Show t I ark y id 2 t r Z t b e C Cr r f 3 t s e y 1 f st 5 e t. t 1 r 1 I i M. M P. N r t JY 5 f a 7 g p a lo q Y rk I iU r u 1 T By ELMO SCOTT WATSON lAS would riot dot be Christmas without Santa Santo J Claus Hut who Is Santa Claus and why his D 0 name u am m c er name beis heIs lie he lieIs Is called called S Son a ant a t to a 0 Claus St St. Nicholas Kit I. I Mil Iek pr or ur l l. Kringle-be he Is the r of the Christmas spirit red DI Hu- Hu II symbol III bol of childish faith SHUI Onus originally h lie IK pl I mule mine of the Dutch children nor fir or their r friend and gift bringer y ln ji si fit l 1 Nicholas holos clime came to America I WilY way of ot New Amsterdam now New ew forK orl IK 0 6 wee was St. St Nicholas y fly rani on St. St Nicholas eve be he was wal II to make his Ms rounds on a fiery fiely white hll charger leaving gifts for tor or good und and a birch rod for the bad badIn wee In III the wooden shoes or long blue which the they put In 10 the chim- chim ij ey corner W tn the Dutch customs begun began u II merge Into lato the English In 10 the Ini I days ds the observance of St. St Nicholas n las diy day gradually merged Into lotto In lo tto to the Ih Christmas and New Years Year's Soon atle fJ a j Rev Kev- bf be b lu w I mege Emu and tn to become Santa t C is 18 an Amer- Amer h un 1111 character Instead of being a d aStall tall Stall solemn person with long robes tradition made him fat afat a fat Jol job Ely Iy 4 I rt wearing knee breeches and ond shoos shoes with wIh Dutch buckles He lie also Il Iegan his rounds In a little U wann drawn by a fat pony and his Arils occurred ld on New Years Year's eve Instead In In- J stead of ul December I 5 Wu Wellington Irving bad something Elu to Iv In do with the change In Santa Claus ff for tor r lit lea his l Knickerbockers History of 01 New Ni York fork he be wrote a description of III f this friend of ot the children which him look took much like hike the 1111 Santa lot of I h today However It remained for tor Hev lenient Clement Clarke Moore professor of III oriental literature In 10 the General Theological seminary to describe Santu riau Inu minutely and to give him reindeer and u sleigh for ranking rank rank- f III UK ing his Ills rounds on eve e In InIS' InIS n nIS IS IS' Professor Moore wrote I the he now famous which he be called A VisIt Vis- Vis It fn from Irum m St St. Nicholas Nichola but which is II teller r as The Night IMore us itS a It Christmas present f fur far r Ms' Ms his his' children A niece who tio ho was wat at the tile Moore home Unit that Christmas copied the poem Into her album Tb Too The next year II It op I feared leun-d anonymously In the Troy IN N. N Y Y Sentinel and was widely l 4 i fi Gt sir copied Soon It became known ll allover nl all l over liver the country and had found Ii way Into the school readers sor Moore was the author of the first Greek and Hebrew lexicon published In 10 America and had hod lathed that his bis name would bt become me famous because of It Aa As ruche ruch he tie did not nOI want K tf known that he hl hud had composed what he called this silly verse but he V 4 III III Gt III rOi finally admitted Its It authorship ant and presented the autographed original to the New York Historical society HI lib His lexicon Is forgotten as aa would his bis name Mme probably have been If it he had hadnot hadnot not lIot written the poem that Christmas In 15 1822 which I le It now looked upon aa as the birthday of the American Santa Claus taus known own and beloved by all American children |