CHRISTMAS, 1897.

Press, Volume LIV, Issue 9919, 27 December 1897, Page 3

CHRISTMAS, 1897.

The time-honoured festival of Christmas, j which the Germans have so truly styled the children's time, has been duly celebrated. Unlike our friends in England, the Christmas of New Zealand has none of the romance of frost and snow attached to it, but instead the fervid heat of the midsummer sun. Yet it is observed none the less jovially, the only difference perhaps being that instead of large gatherings indoors, New Zealanders are apt to make a family picnic of Christinas Day and spend it in the open. Whilst all was merry, and at anyrate for one day in the year business troubles and all kinds of troubles were forgotten, it is satisfactory to be able to record that those who have failed in the race of life were not forgotten. Thanks to the liberality and kindness of many ot our citizens, those whose untoward fate compelled them to spend their Christmas in one or other of the charitable institutions of the city, found that all had been done to enable them, as well as their more fortunate brothers and sisters, to keep the feast right royally. CHRISTMAS EVE. Christmas Eve is always a scene of bustle and excitement, and Friday was no excep tion to the rule. The fruiterers, butchers and poulterers made a rare show outside their places of business with greenery, flowers, &c, giving quite an arcadian and bower-like appearance to the streets. The grocers also were munificent in their ornamentation, though it was to a large extent inside the windows, with heaps of raisins, currants, and great rounds of candied peel that the display was made. In the various drapers' windows the latest novelty in costumes and hats were for the time forgotten, and it was the windows in jvhich were gathered together the thousand and one nick-nacks known under the generic title of " Christmas Presents " that the interest of passersby centred. To a more limited extent the jewellers' windows appealed to the generosity of those who could afford to be munificent in a regal manner, for there were all kinds of things dear to the heart of women, and of men also for the matter of that. One wished for the good old times to come again when fairy god-mothers went round about dispensing rich gifts galore. Up and down the streets all through the day flashed carts of all kinds each loaded— the grocers' conveyances especially —with a perfect Mount Cook of parcels. The sidewalks ran over with people, even in the earlier part of the day, all with tribes of children, and in all cases laden heavily with Santa Klaus offerings. Round the toy shops, the drapers' windows, and the fruiterers the younger generation gathered in masses, making locomotion for ordinary business men a matter of difficulty. Even the obstructive and assertive perambulators were unable to get through the dense phalanx ot children, all intent on the many fascinating things displayed before them. There were the country folk, who, when the real Christmas carnival commenced some four or five hours later under the twinkling stars, would be miles away in distant homesteads displaying their treasured purchases to admiring and expectant relatives. The city children would have their turn later, when the dense masses of people crowd the streets and block the wheeled traffic with a thorough enjoyment of the situation truly and essentially colonial. So the day wears on, and still the shops are crowded to excess aud heated and tired shopmen do juggling tricks with oceans of packages which is wonderful to see.

But it is when the sun has set and the stars borne out like burning jewels that the true fun of Christmas time is at its height. By tram, drag and cart the suburbs pour their population into the city. Go where you will you are confronted by dense masses of people, men, women and children, all bent on the same errand, to see the sights and to lay in a stock for the festival. • Out in the centre of the street drags move at a snail's pace, for they are surrounded and hemmed in with people, leaving only just room for the vehicles to get by. At the corners of some of the principal streets, where the living streams collide there is a regular block. But the utmost good temper prevails, one hears no bad language, sees no one the worse for liquor. On all sides are well-dressed, good-humoured j looking people, and the season's salutations i echo and re-echo as family greets family with it. Up and down, round and round the I different streets, like the restless sea, goes the crowd, until, as the night wears on towards what the carol calls " the noon of night," the streets once more wear their accustomed appearance. The tinkle of the church bells rises in the quiet, warm, midnight air, followed by the sounds of carol singing and bands playing, as yet afar off, the distance lending the enchanment which is spoken of. Soon one's slumbers will be ruthlessly broken by discordant and brassy performances of "Christians Awake," " Good King Wenceslas," &c. Choirs of more or less musical ability, and bands with a preponderance of euphonium, perambulate the streets, and sing and play until the bright sun rays coming in at the windows proclaim that Christmas Day has once more dawned upon us.