1572 
The  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
December  29,  1923 
Boys  and  Girls 
By  Edward  M.  Tuttle 
Swift  wind,  merry  wind,  sweeping  o’er  the  ground, 
Take  words  of  cheer  from  Our  Page  and  carry  them  around. 
“ The  Wise  Men  sate  in  the  East  afar 
The  wonderful  guiding  Christinas  star." 
Drawn  by  Carlotta  Baker 
Christmas  Bells 
Why  do  bells  for  Christmas  ring? 
Why  do  happy  children  sing? 
Once  a  lovely,  shining  star, 
Seen  by  wise  men  from'  afar, 
Gently  moved  until  its  light 
Made  a  manger  cradle  bright. 
There  a  darling  baby  lay, 
Pillowed  soft  upon  the  hay, 
And  its  mother  sang  and  smiled, 
‘‘This  is  Christ,  the  Holy  Child.” 
Therefore  Christmas  bells  do  ring; 
Therefore  happy  children  sing. 
— LYDIA  AVERY  COONLEY  WARD. 
Rent  bv  Viola  Williams.  Pennsylvania, 
and  ilelen  Wasilesky,  Connecticut. 
(16  Years),  New  York 
prophets  had  said  lie  would  be.  They 
knelt  before  Him. 
Then  came  the  wise  men  with  gifts  of 
frankincense  and  myrrh.  On  their  way 
the  king,  Herod,  told  them  to  go,  and 
when  they  returned  to  tell  him  where  the 
Babe  was  that  he  might  worship  Him 
also.  (But  he  meant  to  kill  Him,  for  he 
thought  He  would  take  his  crown  away.) 
So  God  told  the  wise  men  to  return  by 
another  way.  After  the  king  had  watched 
a  long  time  he  ordered  that  all  the  baby 
boys  under  two  years  of  age  should  be 
killed.  In  this  way  he  thought  he  would 
kill  Jesus.  But  God  was  going  to  save 
Ilis  Son.  He  told  Joseph  in  a  dream  to 
go  to  Egypt  on  the  night  that  Herod’s 
terrible  command  was  being  obeyed. 
jean  davies  (11  years). 
Pennsylvania. 
Drawn  by  Lewis  Wangerin  (14  Years), 
New  York 
When  you  turned  over  the  leaf  a  min¬ 
ute  ago  and  caught  your  first  glimpse  of 
Our  Page  I  know  that  you  exclaimed 
with  pleasure  and  delight.  Isn’t  it  fine! 
Isn’t  it  just  what  we  wanted  it  to  be, 
full  of  the  spirit  and  beauty  and  happi¬ 
ness  of  the  holiday  season?  Isn’t  it  a 
great  success — our  first  Christmas  Page, 
and  the  last  of  the  three  special  pages 
we  have  made  this  Fall?  We  have  to 
thank  the  260  boys  and  girls  named  on 
page  1582  who  poured  in  upon  your  edi¬ 
tor  such  a  wealth  of  material  that  he 
•found  the  choice  of  what  to  use  a  hard 
matter  indeed.  But  the  very  fact  that 
there  was  so  much  to  choose  from  made 
the  final  result  good  beyond  question 
Thirty-seven  readers  were  fortunate 
enough  to  have  something  printed,  but 
many  others,  especially  many  who  sent 
drawings,  were  left  out  only  because  of 
lack  of  space,  while  your  editor  feeis 
that  every  single  boy  and  girl  who  took 
interest  enough  to  make  effort  to  help 
deserves  our  gratitude  equally. 
The  First  Christmas 
Along  a  dusty  road  two  figures  trav¬ 
eled  to  Bethlehem,  long,  long  ago,  to  find 
out  to  what  amount  they  were  taxed. 
These  two  travelers  were  Joseph  and 
Mary,  the  parents  of  Jesus  Christ.  The 
tired  couple  arrived  at  the  .inn  and 
learned  that  it  was  full  of  people,  so  they 
asked  permission  to  sleep  in  the  barn.  It 
was  that  night  that  Jesus  was  born  in  a 
manger,  and  that  night  that  the  wise  men 
and  shepherds  were  called  upon  by  the 
angels  of  Heaven  and  the  Star  to  go  to 
Bethlehem  and  worship  Jesus. 
