davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1914-12-27
PAN1C-sTRICKEN REFUGEES.
The Heart-Breaking Flight Of the
People From Antwerp.
E. Tlexander Powell, in scribner's.

E. Tlexander Powell, in Scribner's.
doubt If the world has ever seen
SO pathetic, SO heart breaking, so ter
rible a procession. 1t seemed as though
no wheeled vehicle had been left in
Antwerp. There were people in motor
cars, with others standing on the run
ming boards and clinging to the hoods
and mud-guards there were people In
carriages. in delivery wagons, in NOV
vans. in farm-carts. in omnibuses.
in carts drawn by dogs, on bicycles,
on horseback. and thousands upon tens
of thousands afoot. 1 saw men push
ing their wives and children in wheel
barrows piled high with bedding.
saw sturdy young peasants carrying
their aged parents in their arms.
saw monks in wo0len robes and san
dals bearing wounded men on stretch
ers. / saw white-faced nuns urging
forward groups of war-orphaned chill
dren who had been conflded to their
care. l saw mothers, SO weak and ill
that they could scarcely totter for
waro. with week-old babies in their
arms. saw priests assisting the
feeble and the wounded. I saw women
Of fashion, in fur coats and high
heeled shoes, staggering under the
weight of the belongings they were
carrying in sheet-wrapped bundles
Evening star., 1914-12-27
SOLDIERS AND THE WEED.
Cigarettes, Cigars and Pipe Tobacco
for Battle Men of Europe.

from the Detroit News.
Along with aims for the wounded
and the needy, there are scores of
agencies collecting tobacco for the SOL
diers. An American woman has pledg-
ed herself to send 1000 tons of the
comforting weed to the allies. The
crown prince OF Germany asks that his
people send cigarettes to the men.
Irwin Cobb. on his recent visit to one
of the German field headquarters.
found bulk tobacco a scarcity because
most of it had been sent to the men in
the trenches-to the men In the for
ward trenches, be it added-for there
they have peculiar need of anything
that will help overcome the terrible
stencil of the unburied things that
have lain for weeks between the firing
lines.
In all the authentic pictures Of the
war soldiers are seen smoking. One
has now in mind the figure of tall
Belgian working his magazine rifle
and putting easily at curved-stem
pipe. Among the French cigarettes
are as common as bullets. Tommy
Atkins seems to have brought his
pipe along with him in great numbers.
The Germans have a systematic way of
gathering up the tobacco in each town
Evening star., 1914-12-27

the glamour of childhood, she was mere
ly shabby coIored child looking at a
house made of silver tinsel, with
doll Santa straddllng the chimney and
a Christmas tree on the side.
That's a pretty house. isn't it, little
girl"
The woman who spoke meant to be
kind, of course, but also. she was
behind those ecstatic eyes.
"Yessum. But that amt a house
where peoples live That's Sanity
Clauses home where he lives hissef
You can't see his sleigh, counter de
walls h din it, but it's hind there
waitin' for him all packed up with
toys an candies an'-everythng-.
Going to hang up your stocking?
"Yessum, but taint no use. He
amt got none. We all lives in one
got all de chimneys an that's why hur
childen gifts everything an we don't
git nothin' tall. But l -.-nows
Sanity Claus same as If he knowed me,
| counter bout hearin' how he brings
childrens toys and games an nuts an
l--candy-an' everythin'-"
You didn't know was Santa's wife,
did you?"
The woman inquired with casualty
low spinster. but the child fairly
gaped. speechless in impulse:
Honest to goodness. / am! Santa
| was in this store a little while ago and
| he said to me-'See that little girl
out there looking in at my house
Well, she has no chimney for me to
J come down, SO you bring her in here
Evening star., 1914-12-27

ticularly marked by the giving of gifts.
Each servant in the family employ Is
sure to receive remembrance, no mat
ter how many presents were given
Christmas, for the New Year gift in
sures good luck for the coming year.
The peasants on the big estates bring
their pretty gifts of embroidered towels
and other feminine handiwork to the
lady of the manor. No matter how
scanty may be a Russians fare during
the rest OF the year, every one, no
natter how poverty stricken, Is sure
Of being well fed during the holidays.
Perhaps Of all Russian celeorat tions
the most striking is the blessing of the
wateis,f' as it is called. 1t is one of the
1t takes place not only in Petrograd. but
in every town and vii age in Russia.
and IS an annual ceremony among the
Greeks who are members of the Ortho-
dox faith and reside in the coas- cities
of the Grecian archirela@o.
Naturally. in Petrngrad the ceremony
of blessing the waters is most imros-
temple is annually erected at the cl Sc
of the Christmas festivities on the ice
outside the Winter Palace, an iminenss
building four stories high. 1t has
frontage alone of 455 feet on the left
bank of the Neva.
The wooden temple is lavishly deco
rated Within are gilt ornaments and
the exterior Is completely surrounded
by tall hedge of fir boughs.
In the Greek or Orthodox church
ikons take the place of pictures and
images. They are really almost COM
bination of the two. The face of the
Evening star., 1914-12-27

