HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Seaforth News, 1925-12-24, Page 7f
TCHRISTMAS MOTHER
Three Lonely People Play a Caaatsae of Fellowship.
BY'CHARLOTTE COi1KRIGHT KINNEY. "
Five o'clock and Christmas eve. ""A
regular story -book Christmas eve!"
smiled Kathleen Davis, as she picked
her way, stopping now and then to
look' in an attractive store window, 1
through the hurrying, : gift -laden
crowd. "It couldn't be better if it had )
been made to order!"
Great, feathery snowflakes filled' the.
air. Everywhere, were festoons: of
cedar and holly, .glittering trees, all
the g'l'orious jumble- of things that
mark the great. Holiday. And above
it all, to give the finishing and perfect
touch, the cathedral belle at the end
of the street chiming:
"Joy to the World'! The Lord is come!"
"Joy, good will, friendliness. Yes,
that is the keynote rof Christmas!"1
Kathleen said to herself.'
Presently she stopped by a brilliant-
ly lighted shop window and studied
the faces of 'some of the crowd. It
was a Christmas pageant. - She lilted,
to imagine the part in the nigh't's
drama that'each was playing. She �
hoped that it was a 'happy one and
that they were all hurrying some-
where where... love _awaited them.
A dignified, 'distinguished -looking,
• judge -like gentlemen caught her atten- 1
tion. 'She laughed. The ;:.wind had
blown ,.away most of the; wrapping-
parar from the' bundle ho..wae carry -
Ing, revealing a dashing red -and -gray
rocking-horee. The absurd pony was
delightfully incongruous: with the old
.gentleman's outward dignity,
"One of. the nicest things about
Christians," thought Kathleen, almost
speaking ;the words aloud, "is that it
makes us children' again"
A crinp!e Iiassed, • He was poorly
dressed but is face *as an inspira-
tion. "Tiny Tithe, she named him.
Next came a kindly -faced Kish woman
who, she judged, was taking- all the
poor children in her block to visit same
department -store Santa Claus. • Sas-
hed her hands full managing the
brood but oh, the fun she was having!
"That's real giving," thought Kath-
leen. '°She's giving herself and that
is the only real gift."
Two women approached. They stood
for a second looking in the window.`
Their faces were hard .and. brilliant
as' posters. "She only gave me a cheap
box of .stationery last Christmas,"
snapped one, Grand I gaveher an ex-
-Ce
x--pensive pair of silk stockings,' Well,
she'll not get much • from me this year."
They .walked away.
Kathleen was infinitely sorry for
them. - She joined the moving crowd.
Her plans were indefinite. "I guess
I'm the only one that's not hurrying
somewhere!" Her face was wistful.
She really had no place to go except
to the room in her hotel. ` She longed
like a. homesick child for home—a
place where, a lighted tree shine in
the window, where a little supper, a
fire in the grate and Mother awaited
her.
This was the first year since Kath-
leen could remember when Mother and
she had not kept Christmas together.
So much can happen in a year , .'
Life can be very cruel. When Mother
was with her they had always been
`poor but they had been happy although
.i.- else had never been able to buy the
many things she had wished for
Mother. And then after it was tool
late, success suddenly came to her and
money. Not a great deal, of course,
but enough to have made Mother very
comfortable. Now, she. told herself
bitterly, she could buy the comforts,
even a few of the luxuries she had
always desired—the clothes, all the
dear, entrancing things that women
love, the books, the plays, mucic, flow-
ers—and'Mother was gone , .
She came to a flower shop. From
behind the frosted glass, orehids, gar-
denias, sweet peas smiled out at her.
And there in the midst of this fairy
garden was the very kind of a Christ-
mas bouquet she would have liked to
take home to Mother. She had always
given her flowers, the less expensive
kind --one buys in banches done up in
tissue paper at the elevated stations.
But to send Mother, at Christmas, dis-
tinctive, out -of -the -season flowers tied
up with ribbon in a bewitching box
, For a long time she stood
thoughtfully before the window. Then
a delightful idea came to her. `She
went in.
