) a S ft fh
li.fi 11
VOL. XXVIII.
A.
America's Most
McmoreiLble
. Chrisimas.
By HOUCKTUS LOVE.
tOopyrlrlil by HbT(u jov.
Till iiiokI uifiuorulilt' ClirlHtmim
In Aiiierli'iui hlHtoi'v tliut of
177V, (be (Ihv on wlil.-li WiihI)
IliKl"" iTiifHwl tin- Iieliiwure.
As a Hinder of fuel. WiisHlnoti mid
Mh nriny t-roMifil th- Iviawnro four
times during tli.it kiiiiii- uiontb, but It
wu the croHKlnt; on "IiiInI uuih tilcl't
tlmt ininle vlvlil hlxtory. 'I picture
of "WnKhltiKtun rrohKltis tho Kela
wnn'," franuvt hh h )!. n-fil linttno or
blnrk uuil wlilte print, hiix Iwoti fa
nilllar to two pt'iivu!!ni)M of Amcrl
rutiB. Hut how limny of un luiow Just
why, how nml lieru WiiHhlnjftoa
croMmnl tin' 1 i-'x wnre, wli.u lHarlii2
thdt inoet;:rn; '.(1 iicui t!n t'l'stlny
of Auierl ii v ho ii;: I i cil tint fin n on 8
picture fro'i -hlih tin- fi'iilllnr
chroiuos tile i ii lu and ln'ic the origi
nal oil inl; my he i n
Itrlveu ' ' eitii I"
Turk " '
tonrn i'efr
v as purs.'e I i i'"' I
t.k-X ('ornwnlll' V:r 'iri ::!
Trentou Iee. '' ;i nl I n :i v
for ctomfImj; o'er I iin I'l'-r
'oIlectlnK nil "n txm!s lie
.1 New
r. if-ii iiir
reached
ariilloiiM
VlVlllllil.
ml. I And.
'er on
i with
i . Jut
I.ohkIiik
' pomp
lie Rent hi n Mi '
tho nlk'ht e 7th. f""
tho renr ; . the lie:,
tin Comwullls. nn the hi
jmls It, "came down.
and pnrnde. to fie
Cornwalll" i i I'm ' (. mid
cross the rl-er en; dure l"'l':i 'elphhi.
the repltnl of ' ntni ir:! i :'olnnle.
and end tl 'I'l m In -'i - order.
Hut the wl' 'iln r' ei !i i t ,eti .y-
ed Mil the ln mUIi-Ii h- t -uM to
hide on the Poiiubj Iviinhi kIihi-- for h!
own future line. The HrlilMi ;eiieril
therefore decided to wnlt until the riv
er froze, ho that he could cro w on the
Ice. Mild weather prevailed for a fort
night. In tho meantime Washington
bad placed strong Kunrdit tit xcvcrul
fords and ferries up and down the
river, the euciuy bIno posting detach
ments at Important polntH on the New
Jersey side. Washington, with n por
tion of bis army, wait encamped at
Newtown, a little northeast f Hrlstol,
Pa. The British' unrrison at Trentou
consisted of about l.MH) Hessians and
some British light horse under com
mand of Colonel Itull, a ifiillant Hes
sian officer.
Tbe capture of Philadelphia seemed
o Imminent that by udvlce of General
rutnaua, to command there, the Con
tlnental congress retired to llaltlmore
the situation was highly critical. Tbe
time of service for which most of
Washington's men bad enlisted would
xptre within ten dsys, and unless
money could be had for their payment
lew of them would remain In the field,
liany citizens who bud espoused the
patriot em use became discouraged and
Went over to the enemy. Cornwallls
WM ao pop sure that the "rebels" were
an their last legs and the war prac
tcally orer that be weut to New York
LAKEVIKW,
merlcas Most memokable
With the Intention to sail fr England
en leave of ntenc.
Washington felt that sotuo declklve
blow must te Ktruck. The British must
be shown that the Americans Mill had
fight In them. Timid citizens In their
homes must m eaeouratred by a dein
oiuitrittlou of pfy .fi aud mili
tary prowess. Accordingly Washing
ton planned attacks at severs! points
aloug the river, but he could not In
duce some of his subordinate com
manders to co-operate with bltn. They
could not cross the river, they said.
But Washington could and did. lie
proposed to go over aud give the Hes
sians at Trenton a Christmas al't
math In the way of a dayllg.11 unr1se
tbe morning after Christmas. J"low,n
that the Jolly Germans would be n,,or
or leas demoralised by their MbUK.' "
manner of celebrating the anniversary.
