842 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
DEC 21 
the university a'great .deal in proportion 
to the numbers taught; but from the small 
beginning we have gained in numbers each 
yeai\ I do not think we shall lack for 
students in the future. Our next Jterm 
opens January 6, with a promise of a large 
class with representatives from several 
States in attendance. 
Agricultural Experiment Station, Madi¬ 
son. Wis. 
Electric Sanatory Appliances.— From 
large transactions to small ones is a fre¬ 
quent step in swindles and humbugs. 
The Eye-Opener has been frequently 
asked for an opinion with regard to 
the numerous “electric,” “magnetic,” 
and “galvanic ” belts and similar sanatory 
appliances which glowingly appeal alike to 
town and country people through adver¬ 
tisements in a multitude of papers. In the 
opinion of the doctors at Bellevue and New 
York Hospitals, the principal institutions 
of the kind in this city, such appliances 
have in themselves no curative properties, 
though occasionally they produce good ef¬ 
fects through the action of the imagination, 
just as bread pills and similar inoperative 
medicaments not infrequently effect unex¬ 
pected results in a certain class of cases. 
After consultation with the above author¬ 
ities, the Eye-Opener has several times 
written of the matter in this way in this 
department. An excellent article|on “ Elec¬ 
tricity in Relation to the Human Body,” 
appeared in Scribner’s Magazine; for Novem¬ 
ber this year. Mr. Allen Starr, the author, is 
an expert on the subject on which he writes, 
and has made special investigations into 
all its phases. Speaking on this subject, on 
page 598, he says: “The most careful experi¬ 
ments have shown that the human body is 
as completely insensitive to magnetism and 
as wholly unaffected by it as a piece of rub¬ 
ber or of wood. 
A person may stand between the poles of 
the most powerful magnet, one which 
might hold up a ton of iron, without the 
slightest perceptible effect upon any of the 
bodily functions being produced. Hence 
allfpo-called magnetic appliances, brushes 
or combs, disks, belts, and magnets have 
absolutely no curative power whatever * * 
The majority of Hie effects produced by 
su. i contrivances are due * * * to expectant 
attention rather than to any action of the 
age ts which careful investigations have 
shown to be inert. The writer,” he contin¬ 
ues, “once demanded oftlie agent of a wide¬ 
ly advertised ‘ electric belt ’ some proof that 
an electric current was produced by it, and 
suggested that such a current could be de¬ 
tected by means of a galvanometer. This 
test was objected to, but a little frame 
holding a dozen pocket-compasses was at 
once produced, and the power of the belt, 
which doubtless contained some iron plates 
to attract the needles of the compasses, 
was shown as a proof of the production of 
electricity in the belt. Probably many who 
were ignorant of the difference between 
electricity and magnetism have been de¬ 
ceived by this so-called test.” 
VU Oman’s Work. 
CONDUCTED BY EMILY LOUISE TAPLIN. 
CHAT BY THE WAY. 
S OMEHOW, it seems as if people more 
generally regard Christmas as a secu¬ 
lar festival rather than the sacred feast it 
really is ; the key-note of Christianity. We 
are apt to forget that all the mirth and 
jollity should spring from the primal 
thought of peace on earth, good will to 
men. Just as we forget that the idea of 
the gifts is really a free-will offering of pure 
love or friendship without any thought of 
self-interest. When a girl says : “ Oh, I 
must give So-and-so a handsome present; 
she gave me one on my birthday,” we 
know that whatever her ideas may be, she 
does not understand the spirit of Christ¬ 
mas at all. If we could only keep Christ¬ 
mas in our hearts all the year round ! 
-*■ 
* * 
How sorry we do feel for the poor little 
Puritan children, who were taught that 
Christmas was a Popish abomination. 
Just think of the harsh spirit that saw sin 
lurking in a branch of red-berried holly, 
and all the deceits of the world, the flesh, 
and the devil beneath a spray of mistletoe. 
