Norwich bulletin., 1921-10-08

Christmas here of the Pilgrim Fa- thers. The Mayflower landed at Ply 1 mouth December 21, 1920, just few days before Christmas but Christina 8 Day brought no thought of revelry or gaiety to the Christian immigrants The Christmas Day found them with no houses built and no shelter from the icy winds, as the day before was Sun- day and no hands were allowed to labor or disturb the sancity of the Sab bath.
 On Christmas Day. however, the swinging of axes the feliing of trees and the clearing of ground occupied their entire time. When the second Christmas came there had arrived in the meantime another ship, and of l this colony William Bradford, the 1 sternest of Puritans was the Govern 1 or. He formally outlawed Christmas as the Puritans had done when they assumed control of Parliament. i More than a century passed before 1 the gradual growth of Episcopal in- fluence in Massachusetts its associa- l tion with official power when the col ony fell under the direct control of 1 the Crown, brought about some relax ation of the anti-Christian sentiment of the Puritans.
 Ill lHt bdttl SclllctI1cntS OI James, l town Christmas was venerated and
 even in the midst of the perils which l confronted the pioneers they gave themselves over to a full enjoyment of the day.
 In the days when George Washing
 ton was stil Known principally as a
 prosperous planter. the great manor
 houses along the shores of the James
 the York the Rappahannoek, and the } Potomac presented at Christmas such
 sights as the hospitable roof-tree unL der which the entire family and their ! dependents, black or white, were as- sembled. There was a big roast tur- l key at the head of the table, the apart } ments were decked with evergreens and this Virginia Christmas was also characteristic of the celebrations in the ; Carolinas, Georgia and Maryland. The most notable Christmas Day oi
 the Revolutionary period was in IT'S when Washington crossed the Delaware
 and took 900 prisoners but that o TIT was the most gloomy one o the period with the half f-starved anc
 half-clad army struggling to pass thu
 most momentous of American days q \ Valley Forge.
 Twelve years afterward witnessed , the first Christmas under the new Re
 
 first President of the United State . was a season of simple enjoyment
 amidst a hippy population. In tn
 morning the President went to churcl : and in the evening Mrs. Washington | held a reception.
 . !. It was in New York, or rather Ney L Amsterdam, that Santa Claus made hi . first American appearances in some thing like the garb and manner nov D familiar to all of us. From the Meth
 erlands. the Knickerbockers brough ' with them the Christmas of love an |. {. sympathy in religion of comradeshi '' among neighbors and of festivity I V the family.
 ' At the present time Americans gen ,f erally seem to appo-tion the day thus # Church in the morning, dinner in Il
 faternoon, and amusements in the eN
 enig. The Christmas diners concar trate the scattered members of fam
 lies, who meet together to break brea
 in social harmony, and exchange tho.
 home sentiments that cement the ha! ' piness of kindred, and every year Il day is more generally observed a (Tomorrow-Cnristm at Mount Vel ,e nom