Newspapers / Carolina Watchman (Salisbury, N.C.) / Dec. 9, 1908, edition 1 / Page 6
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IN " O , chronicler of Christmas do ings has done it so inimitably as Dickens, : aind nowhere has Dickens described them' bet- :ter jthaa in the "Pickwick Papers." One might read the paragraph relating : . " R. hundred times and not become weary. he-Chriatmas . splritt is teiery where evident in the chapters devoted to the Iwhliafr' mo V4r rr ;T5Svty 'Via Vin r1 n n 1 r cv prTaen the hero, his three friends nd Ills faithful servant start for Dlngley Dell, to the hoar of their return there is Christmas In every-sentence:; As brisk as bees. If not altogether as Mtt- am a4viA rliA .ft frtirr THr1rwiV1n.na assemble on the morning of the 22d day, pi uecemwr in me yvar s'o prhich these their faithfully recorded ad ventures were undertaken and - accom plished. Christmas 'was close at hand In '11 his bhiff and hearty honesty. It was the season of hospitality, merriment and open heartedness. The tld year was pre paring, like an ancient philosopher, to Call his friends around him and amid the sound of feasting and .. revelry to pass gently and calmly away. Gay and merry (was the time, and rigrht say and merry., were at least four of the numerous hearts that were gladdened by its coming. After traveling through a wide and open country where "the wheels skim aver the hard and frosty ground," slow ing up as they draw near a country town, where the horses are changed, then again "dashing along the open road, with the fresh air blowing in Hheir faces and gladdening their very Jaearts within them;" they arrive at jPlngley Dell, where we are introduced to that famous personage, the fat boy. He is an old acquaintance of Mr. Pick fwick, but to Sam Weller his face is strange. To follow this first meeting: Haying given this direction and settled fwith the coachman, Mr. Pickwick and 'dis three friends struck into the footpath across the fields and walked briskly away, leaving Mr. Weller and the fat boy con fronted together for the first time. Sam looked at the fat boy with great aston ishment, but without saying a word, and the airs of : a man who could "skait" and. ha vine shown his ignorance there of, was smartly reproved by Mr. Pick- j wick. Meanwhile, "Mr. Weller and the : ksvit tunrlTiff hv tfiplr 1nlnr efforts - mm; kssj - . k It-cut out a slide," all hands participated. .Says the chronicler of the day's sport: it was the most Intensely interesting thing to i observe the - manner" in: . which Mr. -Pickwick performed his share In the ceremony watch -the torture .of ,anx. tefer. with which he viewed-the person be hind gaining ,upon b.lm at the imminent hazard Of tripping j him up, to. see him gradually, expend, the jainrui iorce wmcn he had put on at first and turn slowly DlMa sHth Ma faM toward rr-r around on the slide,-with his face toward the ;point-from which he had started, -to 'contemplate the playful smile which man tled on his face when he Bad accomplish ed the distance and the eagerness with which - he turned " around when he had done so and ran after his predecessor, his black gaiters tripping pleasantly through the snow and his eyes beaming cheerful ness and gladness through his spectacles, and when he was knocked down, which happened upon the average every third round, it was the most Invigorating sight that can. possibly, be imagined to behold him gather up. his hat, gloves and hand kerchief with a glowing countenance and resume ; hi station In the rank with an ardor - and enthusiasm which nothing could abate. W Mr. . Pickwick : unfortunately breaks through the ice and gets a good wet ting, but, being taken on a smart run to the house, put to bed and given un limited quantities of hot punch, finds himself none the worse next morning, when the. party departs from Dingley Dell. Thus does Dickens tell us of one of the merriest Christmase that a reader could desire. There is no touch of sad ness in the chronicle, and all that one could wish for is that the story were longer. Ixmg live the tale, and long mnv we eniov Christmas with the Pickwickians! LONG WALK FOR SANTA. Tree Burned, Father Goes Eight Mile For New Toys. Gifts intended for his eight children being destroyed when his lighting of the Christmas tree, Just before mid nisrht caused a fire which damaged his home in Cleveland, Alfred Ham mermeister trudged eight miles through snow before he could rouse a store- ME. PICKWICK WENT SLOWLY AND GBAVELY DOWN THE STIPE; WITH HIS FEET ABOUT A YAED APART. began to stow the things rapidly away jln Mm cart, while the fat boy stood quiet jty by and seemed to think it a very in teresting sort of thing to see Mr. Weller jworktng by himself. The conversation of these two char acters is too long to reprint here, but not too much so to peruse with the greatest interest. We must pass over the story of the wedding, which was the day before Christmas event at Dingley Dell, at which Mr. Pickwick distinguished himself "by a felicitous Speech, and get to the story of the dance. Dickens' description of the old oittlng room is a gem: The best sitting room at Manor Farm was- a good, long, dark paneled room, .with a high chimney piece and a capacious .-chimney, up which you could have driven ,one of the new patent cabs, wheels and jail. At the upper end of the room, seated in a shady bower of holly and ever jgreens, were the two best fiddlers and the only harp hi Muggleton. In all sorts of .recesses and on all kinds of brackets stood massive old sliver candlesticks with jfour branches each. The carpet was up, the candles burned bright, the fire blazed land crackled on the hearth, and merry jyoioes and light hearted laughter rang i through the room. If any of the old SngUsh yeomen had turned into fairies iWhen they died, it was just the place in jwhioh they would have held their revels. f After the dance was over, Mr.