HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Seaforth News, 1923-12-20, Page 2Christmas Flowers.
(A Star Legend.)
'Naw from the planet Venus,
Called the star of cheer—'
An immortal gazed on Christmas Eve,
Upon the earthland drear.
She sighed to soe the barren trees,
King Winter robbed of clothes;
And the bushes so unsightly,
That lately held the rose.
And flitting to the Ruler
Of the star -inspiring mirth;
She begged to deck with 'Christmas
floevers'
The desolated earth.
.And the King said, "Christmas
ing
You may journey to and fro
And scatter cheer confetti,
Christmas flowers of snow."
And all the heel' and trees forlorn
King winter killedwith blight,
She loaded down with blossoms
From the brightest star of night.
---.Anna Graves Henry.
orn-
A Little Song
of Santa Clans.
This is told of Santa Claus:
When he was just a boy
home was Happy Hollyiand
The mountain top of Joy;
And frosty, snowy, sparkly
Was the flurried little peak.
Where Santa Claus when he was
young
First learned to walk and speak.
His mother, Lady Mistletoe,
The fairies loved her well;
His father was the chieftain
Of the Tribe of Jinglebell;
They were the kindest people!
And once a year, they say,
They gave a winter party
.For the fairies out their way,
They chose a tiny spruce tree,
And trimmed it all themselves
With fluff and glint and star dust
Lent by the forest elves.
They hung bright presents on it,
Wee bits of gems and gold
And tiny scraps of rabbit fur
For fairies who were cold,'
Then little fellow Santa Claus
Would climb upon a stump
And call, "The party's ready,"
And flop down witha jump;
And all the wood would flutter
With a little eager tune—
The fairies coming running
By the light of wintry moon.
But after it was over
And all the sprites had flown,
And as he went to bed at night
All cosy and alone,
Tittle Santa Claus would whisper,
Looking down to valleys blue,
'b children, wait till I grow up,
I'll do great things for you!"
--Miriam Clark Potter, in Youth's
Companion.
e
To the Young Folk
Christmas is not a real Christmas
unless we make some one happy on
that day of days.
Is there a lonely old man or woman
in your community? Fix up a basket
of goodies (mother will helpyou) and
take it to him or her, bright and early
on Christmas morning. There must
be some one in your neighborhood
whom you can make happy by a little
gift, given with a lot of love. Do not
forget the birds and Shep, Dobbin and
Bossy. Have a Christmas feed for
the birds; see that Shep ha. an extra
bone, Dobbin a big hot mash and some
rosy apples, and Bossy some appetiz-
Ing roots.
See that everyone at home is remem-
bered by a gift. Decorate the house.
with Christmas greens and remember
that it is always "more blessed to give
than to receive."
The Birds' Christmas Tree.
This may an evergreen or any
kind of a tree that has evergreen
branches tied en it. •Warm suet and
stick it full of seeds and nuts. Hang
this suet from the branches. String
peanuts and festoon them around the
tree. Have little boxes on the tree,
and in these boxes place nut meats,
seeds, meat, celery, cabbage, lettuce
and apples. Tie pieces of, bread and
erullers to the trunk of the tree,
Wherever you have this tree see that
the cats can not get to it. Many a
bird's Christmas tree has been un-
occupied because of strolling cats.
Cats and birds never prix—in an
agreeable way. There is no better
way to get acquainted with the winter
birds than by feeding them.
How Molly Cottontait Saw Santa Clans
BY THE NYCES.
fine supper and plenty of it when the
entertainment was over.
That touched Flattait's heart, for
next to taking his ease he loved no-
thing better than a good meal; so he
lost no time in getting the Hopovers
It was the night before Christmas and the Cottontails to the schoolhouse,
and of course you know what that It was such a cunning little place, all
ma • mysterious whisperings and alight, and just buzzing with the
hiding of knobby bundles—and every- voices of bunny folks. And there was
thing, And Molly Cottontail and all a tree, festooned with strings of red
her folks, and Aunty and Unele Hop- and white pop -corn and hung with
over and all the little Hopovere-- gingerbread men and candy canes.
