Coulee City dispatch. [volume] (Coulee City, Wash.) 19??-19??, 1929-12-13

particularly in the names of the REIN
deer. "Viscen" of the original has be-
come vixen and "Donder" has been
changed to "Dunder." The title which
Doctor Moore gave to his verses was
"a Visit From ST. Nicholas" but the
modern version, taken from the first
line, is ''The Night Before Christmas.
Its popularity. however, has been un-
changed throughout the 1O7 years, it
has been translated into many foreign
tongues and 1t has delighted the chill
dren of many nations.
Doctor Moore died in 1868 at his
summer home in Newport, r. I. His
body was taken to New York, which
was then in the throes of the draft
riots, and was placed temporarily In
a vault at st. Lukes church in Hud-
son street. Later 1t was removed to
the churchyard of the Chapel of the
Intercession (Trinity parish) and
there 1t rests today In plot of
ground which holds also the bodies
of his wife and their three children.
In fact, this plot has been more of a
Christmas shrine than has the house
near Chelsea Square, where the poem
was written and very pretty Christ
was ceremony in memory of Doctor
Moore takes place there every year.
Rev. DR.. Milo Fl. Gates, vicar of the
chapel at Broadway and One Hundred
and Fifty-fifth street, has long been an
or irnr nf 40 nd TO hn1 ri
author. In 1911 he held the first serv-
Ice in Doctor Moores memory. About
2OO children gathered with him at the
grave at the foot of the hill overshad-
owed by the high wall which is topped
by Riverside drive. Since then the
The ceremony begins at four O'CLOCK
on Christmas eve with the feast of
lights in the church. Then the chill
dren gather In the cloister while a
fanfare of trumpets from the bell tow
er heralds the procession to the Gene
terry. Led by the trunneters they
move along One Hundred and Fifty
eth street. carrying banners, lighted
candles. torches and lanterns, past the
huge Christmas tree in the corner Of
the churchyard.
i All Broadway traffic is halted as
I, they cross, the swell of their music
rising above the noise of the street
and falling away again as they pass.
From the steps of the cemetery and
the road that winds around from side
to side down the hill, the voices may
still be heard on the busy street sing
ing Little Town Of Bethlehem"
Silent Night, Holy Night" eve Three
Kings of Orient Are God Rest Ye
Merry, Gentlemen" and many other
favorite Christmas hymns and carols.
Except for the lights In the chill
/ dren's hands, 1t Is quite dark by the
+. time they reach the stone marked
I element Clarke Moore, born in New
! York July Is, 1879; died in Newport,
r. l.. July 10. 1868" A final carol is
sung as wreath is laid against the
stone and. before disbanding the pro-
| cession moves on to grave nearby
to honor the memory of Alfred Tenny-
! son Dickens. eldest son of Charles
/ Dickens. author of another Christmas
classic, "A Christmas Carol"
Another ceremony honoring Doctor
Moore Is held annually at st. Peters
/ Episcopal church on Twentieth street.
A tablet Is erected to his memory
there because he was the first warden
of that church and also gave the land
upon which 1t stands, as well as the
land upon which was built the Cen
eral Theological seminary with which
it has close connectizu.