1584 
7bt RURAL NEW-YORKER 
December 27, 1024 
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Boys and Girls 
By Edward M. Tuttle 
Our friendly page is very dear. 
This month it’s full of Christmas cheer. 
Drawn by Louise Wiederhold (13 years), New York 
Memory Verse 
A CHRISTMAS WISH 
]’d like a stocking made for a giant, 
And a meeting-house full of toys; 
Then I'd go on a happy hunt 
For the poor little girls and boys, 
Up the street and down the street, 
And across and over the town, 
I'd search and find them every one, 
Before the sun went down. 
One would want a new jack-knife 
Sharp enough to cut; 
One would long for a doll with hair, 
And eyes that open and shut; 
One would ask for a china set 
With dishes all to her mind; 
One would wish a Noah’s ark 
With beasts of every kind. 
Home would like a doll’s cook-stove, 
And a little toy wash-tub; 
Home would prefer a little drum, 
For a noisy rub-a-dub ; 
Some would wish for a story-book, 
And some for a set of blocks; 
Home would be wild with happiness 
< )ver a new tool-box. 
And some would rather have little shoes. 
And other things warm to wear; 
For many children are very poor, 
And the Winter is hard to bear; 
I’d buy soft flannels for little frocks, 
And* a thousand stockings or so. 
And the jolliest little coats and cloaks 
To keep out the frost and snow. 
I’d load a wagon with caramels 
And candy of every kind, 
And buy all the almond and pecan nuts 
And taffy that I could find; 
And barrel's and barrels of oranges 
I’d scatter right in the way ; 
Ho the children would find them the very 
first thing 
When they woke on Christmas Day. 
—Author (?) 
Sent by Mildred Wilcox (13). 
Connecticut. 
A Merry Christmas 
This is your editor’s wish for every 
boy and girl who reads Our Page, and 
for all the members of the many families 
into which Tiie Rural New-Yorker 
will find its way this week. 
And A Happy New Year 
January 1 will soon be here and we 
shall all face another year together, do-, 
ing our best each day, growing in body, 
mind and heart, trying to make the most 
of life in every right way. It will be a 
good year, I am sure. 
So Much to Print 
Having thus expressed my good wishes 
sincerely, though briefly, I am going to 
give all the rest of the space this month 
to Our Contributors. Even then many 
worthy things must be left from the mass 
of material sent in by the 333 girls and 
boys whose names you will find on page 
1594. It is inspiring to have such help¬ 
ful response. 
First of all, we have the stories about 
A Christmas Gift 
From many submitted, the eight print¬ 
ed were selected for greatest interest and 
variety. I know you will enjoy them. 
Six others were considered in making the 
final selection and these are deserving of 
Honorable Mention as follows: Anna 
Graham (15) of Illinois; Evelyn Under¬ 
wood (14) and Ruth Hollenbeck (15) 
of New York; Hazel Francisco of Ohio; 
Lillian Kent (16) of Michigan; and 
Frank Brueckel of Wisconsin. Here are 
the stories: 
A CHRISTMAS GIFT 
It was nearing Christmas. Tom and 
Conrad sat on a fence. They had been 
friends for a long time, and true friends 
they were. Tom was the son of a poor 
farmer; he was the fifth oldest of nine 
children. Rut in Conrad's home things 
were very different. There were but two, 
Uonrad and his sister Shirley. They were 
well off. having whatever they w ished for. 
and found Conrad, his sister and the 
maid she welcomed them in. There, were 
no trees or presents here, and these gifts 
were welcomed. All day the children 
played and sang. When Conrad and 
Shirley returned home their mother 
asked, “Well, how did you enjoy your¬ 
selves?” 
“Great,” cried both the children, “it 
was the finest Christmas we ever had.” 
Do you know why? They had made 
Tom happy. Ruth Dudley (17 years.) 
Connecticut. 
As the boys sat on the fence they 
talked mostly about Christmas. Conrad 
was going to get a sled, skates, paints, 
hall, books and many other things. Poor 
Tom looked at Conrad and said, “Well, 
there’s one thing I want for Christmas.” 