Even mince pies and plum puddings were 
regarded as an invention of the enemy, an 
impression in which a dyspeptic might con¬ 
cur, and the glories of the boar’s head and 
the mighty Christmas sausage were past. 
There is no doubt that the Christmas 
jollity of olden times resulted in great riot¬ 
ing and debauchery ; we may be glad that 
it is gone. It was really the pagan Sa¬ 
turnalia re-christened ; the appointment of 
the Lord of Misule and the general license 
permitted point to its heathen origin. 
These observances are regarded as relics of 
the Roman Saturnalia, while the use of 
holly and mistletoe is derived from the 
Druids, priests of ancient Britain. But 
from whatever source we borrow its obser¬ 
vances, the real spirit of the day comes 
from Christianity alone. 
-*• 
* * 
Of course the date on which this feast 
falls is much disputed, but whether the 
event we celebrate did happen on the 25th 
of December or not it is enough to know 
that so many people of differing creeds 
and tongues agree to commemorate it on 
this day. In the Eastern or Greek Church 
they still celebrate the Savior’s birth on 
Old Christmas, the sixth of January, 
known as the Twelfth Day or Epiphany, 
but for many a century the great Western 
Church has fixed on December 25. Twelfth 
Day commemorates the adoration of the 
wise men, and in many countries it is re¬ 
garded as a very festive occasion. 
How often have you read “ A Christmas 
Carol ? ” It is the fashion nowadays to 
run down Charles Dickens ; to call him a 
caricaturist, and a sentimentalist, even to 
say that he didn’t know how to write a 
story after all. But if there is not material 
enough for a half-dozen Christmas sermons 
in that one story, may we never read fic¬ 
tion again. Think of poor Bob Cratchit, 
with his shabby coat buttoned over the 
comforter that took the place of an over¬ 
coat, striding home from church with 
Tiny Tim on his shoulder—poor Tim, with 
his frail form and his little crutch. But 
there were peace and good will in the 
Cratchit household, in spite of poverty and 
pain, and there was the Christmas spirit in 
the poor little cripple’s after-dinner speech 
—these simple child like words come back 
to us with each recurring season : “ God 
bless us, every one.” 
AN OLD-COUNTRY CHRISTMAS. 
A MONG the confused memories of early 
childhood is a vague recollection of 
meeting a bright faced man, wheeling a 
barrow decked with red berried holly, 
which was piled high with sirloins of beef. 
Everything surrounding the incident is in¬ 
distinct now. It was in one of the mid¬ 
land counties of England, on the estate of a 
great nobleman, and the man with the bar- 
row was distributing the beef and other 
substantial dainties to all the tenants of 
the estate, as was the Christmas custom. 
Christmas is a very much greater occasion 
there than here, although many of the old¬ 
er customs are now passing into disuse. 
The house decorations are very much more 
elaborate there than here, where they rare¬ 
ly pass beyond a wreath or two in the win¬ 
dows. I can remember our house being a 
perfect bower of evergreens, holly and lau¬ 
rel and mistletoe festooned everywhere; 
indeed the houses were as much decorated 
as the churches. There had been much 
work going on in the kitchen for weeks pre¬ 
vious—stoning raisins, washing currants, 
and chopping candied peel, and we children 
were all gkddened by the sight of various 
little mince pies, very smooth and shiny, 
with the initials of our names on the top 
in raised pie-crust. We were allowed to sit 
up a little later than usual the night before 
Christmas, and we always sat in the big 
kitchen, with its well-scoured stone floor 
curiously streaked with soft sandstone, 
while we watched the pudding boil. 
It seems that one cannot boil a plum 
pudding too long, and ours was always 
cooked for some hours the night before. 
There was holly everywhere, and a great 
bunch, mixed with mistletoe, hung in the 
middle of the kitchen ceiling. By and by 
there would be a sound of music outside, 
and after a song or two, the mummers 
would enter, expecting a glass of ale and 
some small money. This is a custom now 
going out, but years ago it was general. 
