CHRISTMAS ELSEWHERE.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 308, 24 December 1908, Page 3

CHRISTMAS ELSEWHERE.

•;•■■■> THE KING'S"CHRISTMAS KOYAL (~'KXEROSnT 'O.V THE '" Yiiletidciv always .".regarded" l,v" 'the [King and" Qiieen as 'a 'lihie of. famil'v reiiii.o;,:-antl' they "gather' around them as-many "of their- children and'grandchildren- a*:'h-pW*W, and. atso cutel ■tarn.-a'; few" "of 'fheif'-moVt' intimate friends.- _ Their ■geuis-rftjUy-'-fff-tlijiic' 'iroliiU them ivimbmimlcd.- Presents 'oigaine are sent out to policemen,''post'ui'lH. servants, .railway emplovcfci,'-and-to many other persons whose littte-servTc-s during the year arc'not forgotten-,-and the receipt of a brace of phea-sunts-or a hare from the Sandringliam larders, -earing a large label, printed in hold letters, '• From His Majesty the King," is an incident that sets many a heart aflutter with gratitude. Hospitals, workhouses, and kindred institutions all come within the scope of the Royal generosity.

On the day before Christmas there is a distribution of several tons of beef to the employees and residents on the estate. Some UOO of these gather at the coach-houses at Sandringliam, where the seasonable joints have already been laid out, and with remarkable expedition the work of distribution is performed. Very frequently the King and Queen and other members of the Royal Family are present at the distribution, and the meat is never sent out unless it has been previously inspected by some of them. The joints are cut in proportion to. each family's requirements, two pounds being allowed for each adult and one pound for each child. The primest cuts are reserved for the employees, and the gifts are methodically handed to them, commencing -with tiie head man down to the lowest in the respective departments. The other joints arc given to the cottagers and others who are not employed by his Majesty about the estate, and tue widows are never forgotten. The Queen on Christinas Eve sends out plum puddings and mince pies produced in the Royal kitchen to some of the head people on the estate, and also makes a practice of giving away a large quantity of clothing and other welcome presents to those whose duty may bring them in contact with the household Affairs at Sandringliam. Meanwhile valuable gifts and speci-ally-designed greetings will have been despatched by their Majesties to their numerous relatives and friends. Many hands are engaged in decorating Sandringham House with holly, evergreens, and flowers, and the interior of Sandringliam Church, where the Royal Family attend devotions on Christmas morning, is similarly adorned. A tall fir, sent from the park at Windsor, is to .be installed in the ballroom as a Christmas tree, and this will be laden with gifts and elaborately decorated with ornaments, while electric light devices will be introduced to illuminate the tree. On Christmas Day only will the presents intended for the members of the Koyal Family be taken from the tree, and a special time is devoted for permitting their Majesties' grandchildren to indulge in the delights which a Christinas tree affords. Near the tree will be long tables laden with gifts for the household servants, and these will be distributed later on in the -week . 1

The service on Christmas morning in the village church is attended by all the members of the Royal Family, their Majesties' guests, and the ladies and gentlemcn-in-waiting, as well as all the servants who can conveniently attend. After lunch, should the weather be favourable, the Royal party usually take a walk round the stables, kernels, and gardens. This pleasant diversion prepares the way for the dinner party at night, which is always served in regsl style, though the traditional custom cf dining en famine is maintained. The usual Christmas fare enters into the menu, but his Majesty has dispensed with the baron of beef which was a feature of Queen Victoria's Christmas dinners. Special dishes, however, include roast cygnet and boar's head, the latter being a gift from the Kaiser.

