Western liberal. (Lordsburg, N.M.) 1887-1919, 1917-12-07

III Ia merry tones In the bells
pNl that ring throughout the
"a Christian world on Christ
.Ebf1 IN mas day. To mothers,
iAGl wives, sweethearts, who
have lost sons, husbands,
lovers, in the world madness, Christ
mas bells will sound as harsh, metal
lie clangor, crystallizlng 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 metaphorlcally, how
the Yuletide 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 kneellng in sol
emnity 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 its 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 its
ponderOslty. 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 a gen
erous slice with long drinks of what
they call "lamb's-wool," made by bruls-
ing roasted apples mixed with ale OF
milk. If food and drink are the great
er parts of jollity, there are no mer-
rler Christmases in the land than these
In England. But there is little Christ
mas lore and superstition. Now unC
then you will hear some old firesldC
crony drone away about the bad con
sequences of n red and dusky New
Years day, or peer out a%nXiously fol
the first visitor, whose sex determine.
year. The authors have put int
rhyme just what you would do if yol
were passing your Christmas day will
I 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-log's 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 vintag
n stored,
n And mid the laughter and the glow
We tread a measure soft and slow,
u And kiss beneath the mistletoe
e At Christmas line.
Germany has no long years of rio
- Gus Chrlstmases to look back upoI
- There is no country In peace time
- where the celebration Is more whole
q somely merry than in Germany. TIL
Germans begin a week before Chris
mas day to bring In evergreens Of a
sizes which they pile up in the publ
squares of the cities and towns unit
X these look like forests of pines an
hemlocks. Not one tree, but two, eaC
80 German family must have and those &c
:, poor to buy them are assisted by tho'
ts who have plenty. st. Nicholas Is II
old fellow at the bottom of this SCI
sonal merrlment. On the V of S
'e' Nicholas day, December 8, the Chris
o. mas festival begins. THAT is the dG
re when the German children behave
Ill For a man who is good at keepiI
'e secrets impersonates the saint ar
goes around lnquirlng how the oh.
dren have acted during the year. L
all carries a bundle Of birch switch,
lie. with him and leaves them In the HON
Il. where he thinks they may be needle
mt The day before Christmas in &c
so many (peace time Germany, remeI
ber) the mothers trim the house fro
top to bottom with strings Of har
' frosted Christmas cakes and railil
greens. When 1t comes to trimmil
VI the Christmas trees themselves, tn
ne you may play out In the yard, take
walk, or get out Of the way som
on where, for this Is secret business B
'eI tween mothers and Kris Kringle. {
Sky Signs In London.
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