me Ki-- Ms j Vol. 15. of the Womenof ' SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH, JANUAK MY CHRISTMAS GIFT. Oh, blessed day to every heart! May such sweet peace be given, To cheer along the weary way, And bring us nearer heaven. It was Christmas morning, fair and bright, The kappy day had come; God's sunshine shed its golden light Alike on every oae. .. is observed with considerable enthusiasm, Of late years it has been and is customary to re- . - marked how sweeToiTevery rfacT A smile of gladness beamed, And wondered why to me alone The day all sadneis seemed. Wondering thus, I breathed a prayer That some sweet hope be given To lift my thoughts from worldly carey Aaddraw me nearer hveh--'-1In answer to the silent wail,J A heart-cr- y half expressed, A wondrous calm fell o'ermy soul I knew that I was blessed. As evening came, in happier mind, I sought my lonely room, L Thinking in sleep the peace to find, In dreams the joy would come. Not so, it was there before me, My precious Christmas gift Lighting the darkness around me, Casting my sadness adrift. ceive calls, but in the country villages, the same simple habits prevail as formerly. I speak from experience. . There is no place on earth more beautifully .quiet,- orderly and pleasant than an old fashioned "country home, and on New Year's Day there is always good cheer and welcome greetings for all. Friend Iy neighbors, with glad faces, exchange brief visits jindjillude to current topics, and everywhere plenty and cheerfulness abound. The tables are loaded, with well cooked viands,' and t.hft o(Treat firpa nf y pine" knots still glow upon the hearthstone and cast the nickering shadows upon the dimly; lighted walls at eventide. To be sure the improved methods of heating by means of radiators, etc.. are in votrue in thtr country places, but the real New Englander always has one room with rights reserved" lor a fireplace in which to burn the pine knots on special occasions. Sitting by a fire of this sort, with the smell of the woods around you, ior mere is: myanauiy me piue ana neimucK boughs hung in nook.8 and corners, one can better recall the happy past and tell over again the tales of other days, than in a. room warmed with steam and radiant with the light from - 1 ' . " gas jets., No matter how good the bank account may be of these country gentle folks, the same - It was a letter, only a letter, But to me a priceless boon, For its pages revealed glad tidings Of loved ones left at home. With sacred touch I raised it And I kissed it o'er and o'er, For of all the gifts the day could bring, Not one. would I love more. !! AS I read the gladsome message "The tender words implied, . A picture rose before me Of the home at Christmas-tid- primitive simplicity still characterizes many of their homes, and in the rooms where the family gatherings are held on Thanksgiving and New Year's evenings, after the dinner has been served,Jhere is still a remnant, at least, of the furniture, of the olden time. Occasionally one finds the "settle," on which six or seven people mav sit comfortably. They were invented in the earlv davs for ease and practical use, and were found in the great kitchens and living rooms, a century or more ago, and were in keeping with the large wide open mothers used to roast where our ereat-erantheir turkeys and geese, and even young pigs, nn festive occasions, bun sr up before the fire ond turned round and round and properly basted," with a pan underneath on the hearth to catch the .gravy. They had not the modern labor-savin- g contrivances in those days that we hnva now in the poorest homes, and the great wonder is how those dear old souls managed to have rattled on get through so much work. I an thai T fnremt to finish describing a "settle." almost They are straight backed and very high, xue like a partition, and perfectly sonu. set a to arms at each end are wide enough nf fruit.: or a nitcher of cider, and the seat has lids to lift up, m sort of sections all the way along, in which nuts and apples are thp. winter eveniner's refreshments, in stead of going into the cellar or pantry to fetch " nre-piace- s, e. d " And I saw the happy circle, 5 All the loved ones gathered there, And I heard the joyous greetings, That I knew I could not share. , The dance, the games, the frolic, The songs, the wondrous stories, The laugh, the jest, the merriment, And all this day's sweet glories Passed before me like a vision In the firelight's flickering gleam, ' Filling my soul with gladness Oh, wondrous happy dream! As I listened in my dreaming, Ont sweet voice I seemed to hear, In faintest accents whisper, "Oh, would that he were herel" My humble prayer was answered; I felt the sweet relief; The dreary sorrow vanished, I knew no further grief. ' , work-a-dayworld- In "staid old New England, New Year's Day clasped in mine no friendly hand, No loved ones hovered near. ' I'saw very queer articles, gilded, ornamented and decorated with ribbons and trimmings. This rage for the antique is carried to a foolish extreme, but the custom' of sitting by a fire of pine knots on a winter evening is suggestive of stories, legends and ballad., such as we all love to listen to at times, forgetting, meantime, the cares and drudgery of the is good to have such seasons of and the simple pastimes, that" enjoyment, brought no .undue excitement, are still indulged in "away up in the country," and the actual game of "fox and geese" on a board markedofF with chalk, and played with grains of corn, U still played,, occasionally, with the same enthusiasm as it was hundreds of years " A NEW YEAR'S VISIT. I walked alone, inTbreign land, For roe no Christmas cheer; ' No. 15. ,188,0. old-styl- e SHIRLEY. From many lands the merry bells - A joyous greeting hurled, Until a mellow silver sound Encircled all the world; I iihts:of Zwn-gnd-t- he ww them. nt furniture is nnt and disnlaved with a great deal or In a pride since the centennial celebration. number of houses, where I visited last winter, u-r- 1 ... rht t of ona old-tim- e .lt ago. To go back again after forty years of Western life and meet with oldriends, gives one a very In I soniellrespects Zgreat peculiar feeling. changes ha ye taken place, and - again, some things never seem to have changed at all. Last year I spent both Christmas and New Year's in good old Massachusetts. Christmas in one small factory town,1 and New "Year's in another.-- It was like going over some old romance, and I fairly reveled in the delight of meeting with and visiting loved ones from whom I had been so long and widely .separated; and in going over the scenes of childhood's days, there were many things to tell, and no end of explanations to be made, and questions to be answered, and yet on Christmas and New Year's w talked of the same themes aud told the "old, old stories" over again, and sung snatches of love songs and ditties without meaning, just as of yore, and to hear us, one would have sup- posed we were the same giau, nappy children, except for the quiver in our voices, who clustered round the family hearthstone more than forty years ago; but had a true vision of the olden time and of now been presented, what a strange contrast .the two pictures would have "I would be made;".-- '' '..-- t.y a group of a dozen ; ' or of One clean-swemore around a hearth, with a wood fire,, the mother wearing bright, glowing sweet of smile contentment, and the children a ranging : from eighteen and twenty down to "wee little ones;" boys and girls with bright, happy faces, on which no cloud or shadow seemed to have fallen. The room, long and low, the walls of oak wood, paneled, carved and smoothly polished; no ornaments, scarcely, except the festooning of evergreen and hemlock pt bougb.3. The chairs, spindle-legge- d and straight backed, make one tired to look at them. A long settee, with rockers, and half a dozen children sitting' in it though one end is used exclusively for baby's cradle. The children teasing the mother or older sisters for stories, and the young people too much occupied in singing songs, telling riddles and conundrums to notice the little ones. Who would think, in looking at this gathering, that in a few- years the inmates would be scattered far and wide, e and never again sit by hearthstone, Jthe faces into look of those so never and some near and dear their very own "kith and kin." Yet so it was; and so it i3 in this changeful life with many a one. "The old home! the memory " of it clings to us as long as we live, especially if it be a home in the country the orchards, the pastures, the lanes, the groves, the brooks the ponds, and above all the woods, haunt us in dreams and meditative moments forever. The thoughts and feelings associated with the places - the-sam-