davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1914-12-24
STEVENSON'S CHRISTMAS
SERMON.

TO be honest; to be kind; to
earn a little and to spend a little
less: to make upon the whole a
family happier for his presence;
to renounce when that shall be
necessary and not to be embit-
tered; to keep a few friends, but
these without OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES
all, on the same grim condition,
to keep friends with himself
here is task for all that man
has Of fortitude and delicacy.
He has an ambitious soul who
would ask more; he has hope
full spirit who should look in such
an enterprise to be successful.
There is indeed one element in
human destiny that not blindness
itself can controvert. Whatever
else we are intended to do, we
are not intended to succeed; fail
ure is the fate allotted. 1t Is so
in every art and study; it Is so
above all in the continent art OF
living we'll. Here is pleasant
thought for the years end or for
the end Of life:. Only self decep-
ton will be satisfied, and there
need <be no despair for the de-
spairer.
The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1914-12-24
A Christmas Carol.

what means this glory round our feet, y
The magi unused, more bright than
NORM
And angels chanted dear and sweet
."Today the Prince Of Peace is born!"
what means that star" the shepherds
said,
"That brghtens through the rocky
glen?"
And angels, answering overhead,
Sang, "Peace on earth. good will tc
men!"
IT'S eighteen hundred years and more
Since those sweet oracles were dumb.
We wait for him like them Of yore.
Alas, he seems so slow to cone!
But it was said in words Of gold
No time or sorrow Ger shal dim
That little children might be bold
In perfect trust to come to him.
All round about our feet shall shine
A light like that the wise men saw
If we our loving wills incline
To that sweet life which Is the Jaw
So shall we learn to understand
Simple faith Of shepherds there
And, clasping kindly hand in hand.
Sing. Peace on earth. good will tc
men!"
And they who do their souls no wrong.
But keep at eve the faith Of morn.
Shall daily hear the angel song.
"Today the Prince Of Peace is born!'
James Russell Lowell.
The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1914-12-24
"A Christmas Hymn.
u. Aa11,V

Sing, Christmas bells!
Say to the earth this is the morn
Wherein our Saviour-King is born.
Sing to all 1nen-the bond. the free,
The rich, the poor. the high. the low. ~
The little child that sports in glee, :.ih
The aged folk that tottering go ~
Proclaim the morn
;sassaa That Christ is born,
That saveth them and saveth me.
Sing, angel host!
Sing of the star that God has placed
Above the manger in the east.
Sing of the glories Of the night.
The virgins sweet humanity,
The Babe with kingly robes bedight-
Sing to all men, whereer they be.
This Christmas morn.
For Christ Is born
That saveth them and saveth ma
Sing, sons Of earth!
O ransomed seed Of Adam, sing!
God liveth, and we have King.
The curse is gone: the bonds are free.
BY Bethlehems star that brightly beamed
BY all the heavenly signs that be, ,tt
We know that Israel is redeemed;
s,A That on this morn
The Christ is born
That saveth you and saveth me.
Sing, o my heart!
Sing thou in rapture this dear morn
Wherein the blessed Prince is born.
And as thy songs shall be Of love,
So let my deeds be charity,
BY the dear Lord that reigns above,
BY him that died upon the tree, Z
BY this fair morn
Wherein is born
The Christ that saveth all and me.
The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1914-12-24
Christmas and the Children.

Once Il year at least we are all chill
dren together. Imagine. if you can,
world from which childhood should be
absent II in any star among those
sweeping planets over our heads there
is one wholly inhabited by grownup
folk that must be quiet ard grave
place, place to shun, place of lone
some dignity, robbed of motive and Of
charm.
Our homes exist for the children.
They afford US our best reason Tor tie
incessant toll, which is less curse to
the race than blessing. Their in
sistent claims on our care cannot be
put aside Their joyful responsibility
is in contrast to our continual sense OF
obligation. Like the birds and the
flowers, they bring song and bloom into
our lives, and their dependence on us
is rs simple, their faith as sincere, as
ours ought to be on the great All Fa-
Their.
When Christmas comes their little
cups are full to the brim. Such small!
things please them. too-the doll. the
train of cars, the toy elephant. the pic
ture book. When we do not spoil them
by defrauding them of their share In
the giving as well as in the receiving,
how much pleasure they take in choos-
ing their, presents; what wonderful
ideas they have of the possibilities of
dollar; how they select the biggest
and most beautiful things without
thought of the cost! Money is nothing
to a child. He has not yet entered
upon that sordid phase of being when
expense obtrudes itself like genie of
evil in the garden of roses. A chi!d's
heart is as large as heaven. A child's
love is as wide as child's life At
Christmas we all dwell for little
while under the beautiful scepter OF
the Child in the Midst.-Margaret E.
Sangster.
The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1914-12-24
Thu Christmas Picture.