MONICA  STARKWEATHER 
New  York.  (11  years) . 
Christmas  in  Switzerland 
(a  true  story) 
My  mother  comes  from  Switzerland, 
and  we  children  are  always  eager  to  hear 
of  the  way  she  spent  Christmas.  Prob¬ 
ably  some  of  the  readers  of  Our  Page 
might  also  be  interested,  so  I  thought  I 
would  write  it  down. 
About  two  weeks  before  Christmas  the 
schools  began  to  practice  appropriate 
songs.  About  four  o'clock  on  Christmas 
Day  all  the  school  children  assembled  with 
their  teachers  according  to  their  grades 
at  the  sehoolhouse.  There  the  songs  were 
sung  over  for  the  last  rehearsal  to  make 
sure  that  they  were  well  learned.  All 
listened  with  bated  breath  for  the  sound 
Drawn  by  Edward  Sipos  (12  Years), 
Ohio 
of  the  wonderful  church  bells.  At  the 
first  sound  of  the  bells  the  children 
marched  out,  the  little  ones  ahead,  then 
the  higher  grades,  up  to  the  last  ones. 
They  marched  through  the  village,  the 
bells  ringing  all  the  while. 
Finally  the  church,  which  stood  way 
up  on  a  hill,  was  reached.  The  children 
took  their  places  and  the  church  was  al¬ 
ready  filled  with  villagers.  All  was  still 
as  tlie  preacher  ascended  the  pulpit,  while 
the  men  with  their  long  tapers  lit  the  last 
candles  on  the  wonderful  pine.  The  tree 
was  very  tall,  and  on  the  very  top  was  a 
large  Star  of  Bethlehem.  There  were  no 
other  ornaments  save  200  or  more  Christ¬ 
mas  candles  which  shed  a  wonderful  glow 
through  the  church.  Then  the  minister 
spoke  a  few  words  to  the  people,  and 
then  one  teacher  after  another  with  his 
grade  inarched  to  the  front^  and  their 
Christmas  song  was  sung.  When  all  the 
songs  were  sung  the  minister  thanked  the 
children  and  their  teachers  foA  the  beau¬ 
tiful  songs  they  had  learned,  and  then 
all  the  village  people  sang  the  Christmas 
hymiu  After  a  final,  short  prayer,  the 
children  were  asked  to  come  up  and  re¬ 
ceive  their  little  gifts.  At  the  church 
door  stood  several  people  handing  to  each 
child  a  small  book,  a  pencil  and  a  fresh 
bun.  Mother  always  tells  us  that  never 
a  bun  tasted  as  good  as  the  one  given  at 
the  church.  All  the  children  thought 
more  of  these  simple  gifts  than  many  of 
us  do  of  much  finer  ones. 
rate  Kramers  (10  years) . 
New  York. 
A  Letter  to  Santa  Claus 
Dear  Santa  Claus :  I  know  a  boy 
Who’s  trying  to  be  good, 
To  help  his  mother  all  he  can 
And  bring  in  lots  of  wood. 
He  washes,  too,  behind  his  ears 
And  is  prompt  at  school  each  day, 
He  helps  to  dry  the  dishes,  too, 
And  put  them  all  away. 
He’d  love  to  have  some  roller  skates 
And  a  fishing  rod  and  line. 
And  his  address?  Oh.  well — you  see, 
It’s  just  the  same  as  mine. 
— Author? 
New  York.  Sent  by  grace  brougii. 
Johnson’s  Christmas  Gift 
(a  story) 
John  paused  a  moment  as  he  was  en¬ 
tering  his  house,  and  gazed  longingly 
across  the  snowy  wheat  fields.  Quietly, 
and  with  a  deep  sigh  that  spoke  his  feel- 
Drawn  by  Beatrice  Brusie  (7  Years) 
New  York 
ings  better  than  any  words,  he  closed  the 
door  and  prepared  his  evening  meal. 
