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WHEN NEJT-YEAK3 * 'u4T TTZE* ~wDOOE tt£U- ' afr ̂ .•: $vjv -Iffv r £-Vis t';': When you hear the New Year Knocking at the door. Which, of all your wishes. Would you ask him for. If he said he grant you One and just no more? When you hear the l>Jew Tear Knocking at the door. When you hear the New fear ' Knocking at the door. Would you ask for Money Heaped In golden store? 1 Remember old Carnegie, j.Who says that wealth's a bor% \yflhen you hear the New Year - ^Knocking at the door. When you hear the New Year Knocking at the door. Would you wish for Power, Like monarchs held of yore? See the Caar of Russia, Bombarded, aft and fore. When you hear the New Year Knocking at the door. When you hear the New Year Knocking at the door, Mike the wish that's best ot all. Be what may in Btore-- •Tis to keep the old friends. Beloved of your heart's core. When you hear the New Year Knocking at the door. John 8. McQroarty. fi'ii" - i 3^# Romance of the Year Time Civil, Ecclesiastical and Astronomical- Date of New Year Variable--Equinoxes Alone Constant--Customs of New Year's Observance In Ancient and Modern Times. ^ ^ ^ All iiations and people have a par­ ticular epoch from which they date the era in which they may have lived. s dated their chronological the founding of the city, sion, "The year of Rome," ters A. U. C. (ab urbs con- rs to that particular epoch. The Mohammedans express their se­ quence of time by "the year of the ptfephet" The date is from the Hejira, or the flight of Mohanjmed from Mecca (Hejira is pronounced Hej-i-ra, and is an Arabic word meaning flight), Which occurred A. D. 622. The Jews their dispensation from the Creation of the world, but in reality their chronology begins with the Exodus. Moses intentionally intro­ duced a new calendar, and makes •bib their first month. It has been \ supposed that the Jewish Sabbath is the same as the seventh day on which God endod Hif work, but as Moses changed the first month to Abib, he changed the first day also. The first day of this new year was the first day of the first month and the first day of the first week. The Sabbath being held on the seventh day, it must of necessity have been changed also. But -being changed, it could not be in correspondence with the seventh day of creation on which God "rested." Christians date their epoch frgm the birth of Christ, the expression for which is the Latin words Anno Dom­ ini, or A. D., the initial letters of the words. Five centuries elapsed before Ml attempt was made to authoritative­ ly fix the date of the Nativity. This was then undertaken by Dionysius * Bxignns (little), who fixed our present chronology. It is now generally al­ lowed that he was four years out in his reckoning, and that B. C. 4 is the oorrect year. This corresponds with the statement by Ireneus and Tertul- ' Man that Christ was born about the year of Rome 751. Different nations have begun their \> -fSpunt of time at different parts of the twenty-four hours. The . ancient Ac cadians, Babylonians, Syrians. Per­ sians, the modern Greeks and the in­ habitants of the Balearic isles reckon their day from sunrise to sunrise. Why .the ancient nations began the day at sunrise is evident from their early re­ ligion, which was Magism. Fire was ^ chief object of reverence with them, and the eun as the grand symbol of their worship received especial venera­ tion. Hence they . began their day as they began their devotions--with the rising sun. , ; Others, like the Athenians, ^he Chi- , -vJgMse and the Jews have counted the 'fry from sunset to sunset. Why the lews begin the day from sunset is potent from their religion. The char­ acteristics of the Jewish religion are In sharp contrast to those of other \nations. The aim of Moses was to wean them from the grossness of ( oriental religions. Hence the contrasts - and antitheses. If the worshipers of the elements begin the day with sun­ rise, then the followers of Jehovah will begin theirs with sunset. Moses 1 ̂ can have no concord with error. £/ The Egyptians and pagan Roman priests began their day at midnight Most European nations follow the .