Savior, Mary, Joseph or whoever the
saint may happen to be. is painted
usually on wood The clothes are made
of metal, usually of pure gold or silver,
beautifully wrou~ht. So ono'imes silt,
nickel or even brass is utilized. Ere
behind the immense number of votive
offerings which hang around it, thank
offerings of superb jewelry and prec Gus
stones. in recognition of the assistance
of the holy parsonage.
On the day of the "benediction" a
hole is made in the ice, to which a
long and stately Muscovite procession
makes its way. First come Russia s
finest regiments, in their brilliant uni
forms, with gay banners. Next Greek
Church bishops in their gorgeous robes,
followed by priests bearing tall lighted
tapers. Next come church dignitaries.
bearing aloft the holy ikons, which
CLEAN and glitter as their gold and
precious stones catch the light. Then
follow more troops. and after them
come the car and czarina, both in
magnificent robes stiff with gold and
jeweled ornaments. Behind them fol-
low the members of the royal family
and their retinue. Members of the
army, gay in beautiful blue-and-gold
uniforms, escort the women of the
court, robed in their finest fur-trim-
med gowns of silk or satin.
All the great company of mobiles, from
the czar and czarina down to the least,
have attended the previous church serv-
ice in the imperial chapel. Now all are
Evening star., 1914-12-27

through the year Mars will be rapidly
approaching the earth, its distance de-
creasing from 225 to 76 millions of
miles, so that it's apparent brightness
will greatly increase; by the end of the
year it will shine with three times the
brightness of first-ma gnitude star.
Jupiter is now just leaving the bor-
ders of our evening map, though it will
not pass to the right of the sun until
February "a. 1t will re-enter the even
ing sky in the east toward the end of
August. During the year it moves
slowly eastward through Aquarius, fol-
lowing the path shown in Figure /.
The path of Saturn is also shown in
Figure l. This Interesting world will
remain in our evening heavens until
June % and will again re-enter them
toward the middle of October.
The faint planets Uranus and Nep-
tune move slowly eastward through
out the year. the former remaining
near the center of the constellation
Capricornus and the latter on the eX-
treme western borders of Cancer.
January 2, at l pm, the earth will
be nearest the sun, their distance apart
at this time being only 91,33S,000 miles.
Evening star., 1914-12-27

and give her five things that she
wants.
"Did-he-say-dat?"
The woman was certain it was ex-
actly what Santa had said, so the two
went in the big, gittering, crowded
place and the child bought doll, a
cup and saucer. a glass punch bowl
with six glasses. tea set with red
flowers and a gilt band. a ready filled
stocking for de younges' baby" and
a big scarlet velvet po..set-ia bloom
for MA"
So that is how Christmas came to
one chimneyless child. And it only
cost so cents.
well, it's all over but the billsw
man said it to another man as they
swapped cigar lights in front of
hotel
And, in his voice was a jolly con-
sciousness that Christmas was worth
the price. :
Two letter carriers flashed by each
other as they crossed routes.
One drew a finger across his throat
and laughed out:
ELEVEN. can you beat it?
sixteen, SON.
Then they laughed together and
flashed on.
Do you suppose they meant neckties?
Evening star., 1914-12-27

moment that the solemn bells tolling
out the death of the old year changed
to joyous peals heralding the advent
of the new the company jumped down
into the New Year, with merry greet
ings on their lips. This was believed to
insure good luck.
After the wassail bowl had gone the
rounds several times, the elder men,
bers of the company started out FIRST
footing" The person who first entered
a neighbor's house December 81, after
midnight, brought good luck for the
year. They were called the first foot
and insured extra good fortune if they
came bearing gifts in both hands. In
Edinburgh it is said the custom of
first footing was always most popu-
lar until one year when a crowd OF
young hoodlums used the opportunity
to rob and murder.
While many of the merry old England
customs have long ceased to be popu-
lar outside of few sections, it is good
Evening star., 1914-12-27