"I should like to see et,hat lovely
bunch of lilies of the valley in the
window,". Her ` eyes glowed. They
were her mother's favorite flower.
She asked to have them arranged in
a corsage. "A bit of greeny violets
and a pink rose'. or two for color.
Lovely! -Tie with silver ribbon." It
was exquisite. - She watched him ar-
range them in' a darling box. "I'll take
it with me."
Outside, she .hurried slang with the
rest of the crowd. Her eyes danced as
glia hugged the ribboned box. At the
corner she collided with a fat man
carrying home a huge lamp shade.
They. both laughed good-naturedly,
"I'm part of the Christmas pageant
now, too,"thought Kathleen and in her
heart sang a song of _enchantment.
In Rosenbergs department store, up
on the two:'fth floor, 14Irs. Mary Scott,
an elderly frail woman wee trying not
to look as weary„ ae' she felt. Ordi-
fierily the store served only the noon
lunch but as it was to be open late
oh Christmas eve, tI o et nagement had
made 'a special arrangement to keep.
the cafe open. ' She had been waiting
en table all day. - She tried to ease her,
aching 'feet by shifting her weight
from one to the other.- She was very"
patient as one is apt to'be patient at
eixty-three when one is alone in the
world and upon one's own a,'osoureea. .
1VIrs, Scott, since the untimely death
of her only daughter, a music teacher,
had found few Positions available to
a gent;ewornan of her years who had
•no specialized training. She was there-
fore grateful for her present position
and wasmost conscientious and faith-
ful. Thoughtful people,.peep e with
imagination, must have noticed her at
once;
"Who was that sweet-faced old
lady? What was she doing here?"
they would oak.' In her dainty white
blouse with its touch of Irish crochet
—carrying _ltd hint of better days--
she
ays—she looked like a sweet g.other. You
bad a sudden longing, as you watched
ber, to take away the heavy tray ale
was carrying.You wanted= to seat
her at the table and terve and protect
her.
"Seems like people might get their
shopping done daytimes," thought
Mrs. Scott as she folded napkins. "I
hope it's wonting people who have no
other time who'll be here to -night and
not the rich folks who thoughtlessly
wait for their slibppingvtill' the last
minute," .
A man on the eleventh floor,in the
music department, was eingkn%, jazz
through • a megaphone—something
about moonlight and blues.
".tazz,on. Christmas eve!" she sigh-
ed. She was putting fresh linen on
her tables, There were not many in
the restaurant.• She was grateful' for
a few quiet moments. Again she
heard the jazz. "How far we have
wandered away from the true mean-
ing of Christmas," she thought. She
recalled some past Christmas eves.
She saw Marian, her daughter, and
the. glowing faces of school children
as they sang:
"Silent Night! Holy Night!
All is calm, all le bright . "
That was what the world needed -
more peace, less of excitement and
this feverish, tinsel happiness and
more of the real and natural joys of
life. She wished she had it in her
power to send away all those tired,
confused, over -laden shoppers, down
there in the stifling air, of the music
department, with that quiet song in
their hearts instead of the echo of
jazz. And Marian. Her patient
lips quivered. Tears gathered In her
eyes and she quickly brushed them
away. It wouldn't do tohave a patron
see her crying. How different this
Christmas might have been if Marian
had lived.
A young woman came in and seated
herself at one of Mrs. Scott's tables.
She wore the gray fur coat and toque
thatMrs,..Scott had come to know so
well, for she often visited the lunch
room. To,i•' light there was a touch of
hollyin hhr color scheme, It was
"Mies Delight" -Mrs. Scott's private
name for her. She had attracted Mrs.
Scott's attention because she always
asked to be seated at her tables and
while not old-fashioned she was not
like the young girls Mrs. Scott usually
served, "Miss' Delight" was decidedly
pretty and always well dressed. From
her thoughtful, sweet expression Mrs.