• s. pame rule. Americans have also adopt- v ®d the custom. Astronomers, however, begin the day at noon, when the sun * is on the meridian. To Hipparohus. a Greek philosopher. I Who flourished about B. C. i50. must t given the credit of dividing tne day from midnight to midnight into I twenty-four hours, or two equal por- t tions of twelve hours each. This sys- tem prevails generally at the present 'Y ' day. But astronomers count continu -unisly for twenty-four hours. f The week, as all know, consists of Seven days. Christians and Jews ^iold thus division because God created . the heaven and the earth (the solar jpystem) and primordial forms of life i six days, and."rested" on the Seventh. But it would seem that . \|jagan nations selected seven days be- *v*jaus« of the seven planets known to .. |£ ther-w after which they called the i' 1 day* The sun and moon were in- fc--TeludM in the planets. They were: * i$un, Mercury, Venus, Moon, Mars. & Jupiter, Saturn. We call three days |>f the week dtfeetSy after the planets f J "--Saturday (Saturn), Sunday (Sun), ^Monday (Moon), and four through the j-*feaxon names for the others: Tuesday ^•M>|iX'rueRco--Mars). Wednesday (Woden Mercury), Thursday (Thor--Jupl- %er), and Friday (Frlga--Venus). , The month, no doubt, originated -(from the phases of the moon. These, /.sharp and well-defined, are four in "T/j 'number: the new moon, first quarter, y^'„iull moon and last quarter. Bach of ;iv."jthese phases occupies about seven m days, so that from new full moon to new lull moon, there Is something more than twenty-nine days, which is called a synodical month, or lunation. No nation up to the present time has devised a system of absolute ac­ curacy in the measurement of the colar year. Some ancient nations, such as the Chaldeans, reckoned the year as 360 days. This is the principle of that most ancient astronomical term, the Zodiac. The Zodiac is a belt en­ circling the heavens on each side of the ecliptic, within which the planets known to the ancients always revolve. It extends eight degrees on each side of the ecliptic. It is divided into twelve equal parts, called signs of the Zodiac. It is a great cycle, and is di­ vided into 360 dfegrees, like all cir­ cles; hence 360 days in the Chaldean year. The Egyptians counted 365 days in their year. As the year contains 265% days nearly, such systems could not fail to work great inconvenience, for the seasons would move round in a cycle from one time of the year to the other. Let me make this quite plain. Take the winter solstice, for instance, which happens on Dec. 21. At the end of four years the solstice would be not on Dec. 21, but on Dec. 22. The sun would be behind time. In order, therefore, that ..the seasons should pccur at the same time in the civil year, it was necessary to take account of this fraction of a day. Julius Caesar, the great Roman em­ peror, determined to rectify the error. He called the celebrated fegyptian as­ tronomer, Sosigines, to his aid. Sosi- gines suggested the addition of a day every fourth year. This day was add­ ed to February, and is known to us as "Leap Year," but to the Romans as Bissextile (Bis, twice, sextus, sixth). This corrected calendar became known as the Julian. But as it made the year consist of 365 days, 6 hours, it was in excess of the actual time by minute 10.3 seconds. Small as was this fraction, it accumulated to about one day in every 134 years. The calendar needed reform. Time, civil and ecclesiastical, required re­ adjustment. But to urge the neces­ sary change was dangerous, as the learned Friar Bacon found to his cost. For pointing out errors in the calendar he received as a reward for the ad­ vocacy of the truth a prison, where he remained ten years. As often happens, ecclesiastical requirements minister to civil neces­ sities. The immediate cause of the correction of the calendar was an error in the time of observing the Easter festival. The Council of Nice, in A. D. 325, decreed that Easter is the Sunday following the full moon, next after the Vernal equinox. Owing to disputes arising from this decree Pope HilaiiUS, In 463, ordered that the paschal moon should not be the actual full moon, but an ideal one, falling on the 14th day of the moon by the metonic cycle (so-called from Metoni, a Greek philosopher, who discovered it. It consists of nineteen years, at the end of which the sun is in about the same position hp was at the be­ ginning). In 1582 it was found that the real equinox foil ten days before the nom­ inal one, and from the error in the Metonic -cycle, Easter had got four days wrong. Then Pope Gregory XIII reformed the calendar, called p.fter him the Gregorian calendar, by the aid qf Clavius, a learned Jesuit. The equinox of lf»82, which should have fallen on March 21, fell on March 11. Gregory cut the Gordian knot by decreeing that Oct. 5 of that year should be counted as Oct. 15. The first method of measuring time, as far as we know, was by means of the obelisk. The pyramids of Egypt very probably answered the same