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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 13, 1903)
Si THE SUNDAY QRJGQNM.:N, FORTLJUtfD, DECEMBER 13, 1903. AN AUTHORITY TELLS HOW '.THE TABLE AND THE; 'ROOM .. CAN BE ATTRACTIVELY ADORNED , GLORU OF THE CJULETI'DE BININS-WDOM I . : - : li i ERST the eye and then the palate," says the wise housekeeper as she proceeds to decorate the dining- room that trystlng place during1 holiday week. For this she draws upon her attic and storeroom, where in the Autumn she. laid in a supply o bitter-sweet and moun tain ash berries, and mayhap bright scar let spikes of the berries of the alder, all of -which will help to brighten the sombre effect of the greenery. t If enough holly ia not available to carry out the desired effect, running pine, with mountain ash berries, may be substituted to good advantage. In this case the holly can be saved for the table(itself. A pleasing idea Is to festoon the running pine all around the dining-room, just be? low the plate rack, fastening bunches of holly or mountain ash berries where the pine is caught up. "When doorways and windows are reached the festooning should not be discontinued, but may be made to give the effect of drapery, accord ing to the taste of the decorator. Por folding doors, arches, and even sin gle doors, beautiful portieres may be made out of the running pine, long strands of which should be fastened to run length wise. After as many strands are secured as desired, an extra one may be "latticed" between each one, using bunches of holly berries to secure the knots and to finish the evergreen tassels. In the middle of the doorway a bell Of red Jlmmortelles with the word "Greetings" fn white im mortelles may bo suspended with scarlet ribbons. Such a bell can be easily made, and thus considerable expense saved, by securing the frame and materials oa florist. An other pretty idea for a bell is to first cover the frame with green leaves, holly, ivy or laurel, using the holly berries for lettering. A toothpick spear will secure the berries in place. Artificial holly, ivy, laurel and other greenerj may be purchased if desired, and can be preserved for use another year. It is difficult for even a connoisseur to tell the difference between the Imitation and the real. A pretty Yuletlde custom which is ob served in the South flavors of the hospi tality for which that section Is noted. All during Christmas week a small, ar tificial evergreen tree graces the table of the family who wishes to share its good cheer with its friends or those less fortu nate than itself. The tree Is artistically trimmed with tinsel and ornaments and the small gifts concealed in the green branches are tied in attractive tissue paper packages, or Imbedded in some floral tribute. The friends who breakfast or dine or lunch with the family enjoy the lighted tree, and each one finds some small token among the dainty boughs. The same Idea may be used in connec tion with the table decorations on Christ mas day if desired. For Instance, a yard or so -of Immaculate cotton-batting may be stretched lengthwise with holly about It on the middle of the table to represent snow. At one end place the tree. At the other end set a wigwam made of heavy manlla paper, covered with cot ton, over which sprinkle silver flitters plentifully. Even the flaps of the opening should sparkle with the snow. Beside the doorway Santa Claus may stand ready to get In the sleigh (a child's plaything) with the three reindeers which await him. On his back Is a pack, and the sleigh should be well filled with sun dry packages. Mrs. Santa Claus and two or three little Santas may stand near the wigwam ready to say good-hye to "Jolly old Saint Nicholas." To make Santa Claus and his family Is an easy matter, if the housewife has a little patience and a small stock of mate rials. An old doW tenXor twelve inches high will do for the Saint himself. Use plenty of red paint to color his cheeks and a bit of white fur for eyebrows, hair and whiskers. When dressed in a red fur-trimmed coat and cap, sprinkle with mica using daubs of glue first he will make a firstrate representative of the tra ditional Santa. Mrs. Santa and the children may be made of bisque girl dolls the former about eight inches tall, the little ones six Inches. AH should be dressed In red and white costumes, fur-trimmed and be sprinkled with mica. Small Santas make appropriate and unique bonbon boxes. Bisque girl dolls about six Inches high should be used for these. Dress in red crepe paper trousers, red blouses and red caps, all faced with white crepe paper. Little knots of white paper glued on make excellent buttons and a bit of white paper a pretty sash. Long, red toboggan caps should be imi tated, slashing the ends for fringe and knotting to look like a tassel. Curly hair will make good whiskers. Bonbon boxes, which may be made of p CH-RISTMAS IN I AMERICAN women and their chil dren, whose fortune it is to live in remote and lonely parts of the tropics, oftentimes spend strange Christ mases. Talk to the wife of any Ameri can merchant or planter in Cuba, Hawaii, Porto Rico, the Philippines, or a hundred other tropical countries, and, ten to one, she will tell some quaint story or excit ing adventure which centers around Christmas day. The same, of course, is true of