The Monticellonian., 1917-12-07

IN! E1 that ring throughout the EJ I Christian world on Christ l5Fl 5N mas day. To mothers, E-six SfHS wives, SweetheartS. who
 have lost sons, husbands, lovers, ill the world madness, Christ mas bells will sound as harsh, metal lie elangor crystallizing sadness and despair. Perhaps the women whose men are ill the armies will receive fn the music from the church towers mes sages of hope and inspiration.
 But speaking metaphoriealIy, how the Auletide bells ring and just when they fihg, 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 godiy pieces 1n 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 f5iHhdnts of those hearty times when the lahd was glutted with epicurean richness are what are left for old England today, but these are enouph To make the celebration distinct in it's ponderosity. Wherever Christmas is found in the British isles there is n plum pudding, that heaviest of edibles that seems to improve ill taste with every pound tipped off on the scales. In Ireland they accompany q 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 CT parts of jollity, there are no mer- Tier Christnases in the land than these ill England. But there is little Christ mus lore and superstition. Now and then you will hear some old fresfde efony drone away about the bad con sequences of Il red and dusky New sss4 = IssSf 0l ICCl Oul dlIAI0u%IN lOI the first visitor, whose sex determines E -pod or i'll 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 hemloek bright And in the YuIe-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 vintage
 stored.
 And mid the laughter and the glow We tread measure soft and slow. And kiss beneath the mistletoe
 At Christmas time.
 Germany has n0 long years of riot ous Christmases No look back upon. There is no country I5speaee times where the celebration is more whole ssomely merry than in Germany. The sGermans begin week before Christi imas 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 Aemlocks. 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 Christi mas festival begins. That is the day when the German children behavei For a man who is good at keeping Secrets impersonateS the saint and goes around inquiring how the chil- dren have acted during the year. He carries 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 greens. When it comes to trimming the Christmas trees themselves. then you may play out in the yard. take walk, or get out of the way some where, for this is secret business be- tween mothers and Kris Kringle On