It was the funniest thing! Though
little Molly Cottontail didn't think so;
indeed, she was pretty nigh scared out
of a year's growth. But there, we'd
better commence at the very begin-
•
grown-ups; then Daddy Tarfoot was
called on to dance a hoe-down; next
came games, Let's see—they played
"Blind Man's Buff" and "Puss in the
Corner," almost running down the
ladies who were placing the most de-
licious supper on the tahie. But no
one minded; the grown folks said they
couldn't scold the children ou Christ-
mas Eve.
Flattail Beaver said he really en«
joyed the supper more than anything
else. And after everything had been
cleared away Eben Corntassel disap-
peared -and Santa Claus appeared on
the platform, and distributed presents,
and stockings made of white tarleton,
filled with candy. Flattail Beaver re -
"I didn't know it was that late—if we.
want to get home ahead of Santa
we'd better harry."
Then the Hopover bunnies and the
Cottontail bunnies were bundled into
the sleigh; Flattail called, "Are you
ready?" and away he pelted.
Molly was in the back part and she
soon fell asleep and ,dreame 'she was
,playing blind man's buff.' All at once
the sleigh lurched round a fence'cor-
ner, and Molly gave a leap right into
a huge jimson weed, and there she
hung, by her warm woozy coat, to a
great prickly bur,
Poor little Molly! She wriggled and
she twisted and she squeaked. But no
one heard her and she couldn't Iose
The Man of the Hour
dressed in their bestwere going to
the Christmas entertainment, .to be
held in the tiny red schoolhouse at
the extreme end of Bunny Hollow. It was the snappiest kind ofa cold
night and the snow was just right for
sleighing. So Uncle Hopover bundled
them into his sleigh -and a good big
one it was, The old-fashioned kind—
with bells that tinkled beautifully. It
held all the Hopover folks and all the
Cottontail fence; also clear old Granny
Wobblenose.
Uncle Hopover hired Flattail Bea-
ver to pull the sleigh, but he had an
awful time doing it, far Flattail was
very lazy. And he would make no
promise until Aunty Hopover. and Ma
Cottontail told him he should have a
After they had all greeted one an- ceived two stockings—one for his wife
other with Merry Christmas," and and one for himself. "I'm mighty glad
"Same to you," and said how beauti-
ful everything looked and what a
smart man teacher was to plan it all,
they sat on the tiny benches, until the
schoolmaster (his name was Eben
Corntassel) stepped to the platform
and announced that Molly Cottontail
and Johnny Hopover • 'would give a
dialogue.
Johnny was very shy and scarce
talked above a whisper, while Molly
thought more of her new dress than
she did of her dialogue. The dress
was bright red and Granny Wobble -
nose had made it her very own self.
One after another the bunnies re-
cited their pieces to the pride of the
!
SUPPOSE , CHILDREN ,YOO
STUDIED 'frlE INSECTS
YOU SAW Te115 5OMMER'
EVERY L1TTLE- IN5Ecr
15 MADE FOR SOME
WISE PURPOSE.:
came," he said.
"Well," exclaimed Ma ,Cottontail,
"I'll be glad to leave. Not that I
didn't enjoy it; the entertainment was
lovely and a great credit to the teach-
er; but I've •lets of things to do before
Santa comes to our house. Luckily
the bunnies hung their stockings be-
fore we left home,"' she laughed.
So she hunted up Uncle Hopover
and Pa Cottontail to tell them it was
time to make tracks for hon'ie. They
were sitting close to the fire talking
to Daddy Tarfoot and Daddy Long
ears, about who raised the biggest
herself. And Ma and Pa and Aunty
Hopover and the sleigh—all disap-
peared and left her quite alone.
She wasn't left' alone many minutes
though, for to her great joy another
sleigh came flying swiftly along, much
more swiftly than Flattail pulled them
all to the schoolhouse. It was drawn
by eight 'reindeer and driven by—
whomdo you think? Why, no othee
than Santa himself. And he lurched
round the very same fence corner!
