OUR CHRIST .IAS
CELEBRATION
The day before Christmas Gabriel
was sent out to ca^ all the people of
the Island to the Baptist Church for
the entertainment that evening.
Before the last bell rang: they were
there almost without exception, and
the little church w .s well filled.
Aside from the Christ tins Ttee and,
some ropes of beautiful moss over the
windows and organ no other decor
ations were made. The Christinas
Tree w..s a beauty in itself, but after
the tinsel, and st. ings of popcOin, and
cand.es were put on, it made a ve.y
pretty sight.
The program was not long, but was
very well rende.ed. The.e were
four Christmas Songs by the children,
I.il*K,u Albert and Julia Foreman
e m h gave a recitation. Then the
ngnts were turned out and Stereopti
con pictures thrown upon a large
scteeti. which till that moment had
been decorated with a large flag
The first group of pictures was "The
Holy City". These wete beautifully
colored, and exclamations of delight
were heard on every side as they
appeared. The song was given on
the Grumaphone. Then followed a
Temperance lecture "The Drunkards
Career," which apparently made a
deep impression on the children.
Vfter that "The New Born King’’>
a irroup of teu colored pi tines w: s
shown while Mrs. I,e».rn recited
approp rate Scripture veises as the
phtures i ante upon the soeeu
The lamps weie then lighted, and
after a song by the ehildteu the gifts
were distributed. There weie two
hanukerclitefs and a pretty sachet hr g
for every man, woman and young
person; for the little girls and babys,
outing f annel skirts; for the little
hoys, jai k knives. These gifts of
course weie not for the mission c hiId
re n. Then every one received a
pretty box filled with candy and nu»3.
The gifts were distributed by
Charlie, James, Mike, Willie, Joe and
Gabriel, who wore their new unifott: s
for the first lime. Thtse uniforms ate
grey with red braid on the shoulder
seams and the outside stams of the
tiouser legs, while gilt buttons adoin
the front and s eeves of the coats.
After the distribution of the gifts
the children sang a Christmas Carol
and the audience was dismissed.
On Christmas morning at 10.30
o’clock the children were called into
the assembly room, in one corner of
which stood a fine tree just loaded
with gifts. The candles on it weie
lighted, as the morning was dark
enough even at that hour to make
them show off well. After we had
all feasted our eyes on the pretty
sight, the gifts were distributed and
(Continued on page four)