El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1911-12-12
How to Save Christmas for the Children
By Jacob A. RHs in Christmas Craftsmen

n ECEAIBER at last is back again,
"Old December" men say, and
the almanac pictures him as q
bent old man with scythe. painfully
gathering the harvest Of the twelve
month. Rather. If I had my way,
would show the best Of all the months
as joyous child, sowing the seed Of
years yet unborn. For December is the
month Of the children. Of the Child.
who upon the threshold OF the dawn
ing year holds out to the world the
soIace for all its sorrows, rejected often
in scoruful self-seeking, yet offered
again and again with a yeerning love
which no refusal, no hardness Of heart
has power to chill And some day the
world viii listen
They come trooping, the memories
Of many Yule-tides in the Old Town, as
L write 1t is a long time since, and
two oceans lie between, yet I can hear
across it all the peal Of solemn bells
that rang in" the Holy Eve in the
reverent hush Of early twilight count
the ticks Of the clock as we children
waited in darkness for the doors to be
opened upon the shining glory Of the
great room with father and mother
bidding us merry Christmas and join
ing hands with US in the dance around
the tree. There are few such trees
NOWADAYS. at least so 1t seems to me
looking back. Perhaps 1 am wrong.
hope L am, for I would that every child
had q Christmas tree like ours There
was not so much filter gold and silver
on ii as I see nowadays; in fact there
was none, which gave the green tree
a much better chance, but there was
81 a1e az n-rfT1 la.e hat
haven't yet gone quite out Of fashion,
glory be. Red apples hung from the
branches and drums, and dolls that
had been dressed by stealth when we
children were not looking, or had been
put TO bed Our toys cost but little
Good reasOn-they had to reach around
to so many-but It seems TO me we got
quite as much JOY out Of them as chill
dren do today Of playthings it takes
a little fortune TO buy, IS We rated IT.
1t must have been SO. for the glow Of
IL is with me yet after all those years.
/ own that / cannot pass the window
Of a Christmas shop 10 this day in the
tenement house quarters. or in some
little town where they still live the
simple life, that I don't have to stop
and hug myself at the sight The big
department store windows only be-
wilder me.
But the best part of II all was not
what we got, but what we gave For
Christmas gifts for father, mother, sis (
ter and brothers We staIked them reg
ularly with tOilsOme stealth to find out
what they needed-pens, paper-Weig
thimbles and such Hke-and then the l
deep consultations with shCpkeepers- to !
see how far We could stretch our purses 4
or shrink the budget to suit them, if we !
must Shall ever forget that bread 1
knife for mother in which I invested 4
the first half dollar I ever earned. II T
was the monumental achievement Of !
my lie / hid it for two long slow /
months at the bottom Of my bureau I
drawer Where mother probably saw il (
a score Of times before the night when
It was borne into her presence and /
accepted with glad cries Of admiration I
ana surprise. Blessed mother! A /
greater surprise was in store for her
Wnen. the next day a ragged man
callec and inquired privately if il was
an rlght for him TO accept z silver eight 1
skllling from me He was a tenant I
IN the only slum tenement in the Old
Town, ana the meanness and sQuaIor !
or MS Home had somehow Offended nv
DoylSn soul, wherefore I took over fhe
100 OF Frightening their lives, with the
distinct provisO that, before making J.
mrs lnas happy for the children. he
SHOULD clean up and set his house TO
Is .llsall win my eight shilling
which was about cents.
tt was social reform uDon minute
ScaIe, nut remember that mother
lueBeQ US children tighs as she told
nm u was all right, and that there
were tears IN her gentle eyes I did not
" eIstano then, but think Z can read
the meaning Of those tears now. and If
1tglneS over me as am writing that
-hey nave a message even for this dis
-alt 9ay' Tot the mother heart knows,
grows old or out Of date
The Spirit of Christmas
ms tnen5 Is the message: that love I