Dancer and Prancer were in the
lead and in their haste they pretty
nearly stumbled,' So Santa had them
rest for a momenta "Squeak, squeak,
SQUEAK!" came from the jimson
weed. Meaning: "Oh, Santa, please
Goodiiess mel" Uncle Hopover said, help mei" '
The ehriat`Child..
T se snow was falling fast,
And the lights were dim and low,
When a small child wandered up and
clown
And had nowhere to go,__
Ho sa'eviii house illumined
And children Merry and gay,
But when He ]mocked and waited
He was told to go away.
To -night was Christmas Eve,
And most every one was gay.
People were hurrying to and fro
With gifts for Christmas Day.
So He wandered on,
A small and lonely child.
Then Ile looked in a window and, saw
A mother and children, sweet and
mold.
He knoeked at the door and waited
Until He heard the mother say:
"Children, some one is knocking;
Go see who it is, I pray."
The children came to the door
To let the poor child. in.
He was very cold and chilly,:
For his clothing was torn and thin.
This mother was reading her Bible
To her children bright and fair,
When she went to look for the boy,
Behold, He was not there.
The mother said; "My dears,
That boy so sweet and mild.
Is not a little wanderer,
But the little Christ Child:"
So if you are good and kind,
Live a good and noble life,
You will receive a grand reward
From our Saviour, Jesus Christ.
So when you pass from this world of
ours,
If you have been good and true,
You will find in the Golden City
The gate standing open for. you.
—Amnio Wilson Podger.
"That sounds like some one in trou-
ble!" exclaimed Santa Claus; and he
pulled up close to the fence.
"If it isn't Molly :Cottontail! and
fastened to a big bur -why you poor
.little thing; little more'n you'd be
frozen 'to death."
Molly was so thankful—and' she
wasn't one bit afraid of Santa. No,
indeed; she told him exactly howit
happened, And Santa said "Never
mind—I'll have you home in a jiffy;
but first I must stop at Sammy Slow's
house—it's right on my way,"
"Oh!" exclaimed Molly, "we know
Slow and we love Rim dearly."'
"Do you?" exclaimed Santa with a
twinkle. "Then you know a dear lit-
tle boy"—and the words were scarce
out of his mouth when they were on
the roof of Sammy's house and in a
moment down, down the chimney they
slid -Molly in the pocket of Santa's
big warn coat.
0± course Sammny Slow was in bed
-but' Tabitha' Tabbycat was not and
she was well acquainted: with Molly
Cottontail, and brought her a cup of
nine warn milk, to take off the chill;'
When they reached the home of the
Cottontails, they found everything
in, confusion. Granny Wobblenose was
sure Molly had fallen asleep in the
schoolhouse and been left behind, Ma
Cottontail was almost indignant . at
dear Granny, and she said; "Indeed
Molly was not left at the school -house
—I counted all my bunnies before I s
left the building."
Anyway Granny tucked all the bun-
nies into their little beta, and Pa and
Ma had donned their warn wraps and
rubber boots, and were just about to
start in search of Molly when Santa
Claus pulled up at the door. They
could hardly believe their eyes when
he tools her out of hispocket and set
her down beside them.
"Dear mel" exclaimed Ma. "Here's
'Santa, and Molly not in. bed." And
she rushed her inside' and Pa ran to
the woodpile for a few sticks to warm
things up a bit, And when they re-
turned to thank Santa, they found himgone quite out of sight; but Inc' had
tucked candies and all kinds of; can-
ning little presents inside their door,
""noir ahoy heard his voice—way off h
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"MEAN QF GOOD Wdi:.i"
Glory to God in the higlaest, and
on earth peace, to men of good.
will.
There is no message which the
world needs so utterly to hear and.
heed as that which speaks- of peace
and abetter understanding in a world
distracted and troubled` about many
things. It would seem as though we
had tried everything within the
bounds of human reason to: restore
the world's poiee and equilibrium; but
even our high-minded endeavors have
seemed, in part, at least, to fail. We.
are beginning to reach the conclusion
that a mere rearrangement of extern
al conditions os the environing cir-
cumstances of life are not sufficient.
It was Mrs. Browning who declared
that you cannot improve humanity by
moving it to a "cleaner stye.