Parties of men and boys, often the village 
choir, would go about singing from house 
to house on Christmas eve. Sometimes 
they dressed in odd masquerade dresses, 
and acted some little pantomime. The 
place I recollect was the abode of the re¬ 
doubtable Robin Hood, many a long year 
past, and in that locality the mummers 
used to dress up to represent that hero, 
singing quaint old rhymes descriptive of 
his exploits, which had been handed down 
orally from father to son. 
This was really a modern survival of the 
medieval mystery plays. I remember a 
party of mummers dressed to represent 
Robin Hood, Little John, Friar Tuck, and 
Maid Marian, with their followers. They 
gave an uncouth dance, in which Maid 
Marian disported herself so vigorously as 
to give a passing glimpse of big hob-nailed 
boots and corduroy trousers. All wore 
masks, and they were a most motley crew. 
It was rather a tax sometimes, to be visited 
by the mummers, there were so many of 
them, and the hosts would sometimes play 
practical jokes on them, which were taken 
quite good-naturedly. 
We did not hang up our stockings, for 
Santa Claus was comparatively little known 
among us, but our gifts were distributed 
before breakfast. Our little mince pies ap¬ 
peared at breakfast; after that we went to 
the bower-like church. At dinner every¬ 
thing else was insignificant in our childish 
eyes, compared with the pudding—a fra¬ 
grant, rich brown mass, powdered with 
sugar, and crowned with holly. 
In the evening we played old-fashioned 
games, old and young joining in blind- 
man’s buff and puss in the corner and we 
wound up with the excitement of snap¬ 
dragon, lucky if we escaped without burnt 
fingers. 
Christmas holidays and festivities were 
kept up until after Twelfth Day, when the 
decorations came down, and the season was 
at an end. 
It is pleasant to look back on these old 
associations, yet at times they are a little 
saddening. We buy English holly and 
English mistletoe, and make our Christ¬ 
mas dainties after the old recipes ; perhaps 
it is the Christmas feelings of childhood 
that we miss, after all. COTTAGE maid. 
GOLDEN GRAINS. 
T HE INDEPENDENT says that the 
facts of human life are just what 
they are, whether meD believe or do not be¬ 
lieve in the doctrine of a personal God and 
his government over human affairs. Infi¬ 
delity (s a creed will not change these 
facts for the better ; but it will deprive 
the soul of all the consolation, comfort and 
hope derivable from a trustful and loving 
faith in God. This is an immense loss to 
any one. 
See that little speck of existence in the 
shape of a man, bursting with angry pas¬ 
sion, frothing at the mouth, bellowing and 
roaring, cursing and swearing, acting as if 
he were just ready to kill somebody. Look 
at him. What you see is a fool. The 
man acts like a fool, and is a fool, besides 
being a sinner. 
No MAN or woman, even of the humblest 
sort, can be strong and gentle and pure and 
good, without the world being better for it 
—without somebody being better for it— 
without somebody being helped and com¬ 
forted by the very existence of that good¬ 
ness. 
If one cannot seriously and sobprly think 
of his own life, and of the issues thereof 
both here and hereafter, without being 
miserable, he may set it down as a cer¬ 
tainty that there is some radical fault in 
that life. Sad, indeed, is the condition of 
that man who can be happy no longer than 
he can be thoughtless. If he were right 
himself, then to think of himself would be 
a source of pleasure rather than of pain.... 
J. J. Gundy says: A tree will not only 
lie as it falls, but will fall as ic leans; and 
the great question everyone should bring 
home to himself is this : “ What is the in¬ 
clination of my soul ? Does it, with all its 
affections, lean toward God, or away from 
Him ?”. 