invaded and serving it in '.rattons" to
the men.
All this serves four purposes. The
smoking of tobacco offers relief to the
nervous tension of men under continue
Gus fire. 1t serves to pass the days
and nights of lull and dampness in the
trenches 1t helps assuage the panss
of hunger when incessant action or
swift marching makes the commits
sariat temporarily unavailable And,
as aforesaid. 1t serves to smother the
odor which now arises from every field
and farm and wood in northern France
and Belgium. No army takes the field
these days without the tobacco supply
being as carefully planned for as any
other.
In our civil war. toward the end,
about all that the Confederate soldiers
had was tobacco, for their own soil
yielded it. And survivors of that strug-
gle tell many a story of pickets' truce
whereby coffee from the north might
pass between the lines in exchange for
tobacco from the south-to the high
satisfaction Of both parties.
The Lady Nicotine nowadays takes
the place of John Barleycorn in the
ar .nies. The tobacco charities are
assuming large proportions
Evening star., 1914-12-27

~ WING TO the cohuitiohs WHICH
ss conflict Ss @aen ns1sss ass
~ of men of different tongues and
nations are oppressed. there will be
very few attempts made this year to
Keep up the usual New Year jollfhca-
ton.
While Christmas celebrations are fire.
nuently near akin to the festivities IN
eulged in at New Year by the people OF
many lands, still in several countries
The first day of the new year has a
GREATER importance. This is particularly
trre- among people who delight IN
childish signs and symbols. To such
-aon,e the day is one of great promise.
sor from, time inmemorial hoary super
s,It,ons have been believed to bring
one either good or bad luck for the
coming year.
7, Russia the winter season begins
,r,tb the feast of st. Nichlaus, which In
The NIuscovite calendar is written De-
cember 6, 19. By an error IN rechoh-
ing the time in which the earth makes
,,s revolution round the sun. the Julian
..,erdar. In the days of Pope Gregory
>,rI u-,s ascertained to be ten days
- Go the Pope issued decree that
- s,,nert,uous days be dropped, and
;bat thereafter three leap years ia
worry four centuries should be omitted
10 keep the calendar correct
All the Roman Catholic countries ac-
ce,ted the Popes mandate, put Enelaho'
pussia and other countries refused To
..cor;ssce in the new Gregorian calen-
dar not because 1t was unhecsssais; y;
INT because the Pope had promulgated
the idea. The ~ lgnoran. peup" tn "bsine
cheated out of ten full days and the
CONSEQUENT loss of wages. But even
Protestant England. by an act OF par
lament in 1852. duly changed Septem-
Der to IA. recognizing the tact tnat IN
No o,ber way could the error be recti-
fed. - .so
or+hodox or Greek Catholics ana their
Roman brethren decided them 70 re-
nueptly, today the Russian Christmas
and New Year celebrations are ten days
later than like celebrations in otner
parts of the world. While the general
much the same the Christian world
over. there is never any mistletoe seen
among the decorations in homes ana
churches throughout the cars domain.
In Russia the people say: "A happy
feast to you" And instead Of roast
beef, turkey or boar's head. the most
popular dish during the feasting Christ
mas and at New Year is roast goose,
duck or a baked sucking pig. Every
Muscovite home. no matter how hum
BILE, manages to have great dish OF
rice and raisins. which is feasted on
through Christmas week. The huge
pyramid of newly cooked rice, deco
rated with innumerable raisins. Is first
taken to the church and blessed. One
of the greatest delicacies enjoyed by
families who can afford the outlay Is a
dish of roast veal The veal is
especially fattened for the occasion on
milk, and any remnants Of the feast
which remain New Year is given to
the poor.
In Russia the New Year season is par
Evening star., 1914-12-27

