Evening star., 1915-12-23
CENTER MARKET GAY
IN HOLIDAY COLORS
Wears Christmas Garb of H0l-
Iy and CroWsfoot With
Many Yards of GarIands.
ATTRACTIVE DISPLAY OF
GOOD THINGS TO EAT
Dealers Declare Business So Far Has
Been the Best for Several Years
Past-Forests Of Trees.

Decked in all the bravery of its gar
nishine of green and scarlet. wearing
it's Christmas garb of holly and crows
foot and garlanded everywhere with
wreaths and streamers and festoons
| Indicative of the season, Center mar
ket is one place in Washington where
artistic beauty and practical utility are
harmoniously blended. improvements
and changes that have been made at
the big market during the last year
lend themselves admirably to purposes
of attractive display and decoration.
and never before has Center market
presented such handsome appearance
at Christmas time
All of the stands have been trimmed,
thousands of yards of the croWsfoot
garlands and other thonsahds ss M 10 o.
been used in the decoration of the IN
terror. Goods displayed on the scores
of stands have been prepared Win d
view to presenting the pest poss,ose pst
appearance and the result is most
pleasing. a..
Dealers without exception say that
the Christmas business this year has
been better than for several years pas..
One dealer said today that UP to TINS
time he had sold more dressed turkeys,
ducks, geese and other poultry than ne
disposed of last year UP to the time OF
closing Christmas eve PurVeyors OF an
kinds of eatables for the Christmas
dinner table talk along the same line,
all declaring that trade has been brisk-
er and of much greater volume TINS
season than at the same time In the
last few years.
Endless Streams of Baskets.
Heavily burdened housekeepers. carry
ing big market baskets. piled high with
riSfp
morning, blockaded the aisles of the
big market, although Christmas day
itself is still two days away. Dressed
fowls, larger or smaller roasts, al
trimmed and decorated in honor OF the
ason, as purveyors of these features
of Christmas dinners know how to en-
bellish them: vegetables and fruits in
seemingly endless variety, and all the
mysterious paper parcels that arouse
the curiosity of the children-these.
with the inevitable wreath or bunch OF
holly or other Christmas greenery.
made up the market basket cargoes
that were borne in endless streams by
street cars, automobiles and carriages
to every corner of the city.
The real rush of Christmas market
ing began today and the tide will reach
its highest tomorrow. Extra help has
been provided, however. and dealers
saw the crews" of all stands, as well
as supplies of all the good things that
20 to make up the Christmas dinner,
will be equal to any demands that may
be made upon them.
Greens Are Plentiful.
Outside the big market building min
iature forests of Christmas trees and
mazes Of garlands and wreaths have
sprung up. as they do with the ap-
proach of every Christmas. Bearing
in mind the disappointment of many of
the dealers in Christmas greens last
year. the display was slow in making
it's appearance this year, but as Christ
mas day drew nearer and the demand
for this class of goods was found to be
of far greater volume than a year ago,
hurry orders went out for the greens,
and today the usual dense growth of
cedars, jumpers. small field pines and
the more aristocratic spruces, from
away up north, has made it's appear
ance, springing mysteriously out OF
the concrete pavements and the park
spaces where never an evergreen was
known to grow except at this time Of
year.
Mistletoe. however. is comparatively
have the mystic Druid growth will have
TO pay higher prices for it Dealers
say the supply is rapidly disappearing
and that the Dismal Swamp of Vir-
by the hundreds of tons. is fast being
denuded of the parasitic plant.
Legend of the Mistletoe.
Few persons know why Norwegians
and Swedes rarely include mistletoe in
their Christmas decorations. A legend
that dates back to a time before Chris
tianity was introiucedsf among the
Morse, and when they We're worshipers
of Odin says that Baldur. the god of
light, desiring to prove how deeply he
was beloved by all created things. once
announced a test. He was to stand
10 shoot arrows, hurl spears cast
stones at him. declaring none of these
things would harm him. His mother
however not being as firm in her faith
as Baldur secretly went TO all the
trees, shrubs, stones and other things
and asked them not to harm her son.
She overlooked the humble mistletoe,
however, and Loki. god of evil, learn
ing this, asked the shrub to wound
Baldur Then, on the day of the test
I.oki shooting an arrow of mistletoe,
wounded Baldur. OdiD, however. pro-
claimed that Baldur should not die for
ever, but should return to- the earth
every six months. That. the legend
saws, is when winter began, until
Baldurs wounding summer had lasted
the year round. And so man of
Morse blood-unless the strain has been
much diluted uses mistletoe at
Christmas or any other time.
Mrs. Louise Cooper Granted Divorce.