It  was  five  years  ago  that  he  had  come 
to  that  part  of  Kansas.  Taking  advan¬ 
tage  of  his  apparent  greenness,  people 
had  encouraged  him  to  homestead  a 
worthless  tract  of  land.  All  that  time  he 
had  been  trying  to  save  money  enough  to 
bring  his  family  to  him.  Mary  and  the 
two  children,  George  and  Dora,  were  yet 
in  Pennsylvania.  It  had  been  hard  for 
him  to  part  from  his  loved  ones,  but  the 
hope  that  soon  all  would  be  together 
again  spurred  him  on. 
Lately  he  had  learned  that  the  home¬ 
steader  of  a  certain  tract  of  land  had  re¬ 
cently  died,  leaving  no  heirs.  As  the 
property  was  thus  opened  to  be  settled, 
John  deteimiined  to  get  it,  for  he  felt  he 
could  do  much  better  on  it.  As  it  was  a 
case  of  the  early  bird  catching  the  worm, 
he  had  started  to  the  land  office  as  soon 
as  he  had  heard  that  a  date  had  been  set. 
But  he  had  been  too  late.  Several  were 
there  ahead  of  him,  and  he  learned  that 
Johnson,  his  ten-mile-away  neighbor,  had 
reached  there  first  and  had  claimed  it. 
When  John  heard  the  news  the  tears 
started  to  flow,  but  manlike  he  quickly- 
brushed  them  away.  “That  means,”  he 
started  to  say  aloud,  and  finished  to  him¬ 
self.  “that  another  year  or  two  goes  by 
before  Mary  and  the  kids  will  be  here. 
For  I  won’t  let  them  come  to  the  land  I 
am  on  now.”  In  some  time  he  would  be 
able  to  get  another  tract  of  land  whose 
proprietor  was  going  away.  John  knew 
that  Mary  would  be  disappointed  when 
she  received  his  letter  containing  the  bad 
news. 
So  it  was  a  lonely  meal  which  John 
ate.  made  lonelier  by  the  thought  that 
Mary  might  have  been  eating  with  him. 
The  dark  had  settled  earlier  than  usual, 
and  presently  a  heavy  snowstorm  set  in. 
John  went  out  to  his  shed  to  get  more 
fuel  for  the  night.  When  he  re-entered 
he  found  Johnson,  who  was  the  mail¬ 
man.  just  stepping  in  at  the  front  door. 
“Merry  Christmas.”  called  his  guest. 
“Christmas!”  exclaimed  John.  “Can 
it  be  possible?”  But  glancing  at  the 
calendar  he  was  convinced  that  it  was 
the  evening  of  the  24th  of  December. 
Turning  to  Johnson  he  inquired.  “But 
what  made  you  come  out  on  such  a 
stormy  night  as  this?” 
“Well,  you  see.  Santa  Claus  is  sup¬ 
posed  to  fie  visiting  tonight,  but  I  was 
afraid  he  could  not  get  here  in  such  a 
storm,  so  I  pretended  I  was  Santa  Claus 
and  brought  you  a  present,”  and  he  hand¬ 
ed  John  a  letter. 
The  letter  was  from'  Mary  !  Wonder- 
ingly  John  read  it,  and  as  he  grew  inter¬ 
One  night  when  the  shepherds  were 
watching  their  flocks  on  the  hills  of  Beth¬ 
lehem  there  came  a  star  that  shone  very 
brightly.  They  all  watched  the  star. 
Suddenly  a  host  of  heavenly  angels  came 
in  sight,  singing  “Peace  on  earth,  good 
will  to  men.  for  in  Bethlehem  is  born  a 
Savior.”  Then  a  cloud  received  them 
out  of  sight.  The  shepherds  followed  the 
star.  It  led  them  far.  until  it  lighted 
over  a  little  barn.  Here  the  shepherds 
went  in.  There  was  a  little  Babe  wrap¬ 
ped  in  swaddling  clothes,  just  as  the 
Drawn  by  Elizabeth  Turck  (11  Years),  New  York 
’'T  "t  b-t  7 j  i.  ^  At-  t-f-fer-f 
ested  he  would  exclaim  “What?”  and  sit 
up  in  his  chair.  Johnson  was  enjoying 
the  scene  and  grinning  all  over  his  broad 
face. 