band Of asteroidal dust, through or
near which the comet passes at each
revolution.
When the comet was last at the
point D. Fig: 2. very nearly at it's
was made to photograph it with the
very powerful rejecting telescope at
Mount Wilson. Cal. After long ex-
posure an object resembling the comet
was found on the plate. so that we
that, after this. the position of the
comet among the stars can be photo
graphed at successive points entirely
around the orbit. 1t will then at once
turbance is produced suddenly and. if
SO, in what part of the orbit the dis
turbance occurs. This will go a lone
way toward removing the mystery Of
the unseen disturbing body, whose ef-
fects have for so long time been
puzzle to astronomers.
This month witnesses the entrance
of the brilliant Leo. the last of the
winter groups, into our evening sky
This will be found low in the east
its brightest star. Regulus. forty light
years distant from US, marking the
Sickle. which by May becomes so
prominent an object in the evening
skies.
South of the Sickle the head of the
Water Snake will be seen emerging
from the ground. though the long pcdy
will not be fully risen In the early
evening until next May. Still farther
south is the brilliant Sirius, thirteen
times as bright as Regulus. while
above this are Orion. Taurus and
Gemini, the brightest groups of all,
and still higher Is the very brilliant
Capella. now almost exactly In the
zenith.
Now is the best time of the year
to trace out the Winding River,
long constellation whose beginning is
marked by brilliant first-magnttude
star, too near the south pole to be
seen in our latitudes. and which flows
upward to Rigel of Orion. which
marks the mouth Of the stream.
Crouching at the feet of Orion is tho
interesting group Of stars known as
the Hare, while below this is the Dove.
both of which figures. lying SO far
south of the equator. are now in their
most favorable position for observa-
ton In the western borders of Lepus
is the remarkable crimson star known
as Kinds Variable. and. in fact. this
whole region is filled with beautiful
double stars and other objects of In
terest to the possessor of a small tele-
scope.
Evening star., 1914-12-27

upon their backs. 1 saw white haired
men and women grasping the harness
of the gun-teams or the stirrup-leath-
ers of the troopers, who, themselves
exhausted from days of fighting. slept
in thcir saddles as they rode. l saw
springless farm-wagons filled With
wounded soldiers, with bandaged heads
a arms, and with piteous white
faces, and through the straw beneath
them the blood dripped-dripped-
the road.
The confusion was beyond all imag-
nation, the clamor deafen 'ng; the rat
tie and clang of batteries. the trample
of hoofs, the cracking of whips. the
throb of motor corS, the curses of
tte drivers, the means of the wounded,
the cries of women, the whimpering of
frightened children, threats. pleadings.
t.aths. screams, imprecations-and the
shuttle, shuttle, shuttle of countless feet
Evening star., 1914-12-27

photographically, it's position in its or
bit being such that as seen from the
earth 1T appeared among the stars in
the position a, Figure l. By October /
it had reached the point and by Oc-
ttober 20 it attained its highest po-
bsition among the stars, at C. Seven
days later it WAS nearest the earth, and
from this time its apparent motion
it reached d by November l and was
soon afterward lost in the rays of the
sun.
, The path followed by this little comet
is smaller than any other known
comets orbit. 1t is so fattened that
when the comet is at A, Figure 2, it is
but 100000 miles from the sun and
when 1t is at B it is 3S0,000,000 miles
distant-three-four of the distance
OF Jupiter October 81, when the comet
and was then but 27.00O.O00 miles away
1t reached the point A nearest the sun
December D. The comet completes the
circuit of it's orbit in three and one
third years.
j: x
When photographed in September the
comet was found to be fainter than the
fourteenth magnitude, and hence only
visible in the very largest telescopes.
Even when nearest us in October 1t
'pPe'ie GU merely as a round, falnt.
nebulous patch, with thin, threadlike
tan. the object being very much too
fa1nt to be seen with the naked eye
The true diameter of the comet at this
time was about 10000 miles
The interest In this small and in.
conspicuous comet arises wholly from
the fact that it is peculiarly disturbed
by some unknown cause in the course
Of its journey around the sun. In
stead of NAL king its circuit with per-
feet regularity, all other known
periodic comets do, it is continually
moving faster and faster. From 1919,
when it was discovered, until 1860 il
arrived at each return about two and
one-half hours ahead of time; during
the next ten years it gained one and
three-fourths hours at each revolu-
tion. and at present each period is
about two hours shorter than the pre-
ceding one. Altogether. it has gained
in this way about fifty-six hours since
its discovery.
Whatever it is that disturbs the mo-
tion of this little cloud, 1t is probably
met with while the comet is pursuing
that part of it's orbit which is most
remote from the sun. 1t is here that
the zone of little planets known as
asteroids is found, and it is possible
that, beside the hundreds of these
bodies which we can see, there may
be in this region of the solar system
Evening star., 1914-12-27

