The Birmingham age-herald., 1919-07-13
WHERE CHRISTMAS
 COMES IN JANUARY
Story Of Clergyman's Work and Hardships In Western
 Nebraska Community

New York, July 5.-(Special) )-That there are places in the United States where Christmas is not always cele brated on December 25 may come with l a sort of shock to some readers, never theless it has more than once been the | case. It has happened in the desolate | sand hills of western Nebraska i
 It was not many years ago when there were no people living in the | sand hills and bad lands of that state not even Indians. Then the "Kincaid law was passed by which a man colud empt farm of 160 acres and after living on it for five years prove up his claim when the government passed the title to the land over to him. He paid nothing for the land nor any rent.
 The law brought a struggling stream of farmers into western Nebraska and soon log and sod houses, and occasion ally one of lumber, sprang up, followed by frame schoolhouses But there were no churches Neither were there min isters.
 The owner of large cattle ranch an Episcopalian-aband his husi- ness and, with his wife, started out to preach to the new settlers and give | them an opportunity for public worship. l The farmers gathered in school build | ngs and farm houses. Finally bishop | of the church visited the section and | confined 15S persons.
 | Sunday schools were established and I met in the schoolhouses and the farm | CTS homes, but still there was no | church to which they could repair and no minister to hold a service if they l had the church.
 | One winter it was decided to observe l.; ;pt, | of them had been accustomed back east" with Christmas trees, gifts for
 the children, and with appropriate re- l ligious services. Arrangements were made to observe the day at IS school houses among the sand hills, but no minister was available to conduct the
 religious side of the observance except the missionary who had given up his cattle business to travel through the country preaching the gospel
 It was a physical impossibility for
 him to visit all IS of the far-flung
 schoolhouses on Christmas day, even if
 he had been provided with present
 day airplane, so the nefghbors decided
 to postpone Christmas until the ms-
 sionary and his wife could get around to their own little white schoolhouse. It was three weeks before the final and fifteenth schoolhouse was reached, but 1 Christmas had kept-and so had the | gifts of eatables for the children, for
 it was cold-and was properly observed as it used to be in the east with a !, church service in conjunction with the Christmas tree.
 The church situation in western Ne s braska is not so very much better now than it was when Christmas had to be : postponed-for that was only very short time ago The Episcopal church through it's nationwide campaign tc B arouse the church to it's great obliga- !, tions and opportunities an to mobi, } lize it's resources in both men ano , money for the work ahead of it, hopes l ] to better the situation not only II western Nebraska but in all the thinly l populated western country where the s Episcopal church is admittedly weak. r Cattle rancher, sheepman farmer
 cowbody and hired hand" alike in tha l part of the country turn out on tho ? rare occasions when they have an op : portunity to attend public worship. This statement is amply born but b1 the trouble they will take to attent
 meteing. Whole families will trave , by wagon a distance of 15 or 20 mile! of a Sunday. Sometimes after rain in the bad land section. the gumb' soil makes it almost impossible for an.
 sort of vehicle to travel. Gumbo IS tn , most pertinacious, obstinate, persistent | St1ck-tO-lt mud III tHe WOIiu' VH6oi and buggy tires gather new lave
 of it with every revolution and on , could assert with almost complet ? truthfullness that none of it ever falls
 Wagons drive up to the church O
 schoolhouse where service IS hel'
 with the spokes clogged with mud clea , l to the hub. The horses hoofs seem
 big as half-bushel baskets.
 Cowboys and farmers daughter
 ride great distances on their favorit
 bronchos. children of 10 come on mule and horses, sometimes one to the ani , nal, sometimes three CT four. Oftel 2 a sudden rain swells the streams unti
 they have to be forded or suddel
 lterrific hailstorm will drive them t
 shelter under blankets while the horse , are turned loose to protest themseive !; as best they can.
 The need of the churchs fellowship
 specializing educational and moral worl
 can be found in any communit' throughout the hills and prairies , the west Children often backward be
 cause they have seen little If any thing ot-the various things which g to make up the education of the mod ern child in civilized countries. Not onl! are they without school and churcl advantages in many cases, but oo no l even know what band is. | What eastern child of or 4 year even would be frightened alomst ou of his wits by brass band? Yet tha very thing has happened in western Ne braska A formal opening of iron tier town to which railway had jus been built was in progress. ."Bunais Bill" and locally prominent men wer' met on the first train by the citizens with brass band. guns and othel things suftable to the occaSion..