Scott was sure that she was not the
kind of girl who smoked cigarettes,
drank cocktails and danced "till all
hours." In time, they learned each
'other's names and each felt the kindly
spirit of the other, "Something about
her reminds me of Marian" said Mrs.
Scott. Whenever "Miss Delight" came
to her table, it was Mrs. Scott's hap-
piest moment of the day—that is, -al-
most the happiest. •For there wae an-
other bright occasion, when a tall,
good-looking young man with adorable
brown eyes, appeared. Ike, too, was a
regular daily visitor and he and Mrs.
Scott. also had become friendly.
Most of the people -at Mrs. Scott's
tables were merely people. They
could be duplicated anywhere. Only
"Miss Delight" and the Man -with -the -
Adorable -Brown -Eyes were individ-
uals. What interested Mrs. Scott at
first, was the fact that they came
there at all, By their bearing and
clothes, they belonged to a higher -class
place. It interested and amused her.
They ,had never met, as far as she
'knew, yet day after day they came,
'usually at the same hour, she at the
little table by the window, he across
the aisle, However, she had an odd
conviction that Rosenberg's, as far as
those young people were concerned,
existed' solely as a place for seeing
ono another. w
"I wish," she had often smiled, "I
could be the head waitress. I'd seat
them together! You don't often see
shyness in youngsters nowadays."
Thoy endeared themselves to her the
more because of their old-fashioned•
is
',1FIa`te"'as much variety as possib le in the home-made' candies you give
your friends in the festive season.
standards. She made two interesting
discoveries which she kept to herself,.
She found Miss Delight's pretty face
faintly sketched 'all over the young
man's menu. And one day the De-
lightful Lady had scribbled a bit of
poetry on the back of an envelope and
forgotten it:
"But all remembered beauty is no
,more
Than`a vague prelude to the thought
of you—
Lover: of beauty, knightliest and best."
To -night Mrs. Scott had not dream-
ed of seeing Kathleen Davis. 'Evi-
dently, neither had Mr. Robert Har-
per, for he was not there. Mrs. Scott
came pleasantly forward to take her
order,
"Merry Christmas!" smiled« Kath-
leen, her eyes • sparkling like sap-
phires.
"Merry Christmas!" smiled, back
the White -Rose Lady, as Kathleen had
privately named her, so sweet was her
fine fragility,
"Just bring me a cup of chocolate
and a sandwich—any' kind. I'ni not
hungry, I, just came to see you!"
In a few moments the White -Rose
Lady returned, When she had dain-
tily arranged the order on the table,
Kathleen tucked into 'Mrs, Scott's
trembling hands the florist's box.
"Why—why, my dear, it's lovely of
you! I . , ." hervoice broke.
Regardless of convention, Kathleen
slipped an arm about her. "I' know,"
she said softly. "They make you think
of past Christmases and happiness."
Her own eyes were a bit misty. "I'm
going to tell you something, I've been
coming here to lunch so often mostly
because you make me think of my
mother." •
"Dear child!"
"Yes. And I've a plan. I: want to
adopt a Christmas Mother for to-
morrow. If you will give me your ad-
dress, I'll call for you—unless you
have some other engagement—say at
two. We'll have dinner somewhere
,down town and spend the day to-
gether."
"Bless your heart!" beamed the
WhitedRose Lady. "How lovely!; ;I
have no engagement but ... you're
not doing this, dear, just to be nice to
me -because I told you about my
daughter?"
"To -morrow I'll tell you everything
—I mean about . Mother and why I
want to do this. Please don't refuse!
ready for the street,' but in a huge
white apron over a well-preserved
black silk dress.
"Merry Christmas, dear girl! Come
in. I have a surprise for you."
Kathleen was at once conscious of
unmistakable and delectable odors of
home at dinner time—Christman=
dinner time with turkey, cranberry,
plum pudding. Mrs. Scott half led,
half pushed her "daughter" into ,a
cheery dining room with a table set
for three.. There were spotless linen
and pretty dishes and shining silver.
