Image provided by: Santiam Historical Society; Stayton, OR
About The Stayton mail. (Stayton, Marion County, Or.) 1895-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 20, 1907)
CHRISTMAS SUPPLEMENT TO THE S TA YTO N MAIL, Î907. The Mistletoe Hy T t O H E H T V S L O V E . (Copyright. 190?. by R otw rtu i L o r r ] 1IKN you step under the »prig of mistletoe hanging from the chandelier to get your Christinas kiss you may not lie particularly Interested In the gen esis of the peculiar little vegetable growth which Cupid seems to have aj>- proprt.ited for his own. Nevertheless the protvss of mistletoe production ami reproduction Is highly Interesting. In some parts of England. where most of the mistletoe of Christmas W and the growth of mistletoe Is one of the most wonderful when adequately studied. Mistletoe grows naturally In parts of England and Scotland, being propa gated by birds, in some of the north ern counties of Scotland no mistletoe Is fouud. This Is believed to be due to the absence of the mistle thrush twig a n d f ih s t HKKK1ES CRrSHED OR A BRANCH. time comes from, the gardeners prop agate the parasite artificially. Mistle toe. ns is well known. Is of the para sitic kind, taking Its sustenance not froin the ground, but from a tree. The upple tree seems to lie Its favorite, though the hawthorn, the lime and the poplar frequently carry the parasite. The scientific inoculation of trees v lih the mistletoe growth is practiced with excellent results in the north of England. The gardener takes between Lis thumb and forefinger one of the little lierrles of the mistletoe, crushes it so that its sticky Juice oozes out and sticks It upon the surface o f a branch of the tree. Usually he selects a young branch, on which the bark Is soft and easily penetrable. If nn older branch lie chosen, the bark is slightly scraped on the surface. The berry Is mashed flat against the bark. The seed which it contains Is thus held In place by Its own guin. I.ate April or May Is the proper sea son for Inoculating. The seed soon sends through the bark a little •'feeler" nr root, and a small twig, bending In toward the branch of the tree, appears. nrn r c iis t in g . from those counties. The thrush of this name Is exceedingly fond of the mistletoe ln»rry. After eating Its fill the bird files to another tree. Uelng cleanly. It uses the branch of the tr«*e upon which It alights for a napkin, wiping Its sticky bill thereon. Fre quently- a mistletoe seed Is thus de posited and glued to the bark. Then the reproductive process follows nat urally. An officlnl inquiry ns to whether mistletoe Is still to be found on oak trees, as in Druldlcnl days, resulted In the discovery of several oaks In one county of England bearing the para site. But modem mistletoe has Mine to l>e Cupldlcnl rather than DruldlcaL When the mistletoe and the miss, plus the mister, get In the pro;>er positions the result rhymes with kiss. After a considerable period this twig, which looks like a small fishhook sticking in the tree from the top of the hook, falls off. The uninitiated thinks It is all over, but the experi enced gardener knows better. lie knows that after a time the branch will begin to swell at the point of In oculation, gradually riflng to a little peak at the place where the hook has lieen. This tip gets green and shiny, a bud pushes up, and in a few weeks nn unmistakable twig of mistletoe Is visible, with a stem and a long leaf or two. After this the mistletoe comes rapid ly Into its kingdom and takes posses- fion. The close observer will see other little swellings and peaks along the branch, the thin roots of the mistle toe having traveled under the bark to Fprout up In fresh places. Thus It travels along until sometimes the whole tree Is In its possession, fine bunches of the Christmas hanger growing abun dantly. When once the mistletoe takes pos session of a fruit tree the effect upon the fruit Is quite noticeable. The mis tletoe takes Its nourishment from the to which it clings. That is the soil In which Its roots live and thrive. Naturally this reduces the amount of substance which formerly went into the fruit. If the captive be nn apple tree, the apples liecome small and scraggly. The mistletoe hns stolen away their sweetness and plumpness. Man grows by what he feeds on. So does mistletoe. And as the pork eating man visits the penalty of death upon the pig so does the penalty of wither ing and souring fall upon the apple whose progenitor feeds the spreading parasite. Nature is full of jvonder?. tree Th* Whits L>no The late luivld t'bristle Murray on otic occasion told the story of the champion printer's error of Ids ex|>e Hence to this effect: ” ! wrote nt the close of the story of ’Grace Forliearh’ : 'Are there no trou bles now?’ the lover asks ’ Not one, dear Frank, not one.’ And then. In brackets, thus ( ) I set the words (W hite line). This was a technical In etruetlou to the printer and menu! that one line of space should Is- left clenr. The genius xvho had the copy In band put the lover's speech lu type correctly and then, setting It out ns If It were n line of verse, he gave me: "N o t J h o \ i< iK t; w « ru*î\r Willy's Hot Christmas. "W ell. W illy." said Uncle Ned. who sometimes talked slangy. "I suppose you had a hot time on Christmas." "I sh'd say 1 did,” replied Willy. “ Santy Claus filled my socks so full that they fell down into tb' fireplace an' ketched on fire, an’ 1 got up t’ gether up the scraps that wuz left au’ found paw there tryln' t’ do tb' same thing, an’ I got m' hands an' arms burned so I had t' stay In l>ed all dty, an' then paw licked me fer git tin' up so early on Chrls'mus morain'.” The Quicker Way. “There goes a man." observed a steamship agent as he directed atten tion to a surly looking individual who had Just engaged passage for Europe, “ whose efforts are devoted to con structing short cuts In business meth ods and in eliminating all time con suming men and their propositions from bis busy existence. He Is a inau of very few words. •‘Some years ago this gentleman crossed the ocean and had a very un pleasant trip. One morning a sympa thetic passenger offered him a lemon, expressing a sincere wish that it wouid give relief. “ The pale traveler seized the lemon, hurled it viciously Into the ocean and growled: “ ‘This is a quicker way than the other.' ” Has a Job Waiting. SWELLED BRANCH AND TWIG. H a n g in g as a Sport. We would not deny the gravity o f death It Is a quite serious mutter even to those of us who, while con scions of, or ill least admitting, no really sinful perform.mees In the past, would nevertheless, If pressed, eon fess to eertaln minor Indiscretion* which we would Is* only too willing to Join with the Lord In forgetting. Nev ertheless. If form or ceremoii) or geu eral Interest lie considered Hie •■rite rloii, dying Is one of the uiosi popular things olio can do. Nulssly go«-* to see a mail born, but (lie entire minimi ulty turns out to see him hurled In deed II Is well know'll Unit many |s*o- pie, perhaps a majority, derive itrtoul enjoyment from beholding with their own eyes life dicker out of n person's body. The almost mil\ersiil satisfac tion found from lime linuictuorlul In witnessing a hanging we eaii under stand The event Is more spectacular and less e x p e n s i v e than a circus, (am Senses grisly hutuaii interest to a ills tluctlvc degree. Is presumably grimly Just and. In liny ease. Is uuprcvciita- hie. If the banging Is to take place anyway, why shouldn't we see It? That Is the reasoning and It seems gixsl enough If »tie cures for tluii variety of sport. George Harvey In North American Review. “ I hear you're getting to lie a real sport." a veteran in that line remarked to a youthful acquaintance of the con servative sort recently married. The young man repudiated any such Intention. ‘‘.Just placed a little bet among the boys in the office, you know.” he mill ed. “ Put in $1.50 and won $-40 in a trilling pool.” "Well, that’s a good beginning, any how,” wild the veteran. "You'll grow up after awhile. What did you do with the $40—put it on the races or open wine?” “ Bought a ton of coal and n set of false teeth for my wife.” was the re ply. When the veteran revived his young friend had disappeared. “ Gee,” he soliloquized, “ that's a new one in sport! If I win tomorrow guess I’ll i uy my mother-in-law a new cork leg and some darning cotton.” —New York Glol>e. Had Heard It Before. “ She looks very young to have n grown daughter.” “ Yes; she was Just telling me"— " I know. That she wns married when she was Just barely fifteen year* old.” —Pittsburg Post. Didn't Affect Him. Stella—Mrs. Jones wants a new coat because Mrs. Smith looks so well In or.p. Jack—Yes. hut Jones won’ t sign a '•heck merely liccause Smith looks so pretty when he Is writing one.