Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1912-12-13
CHRISTMAS FAR
FROM THE CROWD
Hollis w. Field, in the Chicago Tribune

In lIiiet tCiiltS Uul once Il wear.
Sure not--who ever said it did? But
how many conventional friends do you
nave Wilo'Ne been boring you with the
commonplace Mntil you've wished it
never came at allo
If anything ever spoken about Christ
holiday of all the HOLIDAYS
In the calendar--ever knocked the sea-
son hard. it was the thimble Drained
mediocritN which has passed this old
commonplace on and on for a genera
ton of generations
You nave just TWO %fecouISeS open to
you Either you must bite off the con-
v-entionalisnl and beat every suspect To
1t or o must sit down with a wan.
sickly smile and make a fool show of
yourself as never having heard it be-
fore. I've had it in for the Pilgrim
fathers for not canning the observation
that time of the first Thanksgiving din
ner and heaving it into the sea before
they pulled tn" tablecloth off Plymouth
rock.
Where does Christi.es Gomez"
That's something like it. Any one
who has asked himself this question as
personal to himself and within reach of
his conscience. just two or three weeks
or days before December %. many a
time has been a good fellow. The u.s.
inch rifled bore who has beer %springing
the other phrase since your great
grandmother played with II rag doll
usually is 50 steWed thai ne doesn't
know a latchkey from a penlsnife.
What is the Christmas Bird?
You've got a Christmas tree in Tn.
house. haven't you? You have tho hol-
~ and the mistletoe" DID it ever occur
to you that the denizens OF the north
woods who chopped the stuff for YOU.
six weeks ago. didn't save some of the
greenerN for his backwoods cabin and
h kids? That he didn't reserve one
of the best in the woods ami cut the
tree at the last momento
And as to your Christmas table: The
snowy napery, the polished silver, the
cut glass, gowns. jewels. wines. and
the Christmas turkey-do you imagine
these to be necessities to color the
Christmas feast?
"Possum! Say, nah honey. amt dat
rich-ain't dat a bu-u-hdo"
Old Nanny Cah'line grins broadly at
Uncle Rastus' black face and white hair
and beard for answer.
Say. Bill" comes a deep bass voice
through the prospector's tent in the
mountains, amt that vernon steak a
bird
And the answer is IL choking. pro-
longed inonosyllable from Bill. badly
chewed up. but wholly and intelligihly
in the affirmative.
That there b'ar / killed day before
yistiddy's the finest, latest critter I
ever saw" says Jensen Jonson to jon
sen Jensen. biting a black plug fresh
from the settlement store in the north
woods. IT'S a bird!"
Holding Gases" on 'Possun.
Anybody cal: cat turkey off a table
cloth in q steam heated dining room.
But a pot roast 'possum with Uncle
yam trimmings! Think of it, gentlcst
OF readers for can't. I had to lose all
confidence in President Taft when he
sat for 'possum. The 'possum is the
four-legged buzzard of the woods, with
a rat tailed propeller that won't ayiate
him. Hes the carrion crow that can't
cav. | don't like 'possum. but I don't
like the black folks who don't. But
them yams-take away yo' 'poss,,m. hut
o, o yam!
venison? q. you hush! The .dauser
bullet finds the left shoulder Of the TO-
prong buck and In the mountain camp
the Christmas Bird" has hung for n
week or more. Snow has been banked
high against the cold side of the tent
the camp stove is eating away the
pine knots. Two days before Pete
started for the railroad, the postoffice
n the Christmas mail. Lose Pete in
a ride of SO miles? Forget it: Christ
mas dinner is cooking. the flavor Of
wood smoke IS creeping into the thick
venlson steaks and-on the minute--
Pete's broncho is sighted down the trail.
coming in on the jump.
Letters, papers. a bottle or two. the
steaks, ard the trimmings in American
Can company ans. registered under the
pure food and drug act-and not Christ
mas in the camp? Not for you. gentle
reader. in the silk socks. the creased
trousers n the m~ulti-coiored tie. You
are 23d for that-and the loss is ali
yours.
And don't worry about the Jensen
family in the big woods to the north.
They'd faint in a bunch at sight OF your
dinner check for two footing s34.6O.
even before you told the waiter to
keep the change"