Christmas candles stood on the suffet.
In the centre of the table bloomed the
Christmas bouquet. "Am'I dreaming
—Mother?"
"No. Your plan was the dream.
You're going to have dinner here with
me," the ,Christmas Mother said sim-
ply. "After you left last night, I re-
membered that' the Smiths—I rent e
room from them—were going to be.
away to -day. I called up Mrs. Smith
and asked her if I might give a din-
ner. She told me to makemyself at
home. Take off your things, dear. Fut
them there in my room. You see," she
said softly, a lovely light in her face,
"you longed for a Christmas Mother
And I got to thinking how you
always had to be eating in restaurants
and cafes and I thought maybe seeing
I was to be Mother to -day, you'd en-
joy staying
n-.joy°staying home and having a bit of
real home cooking for a change."
"Ob, Mother Scott, how wonderful
of you! It's exactly the homey kind
of a Christmas I've been longing for
but you should have let me share it . .
And my dear," glancing at the little
table, "there are three. Who in the
world beside you and me?"
"That's my secret," smiled the
Christmas Mother, "but I'll tell you
this much—I rather think you'll en-
joy our Christmas guest."
"Mystery!" Kathleen threw her
arias about the white-aproned figure
and kissed her. 'I suspect its some
forlorn newsboy, tramp or poor wo-
man you've rescued. But nothing can
surprise me now not even if it's the
Prince of Wales,"
Suddenly the door bell. "Oh, my
goodness. laughed the Christmas
! Mother, flushing like a girl expecting
' a sweetheart. "Tell me, does my hair
{look all right?"
"You're a picture just as you are—
a Christmas picture."
Mrs. Scott, her cheeks a ` pink as
If you knew how I dreamed of this
Christmas. There is one condition.
For one day you are to play you are
really my mother and let me do all the!
things for you I would love to do for'
hers" -
"I think I understand,"quietly
smiled • the White -Rose Lady."There'll
be my condition too. If I'm to be your
mother, you're to be my little girl.
It's to be a Christmas game for two
alone peopleto escape loneliness?"
"That's it!' I knew you'd under-,
stand. To -morrow at two ... And
wear your flowers. Good night,
Christmas Mother!" She was gone,
but she had left behind her a -trail of
fairyligbt, a fragrance, a song. The
rest of the evening did not matter.
Christmas day! Promptly at two,
a gray -furred figure ran quickly up
the steps, of the address Mrs. Scott;
had. given her.
'Mrs, Scott answered the bell, not
the Christmas rose, threw open the
door and 'Cathleen heard her greet-
ing. "WelcomeI Welcome, dear boy!
And Merry Christmas! Come right in.
Put your hat and coat here, What?
Another gift? My! My!"
Kathleen peeked around the door
and—gasped. It was he—the Sir
Galahad of Rosenberg's!
"Miss Davis, allow me to present
Mr. Harper. Kathleen—Bob—my
Christmas children."
"You see,"- explained the young
man to Kathleen, "she's adopted me,
too." 'Evidently Bob had been let into
the Mother secret. '
And Kathleen said something about
"such a lovely idea ... "
Mother, with glowing eyes, was
opening her. basket, "My! My! Isn't
this lovely?'Strawberriea, grapes, per-
simmons, pears . , . Oh, you dear ex-
travagant
xtravagant children ... fruit and
flowers in mid -winter"
Kathleen made a place on the table)
for the handsome' basket, Shebroke
off n rose and a,few lilies of the valley
and pinned.thene on the breast;of the
Christmas 'Mother,
They lighted the Christmas candles
and Bob seated Mother Scott at the
table es if she had been a queen. He
insisted on carving and neither one
of them would let the Mother lift a
linger to serve them. It was the jolliest
of dinners. It seemed as if they all
had known each other for years. And
hew good things tasted!