—Har per’s Bazar. It Is sometimes advisable to employ a night watchman to look after men who are ns honest as the day Is hog.— St. Louis Globe Democrat fn o w C c P v w ir mt ¿n a rooM A P H by / v s i u h ah II KLO Sr.PM t.G O one. tin *!" ilt-nr Frank, not on» white “ It was a custom In the printing o f fice to suspend n leather medal by a leather Ixsit luce round the neck of the mnii who bad achieved the prize bet Is,, of the year. It wus somewhere about midsummer lit tills time, but It was Instantly unanimously resolved that nothing better tlinn this would or could lie done by nuylsMly, and the medal was presented at once” —West minster Gazette. her tiest expression that lie wns a man of culture. Gradually ns Ylrgilla gave him «Micounigciueiit ne showed bv bis I BUT ONE WOMAN manner that lie loved her. and one duy, TO WED. forgetting herself, she called out n vi-++«<-+++-:-n-!->-:-+++ ++++-M -++ declaration. Then the girl, with lief eyes l>vut upon the floor, told him of (O r igin a l ] Many years ago there existed In Eu the proposition for her lintul for the A Curious Tre*. rope a principality. Culpurula, ho small yoting prince. In the village of Clyunof, Wales, "And will you accept?" asked Itodrl that Its population numbered only a there Is an old cottage, formerly u go mournfully. few thousand i**rs»ns. They were very country tavern, upon the r»w>f of which "1 have declined It thus far.” exclusive, never adopting foreign cit there Is a full grown sycamore tree. “ And in the end?” izens and Intermarrying among each “ What would you consider my duty ?’ About fifty years ago a seedling from other. The consequence was that he The artist did not reply. Turning to a uelghlsirlug churchyard, where other reditary diseases liecame so plentiful sycamores are growing, found a rest among them as to threaten their ruin. the portriilt, he painted alisently. The ing pince In the corner of the wall Theodore VII.. then prliicg. at last Is girl repeated her question. u I mivc a slab of stone over the entrance "It is for you to make up your own sued a decree prohibiting marriage be to the building. The young tree thriv tween persons related within the fifth mind »lin t that duty directs,” lie said. ed for a time on the small quantity of " I f y* b > not marry the prince our generation. Under this law marriage soil collected In the corner of the walls people will be the sufferers.” was extremely dillicult. aud It..ally forced Its roots downward “ And If you do marry him you will One of the first persons on whom the through the walls Into the earth Is*- edict reacted was the hereditary prince l»e the sufferer." low. From the outside no trace of the “ Ye*." Theodoric. who. like the |>eople, must Her fa<-e was averted. He stole up roots can be seen marry within the principality. At the time it was Issued he was studying at beside her. plnced his arm around her Cutting Dig Diamonds. a foreign university, but was about to waist, and her head drop|>ed on Ills Big diamonds lose n great dcnl In finish his course and was expected to breast. the cutting. The Kohlnoor was re Suddenly he released her. return and marry In order to secure "I love you too well," lie snld, "to duced by an unskillful stonecutter the succession. Meanwhile Ids father from 703% carats to '„’so carats, u sec directed the heralds to examine the ask you to do thnt which you do not ond cutting brought It dowu to 180 1-10 family trees of the nobility with a conceive to be your duty.” carats and n third to 10*1 1 It; carats, When the nrtlst left Yergella It was view to discovering some family Into or less than a seventh of Its original which the young prince could legally the Inst seen of him In the principality. size. The original weight o f the 1 ‘Itt marry. They reported that but o n e, Where lie went or what became of or Regent diamond was 410 carats, but him no one knew. In time Vergella family, the fount of Vervln’s, cam e1 lu the hands of the cutter two-thirds within the limit. In this family was informed her father that she would do disappeared, while the Star o f the what the Interest of her sovereign one unmarried woman. Vergilla, twen South, which was picked up In a riv ty years old. in every way attractive and his people required of her. Her er by a ncgross, lost a little over half and a very suitable match for the decision was commuiilcated to the young prince, who wrote her a frank Its weight by cutting. young prince. Theodore ut once sent the prime min letter thanking her for at last giving German Sportsmen. ister to the count, Vergilia's father, her consent, “ i ’erhnps you love an H alf n million sportsmen In Germany with a proposition for his daughter. other.” he said, "but 1 trust to win kill annually 40.IHMI bend of r«sl and your heart In time.” The minister returned, reporting that He dhl not seem Inclined to hurry fallow deer. 200,000 roebuck. 