And they came -" F." and found Mary and
Joseph and the Babe duke ii. 49,
So simple was the real Christmas sto.
should like to have heard the innkeep-
er. whose discourtesy and hear.lessn s
have been assumed rather than proved.
tell just what did happen on that first
Christmas eve. 1t is possible to frame
a likeness so gorgeously as to divert
attention from the face itself. An ac
compartment may be so brilliant MS to
drown the sweetness Of a great solo.
Not the 'song in the air." nor yet the
''star in the sky but rather
A mothers deep prayer
And baby's low cry
make the real Christmas story. God
did diviner thing for men when he
sent redemption by the travail and
arms of Mary than if he had reversed
the motion of the planets.
BY the way Of Christmas lesson,
then, let us remind ourselves Of the
simple, human ways in which God
comes to earth. To Bethlehem he came
as baby, to Nazareth as a lad, to
Jerusalem as teacher and friend. AS
he came to those cities Of old, so he is
always coming. l do not forget Of
course. that he comes also in sunsets
and fields, in storms and earthquakes.
Earth's crammed with heaven
And every common bush afame with God
But the supreme advent is always by
a man. The real gospel is not a Cos
pei Of beauty, but the gospel Of per
son. Perhaps if we had spent more
time by the Christmas manger we
might have sooner ceased expecting
salvation to drop from the skies. God
comes most and best by men and
women.
Appeal has recently been made on be-
half Of the overworked employees of
store and office, suggesting that Christ
mas purchases be made earlier than
usual. In other words, it is suggested
that while we are planning for a joyous
Christmas of our own we give others
chance to have one. That is precisely
the point. The Christmas message
must be translated by us in terms Of
consideration for others. Christmas
toy must be borne to the homes Of
humber folk, not by angels, but by hui
man hands and feet.
The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1914-12-24
Our n1aster.

Our Master.
We may not climb the heavenly sleeps
To bring the Lord Christ down.
In vain we search the lowest deeps.
For him no depths can drown.
Nor holy bread nor blood of grape
The lineaments restore
OF him we know in outward shape
And in the flesh no more.
He cometh not King to reign.
The worlds long hope is dim.
The weary centuries watch in vain
The clouds Of heaven for him.
Death comes, life goes; the asking eye
And ear are answerless. #
The grave is dun,b: the hollow sky
Is sad with silentness.
The letter fails, the systems fall.
And every symbol Wanes.
The Spirit overbroodiEg al.
Eternal love remains.
In Joy of inward peace or sense
OF sorrow over sin
He is his own best evidence.
His witness is within
No fable old nor mTthic lore
Nor dream Of bards or seers,
No dead facts stranded on the shore
OF the oblivious years.
But warm. sweet, tender, even yet
A present help is he
And faith has still it's Olivet
And love it's Galilee.
Whittier.
The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1914-12-24
Christmas Gratitude

Do think enough about saying Thank you" at Christ
hurry and rush through the busy days before Christ
mas then when Christmas actually put of the
giving and sit down intent upon the elimination OF
effort which reached when receive We take what
eagerly sometimes with disappointed shrug
but we take what comes do not and we always
prompt give thanks? certain benevolent lady said last
year. Il gave hrtyght presents this Christmas and received
only letters of thanks This seemed dreadful beyond
words "And what of the others fastened to ask Some
Of them thanked when next met she said careless
"and Of them thanked me at all You know she
added after pause of the hardest things do to give
thanks gracousl people CAP do it. It is the dis
tinct mark Of high breeding dPn suppose any one but
king OF princess really the perfect art Of saying Thank
you It mark Of good breeding to be prompt and gracious
in giving thanks Even if the gift pincushion and you
already have nnetynine Others tay Thank YOU sweety
aectonately and in the spirit of Christmas Do TWEEN
tyour hours pass by without taking u ent time to write
apprecatve aectonate little note one who has
membered you at time Though this may be looked
upon as duty to Others is far than that it duty
yourself very real duty for t. be discourteous i to k
selfish and to selfish to be outside of many Of LIES keen
est joys As matter Of self training for other reason
say Thank YOU quickly and atctvey and sincerely 9
you can
The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1914-12-24
THE MAGIC OF CHRISTMAS.
It is wonderful thing-the
Deriod of Christmas! l wonder

