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Show I1" immmam j,, Amcrlcnn, who TB had not neon much I of tho world, Blioulcl JL nwako on Christinas ?' morn whllo a Gorman, ju French, English, Ital-- dXJ Inn, Swiss or Danish ' I 1'hrlstmas cclohrnllon JTO?k wtlfl 1,1 I'r0Srcss In his U ffl vicinity, ho would imag-BkB-flg 1110 himself within tho jtSP' oxcluslvo confines of n M" homo for tho mentally Incomiiotont. HaHHMl Thn American Christmas Christ-mas Is a mnttor-offnet , fcstlvo occasion. I'ooplo begin bn- lnfj prosonts a week beforo; they pro-,". pro-,". . Bont them Christmas morning and tho uoxt day roturn to work, tho entlro affair forgotten until tho following brings tho season around nfinlu. r Not so lu tho countries across tlio water. Thoy obscrvo every tradition In tho mother lands; thoy plan for weeks and tho festivities which mark tho birth of Jesiw Christ nro carried on for a week or mora, Tho Christ-: Christ-: ' mas trcu In Germany la allowed to remain decorated far Into tho next year, extending over a porlod of bov-oral bov-oral months. Unlquo ceremonies khico tho Danish, French, Swiss and Scotch Christmas . i celebrations and that which tho Teu tons foster have been handed down from aces. In Mexico ono of tho treasured treas-ured customs Ib tho breaklns of tho PInnta, n tradition bolus connected with tho llttlo coromouy which ushers In Christmas day. A quori,, constructed con-structed offlgy of a woman Is "hum? up In ft corner of n room nnd ft child blindfolded, armed with ft stick, pro-coeds pro-coeds to dislodge tho old woman from her position closo to tho colling. When tho feat Is accomplished tho presents contained undor tho covering of tho dress of tho flguro nro distributed. Tho beauty of that llttlo gamo Is I. tho uncertainty attending tho possibility of tho i woman being dislodged nnd socond, tho uncortaln-H uncortaln-H ty as to whethor tho loss favored of tho family clrclo will draw any presents from tho trensuro storo benoath tho skirts of tho woman. L,. Christmas, of courso, Is observed only In Chris-re' Chris-re' tlan countries, but somo heathen, In fact, nearly Ef nil of them, havo ono day or -another on which B to rccelvo and sond presents to their friends nnd KP others who nro not friends. In countries ruled K by absolute monarchies, tho rulers ore somutlmes wr afraid to open their gift receptacles for tho rea-son rea-son that oftentimes treasonable- porsons Inclose Sfc.- fancy little bombs not marked In the Invoice. Of courso Btich undeslrnblo porsons do not hnvo any '& more Chrlstmasos to celebrate, affairs being ur f v ranged In that manner If they nro caught. S-' Whllo tho Christmas Iden Is practically the if ' snmo In most countries of the globe which ob-t ob-t sorvo tho day, there Is a great variety of prosonts - and a certain nation's doslro for gifts made In I'. wldo vnrlanco to that which tho next door noltfi-f noltfi-f bor bclloves In. Germans as a rule glvo tho chll-, chll-, dren presents, most of which are mado In this country, whllo Americans nro always particular i, about buying tho bablos toys marked "niRdo In f A Frenchman told n clover llttlo story at a Christmas banquet In I'nrlB n year ago, which ran " along on tTfat Tlno7""lio v7aBoTu7moTiretr'w7nr'u f beautiful young lady whoso homo was on Hue do fr .' Iloulevnrde. Sho was of artistic tusto, so ho Btud-led Btud-led her doslro In painting orentlomt for tlueo ET weeks beforo Christmas. At last ho enme to tho Wm: conclusion that probably an oil painting by a Wf' noted French artist might pleaso her. Ho took vL special pains to hunt out a storo where ho might mL ' procure one. Ho did and put several woeks' W salary Into tho gift. tf ' Ho hnd It delivered Christmas morning and re-fv'; re-fv'; colvcd'ft cordial note of thanks from the young m- ' lady, who unfortunately had not thought to pur-.. pur-.. chaso anything for him. This, of courso, was oiu-ilp oiu-ilp barrukslug to both parttea, but that evening whllo fondling tho creation In his prwenco she hap-Bp.