A CHRISTMAS IN LABRADOR By Hesketh Prichard, Contrast is surely .the salt of enjoyment and delight, and in the ide.il Christmas of my imagination I pictuie a weary individual battling through the snow behind bis tired dog-team over the desolate country of the Labrador Peninsula. It is Christmas Eve, and already the short day is drawing in. The wind comes roaring down the gullies unladen by any hint of human presence. It has swept across the untenanted limitless leagues of the interior. It carries the promise of snow. Underfoot the ground is covered with a white cloak several feet in thickness. The one fear of the traveller is that he will not be able to reach his destination; indecdj he has almost given it up, and is looking for a sheltered, or comparatively sheltered, place in which to build his snow hut, when, rounding yet another of the innumerable promontories, lie sees hci fore him the gleam and wink of lights. They are those of the Moravian mission i station at Hopcdale. The dogs sec them, too, and lose their lassitude. In a very short time th"? koniatik is drawn up outside the palisade, and the traveller being welcomed by his friends. And such a welcome it is!- Quite different from the welcome of a civilised land, for here men are allied closely in a struggle for existence; their common enemies are hunger, cold, and darkness. "So you have come, after all," cries the house father. "We were afraid you wouldn't win through. This is splendid. -Come in! Come in!" And the traveller enters, to meet it second welcome from the ladies of the mission, whose gracious and unselfish presence goes far to render life less arduous in the inhospitable and lonely land.

And now, as the traveller sits down by the stove he knows and experiences all the joys of contrast. He is in the midst- of European life transplanted. He thinks of the wind which is raging seaward upon the other side of the Hopedale promontories, of the snow hut and the labour of unharnessing his dogs, which so nearly has been his portion, as he discusses the news of the lonely coast. Instead he sees the ruddy lights ui the mission house shining on the snow and upou the squat forms of the Eskimo, who are attending to his komatik. And I think that he experiences one of the -most joyous sensations of life. Next morning, after a long, dreamless, tired sleep, he is awakened by the bell of the church. The scene upon which he looks out is like thp pictured Christmas of boyish dreams—a flag is flying on the flagstaff, the glittering roofs gleam through the frosty air, and in the wild, straggling village On the bill the Eskimo hunters and fishermen are shaking hands in great good-fellowship. Eater, from all the surrounding huts ami from distances up to 40 miles, the settlers, or planters, as they call themselves, throng in to service, which is in Eskimo and in English, and to spend Christmas Day.

The missionaries, men who call Labrador "home," and whose fathers and grandfathers have been Moravian missionaries before them, have the power of making Christmas the happy and splendid day it should'be. They transform the mission-house into a rest houso upo u the road of life, and the stranger who is within their gates realises what life on the Labrador would be without them. T think the ideal Christmas is one such as the -.Moravians spend in the eight months' winter of the Labrador.

CHRISTMAS AT THE CAPK. It is the Kaffirs, the real Africans, who most keenlv enjoy themselves at Capetown on Christmas Day. They seem to claim it as their own; their faces are wreathed in smiles from morn- ( ■:i« till night; they expect gifts from everyone with whom they have the slightest acquaintance; ami " Mcllv Klisiniis, Ilans!- is their greeting not only on the (lav itself, but during «.l the' succeeding week. Wherever a nilii;- ■ ber of them are congregated great festivities take place, sometimes extending to the hist hour of Hie year. 1 hey dince and siim, feast and drink, get married. fiL-hC and generally enjoy themselves and make the most of the ■ softened feelings of their masters. On the mules a free dinner, with an extra ! j allowance of meat, is given to them by the owners, and as all the various tribes iro represented, and a war dance is one rr the feaures of the ilftv. it genera, iV ' ends with imprisonment for some, even 1* if blood has not been shed. Tn their own knals "rand performances take place,

too. Vi'srtow-totntf'h'b'hi'tlic neighbourhood to see the dancing, and they aliarruy themselves. jn .gurgeous.-i-ahiK'nt, ; tne' men wij,h .feathers., waving—alio. w. their .heads,.; and wearing their -moat gaiTy'-einbroiilcvecl ;bfankut.s wi'tli all t ; heir„Jb,r«ss jewellery.'and-bead fihoi'.v, iuhonour of.,the occasion.''ln the country districts some-of the Dii'tcli farmers ..invite, all .the. neighbours .'for in'iles aiqujid, to. dance, ami-as" there' is seldom a loom large enough--iii-'tlie house, a.sail Is..spread, on.the veldt, a.vl; > well stretched and,.fastened dowm-forms, "n'capital lloqr,_.(iir|s., .will ..travel »>bo : whole d'av. to be,.present, ata-dnnee, -so. 'passionately fqnil are .the Dutch of this, .amusement, and. no .band .ever seems- to : fcecp time or be-quite- as : satisfactory, us a.concertina .and- a- -violin ' to a,Dukh ( girl. .who. lias .never danced to ■ any pother instrument . all.-her life. Christinas Day. is ,0.n0.0f, .the "Na-teli-' liiaals," or Communion,.services,- always regularly, ai,te!lded by the...linen, -who make thein.opcas.ion for..ail..Uie- weddings' and christenings,,sg .that .there- is- usually double cause for..rejoicing-at .this time-. And as the whole, week is-iiiade-a-holf day in most places,, it is-..the.-'annual outing for the great .majority The weather is perfect, the fruit just-ripen-ing; sometimes when the preceding months have been unusually hot, it-is the height of the fruit season, and thenights are so clear and warm that it is no hardship to sleep out of doors.