4.000,000 the count felt greatly honored by the home, and rumor said tlmt the women bares, 4.<»oo,ooo partridges and 4< kuxh ) proposition, but bis daughter had de wild duck, in all some 2Ti.000.000 kilo clared that she was not inclined to of foreign countries were loath to lose grams of wild game of a value of 2f>,- marry. She wns a wayward girl who lilin. Finally, however, when Ills father 000,000 marks, or $.'>.000.000. forming had always been used to huvlng her pointed out to him that under the clr- nearly 1 per cent of the total meat sup own way, and her father’s command cumstnneos Ids continued absence was ply of Germany.—C. G. Schillings’ “ In that she should return n suitable an delaying and endangering the succea Durkest Africa." swer lo her sovereign had had no effect Sion, he wrote requesting the court to make preparations for the ceremony, upon her. Breaking Her In. to announce the date, anil he would re Theodore was much perplexed. He Geraldine | want you to understand turn In time. wrote of the refusal to Ills son. But While the preparations were making liefore I marry you thnt I believe In Theodoric paid no attention to It and the equality of the sexes. Gerald—All soon after his graduation wrote his Vergella remained shut up nt home. right. I was Intending to give the min The story got about that she was sac father thnt he was minded to travel. ister two guineas, so you’d better baud To this his father replied, advising him rificing herself for the common good, over one.—Illustrated Rita. and she wus much beloved for It. The —he wns overfond of the boy and sel Given Her Choice. dom commanded—to come home at young prince, on the contrary, was Little Harry's experience with death Once, that the only woman lie could becoming unpopular for remaining was limited to the decease of n |iet marry was accepting the attention of abroad at such a time. It was the very day of the wedding canary which had lieeti sent to a taxi a young foreign artist who had recent ly appeared and solicited the privilege before he arrived. However, he made dermist and now adorned the parlor of painting her portrait. She sat for amends for his Innttenflon by going mantel. His grandmother, of whom he was him every day. and her father feared straight to the home of Ills affianced the headstrong girl was in love with bride, having sent word ahead asking very fond, was taken suddenly III. For him and would disregard not only the that no one might be present nt their some Mine after he learned of her con wish of her sovereign, but the national first meeting. When lie entered the dition he sat In a brown study. Then. custom of marrying only within the room Vergilla fell fainting through c\ oh If coming to a sudden resolution, he country. To this warning the prince cess of Joy Into Ills arms. The prince tiptoed Into the sickroom and, cau did not reply, and Ills father concluded and Rodrigo Nunez were one mid the tiously approaching the lied, fixed Ills H O l'E IIO I'K IN S. serious big brown eyes upon his dear th at he had jfone beyond the reach of sume person. relative and said, with n little quiver his letters. In his voice: No Room. Meanwhile the nrtlst. Rodrigo Nunez, Scribbler—My new novel Is entitled “ Say, grandma. If you die. which a young Spaniard, was busy with the portrait. He was very respectful, keep- “ What I Told My Wife.” R uyter- ' would you rather he-burled or stuff li g his distance from the highborn Why don’t you call It. "What I Didn’t ed? ’Cause If you’re buried we can’t Scribbler—Publish- ! see you no more, but If you’re stuffed dame, but she noticed whenever he Tell My W ife?" »(rove to Interest her in order to catch era limited me to one volume.—Ex we can set you In the parlor.” change. Grandma Immediately began to mend.—London .Scraps. 4~ m -4»:-++++++++++•:•++•»• 4 -I+ + + + * l I