-, opened to Hcnn the 'back of the portrait. It Mid: "Mado In IlfSboktin. N. J." Hhe wta In the mldnt K ot thankH nnd an embarrassing explanation of IS' why Hhe hadn't scut him a present, when she lev notli'rd tho birthmark of tho oil painting. Silo P' . topped, nnd thoy haven't spoken to och other K- s'.nco, loeordlng to "the story. R All of which goes to show that the value of n pfV Sift mors than the spirit which the giver exhibits Is taken Into consideration by somo persons, Tho young man, probably, was sorry for tho abrupt termination ot his friendship with tho young lady, but perhaps It was for tho best. That was his vorslon of It, anyhow. Most Kngllsh speaking nations celcbrato Christ-mastldo Christ-mastldo Just ns wo Americana do, but each has Its llttlo self-made variation. In Italy thoy colobrnto with ft grand danco, us n rule, and thoy tako groat pains to bo nttlred In .gaudy raiment. Tho Danish nro very deliberate about their Christmas festivities festivi-ties and grent fetes and gifts aro tho order of tho day. Tho Swiss aro forvent In their worship of tho Saviour on that day and tho llttlo chlldron dressed for gain affairs parade tho streets In -on dor that their parents mny look at them and compare com-pare them with the "kids noxt door." Many persons who hnvo. read much history and who havo been nble to pcrsundu themselves' that tho present century Is nil wrong ns to tho dnto of the birth of Christ, aro skeptical as to whether wo shojild observe tho Bacred day when wo do. Kstlmutcs ns to when Christ was born oxtond clenr from Juno to January 26, l'rlor to tho fourth century Christmas was not observed on December 25, for there was no porlod ot uniformity In obsorvlng tho day among tho enrly churches. Tho skeptical persons who havo studied tho thing from end to end sny that on -ih?n;mbi,i"-5'it-raTwr'ln Ju.R-unml tirgmtttattHtm- Is called to tho Hlbllcnl statement that shepherds were watching tliolr Ilocks whan Christ was born. Now how could they watch their Ilocks when It was rainlngT Is tho nrgumout ot tho unbelievers that December 25 Is tho correct day of feast. Ono person who Is not skopttcal declared that porhaps they didn't have sno enough to como In nut ot tho rain In those duys. Hut of courso that Is no argument. Tho chances nro tho calendars havo been changed so much that tho original December 25, If hunted down, would be found Ulrtlng with May 1. Of courso the correct day upon which to worship has much to do with tho feeling of Christians In tho matter, but at the same time. It tho event Is properly observed tho 1 1 mo of olisorvunco Is but n detail, Many good churchmen who seldom nttond church on Sundays find Christinas on oxcollent day to attend church becauio It only falls (in Sunday Sun-day tin ee In seven years mid It down't broak lu on their weekly holiday morning uaui. Millions of dollar are spent oven yoar In every country of the globe tor presents. It Is declared In mercantile circles Unit tho United Statee In proportion to population Is tho blggesl national distributor of gifts. Thero nro innny concerns In Germany, Ger-many, England nnd Franco which con flno themselves exclusively to the mnnu fncturo of gifts such as aro exchanged only during tho celobrntlnn of the birth ot Christ, ncsldcs being a holt day which Bhould bo devoted to worship ot Jcstifl Christ, It Is a day which Is) looked forward to by merchants ns a big sourco of profit. In other countries, ns In America, thero aro ninny small Christmas tragedies trage-dies enacted because of tho dlsllko which somo forks take to gifts and bo-cause bo-cause of tho thoughtlessness of others In omitting somo ot their friends. Soma mako It ft rulo, and advortlso It well, that thoy havo decided to confino gifts to tho lmmcdlato family clrclo, bo that nono will tako offense If they recelvo no gifts from their hitherto cherished friends, Of courso tho ones who aro notified ot tho chango In tho routino nro careful to scratch off tho names ot the friends who havo eliminated them bo that when Christmas comes thero is no needless ombarraBBmcnt. Tho poots onco sang: "It is not tho gift, but tho spirit of tho giver," and also "Don't lopk a gift horso in tho mouth." Thero nro dozens of llttlo Chrlstmastldo axioms of that kind which nro used nnd misused toward tho ond of tho year. That first saying hns been clovcrly shifted about in this manner: "It Is not the- gift, but tho price which tho giver putteth Into tho gift." The proper Christmas spirit as told from tho pulpit Is far from that which many follow out in Bolectlng presents. Mother countries exhibit less Interest In costly gifts than does America. Travelers Travel-ers In countries of tho old world havo been surprised sur-prised at the great number of Christmas presents which nro homo-manufactured. Sovoral weeks bo-fore bo-fore tho glad event, tho fnmllles sit thomselves down In their rooms nnd stnrt, secretly, work upon tho ChrlBtmos gifts. In tho country districts of certain cer-tain parts of Atnorlca this custom Is still retained. |