It is wonderful thing-the
period OF Christmas! l wonder
how many hundreds of thou
sands Of parents have discover
ed at Christmas time under the
magic of the season-throush
some little thing done by sob
or daughter-that those they
thought estranged from them by
those things which come be-
tween still loved them with a
memory more tender than they
had dreamed of. l wonder how
many sons and daughters have
under the magic influence OF
Christmas had their hearts sof-
tened so as to be moved by some
little manifestation Of love by
father or mother, which they
would have thought little of, per-
haps despised, at any other sea-
son.-Charles Dickens.
The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1914-12-24
A Christina. Vision.

At Christmas. when the pealing bells
Ring back our hearts to Bethlehem,
Whence the fair flower Of Jesse's stem
Eternally our love compels:
Borne on the peal my fancy goes.
Far from the Thames and noisy Strand.
To Christmas in that distant land
Where more ancient river flows.
And there the deserts changeless calm
Is troubled. Gods and goddesses,
All Egypt's monstrous deities.
Gather in fear by well and palm.
Fhe cry is heard: 20 Egypt, bark!
We gods must die. Another comes"
Again the unrelenting drums
Skater the horror Of the dark.
Afar, where some oasis. spiced
With palm and lotus, charms the Nile,
The sphinx. with her mysterious smile,
Sees Mary kiss the sleeping Christ
r. Ellis Roberts.
The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1914-12-24
Che Cbristmas Spirit


Christmas One dayspring Of cheerfulness and freedom
from canering and selhnes and envy in year Of toll
and strife consuming unrest Christmas marvellous boon
to humanity sprngng legmately from the brief eventu
life Of the carpenters Son. fixed institution The TWEEN
tieth century could not spare it it would wouldn't if it
could spirit everywhere pervading the world
for this be blessed day Leveling ranks ilencing selfish
ness dwarAng care ignoring toll forgetting creed and cult
and birth and makes peace and good will not
only possible but inevitable The gifts bears the
fruit Of the omnpoten all pervadng spirit Of Christ
masa wellsprng the desert sunbeam wintry day.
single exception to steadfas rule The spirit Of Christmas
never clogs We cannot have too much Of it. Morning
and night breakfast dinner and supper the first thing
awang and the last thing going to sleep every hour Of
every day every week Of month Of the year We want
The shirt Of Christmas for it Is the spirit Of mnisaton Of
giving, Of service Of doing for Others.
aNot to Be ministered unto. but to motto
lived every day Of the year would dpel the sorows Of
the world smooth out it, wrinkles abolish its poverty soothe
+, pain comfort its heartache heal it diseases make It
heaven This what i typfed By every Christmas tree and
every gift it bea BY every bugg little stocking that hangs
II thl ehimaey cofner " every wreath Of holly By every
creating and merry wish.
The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1914-12-24
A Christmas Acrostic.

Many wish you JOY and gladness
Everywhere on Christmas day.
Rich and poor in smiles or sadness.
Reach a hand and good words say.
Yours and mine may be the pleasure;
Care and woe our neighbors' share.
Have we not in our hearts treasure
Riches such as we can spare?
Is there not tender feeling.
Something more than That's too bad?'
Think how much we need when kneelins
Morn and noon and night, how glad
And joyful is our portion here.
Since overflowing is our cup
Amid our sins Of doubt and fear.
Not that we're worthy, but we sup
Daily with our Lord and Saviour.
And how kind are his attentions.
How ungrateful our behavior
And how sinful our inventions.
Pray that he may still show kindness
Pardon us our lack of love.
Yearly blessing US. What blindness
Not to ever faithful prove!
Even now we may start living;
We may live as from the dead.
You and may live by giving.
Even lift dropping head.
And we'll have happy day
Right along through all the way.
The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1914-12-24
Lonely on Christmas.