“What is it?” asked Conrad. 
“An overcoat,” came the reply, “and 
I don’t think old Hanta will forget me, 
do you?” 
“Oh, no,” said Conrad. 
It was Christmas Eve at Tom’s home. 
All the children were in bed except Nan¬ 
cy and Peter, the oldest two and their 
mother. They were very busy, with the 
father sick in bed. The younger chil¬ 
dren were dreaming of Hanta. Tom’s 
mother worked bravely. A fine cake was 
baked. Potatoes and a chicken and pop¬ 
corn were prepared, all of which they had 
ra i sed. 
In Conrad’s home things were going 
happily. Conrad and Shirley were in 
bed, and their mother was busy telling 
the maid what to do and helping now and 
A CHRISTMAS GIFT 
It was the night before Christmas and 
the little Jackson children were hanging 
up their stockings. James was hoping 
for an automobile, knife, violin and a 
sled. Helen was hoping for a doll, piano, 
telephone, baby buggy and several other 
things. Helen’s stocking was a big white 
one, and James’ was one of his grand¬ 
mother’s, for he thought the larger the 
stocking the more he would get. James 
was going to sit up all night, but Mr. 
Jackson hurried him off to bed. Next 
morning they woke up and shouted with 
joy as they showed each other their 
things. But the best of all was w r hen 
they went into their mother’s room and 
saw a dear little baby fast asleep. 
Sarah Graham (9 years). 
Illinois. 
Drawn by Dorothy Bozartli (15 years). 
New Jersey 
then. When Conrad arose the next morn¬ 
ing there was a great Christmas tree, 
candy, oranges, goodies and everything 
he had wished for. They were very nice, 
but he was thinking of Tom and his over¬ 
coat. His mother noticed he did not 
play much with his new' toys, and on 
asking why was told of Tom and the 
new overcoat. Mrs. Perry listened with 
a sad heart. She was glad her boy 
should think of others, so with the help 
of Shirley and the maid a great basket 
of goodies was made up w T ith chicken, 
turkey, duck, cake, candy, fruit and many 
presents—one for each of the Marion 
children to play with and something to 
wear, a sewing basket for Nancy, a coat 
and a box of paints for Tom, gloves for 
Peter, a ball for the baby and many 
more things. 
When Mrs. Marion opened the door 
A CHRISTMAS GIFT 
There was quite an excitement at 
Christmas time among all the Fenton 
grandchildren, for they were planning 
what to get Grandmother. They must 
give her something, for she was so good 
to them, and did so much sewing and 
patching for them. At last they found 
the very thing. 
When Christmas came, they all went 
to Aunt Mary’s. The children could hard¬ 
ly hold themselves. They had kept it a 
secret even from their mothers. The 
gift came in a box all wrapped in paper 
and marked “To Grandmother, from your 
loving grandchildren.” The box was put 
behind the large Christmas tree so it 
was not noticed much. 
They had a fine dinner, and much fun 
afterwards, but the best time was when 
the presents were distributed. Two of 
the larger grandchildren carried the box 
over in front of grandma, and helped her 
unwrap it. She started at it and was 
very much surprised when she found it 
was a chair with a drawer to put her 
needle, thread, scissors and other articles 
for sewing into. There was also a place 
for her glasses and writing materials. 
The children each told her how they had 
earned their money. Some sold newspa¬ 
pers, some had run errands for the grocer, 
some had helped wash celery, some had 
varnished chairs and the ones who could 
play the piano taught music. 
Grandma said it was surely nice. And 
it was for you never heard her ask any 
more where her jn n "CUshion was, or 
where her glasses had gone. The chil¬ 
dren enjoyed seeing her in the chair 
and liked it all the better because they 
had earned it. 
Ohio. Martha Thompson (11 years). 
A CHRISTMAS GIFT 
Mr. Tuttle, as you asked the boys and 
girls to v’rite about a Christmas gift, I 
thought I would write about the best 
one I e\er had. During a long sickness 
which left me a cripple I received a great 
many gifts. But the greatest one was a 
surprise. About one hundred and fifty 
people subscribed for a paper which gave 
a premium of a wheel chair. It is a 
very nice one. I will keep it as long as 
I can—the best Christmas gift I ever 
had. Frances Alvord (14 years). 
