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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Advance, 1922-12-21, Page 2Rude Rural Rhymes Christmas 'droughts 0 pure and cool rise crystal springs, in God's most holy hills, ,refreshing„. t drink for lltiman tills, aid balm for hu-' man ills, But stained and cursed by, careless use, the waters of the plain creep onward i7, a tainted flood, slow moving to the main. My life is like a stream that slips through green and peiasant land, fair are the trees and flowers that crown the banks on Other hand. Yet, fed by fountains that are meant to comfort and to bless, the sluggish pools are choked with weeds and dark with selfishness. Q cleansing flood of God sweep through this stagnant soul of mine, release the sediments of sin, replace my thoughts with thine. Break down the barriers old and strong, 'set all the Channel free, free to receive and free., to give the life that flows from thee. So may my own heart more and more, the mighty forces know, that swelled within the soul of Christ two thous- and years ago.—Bob Adams. . A Regular Prayer Lord, let me live with a Regular Man, With Regular friends and true, Let me play the game on a Regular plan, And play that way all through. Let me win or lose with a Regular Smile; And never be known to whine, For that is a "Regular Fellow's style, And. I want to make it mine. Oh, give them' a Regular chance in life, The same as the rest, I pray, And give me a regular girl for a wife - To help me along the way. Let us know the lot of humanity, Regular woes and joys, And raise a Regular family Of Regular girls and boys! Let me live to a Regular good old age, With Regular snow-white hair, Having done my labor and earned my wage, And played my game for fair; And so. at last when the people scan,. My face on its peaceful bier, They'll say, "Well, he was. a Regular Man!” And drop a Regular tear! BILIOUSNESS --SICK HEADACHE, call for an DR Tablet, Ca vegetable aperient) to tono and etrengtben the organs of digestion and elimi- nation. Improves Appetite, Relieves Constipation. Get eijg a Used%r owed• I�OX 4 30J[ ars YourJ '>d' '' �. . Druggist A Chips off .1 -he Old .' lock JUNIORS—LittleNs One-third the regular dose. Mado of same ingredients, then candy coated. For children and adults. m , For Sale by J. Walton McKibbon, Wingham rn h aSa f Piaf:H We now have a full stock of Lumber of all kinds, dressed, and undressed. Sash Doors, Mouldings, Shingles, Lath, Beav- er, Fibre and Ruberoid Boards, also roofing, plain and slate sur- faced and steel fence posts. Prices are lower now than they have been for some months and some lines are sure to ad- vance. Call and get prices for any of the above. Coal in all sizes, hard, soft, and Smithing always on hand. &Leau Lumber and Coal Co. verwemenvirnsommeamiralemtremoterwmmtirxemmanwee '0 t���{ �p�g� 0 McInnes �1 'I� O A0. .A4� . CHIROPRACTOR Qualified Graduate Adjustments given for diseases of all kinds, specialize in dealing with children. Lady attendant, Night calls responded to. Office on Centre St.,Wingham, Ont.,' (rr house of MrsH. Davis). Fours, 2 to 5,30 p. rri. EveningS, to Pt trz, oiler hay apporritltaerlt, P11000 tgfiir T -/r++ A'+"Y'+`r+++'#'++++ c++++++++'7 ++4-A4i:"A*44,144 +1(14* 4,44 1` /Pfui- 404, A''A' X."JL•TT. `.Y•+`71[JG'+'1"'Y.'T+'A ++++.11 `F'A 444+'.R",14"A"rR 40++4441x* 044+4,1, 0.14 -14 r- ---4 : a m 0 ��gg Q ` .., +,e to ,o" �"" ,‘ C ti �-� 1A "�'° if �A +� a (e.1 ft0 ';_° .0 e y .. 'FBF ,3.4.4 E&41.4 "'l�4 ��py [ p 3[ �( y y y,y * y (. y�•1��'ay yy �,y *1 g r Y yyg * y,y •yy y y y y .y' y y •�•y X'y. �I p• y * . tlY �J-��e!'�_A. A �.'1_"i':�'!0"�^0`-9-`�"�,"��`•����"�""i"'/"i�'1.'0'"�'"'"��'4'��'1'�P`":�!"f"��"!'�'OT'i'�i Y�."i_'0'"1 "� "}"0'�"4'"1"�"0'�'9�� 9'�',"�'/'��i- '0�_1'"1' �'1';i1"1'�"1"���"0'�"�'�� I lE Spirit of Christmasglided softly into th~e,City of Everyday at dusk on Christmas Eve. *. There was a brisk, happy stirring of bundle -laden people along the brightly lighted streets, and the sound of children's •voices made music on the frosty pine -scented air. A wonderful Christmas was in prospect, for there had been a fine goodwill crop. And when the goodwill crop is a success a splendid Christmas is assured, you know. The Spirit of Christmas passed up one street and down another looting for a home into which no goodwill blossoms had been gathered, for there, she knew, she would be needed. At last she stopped at one of the humblest homes in the poorest street in the whole city, and entered. • .Surely she would be needed to