CHRISTMAS WITH THE KAISER To see the Kaiser at Christmas is .to see a man who has shed all the pretensions of a demigod; one who has stepped down from his pedestal to become a good plain burgher, overflowing with the milk of human kindness. ' " Every Christinas Eve, when early dusk gathers in a northern clime, wrapped in an ample cape mantle, wholly unattended and not easily recognisable, H is his custom to stroll through his park around .the Xeues Palais, where the boughs are laden with feathery snow, and then through Potsdam. His pockets are full of gold and silver pieces, and, like another Santa C'laus, he distributes his bounty to the children and humbler folk he meets. Nobody is overlooked—the men at the sentry-boxes, the park labourers and t'ie white-haired gardeners iu Sans Souci, tlic c'''Pple veteran, and the sturdy beggar—each and everyone, receives his dole. Often he pays ; at Christmas debts of courtesy incurred during the year. To .Baron von Lyncker, his marshal of the household, he sent a magnificent present, worth about i £2,000, and a chest of solid silver plate, . iu recognition, of the extra and rather vexatious labours that official had had ; to perform during tire year 1000, the i year when the Crown- Prince attained : his majority. To Dr. von Leuthold, his i body physician, he handed a line gold < repeater, set in precious stones, and bearing the motto, 'Suaviter in modo, i fortiter in re.' This had reference to i a past difference of opinion between the | doctor and his Imperial patient. In the 1 Royal household the Christinas festivi- | ties are conducted on an elaborate scale, < and yet, we arc told, in the same spirit j which makes the day dear to the heart of all German people."

CHRISTMAS IN A FRENCH HOME GOOSE THE NATIONAL DISH FOR DINNER—THE EVENING PARTY. Christmas Day in Paris is the most homekeeping feastday of the year, and it is the day of days for the children, of course. Their little minds have been wandering for weeks iii an enchanted land, people with beautiful girl dolls >n "dreams of frocks'' and handsome boy dolls in brilliant uniform*, trains that go round a miniature railway, motorears that whizz along at a breakneck pace, balloons that soar without any difficulty, woolly bears, elephants, monkeys—in fact, a whole menagerie such as one sees big and alive at the Jardin d'Acclimation in the summer, and small and stuffed at the Bon Marehe in the winter. If only lye Petit Jesu, as He runs about the roofs on Christmas Eve, would tell Pere Noel to give an animal of each kind to every child in I'aris, how happy a city it would .be! • But that, they are told, is impossible, eo they place their slippers in the lireplace with the modest hope that one at least of these wonders will be dropped down their chimney during the night.

Goose is the national dish for a Christmas dinner in France, and it is served with as much pomp and circumstance as is the roast beef of old England or the turkey and cranberry sauce of America. But the crowning glory of the day is the evening party. Very often it is fancy dress, for there is nothing Unit the French. child delights in more than dressing up. Boys or girls, they .simply love to play a part, and it is the prettiest sight imaginable to watch their airs anil graces as, arrayed in the stately robes, of some historic personage, or pirouetting as a fairy, they prance through the babies polka, the' Boston, the cakewalk, and the cotillon. In all '' papa" leads the way, for the French father enjoys the fun quite as much as his children, and even though he may have lost the first slimness of youth, lie has by no ..means grown too heavy for "tripping it down the middle" with his pretty daughter and her girl frieuds on Christmas Day.