pur­ pose, Josephus states that Moses erected, at Heliopolis. In Egypt, a pil­ lar for such purposes. "The cloudy pillar" that accompanied the Israel ites in their forty years' wanderings in the wilderness, and which was a "pil­ lar of fire by night." most likely an­ swered the same purpose. Pliny states that an obelisk, now on the Thames embankment In London, and known as "Cleopatra's Needle," was erected by Mesophres about B. C. 1700, likely for similar uses. We all know, I hope, the reference in the Bible to the sun dial of Ahaz. about B C. 740 Accord­ ing to St. Jerome, who revtsed the old Latin Bible into what is called the Vulgate Version of the Holy Scrip­ tures it was a pillar erected near a flight of steps (translated degrees in the English Bible). Berosus was the first to construct a sundial proper, in B. C. 840--the first recorded in pro- fan* history. But sundials are only useful Vhen the suh shines; hence some otheri measures of time became a necessity. The Egyptians, were successful in in­ venting such a contrivance. They called it the (Jlepsydra (kleps, to steal, and hudor, water), by which time was measured by a continuous flow of water at a uniform motion. The Clepsydra is first mentioned by Empedocles, who flourished in the fifth century before Christ. It was brought to a high degree of perfec­ tion by a philosopher of Alexandria, named Ctesebius, and continued down to the invention of clockB, probably in the fourteenth century. Watches fol­ lowed in due course, till they hare become an almost necessary requisite of everyday use. Most people are under the impres­ sion that the rotation of the earth has never varied from one complete turn in twenty-four hours. But this is an error. The motions of both earth and moon have not been invariable. There was a time when the lunar month was twenty-nine days instead of twenty-seven, as it now is (Sir R. Ball: Time and Tide). The synodical month, therefore, was .between thirty and thirty-one days. (A synodical month is the interval from one new moon to the next.) So that primitive man, reckoning the month as a synodi­ cal period, or lunation, may not have been so inaccurate as we in our su­ perior wisdom imagine. Going back from this epoch to the infancy of the moon, we come to a time when the day and month were of equal duration--about four hours each! Going forward to the old age of the earth, we come to an epoch when the day and month are again equal. But this time, instead of being four hours each, they will be 1,400 hours. Just think of it! One day last­ ing 1,400 hours! When the day will equal fifty-eight of our present days, what will be the length of the year? But we must not stop at a 1,400-hour day. Going still forward in the far-oil future, we come to a time when the face of the earth will be always turned to the sun, as the moon's face is now turned to the earth, and as she will continue to be. Then there will be a perpetual day, for the sun shall never set, literally fulfilling the words of the prophet: "Thy sun shall no more go down, neither shall thy moon withdraw itself." (Is. lx:20.) The romance of time! How it fascinates! The new year has been observed with festive rejoicings from remotest antiquity. Its celebration by religious, as well as secular observances, pre­ vailed generally among the uations of antiquity. And Egyptians, Hindus, Chinese, Persians, Jews, Romans and Mohammedans, although differing widely as to the time from which they reckon the new year, all regard it with especial interest of a joyous kind. The Chinese begin the year at the Vernal equinox, and make it one* of the most splendid festivals. All classes mingle together, and unite in thanksgiving for mercies received and prayers for a genial season and good crop. With the Hindus the first day of the new year is sacred to Ganesa, the god 'cf wisdom, to whom kids and wild deer are sacrificed amid illumina­ tions and rejoicings. Among the mountaffious tribes a buffalo is sac­ rificed before vast multitudes of peo­ ple. The Sabeans held a grand festival on the day the sun entered Arus, one of the signs of the Zodiac. Priests and people marched to the temples and sacrificed to the planetary gods. In the British" Isles the Druids be­ gan the year on March 10th, with the solemn ceremony of cutting the mis­ tletoe from the sacred oak. On that day two white bulls were tied by the horns. When a Druid, clothed in white robes, mounted the tree and cut off the mistletoe, after which the sacri­ fices were offered. The Me|icans on new year's day adorned their houses and temples «nd engaged in