to completely hide the sun. Even at
the middle Of the eclipses the bright
edge of the latter will be seen. appar-
emily encircling the black ball of the
moon and thus forming what Is known
as an annular, or ring. eclipse. Even
these eclipses, which will be of small
scientific value, will be wholly invisible
In America; they will only be seen
from regions of the earth southeast of
China and northeast Of Australia.
But the ever-changing face Of the
sky, as season follows season and the
consultations appear successiyely in
the east, is filled with its tens of thou
sands Of objects Of interest, and these
might well absorb the time of stu
dent Of the heavens, even If the occa-
sional phenomena occurred more fire.
quently than they will during the COM
ing year.
Mercury passes to the east of the sun
and becomes an evening star January
5; 1t will reach It's greatest distance
from the sun February 6, and toward
that time may be detected low in the
southwest soon after sunset. 1t will
reach a similar position in the even
ing sky twice more during 1915, once
elongation of May is by far the most
favorable of the three, for at this time
the planet will be far north of the
equator and will set an unusually long
time after sunset.
Throughout January Venus rises
about three hours before sunrise and
may be seen at this time shining very
brightly in the southeastern sky. 1t
attains its greatest brilliance of the
year January and its greatest dis
tance from the sun February 6. After
this latter date 1t will approach the
sun again, not. however, passing this
body and entering the evening sky un-
til September II. BY the end of the
year it will set two hours after sun
set.
Mars is far too near the sun to be
observed during January; not until
April will it have mounted high enough
in the morning sky to be in good po-
sition for observation. The motion of
this little world during the year will
be most interesting. 1t will run east
ward no less than two-thirds of the
way around the entire celestial sphere,
crossing the equator in April. passing
through Pisces in May, below the
Pleiades in July, to the east Of the
twin stars in September and finally ar
irving in Leo. just east of the star
Regulus. by the end of the year. May
l it will rise at 3 am. July l at 2:3O
am. September l at ! am. and by the
middle of December at 9 pm, thus
having entered the evening sky. All
Evening star., 1914-12-27
This is about a crutch.

This is about q crutch.
II belongs to young man who will
lay it aside pretty soon and then for
get he ever had to use one. But he
will doubtless remember it's lesson,
which gave him what he calls food
for thought"
For-this is incidental-when it
comes to locating the milk of human
kindness or the cold water of indif-
ference a mere divining rod isn't
patch on Z crutch. Not this one. any
how. He was telling about it-some-
thing like this:
IT have always believed in the kind
liness of the average man. but l never
realized his consistent helpfulness to
others until / had to use this crutch.
II ! stand on a corner TO take car
the rnotorman shows careful regard
Evening star., 1914-12-27

for my slowness, the conductor lends
q helping hand; every other man
stands back for me and more than
one passenger has stepped off the car
10 assist me on. / have received this
evidence of consideration everywhere
except
II don't want to be critical, because
! have the highest respect for women,
but I went into a department store
escape with my life. Psychologically.
my crutch was failure. No one took
the least notice of the helplessness it
implied. One must allow. of course.
for the desperate rush that goes with
late shopping, but. The way / was
pushed, and jammed and showed
and Oh. well, 1 got out of it safely,
so 1t is all right, only
He cut his sentence short, for the
obvious reason that, being a young
fellow with chivalrous regard for
womanhood, he felt that there are
some things that a man may not say
But he didn't need to. For he was
talking to woman who had also
survived the maelstrom of latest shop
ping.
And the woman understood.
Two women were exchanging Christ
mas experiences in a car.
Frank says it was the best, ever
The kiddies are big enough now to
seen how excited they were over Santa
Claus and what he would bring them!
1t was too cute to hear little Frankie
go on about drum and go-cycle.
Evening star., 1914-12-27

of those of moderate means in former
times in Great Britain. was an Or
ange in which were stuck several
cloves. 1t was believed that the spiced
fruit added to the delicate flavor of the
wassail bowl, and in many cases the
orange was hung above the wine to
keep it sweet.
In some parts of Scotland even today.
it is said, the hot pint is drunk on New
Year eve just before midnight "A
quaint former custom was for all to
stand on chairs. placed in a circle
about the Christmas tree. At the very
Evening star., 1914-12-27

strengthen, the wood sprites, the
fairies and elves sought place Of
shelter from the cold" So it was con-
sidered good luck to bring the green
boughs into the house. for the fairy
folk were pleased by the gracious act.
1t was imagined that by bringing them
Portable than they could be in the
snowy forests they were ingratiated
and would repay the kindly act by
bringing good luck" upon the family
customary for the people to speak