Washington's troops at Newtowm
were chiefly New Knglanders. He b4
about 2,400 men and twenty pieces at
artillery. The weather had turn .4
much colder toward Christmas, and oa
the afternoon of that day a chill storm
of enow and sleet tegan. lasting
through tbe night. Washington's troopa
marched to McConkey's ferry In tbe
snowstorm. McConkey's was a river
side Inn on the New Jersey bank of
tbe Delaware about nine mites above
Trentou. The boat prevlonslv hidden
by the Americans were collected at this
r
a-JTi . . A I " " NX
"I
Ut Mother and Chilci
Ready for apnt&Claus
I
1 e . i i
1 ; . t "
- y - :
r . y
I - A ' - ...
I
I I It. J i V i
LAKK COUNTY, OREGON, TIIUKSDjU.
Washington Crossing tub Delaware
Christmas Night 1770
point, opposite McConkey's house, and
at dusk the soldiers began crossing.
Everybody knows, of course, that "the
river was full of floating Ice," but
Colonel Glover and his fishermen sol
diers from Marblehead did not mind
tbat. They knew how to guld boats
amid cakes of Ice. These Massachu
setts fishermen were placed In charge
of tbe boats.
The plan of Washington was to reach
Trenton by S o'clock In the morning
aad catch tbe Hessians sleeping off
their Christmas potations. He counted
upon getting the whole army across by
midnight. Owing to the delay caused
by the ice and the storm It waa S
o'clock in tbe morning when the last
boat load of patrolts reached the Jer
sey shore. By 4 o'clock the force was
formed ready for the march upon
Trenton. Colonel Henry Knox had
brought over bis cannon on the frail
flatboata, with horses to pull the pieces
along the road.
General Washington crossed the riv
er a little before midnight. The In
mates of McConkey's bouse were astir
practically all night, brewing big Jo
rums of hot and steaming punch, which
tbe cold and weary Continental officers
drank with eager sest It is related
aat eany ra TOe morning nours wssn
ington himself stepped Into the inn
and found some of bis young officers
Inclined to loiter by the fire and In
dulge In extra potations. There was
more serious work on band. Washing
ton, It Is said, drank Just one stout
"snifter" and ordered bis officers to be
about their business. McConkey's house
still stands, and tbe place la known
now as Washington's Crossing.
Washington divided bis forces Into
two bodies, one to march down tbe
river road and attack the enemy from
the west, the other to enter the town
from the north. The commander in
structed all his officers to set their
watches by his, so that the attack
might be made simultaneously at every
point It was 8 o'clock when the en
emy's outposts were encountered and
driven in, firing from behind trees and
fences as they ran.
Colonel Kail bad been up all night,
with other officers, carousing and play
ing cards at the bouse of a Tory.
Though the attack was made three
hours later than bad been Intended,
it waa still practically a surprise. Rail
buckled on his sword aud gallantly
tried to rally bis demoralised forces,
but it waa too late. Already the light
horse and 600 Hessians had taken flight
and escaped. Knox bad planted his
cannon to sweep the principal streets,
and. the aJtast tram, all fiolnts was
s f m
jjy'TttErry Christmas!"
furious. Colonel Rail fell mortally
wounded, and a little later he sur
rendered hi sword to Washington.
The American commander took nearly
a thousnnd prisoners, with many stands
of arms, cannon and other equipment
The victory was complete. Cornwallls
deferred his trip to England, remain
ing here to surrender to Washington at
Yorktown five years later.
The next clay Washington's array re
crossed the river, taking the Hessian
prisoners to Newtown. On the 20th.
bis forces having been Increased by the
arrival of other troops, be made the
passage of tbe Delaware for the fourth
time In a month, reoccupylng Trenton
until forced to retire to Princeton by
tbe maneuvers of Cornwallls. In cross
ing aud recrosslng the river and fight
ing the battle of Trenton Washington
lost only seven men. Two were killed,
four were wounded and oce frozen to
death.
The famous picture "Washington
Crossing the Delaware" was painted In
1851 by Emanuel Leutze. who wa
born In Wurttemberg In 1810 and died
at Washington In 185S. having settled
permanently in America. Leutze paint
ed several other American hlstoricn''
scenes. The Washington picture. i"
Immense canvas to which v u.-...
1
si
rv .
