The Benson signal., 1917-12-08

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ERj IS merry tones in the bells
StFSI wives, sWeethearts, who
have lost sons, husbands,
lovers, in the world madness, Christ
mas bells will sound as harsh, metal
lie clangor, crystallizing sadness and
despair. Perhaps the women whose
men are in the armies will receive in
the music from the church towers mes
sages of hope and inspiration.
But speaking metaphorically, how
the 1uletide bells ring and just when
they ring, who rings them and how
long, are matters Of national taste
that will seem queer to you if while
you happen to be registering in Spain,
you think of Sweden kneeling in sol
emnlty; or in England eating your way
through Christmas day, you consider
the russians chanting the myths of
the Goddess of the Sun, or in Italy
listening to the children reciting their
godly pieces in the streets, you remem-
Der New York and it's theaters with
special Christmas performances"
Christmas in England never has re-
gained the measure of pure revelry it
held before the reformation. Only the
remnants of those hearty times when
the land was glutted with epicurean
richness are what are left for old
England today, but these are enough
to make the celebration distinct in it's
ponderosity. Wherever Christmas is
found in the British isles there is a
plum pudding, that heaviest of edibles
that seems to improve in taste with
every pound tipped off on the scales
In Ireland they accompany gen
erous slice with long drinks of what
they call lamb 's-wool," made by bruis-
ing roasted apples mixed with ale or
milk. If food and drink are the great
er parts of jollity, there are no mer-
rier ChriStmaSeS in the land than these
in England. But there is little Christ
mas lore and superstition. Now and
then you will hear some old fireside
crOny drOne away about the bad con-
sequences of a red and dusky New
Years day, or peer out anxiously for
the first visitor, whose sex determines
good or ill luck during the coming
year. The authors have put into
rhyme just what you would do if you
were passing your Christmas day with
the British:
At Christmas time we deck the hall
With holly branches brave and tall.
| With sturdy pine and hemlock bright.
And in the Yule-logs dancing light
| We tell old tales Of field and fight
At Christmas time.
At Christmas time we pile the board
With flesh and fruit and vintage
stored,
And mid the laughter and the glow
We tread a measure soft and slow,
And kiss beneath the mistletoe
At Christmas time.
| Germany has no long years of riot
Gus Christmases to look back upon.
There is no country in peace times
where the celebration is more whole
somely merry than in Germany. The
Germans begin a week before Christ
mas day to bring in evergreens of all
sizes which they pile up in the public
! squares of the cities and towns until
these look like forests of pines and
hemlOcks. Not one tree, but two, each
! German family must have and those too
poor to buy them are assisted by those
who have plenty. st. Nicholas is the
old fellow at the bottom of this sea-
sonal merriment. On the eve of ST.
Nicholas day, December 6, the Christ
mas festival begins. That is the day
when the German children behave
For man who is good at keeping
secrets impersonates the saint and
goes around inquiring how the chill
dren have acted during the year. He
carries a bundle of birch switches
with him and leaves them in the homes
where he thinks they may be needed
The day before Christmas in Ger
many (peace time Germany, remem-
ber) the mothers trim the house from
top to bottom with strings of hard
frosted Christmas cakes and railing
green's. When it comes to trimming
the Christmas trees themselves, then
you may play out in the yard, take a
walk, or get out of the way some
where, for this is secret business be-
tween mothers and Kris Kringle. On