An excellent book by Dr. A. J. F. Beli- 
rends has just been issued by Baker & 
Clark. It contains a numberof statements 
which are likely to provoke the antagonism 
of the theologian—for example Dr. Beh- 
rends says: 
“ It would, perhaps, be more exact to say 
that the decay of religion is provocative of 
social discontent, than to charge socialism 
with originating and propagating hostility 
against religion.”. 
Another statement not, however, so 
likely to provoke discussion is as follows. 
“Wealth must come to be regarded as 
imposing the responsibilities of a Divine 
stewardship, whose accumulation may not 
be stained with injustice, and whose use 
must obey the dictates of righteousness 
and intelligent philanthrophy.”. 
“We have had much to say about the neg¬ 
lected classes. We need to preach the law 
of God to the rich ; to remind them that as 
men sow, so shall they reap, and that their 
own safety depends upon their justice and 
humanity. * The neglected classes ’ live in 
palaces as well as hovels, and both are to 
be taught that the kingdom of God, man’s 
true dignity and highest felicity, is not 
meat and drink, but righteousness, joy and 
peace in the Holy Ghost.”. 
Such statements are timely and have a 
special significance. 
0 omcstic C con onn j 
CONDUCTED BY MRS. AGNES E. M. CARMAN. 
EXTRACTS FROM SUNDAY EVEN¬ 
ING TALKS AT THE RURAL 
GROUNDS. 
4 4 OME unto me all ye that labor and 
V-/ are heavy laden and I will give 
you rest. Take my yoke upon you and 
learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in 
heart and ye shall find rest unto your souls 
For my yoke is easy and my burden is 
light.” 
* 
To bring this home to our every-day lives 
who is there among us that is not given to 
fault-finding and which of us has not been 
discouraged and disheartened at times by 
being found fault with justly but not gener¬ 
ously ? Let us see how much of the burden 
of fault-finding Christ laid upon his fol¬ 
lowers. Take the example of Peter. Not 
a word of reproof, only one sorrowful look 
from the loved leader when Peter denied 
him. And after his resurrection the com¬ 
mands: “Feed my lambs;” “Feed my 
sheep ”— a sacred trust given to him as the 
seal of his forgiveness. 
Look at Paul’s history : he persecuted 
the Christians with all the zeal of a Jew 
and a Roman combined. Was there a 
word of fault-finding when Jesus appeared 
to him on his way to Damascus ? “ Paul, 
Paul, why persecutest thou me ? It is 
hard for thee to kick against the pricks.” 
And Paul’s cry “ Lord what wilt thou have 
me to do ? ” “ Arise and go into the city 
and it shall be told thee what thou must 
do.” And when he reached the city it was 
to learn that he was a chosen vessel unto 
Christ to bear his name before the Gentiles 
and kings and before the children of Israel. 
Not a word of all his sins. But the true 
way shown to the truly penitent man. 
This is the way we should treat one 
another. The command is “ Bear ye one 
another’s burdens and so fulfill the law of 
Christ.” What burdens ? All of them. 
What are our heaviest burdens. Our 
work ? Our discomforts ? No, our faults 
and deficiencies, and it is these that we 
criticise sharply in each other instead of 
remembering that they are part of the bur¬ 
dens we are to bear for each other. There 
is a generous, loving, hopeful, and helpful 
way to criticise, and by so doing truly 
bearing others burdens. But a constant, 
critical supervision of each other does not 
lighten our burdens. How often I’ve 
thought of the sources from which I’ve re¬ 
ceived most help ; they have been the sug¬ 
gestions and criticisms of those whom I 
knew had faith in me and believed I could 
improve. Others flung at me just and 
needed criticism, but I drew into a shell of 
indifference and discouragement under 
such-influences. 
It is Christ’s assurance that he came to 
save us, that he loved us before we knew 
ItU.sfcUancou.s' '3VtU - cvti.$intb 
When Baby waa sick, we gave her Castcria, 
When she was a Child, she cried for Castorla. 
When she became Miss, she clung to Castoria 
When she had Children, she gave them Canton a 
