| Show fco 4 h ma 01 6 AM the night before chris christmas girnas aaa WAS the before charlt carl au icib when ull all through throated the house boua 7 r not ao a cre c re van stir stirring rina nut not even a giue ii ue W the rhe tot were hung by the with core care c tn ia hope P that st 8 tio n would wd 6 be th there 1 the ildren children were gentled nil it in their bedito whit while vl vision ion of bainor dad the jab their hal bia and in in her and 1 I 1 in luy y p find jot jam jo t our bin to or a annu winters later rip ri p wien when jwj nut t on the la town there acome li a I 1 vrna front ny my tied heil to ee e ahat w won the matter A awny 7 to the aido I 1 tit ti hew T ilk like n 1 infill tore open he sid attern and thre threw up the he anah the ab moon on an the he lorfn of th alir ae nen faue noff gave axe a lanter lat of 1 bildiy to lirlin belal N when what ali to nty my ng rye eye abound appear 1 lint a beigh l lali and ami tiny reindeer bukh a little tip olit 1 61 0 o lively and qi k 1 I 1 knew in a ent it if 11 1 1 lie ie st mik ore rapid thon than engles hit cour churners ners they annie I 1 I 1 anil and he be and shouted and then them ty by arinter norr navy I 1 now flan hancer cerl inow HOIT arnner lr and itri zent on corneil comet I 1 tin on cupid on an homier dander and BlIt zent to I 1 ft the top ol 01 1 the to the top of 01 the now ib I b imay away daht abny nay annb away all aill aa ail dry le lender leea ea that before the neld hurricane fly when thea aliey meet with sn an wie mount to the sky ky so up to the house home tor tolo the he oi irner they now new with a ruji fuli ol 01 t toy to yand st mcben too anil and then in a n twinkling I 1 beard 0 on thi the root 1 the pra neing and pai log of C eccli 1 little lie A AM I 1 diew in my hend head and it wat turning rad around ton D the ir rhomney efin y st S Q anine ule with a bd b lia nl d filea anns dred d nil 11 1 in to fur front ht hl hend fiesta to bt gilr taut foot and lit bt ei clollis itie nere IT nil bilth a and 00 oo A bundle of t toy he bai ba I it anny x on bist lil bark k sj and hi he looked itlie a 0 peddler pe dller jut jt opening pett ln hl pk P k v ellk ill e eye dim they dempler dlin plem how bow merry I 1 I 1 ill alli hihn were itlie roe l il IB nom noe like a cherry ill ills droll little Q th ann d up ilk like a lion boll and the he hend benid on his ill ehla 1 I a nolte a nn tb the now w the tap of u pipe br be 11 held it in ht bill t teeth ih A and it thi the dinote ke it encircled hl h hend hd d ilk like n wreath wr 11 he bad a broad brand fe ance f e and a little roudil belly that chaok when eit he lag lagged Inu shed bed like a bowl full il ot of jelly ii V 11 lie wn chubby hu by and plain n right jolly old elf el and I 1 when I 1 av nw hl him I 1 in pite of luyi elf u A wink wik of fit hlo eye and ad a clr I of hl hf I 1 hend a soon gave me to know I 1 had nothing 0 o dread lie ile spoke poke not a word lint went tent tru licht to Ms bl work nork and filler all the t then turned with a jerk and laying 1 clr f alneer nelile of 1 hi bl none and el vine 1 n nod oil up lie he chimney hi ey it be r roae lt he peir to his figh to 1101 hl an save a whis wh itle an and away they all a flen av v like th the down of a thistle bat I 1 heard him hit exclaim e ere he be drove jr oat t of r appy cj C litan to all and t to all a rood frood I 1 clement Clenie nt C ar bloore ore I 1 by ELMO SCOTT WATSON nen HEN recent press dispatches carried the news that a new york woman mrs tillee uart hart who for four our mouths months had bad withstood the siege bleg of a wrecking crew seeking to tear down her home to make way ny for or a 2 i apartment house had at last capitulated and avowed allowed the house to lie be demolished mere was nas one good reason why the story was more than merely a local ne new york news item for tho disputed building has right fully been called the birthplace of santa claus clatis because in ill it more than a hundred years ago dr clement 0 moore wrote a famous christmas poem in which for tile the first time the Ami american rican santa claus was des described albed hla his mode of traveling was pictured and the lavishness of ills his giving was made imade known that poem was the night beffre christmas which every american lias recited or heard beard recited at biome some time or another and for that reason creaso n the news that the birthplace of sarita santa claus ivos tobe to be wiped out of existence had nationwide nation wide interest quite aside from jil hi fume fame as the author luthor of the night light before ch christmas I 1 doctor moore was a notable man ills his father bishop moore tile second protestant bishop of new york and the ilia t third president of columbia university ras assisted at tile the inauguration of washington and administered mInIstered nd thelast alie last rites to the dying alexander fl amilton JIa mllton rafter after the fatal duel with aaron barr flurr clement C moore vas graduated from in 1708 nil and was a lajo professor of Hebrew and greek in the general theological seminary from 1821 to 1850 lie he keds was a prolific writer one of hla his literary productions bear bearing 1 ng the imposing title of 11 upon certain passages in sir mr jeffer sons notes on the state of virginia which appear to nave have a tendency to subvert religion Kell glon and establish a falte false