various religious cere­ monies. On such occasion human sacrifice was offered to propitiate the gods. In modern times it is also an occa­ sion of social rejoicing and Inter­ change of courtesies. In England, under old style, the year began on March 25. On the change of date to Jan. 1, great opposition was offered by the people generally. Many really believed they were being deprived of eleven years of their existence. ' Rev. F. P. Duffy, Secretary Ameifr can Church Bible Institute^ RavsBSwood, Ottnois. J6OL0B ADOAGR1CU LTUHg. ^ Enormous Profits Made by Fartnlhg lltider Irrigation. Denver, Colo., Dec. 15, 190S,r--When the officials of the Denver & Rio Grande railway held their annual meet­ ing a few weeks ago, and looked over , the earnings of the year, they were i surprised to find how great a pro­ portion of the profits arose from an agricultural rather than a mining source. The showing was the more remarkable as this railroad does not penetrate the old farming regions along the South l'lattn and Arkansas ivers. It is a mountain road, reach­ ing nearly all tho bout mining, camps if the state, and trtwrnhiK only the ^valleys and parks of tli<< AVi'Hlorn por­ tion. The showing tluiH emphasizes tne tremendous advance which has been made in irrigation farming with­ in the last few ycurs. The older farming sections of the state, especially the country around Fort Collins and Greeley, in the*north, and adjacent to Rocky Ford in the south, probably contains the most prosperous and contented agricultural population in the United States. The crops reported this year from these sections almost stagger belief, yet are vouched for by unimpeachable wit­ nesses. For instance, Mr. H. Living­ stone, whose farm is located about nine miles from Greeley (postofflce, Eaton), makes the following state­ ment: "I had this year eighty acres in potatoes, sixty-five acres in wheat, twenty-five acres in oats, and ten acres in onions. The sixty-five acres in wheat brought $2,500; the twenty- five acres in oats, $1,200; the eighty acres In potatoes, producing 11,000 sacks, at least $10,000; and the ten acres in onions, yielding 400 sacks per acre, an aggregate of from $10,000 to $12,000; giving a total gross return for the 160 acres in cultivation of at least $26,000 or a minimum of $145 per acre. My total farm expenses for the year will not exceed $5,000 and there­ fore- my 160 acres of Colorado and Weld county land will net me this year at least $21,000, or about $117 per acre. This land's selling price, in gen­ eral Weld county open market would not exceed $110 per acre, with Inclu­ sive water rights and, therefore, the cash return of this season's harvest is more than equal to the full market value of the entire farm itself." The potato crop of the Greeley dis­ trict will be between 8,000 and 10,000 car loads. J. A. Hicks had the largest yield per acre, fifteen acres growing 300 sacks per acre. Many farmers have raised from 230 to 260 sacks per acre and the average crop per acre easily reaches 100 sacks. The potato harvest in this district will bring to the farm­ ers $2,000,000. Fifteen hundred to 2,- 000 car loads have already been shipped to Iowa, Nebraska, Missouri, Texas, Indian Territory, Oklahoma and scattering markets. In this same section there are now six enormous beet sugar factories, costing from $600,000 to $1,500,000 each, three of them having been built this year. Farmers are finding sugar beets almost as profitable %o raise as potatoes. The increase in the price of land and the growth of the towns in this region has been remarkable in the past few years. What has already been done In northern and eastern Colorado is now being done in the valleys and parks of the western half of the state. In some lines of agriculture--fruit growing, for Instance--the western slope already beats all other portions of the state. It is safe to say that the three western slope counties of Mesa, Delta and Montrose will market this season an aggregate of $2,000,000 worth of fruit, net money, and that next year this amount will reach $3,000,000. These sales can be bulkily summar­ ized as follows: Mesa county, through the Grand Junction Fruit Growers' Association, 600 car loads of summer fruits, inclu­ sive of peaches, pears,' plums and prunes, net cash value, $390,000; other summer sales of lesser fruit bearing, counting apricots, nectarines, straw­ berries, raspberries,Currants, etc., six­ ty car loads net returns, $40,000; a grape growth aggregating $100,000 and a conservatively estimated final apple shipment of 700 cars at $450 per car, or $315,000 of cash apple