupted oply long enough to throw a ruler at a frost-bitten Christmas Wait, who had the effrontery to sing under his window:
 God bless you, merry gentlemen.
 At last the time for shutting up ar- rived scrooge grudgingly admitted the fact to his expectant clerk. For a part ing salutation he explained that MT. Cratchit was picking his pocket of a days wages by taking whole days holi- cay. Then he went sourly to his melan- choly tavern for his melancholy dinner, while Bob CrGchit. rolling his comforter . little more tightly around his neck to make up for lacking great coat. went down a slide at the end of a lane of boys 20 times in honor of it's being Christ mas and then ran home as hard as he could pelt.
 Having swallowed his poor dinner and read all the papers and beguiled a few hours with his bankers book Scrooge