Christmas is a homing season. The
wanderer times his roamings so they
draw him to the family board for the
great birthday.
The first Christmas away from home
is sorry one, and the bride who must
decide between spending the day with
his or her family has need of much
grace to make the break In favor Of
him.
Because the home ties are so strong
at the holidays Christmas day brings
some Of the loneliest hours of the year
to those with whom home Is only a
memory.
It is not a pleasant thought that there
is no one who cares whether our Christ
mas be happy or not. 1t is thought
that once allowed to root brings bitter
ness of soul Instead of watering lone.
illness with tears smother it with kind
thought for others.
Do not sit moping the day away; dis
tract yourself; force content; go into
the highways and byways for company
rather than sit alone.
You may not have money to spend;
you may fear rebuffs from advances to
comparative strangers but there Is
scarcely one among our acquaintances
with whom we cannot come into close
Christmas touch If the desire be with
in us.
The thing is to have the Christmas
spirit SO strong within us that 1t scars
above unhappy environments. /.
AS DR.. van Dyke has put, it in his
"Christmas Prayer For Lonely Folks"
Lord God Of the solitary. u; s
Look upon me in my loneliness.
Since 7 may not keep this Christmas in
the home
Send It into my, heart ,.a.
Have Christmas In the heart. and
the dreaded day will be passed. not In
sadness and loneliness, but with In
ward comfort to sweeten Il into for
getfulness Of happier Christmas long
since rome. 3:ss5
The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1914-12-24
Christ tho Center.

It is not mere figure of speech that
Christ, the anniversary Of whose birth
we celebrate, is to our moral and spirit
ual what the sun is to our planetary
system. The dependence in both cases
is alike. If the body has appetites
the soul has ambition, and both must
be satisfied or human equilibrium Is
lost. We must possess the two. linked
together in some mysterious way, or
we shall fly to social and moral chaos.
Good government, good morals and ev-t
cry orderly. we'll directed progression
rests on that concession.
To be infidel to it is to destroy the
ideal, to shrivel the heart Of the race.
to make might right. to enthrone selfish
ness and greed and to displace and do
violence to the public conscience.
The Man of Nazareth and what he
represents are the embodiment Of the
law Of moral gravitation which holds
the world in its orbit. He gave US the
ideas on which orderly communities
base their legislation. He furnished us
with the spiritual ideal, created new
motives, made quiet. humble endurance
q cardinal virtue and placed on the
brow of bereavement the radiant coro.
net of hope ee
Others have sought the same end,
the same browning achievement. Confu-
cius, Zoroaster, Mohammed and Bud
but at most they were mere princes
In the presence of the King. They gave
much: he gave all.
The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1914-12-24
The Christmas Angel.

Here comes the Christmas angel,
So gentle and SO calm
AS softly as the falling flakes
He comes with flute and psalm.
All in a cloud of glory,
AS once upon the plain
To shepherd boys in Jewry,
He brings good news again.
He is the young folks Christmas.
He makes their eyes grow bright
With words of hope and tender thought
And visions Of delight.
Hail to the Christmas angel!
All peace on earth he brings.
He gathers all the youths and maids
Pcncoth his shining r';H~T
Rose Terry Cooke.
The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1914-12-24
FOR THE CHRISTMAS SEASON.

To live content with small
means; to seek elegance rather
than luxury and refinement rath-
er than fashion; to think quietly,
talk gently, act frankly; to bear
all cheerfully, do all bravely,
await occasion, hurry never-in
word, to let the spiritual, IN
hidden and unconscious grow up
through the common-this is to
be my MISUNDERSTANDING.
The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1914-12-24
The True Christmas Spirit.

Chime on, We bells! In every cline
The angels strain uplift.
II Is the spirit, not the time.
That sanctifies the gift.
The Christ Child with the children come:
To every Christmas tree
To bring the spirit to our homes
Eye do It unto me"
Oh, holly branch and mistletoe,
And Christmas chimes where'er we go
And stockings pinned up in a row.
These are thy Gifts, December!
st. Nicholas.
The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1914-12-24
An Ancient Christina. Hymn.

Oh, come, all We faithful,
Joyful and triumphant!
To Bethlehem hasten now with one &C.
cord.
Come and behold him
Born the King Of angels
Oh, come. let US adore him, Christ the
Lord!
Sing, chorus Of angels:
Sing in eXultation!
Jesu, forever be thy name adored.
Word Of the Father
Now in flesh appearing.
Oh. come, let US adore him. Christ the
Lord!
From the Latin.
The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1914-12-24
December.

oh, holly branch and mistletoe
And Christmas chimes where'er we &C
And stockings pinned up in row
These are thy gifts. December!
And if the year has made thee old
And silvered all thy locks Of gold
Thy heart has never been a-cold
Or known a fading ember.
The whole world is a Christmas tree,
And stars it's many candles be.
Oh, sing carol joyfully
The years great feast in keeping.
For once upon December night
An angel held o candle bright
And led three wise men by its light
To where child was sleeping.
Harriet F. Blodgett.
The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1914-12-24
A vuLET,DE THOUGHT.