auditing, thus giving Mesa county through the Grand Junction Fruit Growers' Asso­ ciation alone a net fruit sale of $845,- 000, to which is to be added the ship­ ments of the Whitewater Fruit Grow­ ers' Association and a long list of in­ dividual and independent orchard marketing, with a grand total of Mesa county fruit money for 1903 reaching beyond $1,000,000. Delta county fruit shipments this year include the teeming orchards of the famous North Fork valley of the Gunnison and large marketing from Delta, the county seat--peaches, pears, prunes, plums, apples and ber­ ries being all represented with a total net fruit return this year for the coun­ ty approximating $600,000. EspeeiaUy prosperous are the new towns of Hotchklss and Paonia, and it is claimed there never has been a fail­ ure of crops there since the country was first settled. From the town of Montrose $76,000 worth of summer fruits have been shipped with about the same figures in final apple sale. While lands are held at a very high figure in northern and eastern Colo­ rado, they can still be bought at a low price and on very easy tertns In the western portion. It is in the San Luis valley, and along the San Juan, Grand and Uncompaligre riVfrs where the greatest developments are now under way. Hundreds of families have gone into those districts this year and it is safe to say that thou­ sands more will follow them in 1904. Full particulars of different localities, toge.ner with maps and other valua­ ble information can be had by ad­ dressing S. K. Hooper, general passen­ ger agent, D. & R. G., at Denver, Colo. Model Time-Table Folders. Model time-table folders, which are superior to any time-table folders ever printed, have been issued by the New York Central's passenger department They are Numbers "29" and "30" of the famous "Four-Track Series" and hoth are literary gems and coippen- dlums of railway travel. 'General Pas­ senger Agent George H. Daniels has incorporated various suggestions made by bright people, and he has tried to Include in these folders all that could reasonably be put Into such books. They are worth a prominent posi­ tion in every library, and on every business man's deslu--From the Buf­ falo Commercial. Try One Package. If "Defiance Starch" dots not please you, return It to your dealer. If it does you get one-third more Cor the same money. It will give you Satisfaction, and will not stlek to the iron. In area the new republic of Panama Is a little less than Indiana and its population is about 800,000, of which 8,000 are In Colon and 16,000 in Pana- .\vV; J=?< Y .".-v ^ i - i' * <*'&' E&BW t " ' ••• . " " - w-: v. • *K It was the night before New Tear's. The air was clear and frosty, and the moon and stars were shining down on the sparkling snow that covered the prairie, like the cloth on q. round din­ ing table. Toward midnight, if you had peeped from one of the windows oi Mr. Blain's farm house, you would have seen what would have appeared to have been a shadow, coming up the road toward the house. As it came nearer you would have seen that it was a little animal about the size of a lamb, with great long ears and a bob­ tail, and so white that at a little dis­ tance you could not tell It' from the snow. But nobody saw the shadow, for everyone in the hous« was asleep, ex- bonnet, so that you can play with the other children." Baby's eyes opened wide with won­ der, for there were over a dozen oth-' er little babies in the room, which was a great large one. "Now Jack," said Grandma Jack Rabbit, whose face was wrinkled up with laughing, all the time, "you play with the children, while I get the sup­ per " * Baby turned to see the rabbit, but he waa^gone, and in his place stood a little tat man, with., a Jolly laughing red face^and a snow white beard. '.'Whay is ne jackrabbit dat bot me here?" asked the baby. "I am he," answered the little man. "We Jack Rabbits just turn ourselves "Away He 8campered, Down the Road With Baby Holding on by His Ears." cept the baby, who was lying wide awake in her little cot at the foot of mother's bed. Just as the clock was striking midnight, there came a gen­ tle tap at the door. Baby heard it, but no one else did, and she climbed out of her cot and ran to the door. "I commin' Bunnie," she calleS out as she reached up to the handle and let the little animal in. "Now oo wait a minnit till baby dets on her toat, Mr. Jack Rabbit." Then she ran to the drawer and. pulled out .her little coat and bon­ net and mitts and her little foot muffs. Baby had never dressed herself before but at midnight, between the old and the