English women who live In similar surroundings. A -woman who now lives in New York looks back with pleasure to a Christmas day which she spent, many years ago, aboard a liner in the torrid heat of he Gulf of Mexico. She was a girl of five then, and it happened that she was the only child on board. Naturally, everybody made a great pet of her. Men and women whose own youngsters were waiting for them ashore in Mexico, or had been left behind in England, showered upon her all their parental affection and Christmas senti ment, which would otherwise have run to waste. "Mother," the child asked on Christmas Eve, "how will Santa Claus come aboard? Can he swim?" "Santa Claus. can go anywhere,, dearie," was the comforting answer. "Bo sure you hang up your stocking." Those passengers who had little ones of their own at home in Mexico, and were talcing presents to them, managed to spare something to add to the stock of toys which the father and mother had brought with them for theh: little girl. The stewardess and the stewards helped to All the stocking with apples, oranges, nuts, sweets and crackers, until it was filled to the bursting point. When the child woke up early on Christ mas morning she beheld, besides the stocking full of gastronomic joys, a whole lot of toys and picture books and a beau tiful doll. After her mother had dressed her in her best bib and tucker and sent her on deck, she found herself the queen of the Tship for the day. The gray-headed, genldi captain came down off the bridge to wish her a merry Christmas; the sailors competed eagerly 'Who could amuse her most with new fames, and the passengers, thinking wist fully of the Christmas frolics of their own youngsters, could not make onough 3f her. In the evening after dinner the captain organized a fireworks display in her honor. He set off a lot of squibs and Catherine wheels In a barrel the barrel being used to prevent the sparks from flying about and setting Are to the ship. But the little cirl had become a tyrant during her " A CTfclXTMAS 7DME7? HlsTBON JKPJD GIFT SOMJSL jlfeltffi sgfffe 'Sr'MM " i- " 'VtA pasteboard or purchased for the purpose, should be covered with some of the same red paper. Lift up the skirt daintily in the back, slip the bonbon box under and attach to each Santa with ribbon. When filled with bonbonsi these receptacles aro most attractive. The ice cream should be pure white and in the shape of snowballs, each one sur mounted by a sprig of holly." An Immense bomb over a wire frame and completely covered with red-paper-rose-leaf petals makes a fine receptacle for small gifts, jokes and mottoes. Each token should be tied in a dainty crepe paper package or a small box, slipping the ribbon end through the bomb and passing one to each plate. The bomb may be suspended from the chandelier or set on the table: It is ef fective either way. In any event, a Santa Claus oi a reindeer placed on the pinnacle will be appropriate. After the dessert is served, the guests are told to pull their ribbons, which they do simultaneously. If each gift is tied with a spray of mis tletoe and sealed -with a red heart, the bit of sentiment will be most appreciated by the recipients. A nonsense rhyme, a joke, a Christmas quotation, enclosed wkh tha token will add to the pleasure. A "Jack Horner" pie Is always a popu lar dessert for the children. This may be made of ordinary manlla paper with a frill of the same paper about the rim. If so stain with red watercolor paint, to carry out the illusion of the juices oozing through the crust. This makes the most realistic pie imaginable. A pie may be made as follows: Tie the small gifts with bright red ribbons and brief reign. She wanted rockets and in- . sisted on having them. J "But, my dear," said the Captain, sor rowfully, "I can't do that. If I send up rockets, other ships will think we are sinking, and1 will come out of their way to help us." . t "That doesn't matter. Captain," urged ' the imperious little lady, "I dp so want rockets. I have never seen rockets at j Bea and it's Christmas." i She got her rockets. The Captain said I he would rather have lost his 'ticket than spoiled her Christmas, and luckily no ship was deterred from Its course by the celebration. Going to church for the Christmas morn ing service is not an easy majter when the church is ten miles away, with no way of going than by a narrow bridle path with a precipice on one side and a J steep cliff on the other. Two American girls In Jamaica started for church one Christmas-morning. There had been heavy rains during the night, but Christmas morning dawned bright and clear. They started In great spirits, chatting gaily as they rode. After a time, the girl in front got no answer from her companion, and, looking around, found she had disappeared. Glanc ing over the precipice she was horrified to see her caught in the branches of a tree iifty feet helow? The horse had lost its looting on the slippery path and fallen to its death 1000 feet beneath, with hardly a sound, But the rider was caught by the spreading branches of a tree, and escaped unhurt. The other girl had to ride five miles to get some negroes with a, rope to rescue her companion. Needless to saj both of them missed the Christ mas service. This Is a common kind of accident In tropical countries where torrential rains wash away