work some magic in such a home! It was'so small it seemed as if there would hardly be room to garner even a crop of goodwill—and goodwill, as you know, takes up very little room, though the aroma of it spreads a long, long way. A man and woman and several little children were grouped around a rickety table, upon which stood a basket and many homely parcels. • "We must share what we have with our neighbor who is poorer even than we are, and who, besides, is a stranger in a strange land," said the man, as he began to fill the basket. The woman went to a drawer and took out some little white woolly garinents with the smell of lavender clinging to them. She held them lov- ingly in ov-inglyin her rough hands for a moment and a mist sprang into her eyes as across Under the spell of tho. Spirit of Christmas a new kick carie into the nlan;s face —n flickerko •that* `outh hich�never, eail 'dies till it `ods out with the last -breath. f y dw x y , � He lifted the rose to his .lips and closed his eyes to dream a moment .of the scented . summer days and the wonderful moon—white nights, the tender young m eyes, and the whispered vows which its perfume called up. When he passed the rose across the table to the w man -the dream went with it and spread itself' swiftly before her inner •v sign. Wh she looked up again she left a tear in the heart of the rose, but there was a smile on her lips. "You gave me checks—and checks—and cheeks -and what I really wanted from you was .a rose—a rose and a dream," cried the woman, happily, as the man took her hands in his. "I'rn glad I called at this home," said the Spirit of Christmas,as she slipped out. "One never can tell where the Spirit of Christmas will be needed." "UNDER THE MISTLETOE." When you help mother decorate the house on Christmas Eve with holly -leaves and boughs, and hang up a bunch of mistletoe under the chandelier, have you ever wondered where it came from before the greengrocer sold it to people to hang up in their houses at Christmas? Country chicks know, of course, but I don't suppose there are .many town chicks who do. Well, the mistletoe grows in big bunches on trees. It is sometimes found on oak -trees, too, but not very often. THE FAIREST FLOWER THAT GROWS her memory flashed the echoof a baby's lisp. Then she put the garments into the basket with a smile. One child dropped in a torn picture -book, another a new top, and another something else until all had contributed to the basket. "No work remains for me to do here," said the Spirit of Christmas, as she slipped out into the street again. "This family has more than enough goodwill in stock to see them through. They must have taken great care of the roots all through the year, insted of forgetting about them until Christmas time drew near as so many people do. I shall try a different kind of :a home next. One never knows where the Spirit of Christmas may be needed:" On the very next street she found a home where„ she thought she might be needed: It was a beautiful home, with great rooms aglitter and agleam, but no children's voices broke the brooding silence. . Soft rugs cushioned the floor, and costly paintings -adorned the walls, white between the folds of rich silken tapestries shone masterpieces' in white marble. And in the midst of all the beauty and luxury sat a man and a woman near to each other, yet --apart. A party of carol singers went up the street singing. The man looked up when he heard the music. " he said, as if he had not thought of it before. Ta -morrow is Christmas Day, g. "Yes, to -morrow is Christmas Day,". the woman answered listlessly. "I must write you a check, as usual," said the man, absently, "Yea,write me a check, as usual/'said the woman, without interest. The man reached nut his hand to take up a pen. But the Spirit of Christmas took a crimson rose from a vase nearby and put it between the man's fingers. He lifted the"rase and looked at it with wonder in his tired eyes. •"What shalt I do with a rose?" he said. `Roses are for youth." "Or for those with the memories of youth," whispered the wom n wistfully. No one knows how or why it first came to grow in that funny way, but I'll tell you how it goes on growing more and more each year, and why, if you've got an orchard lin which it grows, you'll find that the apple -trees get more bunches of mist- letoe every winter. just as you like chocolates and acid -drops, so do the birds love mistletoe berries, and especially the thrushes. You've heard of a missel-thrush: Well, he's called that because he's so fond of