(Sioux Mother and Child)
reproduct!oncan do Justice, now hangii
In the Metropolitan Museum of Art,
New York city, where It may be seen
free of charge by any American patriot
or by any Hessian or British visitor,
for that matter. The great painting
was presented to the museum ten
years ago by John S. Kennedy. It Is a
matter of congratulation that this ar
tistic representation of an Inspiring In
cident connected with America's most
historic Christmas now belongs prac
tically to tbe people of America, one
and all.
ft lSi.' .-.Zwtt tTTfrr.ai mm.
OLCKMHKR '-'", HL
Christmas en Christmas Island.
They never have any "white" Cartst
saases on Christmas Island. The ther
mometer never falls below 70 and nev
er rises above 90 lu the shade.
Christmas Island lies about 250 miles
southeast of the western extremity of
Java. It is in the Indian ocean and
belongs to Great Britain, having been
annexed in J88S. This interesting lit
tle bit of land In mldsea appears to
have been originally a coral reef, which
by volcanic forces has been raised so
high that at Its highest point It sticks
out of the water 1,600 feet. In shape
It Is an Irregular quadrilateral. It has
an area of alout twenty square miles.
The British have formed a settlement
on the island for tbe development of
the phosphate beds, which are said to
be rich. This material Is UBed for fer
tilizer. A globe trotter who spent last Christ
mas very appropriately on ChrW-'.ns
Island says: "Christmas mornliiit I
bathed in the sea. Christmas after
noon, dressed In white flannel. I played
tennis. It Is always summer t'.iere.
A pure, cool breeze always blows from
the so"he:i t. In January the fresh
fruit? iv.; J tlower and vegetables are
as plenMfr.! n during July or August
In the ' States. Christmas Island
is a I'! Me paradise nine miles wide
and " "i miles long."
T7
VIv Hi"
; j 1..; 5 ; V
Vt'. a.'.'ILi
N
m
- - i. m tm m . i
M -r If-
0iK It "1 AW
NO. 52
vm KrrRcci.uAn ruuuH or ur
Christmas
With Lo, the
Poor Indian.
MANY of tbe Indiana who still
keep up their tribal existence
are Christians. To them as
to tbe white people Christmas
la an important anniversary, but they
celebrate it in their own way. Thta
way would not be approved by cert In
Christian denominations of white peo
ple because It includes as the chief
feature a dance.
The southwestern Indian tribes have
a special fondness for all sorts of cere
monial dances. When white people
dance they do it for the aesthetic
pleasure of the performance, the poetry
of motion, so to speak. Not bo with
the Indians. Every dance baa a deep1
significance to them. When they as
semble for their Christmas observance
they begin by praying for rain and
bountiful crops.
Then follows the dance. This Is the
only dance in which the women aro
permitted to take part. Tbe men and
women form In opposite lines and
tart up a song, their bodlea swaying
in rhythm. Then they break up into
groups and dance toward each other
with a hlppity-hop step, holding their
bodies rigid,
The next movement la to form a cir
cle and dance around a Christmas tree
hung with articles which, according to
the missionaries, are the gifts of Santa
' Claus to good Indiana. The Indians
kneel and pray in front of an altar
during the performance.
When Santa Claus visits the Indian
papoose on tbe plains he does not find
stockings In which to deposit his pres
ents. As a rule, tbe little Indian in
the tepee does not wear stockings, for
the first year or two at any rate. The
taby Is strapped to a board, its body
wrapped In warm skins and only it
nead sticking out, bo that it can cry
without being cramped for space.
Frequently the papoose takes Its
naps in an upright position, Its mother
leaning the baby board against tbe
tepee pole.
On Christmas eve Santa Claus steals
into tbe tepee and lays beside tbe
sleeping papoose Its Christmas pres
ents. These are not so numerons or so
costly as the white baby'a presents,
but to the little bronze baby they are
; Just as good. Nearly always the la
i Clan baby gets things of bright colors.
Indians, big and little, are particularly
fond of garish hues. A red necktie, a
blue ribbon, a yellow scarf or a stick
of striped candy may be the selection
of Santa Claus, but a string of shells
or beads, tbe tooth of an elk or the
claw of a bear is more likely to be the
papoose's present. t
When papoose wakes up and finds'
Its gifts It Is Just as happy aa the rlch
eC w'te child In tbe land. '
A Disappointing Feature.
"Was there any disappointing fea
ture about your appearance as BantA. '
Claus?" , ,.
"Well, rather! Tbe nose of my fal"
lace melted off!"