El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1914-12-19
~ rAsH1NGTON. D. c. Dec. -
The two ideas hardly seem

M Christmas in the trenches!
The two ideas hardly seem to
go together, do they? Nevertheless,
lthere Is no question Of the fact that
the opposing armies in Europe will
celebrate. as well as they can under
the circumstances, the coming holiday.
The parcel post makes regular de-
\ liveries to.the men in the trenches, and
! it will be the exceptional soldier who
does not receive remembrances from
! loved ones at home-knitteG or other
things perhaps for ms personal com
( fort, cigarets, smoking tobacco, or
candy.
The Germans Of course set great
store by Christmas, and have their own
ways Of celebrating it, some Of which
are quite odd, centering as they do
about certain strange supernatural
creatures that might be called comrades
of Santa Claus.
Many Kinds Of HObEObIIn.
There is, for example a hobgoblin
familiar in Germany, known as
'Pelznickel," which goes about from
house TO house at Christmas time, car
rying a switch and a bag of toys, and
lnQutTluk. E1OW nave gUuI NAAANAA CAA
behaved themselves this Year,
A truthful answer is expected If the
child has been good, he Cor she) re-
ceives a gift from the bag. But the
bad little boy or girl gets only tap
of the switch.
Another Christmas hobgoblin, in the
Rhine provinces, is called "Ruprecht,"
or "Sunder Klaas," and wears a hor-
rible DEVILS mask. In Bohemia, on the
other hand, the Yuletide demons re-
latively gentle disguise is a sheet and
pillowcase: and, while bearing a rod in
one hand, he carries gifts in the other.
Again in Swabia 1t is otherwise, the
Christ-child being impersonated by
lovely little girl She is dressed all
I'm white with hair of lambs wool
hanging over her shoulders, and her
face is whitened with flour, while on
her head is a crown of gilt paper set
round with burning tapers She goes
from house to house with silver bell
in one hand, ringing II at each door,
and IN the other basket OF sweet
meats, which she distributes.
In the Austrian Tyrol, Santa Claus,
under the name of the Holy man."
goes about accompanied by terrifying
and demoniac parsonage known as
"klahauf" whose business it is sup
posed to be to kidnap naughty children,
slowing them in a big basket which
ne carries. He sometimes bears a rod
with a sack of ashes on the end, for
who deserve uhem-on which account
he is otherwise named "Ashly Klaws."
Elsewhere in Austria ST. Nicholas,
Familiarity known as ''NiklO,'' wears a
crown on his head, and carries a sack
full Of presents over his shoulders. He
IS followed by masked servant,
''Krampus," who is a devil undisguised,
the most conspicuous feature of his
costume being horns and a clanking
chain. Also, he has a whip, with
which he gives particular attention to
bad youngsters.
Is An Ancient Custom.
Hobgoblins really quite horrible do
play important parts in the celebration
Of Christmas in some Christian cOun-
tries. One reason why such superna-
turaI beings are interesting is that
their origin harks back to very
ancient times-to a period, indeed. ]
Rntedating by many thousands Of years
the earliest dawn Of human history
The Christmas bugbear considered as
a type) came into existence ages be-
fore Christ was born, and, in its as
ISOLATION with out modern Yuletide, is
to be regarded merely as a survival
The Dutch, who peopled New York