The Sisseton weekly standard. (Sisseton, Roberts County, S.D.) 1892-1929, 1919-12-19
HOW UNCLE SAM
OBSERVES CHRISTMAS

ed with fire works. The boy who does
not receive a ''bunch" of tirecrackers
from Santa Claus has been Sighted
All day long fire crackers are going
Off, anvils booming, paper torpedoes
popping and cannons roaring. The
day is the noisest and jolliest of the
year. The Fourth of July does not
compare with it. The negro of the
south looks upon Christmas as day
for their especial happiness They
take it for granted that all the white
folks" they count as friends, will
give them present; their first salu-
tation on Christmas morn is "Chrst-
mas gif Massa
Except for the snow, sleigh bells,
Jack Frost and the fire works, a
Christmas i'm the south is much the
decorated with green, mistletoe hangs
over the door way. Santa Claus comes
down the chimney and the Christmas
dinner is not complete without turkey
cranberry sauce and the usual trim
mings
In New England
In New England for a long time
there was no Christmas. The Pilgrims
and the Puritans did not believe in
such a celebration. During the Colon
| ial times there was a law forbidding
ii, and any one caught making merry
or Christmas day was promptly arres-
ted
There are many New England men
and women still living who knew
nothing of Christmas as children
who never hung up their stocking,
waited for Santa Claus, or had {.
Christmas present.
| Now, however, Christmas i'm New
England is like Christmas any where
else, but there are places where the
old Puritan idea holdsforth, and i'm
some places one big Christmas tree
does for the whole town. This tree
il set up in the town hail. and there
the children go to get their gifts,
w'lics hs5e been hung on its branches
! by their parents Sometimes the tree
has no decorations whatever. After
the presents are taken off, there is
usually a short entertainment, after
which the children, carrying their
presents go back to their homes.
The Shakers
The Shakers observe Christmas by
a dinner at which the men and women
sit down at the same table. This Gus
tom is the thing that serves to make
Christmas different inan other days.
During all the rest of the year the
men and women eat their meals at
separate tables
At sunset on Christmas day. after
service in the church. they march
to the community house, where the
dinner is waiting. The men sit on one
side of the table and the women on
the other. At the head an old man
sits, called the elder who begins the
meal by saying grace. after which
each in turn gets up and, lifting the
right hand, says in solemn voice.
God is Love" After eating dinner
in perfect silence, they rise and sing
standing in their places. AS the sing
ing proceeds they mark time with
their hands and feet, then their bodies
begin to sway from side to side in the
peculiar manner that has given them
the name of Shakers. After the sing
ing the elder offers short PRAYER.
when they silently file out of the
building.
Porto Rico
The Porto Rician boys and girls
Santa Claus have no reindeer or other
kind of steeds, he just comes along
through the air. He does not look for
stockings, for they are not as plenti-
full there as in cooler climates. The
children make little boxes which they
place upon the roofs and in the court
yards and old Santa Claus drops the
presents in as he flies over.
Christmas in Porto Rico is
church festival of much Importance.
and is made up chiefly of religious
ceremonies intended to commemorate
the principal events in the life of
Christ. 1t begins with the celebration
OF Christs birth, and really lasts until
Easter time. One of the most popular
OF the festival day is :hat known as
the day of Bethlehem celebrated on
the 18th of January in memory of tho
coming of the Magi.
New Mexico
In New Mexico among the old
Spanish settlements the celebration
of Christmas lasts week. In the
evenings party will get together and
go to the house of friend. When
they arrive they knock at the door
| and begin singing Those in the hnuca