The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1917-01-17
MICHIGAN
ANTHONY
A Christmas In Which In.
dians Took Part
By F. A. mitchell

about 1t q good deal. In these day
when chimneys are small and som
OF them are not opened up for fire
places 1t must be very hard for man
and a very fat man at that, such a
j. hriss kringle Is pictured, to come dow
, At all, and when We consider that b,
carries a large pack Of toys with hin
1t would seem that 1t must be harder
still. 1t would be much easier for hin
to leave the gifts on the porch or In
some other place easily reached.
III tell you why. think. Santa Claus
comes down the chimney with his
pack. He began TO bring little children
gifts many years ago. At that time
chimneys were very different from
what they are now. and the fireplaces
were different too. The chimneys were
SO large that chimney sweeps would go
down into them and clean out the ac-
cumulated SCOT. The fireplaces were
deep and wide. There were In those
Gays no cook stoves in which to pre-
pare meals. The cooking was done I'm
the fireplace. There was an iron i'm
| PIGMENT In every fireplace called n
| crane. on which the kettle was hung
and could be swung over the fire. An
other implement was the spit. some
tnlhg ike big arrow, which was stuck
INTO the meat SO that the cook might
mold 1t In position to be cooked.
In those days, too, the houses. es-
pecially of the great mass of poor neo-
pie, were low, and the chimney TOP was
much more easily reached than now.
can conceive Of snowdrift against |
the side OF a PEASANTS cabin forming |
perfect slope with the roof to tho
ground, and when packed hard or In.
crusted Santa Claus might drive his
reindeers right up to the chimney ton.
and nothing would be easier than for
MN 70 let himself down into the great
fireplace and leave his gifts there
nave told you these things about
now Santa Claus got into the habit Of
descending the chimney with his gifts
"a habit that seems to have stuck to
nim-because l am going to tell Won
. story about a family who lived sew
aral hundred years ago in the Dutch
,oiony which is now the state of
view fork-in one Of those low houses /,
WIN big chimney. The people of
ne colony were mostly Dutch. and I
,hey called Santa Claus st. Nicholas q
lie being their patron saint n
Schenectady, now a city, was one t
I me first settlements in the north h
nd west part of the colony, and the v
.hapitants made their living by trap S
ing Wild animals and selling tbeir il
klns. Sometimes the Indians wou,a b
ring In the pelts, as they called them.
hu sell them to the whites, who h
quiz sell them again. On the other
ue OF the Mohawk river from Schenec. So
10y Is place where the Indians used b
torture and burn the prisoners TAX N
4 in war. nj
IN schenectady lived a fur trader by pc
e name OF Van Schoonhoven. with ga
WIFE and several little children ola
e oidest or whom was a girl seven RI
'ars or age, named Katrina. Ono
y van Schoonhoven was RETURNING in
ON trapping expedition with nelts do
IL coming to the river bank opposite or
settlement he found number of an
uians In the act Of executing some Gel
ptives. They had tortured and burn. cas-
all the prisoners except one person l
warrior whose wife and cbildren In
re bidding him goodby before no sig
-, " Tue stake. Van Sehoonhoven, oul
Gu with pity for this family. offered pei
savages all his pelts for the can. val
es life. The offer was accented a.
l the released man and his family yea
MT with the white man to Schenec- her
y. Ihey were taken to his cabin :"
ere they were given food and would /"
. peen given shelter if they had :"
preferred to remain In the open. mo-
hese Indians were Mohicaps and tho
e the family name was unnpo. t
nceaoie they were called Mohiean trea
hony, Mehican Mary. and SO ., "
ueins gwen name. They re- how
ned long while in Schenectady st.
iearhed much of the white mans top
.olhs' Or course they were very But
-eiul to the man who had saver lett
lathers life by giving whole sea- fllir
$ catch OF pelts. which he wopId ing
rwise have sold for more than Y.
!. or 5000. 1t was winter when tho ,ror,
ny came to abide with the Van savo
'onhovens, and they spent a Christ No.
tnere. Katrina Van Schoonhovan hod
TO explain to them how ST Niche bns
would come down the chimney nm baan
stmas morning, but they could NOT n,;os
now ne could drive his sleigh nm M
the roof of the cabin. IN
when ON Christmas eve the chp h.S
were told to hang their moccasins srs- '
ae chimney piece and the naxt IT, 49,
ing received them full OF flows h,.
peneved what had been told them ~ ),
or wera y,,oh us iatner and quail
mornino - e.. useu one Christ TIL,
pIacod hoa.s- 'aae .ne Indians went