new year, babies can do many wonderful things which they cannot do at any other time, but you never see them doing these things, as they will not do them while anybody in the house is awake. It only took baby a few minutes to get on all her clothes. Then she Open­ ed the door and she and the jackrabbit went out into the moonlight night As soon as they were outside the rab­ bit got down on his knees, and baby climbed on his back and away he scampered, down the road, with baby nolding on by his ears. Soon they were far away from baby's home, so far that they could only see the chimney. At last they came to a bole leading down under the ground. Down this the jackrabbit popped, and stopped up before a lit­ tle round door. He tapped at the door and waited until it was opened by a fat little woman in a big white aprdn and a white dusting cap. into little animals like rabbits when we go out, but when we are at home, we are little men and' women." Grandma Jack Rabbit went over to the stove at the other end of the kitchen, where she had a big pot of taffy boiling, some corn popping, a big pan of chestnuts roasting in the oven, and some other things cooking for the children's supper, and Grandpa began to play with the children. Oh! What fun they had! They played "Drop the Handkerchief," "Nuts in May," "Here Comes a King Arriving," "Green Gravel," "Blind Man's Buff," and every game they knew. Then Grandpa got down on his hands and knees and took them for a ride on his back all around the room and over to where Grandma was pulling the golden taffy that had been boiling on the stove. "Here's a piece of taffy for each one of my babies/' laughed Grandma. Now gallop, away Grandpa, like the old black ram that went to London Town, but don't let the little dears fall off like papa and mamma did, while I set the table." Grandpa scuttled off, as fast as he could go on his hands and knees, to the other end of the room, siqging: "Papa, mamma and TTncle John went to London on a black ram, "Papa fell oft. O dear! O dear! "Mamma fell off. O dear! O dear! "And Uncle John went galloping on. galloping on to London Town." Then the children all scrambled off Mr. Jack Rabbitt's back and cried: "Now Grandpa, you play us some music and we'll dance till Grandma gets supper ready." LI U =• yft# fr tr 'Dooddby, Gran pa," said Baby. "Ha, ha!" laughed the l/ftle woman as she took the baby off the jackrab- blt's back, and nearly smothered her with kisses. "Here is another little guest at Grandma Jack Rabbit's New Year's party. Now Jack, shut the door or you will freeze the little dears. Now baby let me t&ke off your coat and On New Year's Day. So Grandpa took the funniest look­ ing black stick out of his pocket, and put it up to his mouth, but you ought to have heard the beautiful music that came out of that stick. It was magic and any one could dance to it even if they bad never danced before, nor even seen any one dancing. It is a beautiful and profitable cus­ tom, this which we celebrate as the cold sun shines on each successive first of January. There are seventy hillocks in the short journey of huhian life, and as we reach each one in turn we lay our burdens down for a short respite, gather our friends to­ gether. recall the past, forecast the future and with kindly greeting <wlsh each other a happy arrival at the next hillock, then take up our burdens once again and enter the valley that lies between the two elevations. It Is a day of good cheer, of fraternal assem­ bly. The air is full of happy thoughts and good wishes. The whole world is brighter for it, for heart goes out to heart, and universal sympathy lifts as tor a time to a higher level. Earth The Young New Year We wateoine thee. oh. glad young prince; And trust our fate within thy hands; Oh, let thy coming to us be A grateful Messing in our lands. Where pain and sorrow dare to tread. Be thou a soothing friend to cheer-- And though the dear old year be dead. May you § greater friend appear. --Mrs Alio* C. Whitman la Brooklyn Eagle. Is a little more comforting and heaven a little dearer. Some new faces have come and Suddenly the music stopped Grandpa said; "Come now children and have supper. Grandma's waiting for us." Then Mr. and Mrs. Jackrabbit lifted"; each one of them into a high chaiif**:. and tied a big bib around his or hei^;r^ neck, so that the children would not&ji.