the narrow mountain paths, but the white women rejoice in riding at a dashing gallop along cliff tracks which apparently even a goat could not safely pass. They never even think of danger when there is prospect of fun. Many a woman rides 20 miles or more over dangerous roads and through swollen rivers to get to her Christmas dance. One family of girls in the Walla Walla district of. Aus tralia had to cross a deep river to get to the house to which they had been in vited to a ball on Christmas eve. When they got to the fording there was no bridge they found that the river had in creased to three times Its usual size by the seasonal rains, and was running -like a mill-stream. Most people would have turned hack, but not these Australian girls. "Come along, Jim!" shouted the first of them to her escort, as she galloped her horse into the rushlnjr river. In a mo ment, the anlmall was ?&,ottMa fcey place in a deep tin pan, the edges of which are covered with red crepe paper. Cut a piece of red crepe paper the size of the pan, make slits for the ribbons, pass them through the openings, and glue the cover down. Next proceed to crush red tissue paper in the hands. Straighten out n lengthwise folds, slash 'and glue on the "pie" until It is covered. Decorate the top with holly leaves and berries. To make the Jack Homers, purchase small jointed blsquedolls, one larger than the others, for the traditional Jack him self. Dress the latter ia red Tarn O'Shan ter cap, with lines of .gilt around the crown, and a black tassel of paper. Black crepe paper makes fine trousers and jackets, and white crepe paper the waist coat, under Tvhlch the little figure should be padded out with cotton to represent Jack gormandizing. A white bib of paper with the words "Good boy" is. apropos. Tin foil with a black paper handle makes an excellent knife. When v finished paste him on a four-inch square of holly covered pasteboard, with a tiny manila water color tinted pie bdtore him. The others are treated likewise, although the costumes are varied. When the pie is brought on the table the children should recite in 'unison the "Little Jack Horner" ditty. When they reach the place which says "He stuck in his thumb and pulled out a plum," they should pull their ribbons and receive their tokens of re membrance. If the right kind of gifts aro provided for the pie, the hearty laugh which their reception provokes" will help to digest the Christmas feast Inasmucn as the Brownies are supposed to help Santa Claus at Christmas time, it would be a novel idea to have a Brownie FOREIGN but struggled gamely and got to the op posite side lower down the stream. The other girls and their cavaliers followed, the men guiding the girls' horses. Several of them had narrow escapes from drown ing, and all of them had their ball dresses drenched. But- they thought It great fun, and their hostess fitted them out witn new ciotnes, or a . sort, in which NOVEL luncheon for the children and their little friends on Christmas eve." For table decorations use a centerpiece of cotton "wadding sprinkled with dia mond dust. A cave may be made of two tiny clothes bars covered with cotton wadding, which in turn is covered with mica. Icicles, made of long, slender cakes, well iced, should hang from the doorway of the cave. A Brownie should stand in the doorway with a basket of toys, which he is carry LANDS they danced merrily until far into Christ mas morning. "You mad people!" exclaimed the hos tess, when she saw them. "Why didn't you turn back?" "Turn back!" said the girl who had led the way. "We never do that when we are going to a Christmas ball, We'd I rather drown TBTNpETS FOB GLORIFYING THE CHRISTMAS TREE. ACflRISTSVAS JACK ffORNFR ing out to Santa Claus in his sleigh drawn by reindeers. Other Brownies surround Santa and pile the presents In the sleigh for all good children. Tiny fir trees should set around the edge of the wood scene, covered with bits of cotton sprinkled with diamond dust to represent snow. Brownie bonbon boxes should be placed at each plate. The Brownie should have a bunch of holly in his hand. For such luncheon the cookies,- cakes, etc, could be made Into the shape of Brownies. IN HJEtP- There are other dangers which lurk around Christmas time In the tropics. Perhaps one of the colored servants has a grudge against some member of the family for a fancied Injury. If thl3 hap pens In the West Indies, Christmas, for some unknown reason, Is usually chosen for a time for revenge. While the Christmas dinner Is being TJS FOK TJf BOySSWD CLRLS The older .people may have "A Star Luncheon" during Christmas week. The centernieeo mav he out nut nf-rnttnn hnt- tlnc In star shane. and trimmed nronnd i . the edtre with hnllv In keon Its shnno. i over tne tame, attached to the chande liers, snoum De suspended a star tne nat side down. This star may be made of holly on a wire frame. From the points ribbon streamers should float to the plates, where tiny star-shaped menu cards should bo placed. The latter may have a Winter MORE THAN ONE COUNTRY THE FESTIVITIES INVOLVE GREAT DANGER prepared, the servant will manage to mix up with the plum pudding or the turkey stuffing, .ground glass, bluestone, arsenic, or some other poison. Luckily, she also puts in some old rubbish which she calls "obeah" a rusty nail, a cock's feather, or