New York. 
A CHRISTMAS GIFT 
Once upon a time there lived a poor 
little boy. He was expecting something 
for Christmas, but his mother and father 
told him that they were afraid Santa 
Claus would forget him. He still hoped 
T A iStory in Four Parts—Drawn "by Ruth Carlson (15 years), Neio York 
to get something, and his mother and 
father were sad because they could give 
him nothing. 
At the same time out in the cold and 
the snow was a robin. He had not gone 
South with his friends. He v r as starving 
and too weak and cold to fly far. 
It was the day before Christmas. The 
boy had opened the window just before 
night to make it easier for Santa Claus 
to get in. The robin was outside and 
hopped upon the window sill. The warm 
air from inside came out and warmed 
him. He saw a few bread crumbs on the 
table and wished he had them. So he 
hopped down to the floor and upon a 
chair and onto the table and ate the 
bread crumbs. Then he felt better and 
hopped down to the floor again and over 
to the fireplace to get warm. 
In the morning the boy found him 
there. The boy thought that Santa Claus 
had given him the present. He fed the 
bird and had it for a pet. The robin 
had bread to eat and was warm. When 
Spring came the robin stayed with the 
boy instead of joining his friends. The 
Drawn by Esther Herr (15 years), Penn¬ 
sylvania 
gift to the boy was the bird, and the 
gift to the bird was a home. 
William Frost (11 years). 
Connecticut. 
A CHRISTMAS GIFT 
This year I made a very pretty pin¬ 
cushion for my best friend. It is in the 
shape of a canoe. First of all I had to 
go up in the attic to find the birch bark 
which I had cut from a large birch tree 
in Maine. After I had shaped the bark 
I sewed the two sides with green wool, 
in cross stitch. Then I got some cotton 
and stuffed the canoe and it looked just 
like a boat filled with snow. I Lad a 
large piece of pink silk which I carefully 
placed over the cotton, and in tiny 
stitches I sewed it on both sides of the 
canoe. The next thing was to get a long 
piece of pink ribbon by which the pin¬ 
cushion could be hung up. I asked my 
mother to make a little bow on each end 
of the ribbon. I sewed it to each end of 
the canoe and my Christmas gift was 
then complete. 
Clementine Wentzel (9 years). 
New York. 
A CHRISTMAS GIFT 
One cold November day our grade 
planned to save all our money. We de¬ 
prived ourselves of candy, gum and all 
other things that were unnecessary. It 
was the day before Christmas that we 
had our teacher count the money. We 
had $S.50. The teacher went and bought 
food, and that night (which was Christ¬ 
mas Eve) we went and gave the food to 
some poor families. We enjoyed our 
Christmas more that year than any other 
because we had played Santa Claus. 
Geraldine Wade (13 years). 
New York. 
D r awn by Dorothea Schmidt (12 years), 
New Jersey 
A CHRISTMAS GIFT 
It was Christmas Eve. The streets 
were erow T ded with a gay throng of shop¬ 
pers hurrying along with their arms full 
of bundles. By the side of the street 
stood a poor little newsboy, shivering in 
the cold wind that came swishing around 
the corner and at times almost blew him 
off his feet. He pulled the collar of his 
coat up around his neck and tightened 
his grip on his bundle of papers. He 
was a nice-looking boy. His clothes were 
neat and clean, though patched and 
threadbare. He had a friendly smile and 
large blue eyes that twinkled merrily 
when he was happy. But they did not 
twinkle tonight; instead they looked 
wistfully at the bundles the people car¬ 
ried. If he could have but one gift, just 
0116 -- 
“Paper, sir?” he said as a tall good- 
looking man approached. He looked sad 
and weary. He carried no bundles nor 
did he seem to be in a hurry. 
“Oh, well, yes, guess so,” said the 
gentleman. As Bob, for that was the 
newsboy’s name, handed him the paper, 
he said, “What is your name, my boy?” 