"Did you tell Kathleen about the
play to -night?" asked Bob. (In the
spirit of the game they spoke to each
other intimately.)
"Oh, no! Bob has invited us to a
play, dear." - '
"Us? When did you know," Kath-
leen demanded of the young man,
greatly surprised, "that I would be,
here?"
"It was like this," explained Mother.
"After you went away fast night,
'along comes Mr. Bob with this big box
of candy, He saw the lights and
thought maybe we'd be open. 'I guess
he thought that he was theloneliest
man in the city.. He seemed like alma
soul. I saw how it was . we three
all being lonely with no folks or place
to go to but to.a show or the movies,
Christmas is a home day. So I thought
we'd have. just .our own Christmas
party."
"Dear Mother Scott!" .... Over the
fruit and candy they exchanged confi-
dences. Kathleen was a short story
welter. Bob was a oommeroiaT artist.
"I do everything from ham and eggs
and beauty -clays to silk stockings and
grand pianos." He had a sudden In-
spiration. "Mother Scott, you must
left me paint you as you look to -clay
for my Mother's Day poster. Wouldn't
ehe be great,. Kathleen?"
"Speaking of pictures," said Kath-
leen addressing the other guest, "you
remind me of some picture or person
—I don't know which—I've seen."
"You feel that way, too? How many
times I've' wanted to speak to yon in
the restaurant but I didn't dare. I've
always wondered where I have seen
{
,you or someone like you."
"You couldn't possibly ever have
lived in the little town of Lunenburg,
Nova Scotia?"
'4Sure! I lived' there until I was
fourteen. My father was Douglas
Harper. We lived near the East Ward
School.
"ThenI have seen you!" cried Kath-
leen happily."I lived over in the West
Ward on Haliburton Avenue with my
grandparents. Do you recall Captain
Castorlin? He was my grandfather.
And do you remember the exercises at
Central School • when all the schools
used to get together? Didn't you speak
pieces?"
"Why, yes. I remember one was
'The Inchcape Rock' and 'The Death
of Napoleon.'"
He hadn't thought of those old reci-
tations in years, Ile laughed, saying,
"Tho kids in school nowadays never
even heard' of them."
"And could you—no, of course you
couldn't—remember a small girl who
sometimes sang?—once it was 'Corrin'
through the Rye.""
But he diel "You carried a tiny
parasol and danced between the stan-
zas 1"
tan-zas1"
"Yes, yes. Why, you do remember."
"Well, now, here's another of those
unexpected happenings," exclaimed
1 the Mother. "It's a good thing 1 plan-
ned this party so you could find out ell
this,,:
Their oyes said eloquently that it
was a verygood thing.The little
party became a gayer affair than ever.
Dinner over, they insisted on Mother
Scott resting.
"You won't be able to enjoy the
play to -night if you don't."
They chatted and laughed and
worked and between spells ran to the
piano. They sang "Noel" and "Little
Town of Bethlehem." Presently Bob
began "Mother Machree,"
"Sure I love the dear silver that
shines in your hair,
And the brow that's all furrowed
and wrinkled .with care.
Oh, God bless you • and keep you,
Mother Machree 1"
"The darlings!" Tears filled her
eyes. It had been such a happy day!
Oh; how good they lied been to her!
"Dear Marian! Dear Mother of Kath-
leen! If you can know, I'm sure you're
glad that I gave them this chance to
be happy. It was my part in the
Christmas game—the gift of their
Christmas Mother."
Volcanic' ash is found in large beds
in several localities in Southern Brit-
ish Columbia. It has also been re-
ported recently from near Swift Cur-
rent, Saskatchewan. Material from
the Saskatchewan deposit is already
being used as ass ingrrdient.in scours
ing soaps and other cleansing COM -
pounds.
In the Stable.
What must her Virgin prayers for
Him have been
Her child and God's? She surely knew
no sin
Could ever snare' the little satin feet -
That, nestling -in her palm,` she found
so sweet,
Those things the angel told her! 'Did
they seem
Now in this darkened stable like a
dream?