“What  does  it  mean?  How  can  it  be” 
John  finally  asked,  looking  up,  for  the 
last  line  Mary  had  written  was,  “John¬ 
son  will  explain.” 
“Well,  you  see,  I  kind  of  know  how  it 
feels  to  fie  away  from  your  wife  and 
kids.  You  didn't  know  it,  but  I  had 
some  once,  myself.  I  sorta  felt  for  you, 
and  when  I  heard  this  land  was  vacant, 
I  knew  you’d  be  after  it,  for  you  had  al¬ 
ways  wanted  it.  I  didn’t  think  you  knew 
how  early  some  of  the  fellows  get  to  the 
office.  Even  if  I  came  to  tell  you  there 
Drawn  by  Beatrice  Booth  (12  Years), 
New  York 
wouldn’t  be  time  to  get  there  as  soon  as 
you  ought.  So  I  started  in  the  middle  of 
the  night.  I  was  the  first  one  there  and 
I  claimed  the  land,  only  I  had  the  docu¬ 
ment  signed  in  your  name.  It  was  then 
I  thought  of  surprising  you.  Here  it  is,” 
an  he  handed  John  a  duplicate  original 
document. 
John  could  hardly  grasp  the  meaning  of 
it.  Once  more  he  said,  “And  this 
means - 
“That  you  can  move  onto  your  new 
homestead  as  soon  as  you  please,”  fin¬ 
ished  Johnson.  “And,  what’s  more - ” 
With  that  he  threw  open  the  door  and 
let  the  sight  which  met  John’s  gaze  speak 
for  him.  John  saw  a  huddled  form  com¬ 
ing  towards  him  and  heard  a  “Don’t  you 
know  me,  John?” 
“Mary !”  was  all  he  could  say  as  he 
tenderly  gathered  his  wife  in  his  arms. 
Later,  with  a  silvery  mist  in  his  eyes,  and 
little  Dora  on  his  knees  and  George  by  his 
side,  he  listened  to  an  explanation  by 
Johnson  of  how  the  surprise  came  about. 
“Well,  you  know  I  was  over  here  on 
business  the  day  you  wrote  the  letter 
telling  your  wife  to  wait.  When  I  was 
going  you  remember  you  gave  me  the  let¬ 
ter  to  mail.  I  guessed  at  the  contents, 
and,  copying  the  address  on  your  envel¬ 
ope,  I  wrote  her  a  letter,  too,  telling  her 
all  about  your  disappointment.  Then  I 
told  her  to  get  ready  to  come  right  off  on 
the  money  I  sent  her.  I  wrote  her  to 
plan  to  come  about  the  23d.  So  I  went 
Draicn  by  Charlotte  Booth  (15  Years), 
New  York 
to  the  depot  yesterday  and  found  her, 
and  here  she  is.” 
John  had  to  wipe  his  eyes  before  he 
held  out  his  hand  to  the  wonderful  Santa 
Claus,  who  grasped  it  and  shook  it  hear¬ 
tily.  ESTHER  ADAMS 
New  York.  (15  years). 
December 
Oh  !  holly  branch  and  mistletoe, 
And  Christmas  chimes  where’er  we  go, 
And  stockings  pinned  up  in  a  row  ! 
These  are  thy  gifts,  December ! 
And  if  the  year  has  made  thee  old, 
And  silvered  all  thy  locks  of  gold, 
Thy  heart  has  never  been  acold, 
Or  known  a  fading  ember. 
1’he  whole  world  is  a  Christmas  tree, 
,\nd  stars  its  many  candles  be; 
Oh  !  sing  a  carol  joyfully, 
The  year’s  great  feast  remember ! 
- HARRIET  F.  BLODGETT. 
Sent  by  Clara  Cox 
Maryland.  (12  years). 
Water 
Few  Nature  Puzzles  that  we  have  ever 
had  called  forth  so  many  answers  or  so 
much  comment  as  this  one,  described  by 