philosophy however his bis most important work the one at least upon which he believed his fala fame as a scholar would be secure was A com coin lexicon of the hebrew lan guage lie HP little realized that future generations of americans would re member him better as the author of what he was accustomed to call if a silly poem kae the authorship of which he refused perused to acknowledge for a long time yet such was the case for a short time before christmas in 1822 doctor moore wrote tor for his children a christ mas poem and they were delighted with the rol rollicking locking tale us as other calill dren not only in tills country but in many other lands landa have been ever since A daughter laugh tei of rev kev dr david nutter rector of st SL pauls church nt at troy N X Y who was a niece of doctor moore was a christmas guest in the moore home and made a copy of tile poem in 1 her e r album lium the next nest year she aea sent ai a copy 6 j iiRI of it aitto to th the troy Seri sentinel tinel and it appeared in that paper a prefaced by a note front from the ed ad aitor saying he did not know ghobad who had sent it by the next year it had appeared in many other newspapers and magazines and within a few years it had bad found its way into the school books by this time inquiries were tie ginnIng tobe to be made ast as to its author 8 ship hip and eventually doctor moo moore re none too well pleased tied ihna ahat his silly poem was ans so well known whereas his sc scholarly dolatly lexicon at little attention except from other icho scholars lars admitted its authorship and gaye gave the autographed rial lanisce lanI manuscript sc rip of the poem to the new york historical society inias original form the poem dif I 1 fore feia slightly from the present version W V W i c particularly in the names of if the rel rein n deer Vise enof tile the original has become ua vixen find and Ifo aonder Uon noer der has been changed to dunder the title doctor moore gave gae to his verses was A from st nicholas but the lie modern version taken from the first tine line la Is the night before Chri christmas sinns A its popularity however lias fins been unchanged throughout the years it has baa been tian translated slated into many fore foreign ign tongues and it tins has delighted the chill ahll dren of many nations doctor moore died in 1863 at his summer home in newport R 1 I UI 1116 body was vias taken to new york which was vas then in the throes of the riots and was placed temporarily temporal alv in a vault at st SL lukes church in huo hud son street later it wits was removed th t tile the churchyard ard of the chapel of tile intercession trinity parish and there it bests rests today in a plot of ground which holds also the bodies of ills hla wife and their three children in fact this plot has fins been more of a christmas christinas shrine than tins hns tile the house near chelsen chelsea square where the poem lifs was written and a vay pretty christ was caremon ce ceremony remon in memory of if daitor moore tahei place there every year rev dr allio II 11 gates vicar of the chapel at broadway Bron dway and one hundred and fifty fifth street has long iong been an admirer of tile the poem and its scholarly author in 1011 he be held beld the first ice e in D doctor moores memory about children gathered with him nt at tile the grave nt at the foot of the hill ershad ov owed by the high wall which Is tol topped ped by riverside drive since thew then the number I 1 tins as grown to more than 2000 the ceremony begins at four on christinas eve with the feast 1 of lights in the church then the calill dren gather in the cloister while a fanfare of trumpets from the bell tow er heralds tile the procession to tile the cemp camp tery led by the trumpeters trum trump peters eiers they move along one hundred and kitty fifty fifth street carrying banners lighted candles candies torches and lanterns post past the huge christmas tree in the corner of the churchyard all broadway Broadw ny traffic Is halted na as they cross the swell of their music rising above the noise of the street and falling failing away again as they aliey pass from the steps of the cemetery and the road that hut winds around from side to side down therill the hill the voices roni mai still be heard on the busy street sing ing ng little town of bethlehem silent night holy night we three kings of orient are god flod rest nest Y V merry gentlemen and many othet favorite christmas hymns hymna ond enrol carols except for the lights tn in the chal drens hands it Is quite dark by the time they reach the stone intone marked clement clarke moore b born 0 rn in nei york fork july jiffy 15 1770 died t in n newport n R I 1 july 10 1863 1963 A final enrol carol to if r ung sung as a wreath la is laid against the a tone stone and before disbanding the lim cession moves on to a grave grae neara to honor the memory of alfred tenni tenn son dickens Dl chens eldest son eon of charle dickens author of another classic A christmas carol another ceremony honoring doctor moore Is held field annually nt at st peteri peter church on twentieth street A tablet Is erected to ills tremor there because he was tile the first of that church and also gave gae tile the land upon which it stands as a well as tin laud land upon which was built the geri gen eral theological seminary with which it has a close connection |