They must have floated through her
gentle mind
In reminiscent wonder. Did she find.
Her heart aflutter with strange pangs
and awe
While looking on that wee bed in the
straw?
What had it meant? (This little child,
her own!)
These solemn words: "His father Da-
vid's throne!" -
--
"That holy thing which shall be born
of:theel"—
"The Son of Godi" Oh, pale young
mother, she
Must surely have bowed 'low, remem-
bering.
"Yea, Lord, yea, Lord, , this holy,
holy thing!"
—Bertha d'erneaux Woods, in Youth's
Companion.
Yuletide.
Ohl merry piping time of Christ-
mas! Never let us permit thee to
degenerate into distant courtesies and
formal salutations.: But let us shake
our friends and : familiars by the
hand, as our fathers' and their fathers
did. Let them all come around 'us,
and Iet us count how many the year
has added to our circle. Let us en-
joy the present and laugh at the past,
'Let us tell old stories and invent new
ones—innocent always, and ingenious,
if we can. Let us not meet to abuse
the world, but to make it better by
our individual example. Let us be
patriots, but not men of party. Let
us look of the time -cheerful and gen-
erous, and endeavor to make others
as cheerful and generous as ourselves.
Draw the curtains, pilefresh wood on
ithe hearth, and bring your chairs to
the blazing fire:—Charles Lamb.
A Christmas World.
If we were to fancy a wholly Chris-
tianized world, it would bea world in-
spired by the spirit of Christmas—a
bright, friendly, beneficent, generous,
sympathetic, mutually helpful world.
A man who is habitually mean, selfish,
narrow, is a man without Christmas
in his soul. Let us cling to Christmas
all the more as a day of the spirit
which in every age some souls have
believed to be the possible spirit of
human society. The earnest faith and
untiring endeavor which see in Christ-
mas a forecastaremore truly Chris -
tion, surely, than the pleasant cynic-
ism of
ynic-ism'of the atheists, which smiles upon
it as the festival of a futile hope.
Meanwhile we may reflect that from
good-natured hoperessneas to a Christ-
mas world may not be farther than
from star dust to a solar system.—
George
ystem:George William Curtis.
--^0 --
Ham Contest for the Holiday
Party.
1. The ham that is a small village
hamlet
2. The ham used by a carpenter—
hammer.
a. Tho ham that is a bed or seat—
hammock.
4. Tho ham that goes to market or
impedes motion—hamper.
5. The ham that ie a burrowing ani-
mal Tike a rat—hamster.
8. The ham where lace curtains
come from—Nottingham.
7. The unsteady ham --Rockingham.
S. The ham that is a sort of fowl
-haiabury.
9. A boy's name, a letter and a nice
'piece of meat—Sydenham
1Q. Another boy's name, the son of
Noah -Ham.
. 11. Name of a city—that is, this
'contest, sick, and 2,000 )lbs. --Hamil-
ton..
The Modern Santa.
"Is Nana Clans' gonna treteha good
this'. year?"
"I don't know. I called him up and
engaged a ease if he's got it by Christ.
rms."
Ps Larose One.
Monk Sanita--"Ge`eat Scott, that
must be Will Hippo's' stoeking. If I
fl11 that 1 Ivon t have auybhlag for any
one elaei"
e
MaA
HAPPINESS IN
USE.1FUI. TOYS
The teys we buy may be selected
so that the children will °rep' educe ise
their pray tho things that prepare
them for life,
Housekeeping toys appeal to the
domestic instinct of a little girl, There
is nothing that will give her more
pleasure and also bo more instructive
than an opportunity to run a whole
doll house. By this I do not mean the
elaborate and cestly' ones; but some-
thing rather plain which siie can fur-
nish herself. Two good-sized packing
boxes may be nailed together to make
a two-storey house, windows may . be
cut in the sides; and it may be treated
to a coat of paint. But let her fix it
up to suit herself. She may cover the
walls with serape of her own, wall
paper, make curtains of cheesecloth
and make rugs for the floor. Gradu-
ally the different rooms can be furs
niched, and in the meantime there is
plenty of fun and much development.
