Bisbee daily review., 1913-12-25
of Santa
NWYHAT is santa Claus age1
 BY The jolly. roisiering. pot
 w beiiied. ever young old fel-

l NAAN1s EfNt ARubk ttn lFA~ low that we know has made
 his appearance on earth in so many
 guises that the secret of bis first com
 ing threatens to remain forever yelled
 In the midst of antiquity. No one can
 say with any certainty just when he
 first made his appearance among pre-
 historic men. for merry old santa in
 one form or sn0ther delighted chll- dren's hearts in many pagan house.
 hold centuries before the commence
 ment Of the Christian era sad prior to
 any recorded history.
 ! The name of Santa Claus. by which
 he is known in America. Is lhe Dutch ! pet name for St Nicholas. The name kriss Kringle, by which he is known
 in England. is d corruption of Christ
 Kindlein or the Christ Child But the
 festivities that distinguish Christmas
 existed long before Christianity. and a
 jolly god of good cheer appears as the
 personlfcation of the period from the
 earlier pagan times. Now the Santa
 Claus of today is simply that old jolly
 god sobered up. washed and purified
 The Dionysia of the Greeks. the Sat
 urnala of the Romans. the Twelve
 Nights of the old Norsemen and of the
 Teutons all celebrated the coming of
 the winter solstice People then gave
 themselves up to all sorts of reyelry
 and excess In the 3ionysia the repre-
 sentative figure was not the young
 Dionysus or Baccbus. but the aged.
 cheery and disreputable Slenus. the chief of the Satyrs and the god of drunkards. In the SaturLalia 1t was Saturn; in the Germanic feasts it was
 Thor, both long bearded and white haired gods like Silenus.
 Now. although the central fgure of the Christian festival is the child God. the Christ Eindlein. the infiuence of long pagan custom was too strong within the breasts of the early Chris tians 10 be easily superseded The tra- dition of hoary age as the true repre- sentative of the dying year and it's at tendant Notifications still remained smoldering under the ashes Of the past It burst into new flame when the past was too far back to be looked upon with the fear md antagonism of the church and there seemed no longer any danger of relapse Into organism.
 At first, however. the more diguifed representative was chosen as more in keeping with the occasion saturn was unconSciously rebaptized as St. Nicholas. the name of the saint whose festival occurs in December and who as the patron of young people is espe- cially fitted for the patronage of the festival which has come to be looked upon as especially that of the young. At first St Nicholas did not supersede the Christ Child. but accompanied him in his Christmas travels. as. indeed, he stiI does in certain rural neighbor- hoods of Europe where the modern spirit has been least felt.
 St Nicholas. according to the hagi- ologist. was bishop of Myra. who sourished early in the fourth century. He is the patron of children and 
 1t is strange that everywhere St. Nicholas is most hOnOred and his feast day most observed the most pious and instructed among the common people know little of the legend of the saint. He is treated with that mixture of se- -iousness and frivolity which becomes ! dying myth.
 In southern Germany and Austria z youth garbed as St. Nicholas and ac- by two angels and whole -roop of devils in hideous masquerade. with blackened faces and clanking ,hains. on Dec. , (St Nicholas festaI lay makes a round of certain houses where the little ones of the village nave been collected. To the good chil- iren he brings gifts of nuts and ap- 'les. while the naughty ones are left o the devices of the satanic followers n his train. s
 In many places the bugbear over hadows in importance both the Christ ,bild and St Nicholas He appears n1cr different names and in different 'uises. In Lower Austria be Is the -ightful Krampus. with his clankinE haiHs and horrible devils mask, who. notwithstanding his gilded nuts and DpIHs gingerbread and toys. which e carr.es in his basket. Is the terror f the nursery. ln Hanover. Hoistein nu Meckieilbufs ne IS khOWn as ClaS- E Silesia his name is Joseph.
 Sometimes the bugbear was a female. n Lower Austria she was called ths 'udelfrau. Tn Suabia 1t was the .erchteI who chastised children. that i'd not spin diligently. with rods. but awarded the industrious with dried ears. apples and nuts.
 The female bogy survives especially , Russia and in Italy In the former lace she Is known as the Baboushka. the latter as the Befana. Befana Is
 corruption of Epiphania or Epipha- y. for it is on Epiphany. Jan. 6. that Ie Italians make presents to their lldren in eOmmemoration of the gifts iven by the three wise men to Christ 9 that date