these berries—mistle-thrush. See? • Well, when Mr. bicky has peeked a berry he'll fly off and rub his beak up against the bark of a tree to wipe off any little bit that may still remain on his beak,. and in that way, you see, he sows the seed of the mistletoe. That little seed will sink into the bark, shoot out roots, and by next year there'll be a little sprout of mistletoe. As the years go on, that little sprout will become a big bunch, and then -well, then, I expect, it'll be cut down to be,sent to the mar- ket for people to buy and hang up in their houses at Christmas -time. • AN ALL --SEAR SPIRIT. Theg p rovidin of Christmas cheer for those whose Christmas would otherwise be, cheerless is becoming one of the finest of Canadian habits. It is done in many ways• through churches through Sunday school classes, through charitable orgga nia - frons, through other organizations which are not constituted primarily for char- itable Nowada s everyone takes a hand in this work. Canada is fortun- ately purposes. Y ately situated in having a relatively small proportion of its population in actual want. The average of prosperity is so high that there is no reason why any un- fortunate one should be overlooked at the Christmas season. ISIIp IIImi I11lmaiIIt11111M1111I1111 I lomiIIl*U potljI)I''olIII cllMllIINV(IIIN111mIIIIl 1,1111111N1llelllel• 'I-1. GLOW d1mm I1immil11111111111111 I111111iIg1111i1II11111I1411 s lI11111i l IW1111 i1i1�1111i1111�!IIliiIf�Mmmi,ll>lINl11 • The weird. •exclata atio.n seemed, to issue from nowhere particu- lar, but issue it aid nevertheless, raucous and defiant: " - t E -r-her- tr-r-1'+1'-13e1E !" 7. r-r-r-uck. , -r-r r r but a_like that before, r , 5onwewlrere,,$onick`uiieT diad heard cry never, never in the heart of a Christmas shopping rush. The brunette behind, the.show-easelooked over at rue, mild'sus- piclon' in herhazele eyes, I picked on the be -spectacled man with the � c. fotinct llim gazing intently t�orid-weal•. faire Els the guilty party, but St me with an insinuating grip pulling down the corners of his mouth. The Strange sound WO'repeated, this time With a muffled note sof distress. The tall matt with the world-weary visage leaned aver the head of the cranky -looking, little old woman between us and asked in a gar - castle wltispert "Why' don't you hire a hall?" I say he had mistaken line for what I had misjudged him to be— an hinaicth' ventriloquist endeavoring •to play cheap pranks in. the crowd. I had just about concluded that it iniust be the little old worm- who was thtis amusing herself when 1 became ,conscious of sonic thing fltiffy Struggling iii, the huge black shopping bag she was carry= ing. A sharp pecking at iny slain drew my attention downward and dlscdvered •to me the real culprit: A live Plymouth Itotk .rooster in a militant, hungry n oocl had projected his heavily-doinbed head out of the jaw of the Shopping bag the old lady was carrying and was endeavoring to forage lunch off the calf of iriy leg. As the old lady stuffed the erring fowl's head bad: into the bag ail easperatirig titter ran through the crowd. The old woman glow- tied at ine as x tach as if I were a trespasser on Mother Earth. She twos plainly in a mood to start trouble, and not wishing to. be Made tlie'1`goat" for her rooster's eratic actions, I Moved out, of the perilous 8iie: Ilut I was. not destined to get away from the woman with the rooster so easily. Three times on that floor I chanced into groups where she and her bird in. the bag had evidently bobbed up serenely as T iiigiio's ghost. I could see that she thought I was shadowing her, when, as- a Matter of fact, I was doing iny level best to get her and her infamous Plymouth Rock cock out -of sight and out. of mind. I raced 'for an elevator and stayed on. it till .I was sure I had put three or four flights between myself and the old lady 'with the feathered companion. But I Hadn't lost 'em. They seemed bound io inflict themselves . into the routine of any peregrinations in search for the "punch" be- hind the Christian spirit. I wanted to catch, if I could, the genesis of that peculiar super -animation that annually takes hold of the World - and his Wife, turns year-round grouches into erstwhile philanthrop ists; loosens up the purse -strings of the tight -wad and brings mankind in general, for a period at least, close to the Divinity within itself. • For this purpose I had allowed myself' to. get caught in a surg- ing river of humanity on the streets of one of Canada's greatest hum an lives during the zenith of 