The bed fog . her doll could have a
mattress, pillows, sheets, blankets,'and
counterpane, in order that the, small
mother may learn real housekeeping.
The toy bureau could be'.large•enough
to allow the doll's clothes to be put
away with care. The table for the dell
family could lee large enough for serv-
ing real meals, and she may,be'taught
with her dishes how ,to set the table
properly. Then we could add a tiny
range, correct in every detail, with
doll -size enamel cooking utensils.,
It is very helpful for .a little. girl
to have a plain doll that she can dress
and undress. -and whose hair she can
comb and for whom she may make. -.
clothing. Paper patterns for her
baby s frock, odd pieces of material,
and a toy sewing machine will interest
her in the invaluable art of sewing.•-'•
She could have a complete laundry
outfit—tub, wringer, boiler, clothes
basket, ironing board, irons, wax,
starch—and thus be taught the real
way to wash and iron, how to keep
flannels from shrinldng• and how to
set colors, -
With' a 'set of rather large, smooth,
plain; blocks a church, a house,' a barn,
a silo, a set of furniture, or' a'whole
village or farm may be constructed:
By means of buildings outfits my
boy was given mechanics . and me-
chanical studies in his play. The out-
fits consist of all the main parts used
in machinery, such as pulleys, gears,
pinions, axles, beams, wheels, • machine
sorews, and so on. All these parts aro
standardized and interchangeable, so •
that a young mechanic may add to his
outfit as he learns to build more intri-
cate things. He builds big things on a
small scale, his hand and mind work
together constructing working models
of derricks, bridges,, traveling cranes,
airplanes, engines, fire ladders, auto
trucks and ships. He builds and
learns while at play,
And when a boy grows elder he can
make things for himself and bis home
if he has a set of carpenter's tools.
Of course it is poor economy to buy
any but first-class tools.
The wonders of electricity may be
opened up to your boy in the play-
room. A. boy I know has a corner of
his room devoted to his electrical ap-
paratus and though but fourteen has
learned the theory of the telephone,
the phonograph and the telegraph, and
has put burglar alarms and electric
bells in the homes of most of Isis
neighbors, as well as in his own. His
father's present to him each year usu-
ally *consists of dry -cell batteries and
the equipment which he needs. My son
at the ago of seven helped to build a
toy village lighted by electricity.
.A. toy typewriter or a printing press
often develops naturally an interest
ip writing.
There is education in a toy model
-of a piano, but it is best to select one
with two or three octaves of the chro-
matic scale, for which little books of
simple airs are arranged.
A book on woodwork is full of sug-
gestions `and directions for the young
carpenter;. a book on photography,
printing and developing; and one on
how to study birds and trees will stim-
ulate tale right kind of activity. And
the little girl will learn to cook and
make doll clothes if she receives books --
written in a language she can easily
understand,
Making Mothers Merry.
The oldest English name for Christ-
mas is Moddra Niht, or Mothers'
Night In the early days, when our
Saxon forefathers had just settled
down in the country that was to be
England, the day of December 25th
was given up to games and feasting,
but the night was dedicated to the
special honor of mothers.
They occupied . the Beate of honor,
and everyone brought them gifts. Sens
and daughters who had, gone out into
the world strove to be at home on that
one night in the year,
A. little later the name Yule was
given to Christmas, and the rejoicings
of the day were prolonged into the
night, when men sang, and told stories
eitting round the cheerful blaze of the
Yule log•,
The old customs of Mothers' Night'
gradually died out, though they still
survive in a fewremote, pacts of the
country, Xts piece has been taken to
eome extent by hiothering Sunday in
the 'loath of England, Qn that day
everyone who- can do so Estill ri-0akes a
pilgrinnage;homewards, ana the moth-
ee receives the homage of "eta' family.