Evening star., 1935-12-22
By John ClaeeH Proctor.

y " OW beautifully did the poet
express the thoughts of mill
lions of old-timers when he
i Il uttered the words:
How dear to this heart are the
scenes of my childhood
When fond recollections present them
to view"
And what scenes, indeed, does the
early inhabitant recall more vividly
than he does his youthful Christmas
days, and though he may have become
a multimillionaire, a monarch or a
president. yet the memories of by
gone Yuletide days will undoubtedly
cause him mentally to express at least
more than once, the sentiment of that
dear old song:
Backward, turn backward oh, time
in thy fight,
Make me a child again just for to-
night"
For, after all. only the child can
get the greatest possible enjoyment
and pleasure out of Christmas, and
though Santa Claus leaves behind for
him or her only a jack-knife or a rag
doll, yet the same enthusiasm is there
as if it were a thousand times as
much.
Conditions under which we now live
have. in many respects, modified the
way in which we formerly celebrated
that notable day. Indeed, to many
the Christmas of today is much differ
ent from those of go or more years
ago, when people had large, practical,
open f1replaces and a chimney almost
large enough for a real Saint Nicho-
las to make his entrance and exit.
In those days people in this vicin-
ity burned pine and oak logs, the lat
ter being the more expensive, and
many burned anthracite coal in the
not heated by a latrobe, and the
kitchen stove answered for both heat
ing and cooking.
Coal then cost about the same as
wood, and was less troublesome, ex-
cept to those who bought cord wood
and had to call in the wood sawyer to
saw the logs into desirable lengths.
But yet, even with the inconvenience
Of coal and wood, and the possible
discomfort Of sometimes going to bed
in a cold room with the weather un-
der freezing, there has been nothing
since to equal the glare and roar of
the burning wood on the hearth and
the popping and cracking of the fuel,
nor does anything appear more cozy
and cheerful now than did the red
hot parlor stove and the red-hot lids
Of the kitchen range of the by-gone
days.
What pleasure we used to have pop
ping corn on the old kitchen stove,
especially during the holiday season,
and roasting chestnuts and chinqua-
pins. What fun We used to have pull
ing of our red-topped boots with the
bootjack In Wintertime and toasting
our feet by the fire, and, oh. how diff
ferent it was, sometimes, to get them
on the next morning.
THESE and many other similar in
cidents produced but few of the
thrills we shall never forget. And
then came the greatest day of all
Christmas morning g!-when we-for
perhaps the only day in the year
arose before our parents and scam
pered down to the parlor, where the
decorated pine or cedar tree was
always placed-decorated with home
made strings of little paper rings,
cornucopias, figures of all kinds made
from ht-colored papers, sticks Of
candy with ring tops, decorated
French candies, colored in places in
imitation of dogs, cats, roosters and
all sorts of animals; colored glass
balls, little bags of sweets, and oc-
casionally an orange or two helped to
make the tree look attractive.
And, of course, there was the little
railing fence, the animals from Noah's
ark, the little pond, the canton fan
mel or some other material used to inli-
tate snow, and some of the smaller
presents were also there. How beauti-
full it all looked the first night, when
the vari-colored candles were lighted.
Indeed, Christmas does make an old
timer reflect, for many things have
happened since some of us were chill
dren, and in many cases the gentle