'the early Christmas rush. Like a rain- ' drop that falls into the torrent I was whirled away, an infinitesimal:: item, in a swaying, jostling, taut -nerved throng, quite as helpless to direct my coarse independently as the day I went down the Fraser river rapids in one of the Tete,Jaune Cache rafts—only in this case instead of the hostile cliffs of the gorge at the foot of Mount Robson the walls of grey sky -scrapers ranged round rue. The elements of the crush were made up for the most part of women and school kiddies with a smattering of family men and babes in arms, all with single objective—the Christmas bargain counter's in the city's largest store. The wide ribbon of heaving humanity paused momentarily and tightened up. Soon; it was on the forward move again. On through the double glass doors it crashed and emptied itself over the first floor with the patter of thousands of feet and a jargon of voices that resol- ved their united sounds into a growing rumble not unlike the first onslaught of a midsummer rain storm. Here, if anywhere, in the vortex of this holidaying crowd, i[ thought,. must be answers in plenty from real life incident to the riddle I had set out to solve; The Fates, however, were at first apparently against me. What was happening .around me was all very much in the spirit of. "every- one for himself and'let the devil take card of the hindmost;" at times ludicrous, but in no wise conducive to loftier sentiment. • The rabble decidedly was imbued with one savage and primitive instinct, and to search out and appropriate the most value for its money. In this fixed intention the female. of the species exemplified her title to .supremacy. From solid •formation they broke "over the top" at the main entrance into fierceraiding parties and stormed -the' bargain counters. For some minutes there was nothing buta babel of feminine chatter and a wild. pawing over of neatly laid out goods. The first.wave of the general assault began to wear down: Then the automatic cash -carriers began to whizz -bang and crash, proving that the sales -people as the defending party were beginning to score, The cash -carrier is the heavy artillery of the salts force. Its trajectory carries it high over the heads ,of the immediate enemy, but it has the virtue of never missing the distant target at which it is directed. Everything from small -change "shrap" up to fifty -dollar "Jack John- sons" was popping into the cash desk departments as the store. staff settled down' for . a day, of heavy siege. There was a scant courtesy' for a "war correspondent" in this fray. I found my -self crowded against a show -case displaying numerous small articles of women's' . (Continued on page 8) 1i®11mminuiINllllllll11111®111®111111imllu11611119111111111i11!If1r111i111m11111111161Im111 Wil The Lights he Christ as Tree 1111I11111I IAII IOI I1111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111 11111111ia11111111®111®1 I I1111111m111®111®1111#11111111 Whenever Vincent Leverett turked a page of the scientific mag- azine he was .reading, his mother glanced up apprehensively. When he settled himself anew, she did, likewise, her :eyes glued to the pages, of a new book, which, oddly enough, she seemed to be reading upside down. "T must tell hint to -night," site had mentally reiterated. , Then she asked herself why she had not told him this morning—as soon as Elizabeth went away, Oh, she remembered he had not come in till lunch. But why didn't she tell him then, or this afternoon, or at din- ner? Whyshould she mind telling him,. anyway -wasn't it her house? And if he had _objected doing the part she had assigned to him, why, she must arrange some other way. The drop -light on the big library table and the wood fire in the grate were a very married pair of domestic comfort. The fire flickered the lamp shone on the warmth of velvet draperies and deep- an dn pc:d Eastern rugs, on marshalled lines of leather-botind books and sepia photographs in harmonious brown -toned' frames. It was a room where taste and imagination and wealth had joined to work their spell, but to -day its very calm. seemed to add to the restlessness of its this-. tress. At last, giving tip a1 1pretence of reading, she Crossed the room l •' and stood' looking out at the long French window.Outside thelawn r was a billowy stretch of white with hedges standing silver in the had become a pyra- mid a cltlmin of evergreens near the arouse py 1'i under r of nory all lsut alre. (little tree that stood alone sparkling tg Tod Snow, t. (Continued page 1.