a lizard's skin and the presence of these weird articles tells the family that the poison Is also there. If the would be assassin did not give herself away In this childish fashion, the Christmas din ner would often be a fatal feast. A large party gathers around the table and every one Is In great spirits. There is the usual Christmas fare turkey, .ham. roast beef, and so forth. Presently it is time for the plum pudding to come in. Bum Is poured round it and lighted, and the butler brings it in blazing, to the huge delight of the children. Each child begs eagerly for a "piece with fire on it." The hostess begins to cut the pudding, and the knife strikes against something "hard. "What is the matter, my dear?" ask3 her husband. "Anything wrong?" "I don't know," she says. "There seems .to besomethlng hard in the middle of the pudding." "Cut it right open and see what it is." She does so. and In the middle of tho pudding ar.e several large rusty nails tied, together with a piece of string. "What Is it?" everybody exclaims. "What does it mean?" "Looks like obeah," some one suggests. The cook Is called in, hut she cannot explain how tho nails came in the' pud ding. "I don't know nothing about it, missis," she pleads. "Same way you gave me de pudding tied up in de cloth, same way I put it In de pot." "Call Jane and see If she, knows any thing about it." the mistress commands. Jane, the housemaid, also professes ignorance. The mystery remains un solved, because the Creole negroes never tell on one another. Of course, the pud ding is sent away uneaten. The nails had probably been dipped in poison; if -not, some other poison bad certainly been put In the dish. Three Chrlstmases ago an English wo man was captured by "dacolts'' (outlaws) while she was at a ball on a remote Indigo plantation in India. Christmas is a favorite day with these caitlaws for their operations. She had strolled outside into the garden to get cool after a dance, for the thermometer was over 90 degrees. Her partner left her for a moment to fetch some lemonade, and. when he re turned she was nowhere to be found. The grounds were searched, but she had dis appeared as if the earth had opened and swallowed her up. Nobody could solve the mystery, and the party broke, up in dismay. Next day the planter who had given the ball received a message from a "fa scene and holly painted on them with ap propriate quotations, or a tiny sprig of holly may be thrust through a silt in the card. The menu itself may Include star shaped chicken sandwiches, small star shaped cakes, a large star cake, lighted by tiny white candles, and anything that can be conveftedilnto star shape. Star shaped bonbon boxes should be tilled with choice confectionery made in the shape of stars. A holly centerpiece and holly napkins may be used. mous "dacolt" chief, to the effect that his men had kidnaped the woman, and she would not be returned to her friends until a ransom of 5000 rupees was paid. The planter got the money together and paid the ransom, and the woman was able to enjoy a belated Christmas dinner in her own home. Months afterwards,' the "dacolts" were tracked down by a detachment of native police and captured. Some of them were hanged for murder, and the rest are still working In chains in the penitentiary in Rangoon. ELLA MASSY. WHAT IS MIDDLE AGE? San Francisco Argonauts PRITHEE, when does middle ager be gin? Is it as thinks the pretty page with the dimpled chin, when, we have come to 40 year? Or Is it as thinks the man of 40 somewhere between 45 and 50? And where does lovely woman think It Is? Take a buxom, handsome, well-preserved, well-groomed widow of 36 or 37, with no wrinkles, sound teeth, a satin skin, and a thick mane of un-gray hair does she think she is "middle aged"? These reflections were engendered by reading a page in a work entitled "Die tetic Therapeutics," a series of which the editor Is Dr. Solomon Solis-Cohen, an eminent physician of Philadelphia. We. were examining this work not so much for Its therapeutics as for its typog raphies. The printed page was very fair to look upon the type was newly cast. While scrutinizing the type-face, -our eyes fell on this astounding statement: "Pronounced changes take place in the human organism after middle age, which may be fixed at 30 years." It is difficult for a youngster to appreciate the shock which such a statement gives to one who is past 30 say 32. "Thirty years middle age" why, it is appalling! Yet the au thor remarks with much apparent truth that 30 is long past the half-mile mark In "the average age, and is practically the half-mile mark in the traditional limit of three-score and ten. Further, he says that we,evolute until 30, then Involute: that w6 climb the hill of life until' 20. pause briefly on its crest, and then go down. All this may be true, but it -is none the less extremely disagreeable for thos-a past 30. It is not even exhilarating read ing for a "girl" of 23 there are many such. Reader, have you reached 30? If you have, dq you think you are "middle aged"? If you are 35, do you think you were "middle aged" five years ago? If you are 40, and a woman, do you think you have been "middle aged" for ten years? And what do you think of a doc tor who' would say such brutal things in print? And what if thsy are true art they any the less brutal k 5