Wouldest thou learn thy
Lords meaning in this thing?
Learn it we'll. Love was his
meaning. Who showed it thee?
Love. What showed he thee?
Love. Wherefore showed it he?
For love. Hold thee therein and
thou shalt learn and know more
in the same, But thou shalt
never know nor learn therein
other thing without end.-Ju-
Llama of Norwich.
The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1914-12-24
Cbls Year's Christmas

Never has there been time when TIE
Christmas event stood under 50 impressive
illumination as it docs in this year's Cbrlst-
masnde. Che birth Of Jesus is this year
larger fact for the thought and life OF the
world than in any year till now. Cbe pbe-
nonenon Of the life Of Jesus and bis power
in the world forms the summit question in the
Thinning of our times. Cbougb there are some
mournfu defectlons from the divine truth
Of the manger event, the aggregate state OF
Cbrlstendom exhibits the ever enduring
power Of the grace that then and there came to
seek and save the lost. No period bas ever
seen such wide circulation and study OF the
Doly Scriptures as the present, although re-
cent events bave demonstrated the still eflst-
ing need of closer adherence to the divine
principle Of "peace on earth, good will to
men," CHE evangel Of Saviour come tbrllls
more bearts this Christmas than in any other
year Of this degeneration.
The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1914-12-24
Cbrlstmas Homecoming

One Of the great features Of Cbrfetmae Is
the bone meeting. bow many hundreds OF
tboueande who have been separated through
out the year will now be gathered together
once more under the old bone roof! 1t Is
well that It ebould be 90. It warms the beart
to read OF the tratns to the north and the
tratne to the eoutb, east and west being filled
With people going bone for their Christmas
boltdays. II am told" said Gladstone once.
"tbat the etrafn Of our commercial life bas
loosened even the bonde that unite the fam
lily: that In the struggle for eTtstence The par
ente forget TIE child and the child forgets TIE
parents. DELL, read the other day that some
hundreds Of tbousands Of people were leav-
ing London to epend their Cbr(etmas bolt
days at bone. Chat is pleasing and prac-
teal REPUTATION OF much Of this pesstmtsm."
It Is. II the parsnts did not think Of the
children they would not bave them bone, and
If the boys and girls did not think OF the
parents they would not 80 bone. Blood is
great deal THICKER than water. and nothing will
alter It. 60 bone for Christmas!
Carson City daily appeal. [volume] (Carson City, Nev.) 1907-1930, 1914-11-14
THE RIDDLE OF THE DARDANELLES

Ii q strong naval force attacks the Dardanelles we may presently
know whether the defense of that famous strait are a Turkish bluff or
strong az they look. Admiral Duckworth forced the passage in 1897
against the shortrange smooth bores of that day, but since more power
full ordnance as introduced the question has scarcely been raised. In
the Crincan a the naval powers we're with the Turk; in 1873 the Rus
powers, refrMned from serious attack Oh the Turkish mainland; in the
following year the Greek navy as not strong enough to try conclu-
sons with the forts.
The Dardanenes are forty-seven miles long, and everywhere narrow
enough for accurate fire. At the narrowest point, the elbow below
Abydos, where Byron swan Leanders route, the seem recalls the
Hudson highlands, though the waterway is wider. South of the elbow
the Turks mined the waters in 1911 and 1912, and the forts are suppose
to have been modernized by German brains and money. North of the
elbow the defenses are slight - ...4 @ III
The fate of Port Arthur, of AdIanople and of many strong places
in the present a gives n o assuranc that forts can hold out against
land attack in sufficient force. Plevna, whose endurance in the Russo
Turkish a "a a heroic achievement. was o a fortress but the hastily
entrenched camp OF a field army. There is no likelihood of large land
forces being sen to Turkey by the Allies; they are busy. But if the
Anglo-French fleet could pass the Dardeneles, not only Constantinople
but the Turkish navy in the Black Sea, including the Goeben and Bres-
lau, which escaped the me- al Messina, would lie a its mercy. 1t is
natural that the commanders are reported as recommending. the Cher
sonese entrance. The prey is tempting. How about the watch-dogs
teeth?