- Pick et having acquitted himself with tgreat credit; the reader is told about the doings in the famous old kitchen. Here hung the mistletoe and did its imission well in adding to the Jollity of the occasion. The artist whose pic tures appear on his pages has done ex cellent Justice to Dickens' text: ' From the center of the celling of this kitchen old Wardle had just suspended With his own hands a huge branch of mistletoe, and this same branch of mis tletoe instantaneously gave rise to a scene of general and most delightful struggling and confusion, In the midst of which Mr. Pickwick, with a gallantry which would have done honor to' a de scendant of Lady Tollinglower herself, took the old lady by the hand, led her be neath the mystic branch and saluted her dn all courtesy and decorum. Wardle stood with his back to the fire, surveying the whole scene with the utmost satisfac tion, and the fat boy took the opportuni ty of appropriating to his own use and summarily devouring a particularly fine Tnlnoe pie that had been carefully put by lor somebody else. It was a pleasant thing to see Mr. Pick wick in the center of the group, now pull ed this way and then that and first kiss ed on .the ohin and then on the nose and then on the spectacles, and to hear the peals of laughter which were raised on very side. 1 Finally we come to Christmas day, which was cold and cheerful and good :"skaiting" weather. The party all rwent to a "pretty large sheet of ice," where Mr. Winkle, having assumed KILLthe COUGH AND CURE the LUNGS WITH ir. King's iSGOvcry At AAIIAIIA FEIC! liU sr uuunn an., m. aim Ull WOLDS TflalBotiirire AND ALL THROAT AND LUNG TROUBLES. GUARANTEED SATISFACTORY OB MONEY REFUNDED. keeper and gather another supply of presents so that the children's faith in Santa Claus might not be lost The children were asleep when Mr. and Mrs. Hammermeister completed decorating the ' tree. The father de cided to light the candles as a test They burned; so did the cotton snow balls. The blaze awakened the chil dren. "Scanty here?" they piped. "Is it mornin'?" The parents gathered them in their arms and rushed to the street Firemen brought out a lot of fire ruined presents from the house. "Santy been and gone and our things is burned up!" the children cried. Hammermeister began his weary search for an open store. He em ployed the Infrequent street cars for long stretches, but trudged mile after mile in fruitless search. Finally he routed a storekeeper from his bed and, burdening himself with a new supply. trudged home to turn sorrow Into joy .Hunting Christmas Ghosts. Ghost hunting bids fair to become the ruling passion of Washington so ciety. The fortunate owners of a peaked house, roped with Ivy and densely surrounded by trees, are issu ing cards for a Christmas specter hunt The Christmas ghost hunt is Imported from England, where the houses are ancient enough to harbor specters who were there before William the Con queror. The comparative newness of this country leads some to predict that the fad over here will fail. There are exceptions, however, for even In Wash ington there is one of the treasure guarding ghosts an out and out bucca neer of the Spanish main variety, with cocked hat, gold lace, ruflles, high yel low boots, red jacket and an odor of antiquity. Those acquainted with him say that he clinks his chains of stolen doubloons. Washington Star. A Christmas Sentiment. However sincere we may be in our efforts to spread Christmas cheer, our charity Is none the less a testimony to our sense of the fact that peace and good will have: not come upon the earth. Poverty and wretchedness are not to be offset by yearly" gifts of bas kets of food and outgrown clothes. We ought to make the spasmodic kindliness of Christmas one of the constant forces of our industrial world Equality and fraternity are born not of charity, but of justice. ' v". - Instead of commercializing-" Christy mas' we ought to Chrlstmasize cpm- mAMlallom V&tir Hffnll i wwvin i to hi. awv luift aiau EC ILL the COUCH AND CURE THE LUNGS kUUU in PBICB sn a i fw OLDS Trial Bottle tree AND ALL THROAT AND LUNG TROUBLES. FnnnoycHs WIS d GUARANTEED SATISFACTORY OS 2IONEY aEETTiTDEDO u 126 South Main St., Salisbury, SiriuTi Dec. 12! 8:30 a. m. h ; r '-i';Snn:rn ,ntnmc-TriWiTrirnH j: --rf n" ri:r , ! . er r m f nnrr ri The M lireel eao. 9 The M , . '- 4 .T . tmob scold No mercy lias been shown to the cost mark. . Your dollar will do double duty during this sale at A. ff. i?I HEWS A Mighty Tidal Wave of Unparalleled Bargains for Dry Goods, Silks, Dress Goods, Shoes, Hats, Ladies' and Gents' Furnighings, La dies' and Misses' Long Coats, Carpets, Mattings and Notions will be placed on sale Saturday morning at 8:30 a. m., December 12th, at the big storeroom, 126 South Main street, Salisbury, N. C. Ladies' Long Coats. $15.00 Quality, 25.00 " 20.00 12.50 11.00 10.00 8.00 5.00 4i 66 $9.98 15.69 12.99 9.69 7.98 7.69 5.98 3.69 Children's Coats from 49c UP Big Lot Furs from 49c UP' Ladies' Shoes, S2.50 quality, b90 Ladies' Shoes, $3.00 quality, 2.35 Men's Patent Leather Shoes, S2.50 quality, a9Q Men's Shoes, 3.00 quality, 235 Men's Shoes, SI 50 quality, 1J9 Men's Shoes, $3.50 quality; 2J5 10 and 12ic Flannelettes at jd All 10c Outing at 7q yd One Lot 6c Outing at 4ic Eixudide Plaids at - Jq yd Lot A. A. Domestic at 4C Td 1 piece White Table Linen at 9c yd Red 66 50c Table Linen at 65c " " 1.00 " " 85 c " " 19c yd 39c yd 43c yd 89cyd 60c yd of Profit and Cost Unrecognized. The showin hew prices, bordering on give away, start on Saturday, Dec. 12th, 8:30 a. m. will at 7 o V r n mi inn 126 South Main St., t 9 U S SiUi 512 1:5 rff .'"5- if
Carolina Watchman (Salisbury, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Dec. 9, 1908, edition 1
6
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