^ spill anything on their clothes. what a feast they had! There baked apples, ginger bread, doughnuts, ' 4 cookies, and jam, and afterwards they had nuts, raisins, taffy and popcorn. "Now Grandpa," said one of the,;j& children, with a big piece of taffy in; . ' his mouth, "Please tell us where yout5^ got this new baby to-night." "Well," said Grandpa, "last week I was passing Mr. Blains' house and the baby was out playing in the garden. I hid behind the snow man she was building, so that nobody but she could see me, while J. tpld her about the party which we have here eVery New Year's Eve, and I asked her if she would like to come. When she said she would, I told her not to tell any one, but to be awake at midnight on New Year s night and I would come for her then." "Es," said Bafcy Blain, "It was a drefful long time till New Year's too. I fot it ud never turn, but it did turn and I'm having a gate time. Tan X tome here again?" "O yes!" said Grandma, "We will have another party next year and I hope you will all be here." "Yes!" cried all the children at once, "we'll all come if we can." "Well now," said Mrs. Jackrabbit, "come and have a game with Grand­ ma, and then it will be time to go home." "Let's play tag and we'll all try to catch Grandma," said one of the chll» . dren, and they all rushed toward her*- * but Grandma was too quick for them and had darted across the room be»; - fore any one could catch her. Off they' ran after her; Grandpa and all, but Grandma bobbed around like a cork Ini j a pail of water, till she was all out of ~ breath, and then Baby Blain, the lit> • tlest one of all, was able to catch her. "Ho! Ho! Ho! You're caught at lsvst," laughed Mr. Jackrabbit. "Well its time that our little ones were go*' ing home for it will soon be daylight"* > The children were all sorry that tho * party was over, but Grandma and ? Grandpa pat on their coats and hoods and muffled them up warm. Then Mrs. Jackrabbit kissed them and wished them all a happy New Year, and told them to b& sure to come again tho next New "^ar's Eve, when Grandpa Jackrabbit called for them. But where was Grandpa? He had disappeared while his wife was kiss­ ing the children, and in his place stood the funny little animal with the long ears, which had brought the children there, and which Is called a jackrab­ bit. Grandma lifted the children on his back, all together, and opened the door, and away the rabbit scampered, up the hole and over the snow. When he came to the nearest hbuge, he let one of the children off and theh turned down the road, letting a child off at nearly every house he oame to. Baby Blain's house was the farthest off of all, and before they reached it, Baby could see that it was beginning to get light away in the East, where the sun rises. The Jackrabbit saw the light too, and flew along, faster than ever, till the wind whistled past Baby's ears, for if he did not get home be» fore daylight, some one might see Jackrabbit and shoot him for their dinner. But it was not long before they came to the Blain house. "^"Dood-by, Grandpa," said Baby, as sbe slid down off the rabbit's back, "and -sank oo vezy much," and the rab­ bit was off like a shot Baby opened the door and then shut- and locked it after her, and she was soon ail undressed and In her little bed. When father and mother got up, there was the baby, fast asleep, just as she was when they went to bed the night before, and they wondered what made her sleep so late for she was al­ ways first awake in the morning. They never found out, however about the Jackrabbit's party, for Baby had prom­ ised not to tell. Baby went again next year, and every year until she was five years old, but after that she could not go any more for the Jackrabblts never had any children over five years old at their parties. She is a big girl now, and her father and mother don't call her Baby any more, but Marguer*, ite, but she will always remember tho fun she had at the Jackrabbit's party. --Montreal Herald. some of the old faces have disappear­ ed, but love welcomes the one and faith still catches an occasional glimpse of the other. It is the day' when we stop for a moment to listen to the keynote of a better life. Dlst satisfied with what we have done, thai'-s soul bids us be braver, truer and';*"' ' nobler. We heed the warning, andj^ ' though the cares of the coming day#::<^' may diminish the force of our reso^^;^ lution a subtle something remains^ • which points to possibilities unattain4-.\ ' ed, while It reminds us of the ability to attain them. With the capacity it be great we are still strangely small ; • of soql, and on each New Year's day^p^i we chide ourselves for our weakness.'"'^ A tense of shame mingles with tho 'H; consciousness of power, and we ant^ii nually promise ourselves bettefftKH things. * # , f.r>' ,v. ' ' V.