One of the basic weaknesses of our
present situation is to be found in a
lost or impairod confidence. This
malady seems to be universal, and it
discloses itself in every sphere of our
being. It is a mental rather than .a
physical condition that has brought
about our present situation. All t'
conferences and treaties we may of
will prove ultimately to be of lit
worth unless we can restore ag
reasonable confidence, based u
better understanding and a n ie gen-
erous appraisal of human n, tore, We
have been dissociating otir so-called
Christian ideals from our; practical
life; in fine, we have been, unwilling
to mix religion with business, regard-'
ing the two things as distinct and sop -
erste. We are just beginning to learn
(and the lesson has been a costly pne)
that the fundamental teachings of
Jesus Christ have a practical bearing
upon human alaire. Jesus was es-
sentially an optimist. To Min there
were no such things as "no -hope"
cases in the world. The only thing
He ever treated with scorn and stern.
condemnation was hypocrisy, a super-
ficial and unreal profession of religion.
His whole attitude toward life was
hopeful and expectant. Robert Louis
Stevenson caught his vision of life
from, the Master when Inc declared: "I
believe in an ultimate decency of
things, and if I awoke in hell I should
still believe in it"
THE MESSAGE OE' CHRIST. :.
If this recurring Christmas season
is to be something more than a pagan-
lzed annual festival, disclosing its -in-
terests and excesses largely in ex-
ternal things it must again reaffirm
the message that ushered in,tes et
of Christ. This messa eel! ou0S,'`Lad
hand, expressed man's ex
ward and, on the other
titude pian -ward. Good -w .
thing we sorely need in this ola
of ours; but good -will can only c d
to those who look hopefully' and ire
pectantly for the best' in human t,,,' -
ture. To go about the world after the
manner of Diogenes, seeking for hon.
est men with: the dim light of a lan-
tern, does not appeal to us. Let us
be clear about it, This - old world is
not tobagganing down to perdition. It"
has survived many crises but its sur-
vivals have been marked by such an
attitude of mind as that which Jesus
Christ disclosed.
Our cynics and critics make no con-
tribution to the healing of the world's
open sores. Our statesmen and diplo-
mats who play the game of interna-
ttonal politics, distrustful of the aims
of`those whose co-operation they seek,
must signally fail.. The 'contending
elements in our great industrial work-
room that manifest a suspicion of the
motives and purposes of each other -
produce little else - than an armed
truce. If one has the clearness of vi -
ion: to see it and the. mental breadth
to comprehend it, there are to lie
found the indisputable evidences of
our forward movement and advance
over periods that have gone :b..ore.
She levels of business amorality are
higher to -day than they were a gen-
eration ago.There' are more good
men than bad engaged in the. grew!
game of politics. There is more vire
t'ue than vice in society; and a re-
affirmation and belief in these saving
elements will do more to bring us back
to normal_ and sane conditions than all
OUT criticisms ant! suspicions.
NEED or THE .AGE,
This age is calling for men evho be-
lieve in God and who. believe in their.
fellows, Tho demand is for those who
ave good -will in their hearts and
whorpractiee it in their everyday con
luct in the world through which they
we.
If this spirit of Christmas Day can
made regnant thr,sughout the year
mat lies ahead, we shall enter upon a
age of human fellowship and upon
era of happiness and prosperity
uoh as the world has never known.
in the distance: "Merry Christmas to
all, and to all a good night"
IN RABBI'IiORO
WHAT LESSON Do VIE
LEP,RN FROM THE.
MOSQUITO ,DICK
WELL, I GUESS WC LCAF�N
rRotvl THE mosqui`ro -HOW
EA5Y IT IS To GET STUNG it
's' not the rare and costly•
gift
That gives 'complete content.
he things' that cheer and most uplift,
Are sometimes never seat;.
T1 soul's desire to aid and bless
It's thisthat gives us happiness.
The chief charm of Christmas is its
piicity. It: is a festival that ap-
als to every one because every mie
is understand it. A genuine fellow
ip pervades our common lite—a
lowship whose source is our come
n share in the gift of the world's
eatest Life which was given to the
idle world.—.A:r•thiir Reed .Kimball.
ena,.liy
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