The Wingham Advance, 1923-12-20, Page 109i'"4p V1�111�� ���rs,•� I tlr na •�
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stteprizin'g ti•ansforination, The walls and, r„ei'Iitlg,' wee so hu
With: living green that it looked a perfect• grove, from every . part ni;
which brighte gleaning• berries glistened..
"The crisp leaves of holly, mistletoe, `incl, ivy reflected back the
light, es if 'so many little mirrors had. been scattered these; and. such
a mighty blaze went roaring up the chimney ae that drill hearth had .
treaer known in Scrooge's time,, Or.Marley's., or for many and many
a winter season gone, Heaped tip on the floor, to form a kind cif
throne, were turkeys, geese, game, poultry, brawtr, great joint of
n
meat, sucking -pigs, long evreetths of sausages, mince -pies, plain -pudd-
ings, barrels of oysters, , red-hot chestnuts, cherry-cheeked applt•s,
juicy oranges, and. seething bowls of prtiitrli, that matte the chamber.
dim with their delicious steam: In easy state upon this couch there'
:
sat a jolly giant, glorious to see, who bore a glowing torch, in shape
not unlike .Plenty's horn, and held it tip, high t 1p, to shed its light on
Scrooge, as he came peeping round, the door, •
"Come in!" exclaimed the ghost. "Come in and know me bet-
ter, man!,,,
"Scrooge entered timidly, and hung his head before this spirit.
He was not the dogged Scrooge •he had been, and 'though the spirit's,
eyes were clear and: kind, he did not like to meet then!. •
"I am the Ghost of. Christman. Present," said the spirit. "Look j,
upon . Mel"
This jolly ghost took shivering old Scrooge a&ay on the 1,41ngti '
of theincl through the Christmas; streets showed him 'The of •.
w g
poor 13ob Cratchit, where, with all their poverty,. his Clerk' ,and liis ,
wife and children were 'happy' and delighted around the Cliristrnas
goose, and the great steaming plum -pudding, which Mrs, Cratchit Mid '
saved for So long and cooked, so carefully. And after the dinner -Was,
over. Bob proposed: the. toast: "A merry Christmas to'us all, illy dears; ' •
God bless us!" which Mrs, Cratchit, ;Peter, Belinda, and Martha all
echoed, while Tiny Tim said last of all, "God bless us 'every' one!"
Tim was Cratchit's youngest child, a Little cripple whose life
seemed to: hang only by a thread, -he was so weak and tiny. Scrooges
•who had cruelly said that the death of such children was a 'good rid.''•
dance, was now anxious to know if there was any hope for'"Tiny Tim.
He was almost as concerned about Bins now as if he had been hifi
own child.
thespirit him on a collier' vi11a e where
But.pr whirledthrough7. g,
poor folk were rejoicing around Christmas 'fires; to a lighthouse in
the stormy sea, .where lonely men sail wished each other a Happy '
Christman to the home of his nphew, Fred, where everything was
happiness;,and even his own name was spoken not with contempt,' brit
with sorrow and sympathy, because _he was not enjoying the .season of
goodwill.
To many other homes and places the Ghost of ChristnraePres . '
ent took .him, showing hien misery and want as well as happiness and
plenty. But as the bells struck twelve the spiritvanished, and a ncnv •
and different figure. cavae to him This was the third and last of ltisa
strange, ghostly visitors,
"I am in the presence of the Ghost.of Christmas Yet to Come?'"
said Scrooge: The spirit answered not, but pointed onward with its
hand "You are about to show me shadows of the things that have
not happened; but will happen in time before us," Scrooge pursued.
"Is that so, Spirit?" .The upper portion of the garment was .contract-
ed for an instant .in its folds; as if the spirit 'had inclined its head.
That was the only answer he: received .
The. mission of thisspirit was soon begun, for it showed biro '
his own death and how not a soul was there to mourn his loss; ho• se
his death was rather, a happiness in some charters than a sense 'cif`
loss; but it.also showed him how Tiny. Tim might die and leave many
friends to sorrow for him, because they had loved him, while his
memory would; endure in their hearts. •
In short, old Scrooge had now come to. be so affected by 'all
the. visions which the three spirits had. shown him that. he was utterly'
Changed, and when, at length the Ghost' of Christmas Yet '1'o Come
brought hiin to a neglected gravestone with his own name on it,. he
was no .longer the Scrooge that had turned his nephew out of his of-
fice without wishing him a merry Christmas. He appealed to his
spirit -guide for mercy and promised to alter his• life in the future.
"I will honor Christmas in ivy heart and try to keep it all the
year. I will Iive in the fast the Present and tile Future, The spirit
.of alle three shall strive within me. f- will shut out the lessons' that
`they teach. 0, tell vie I may sponge away the w-riting on this Stone?"
In his agony he caught the spectral hand. It sotight to free itself
but he'veas stronger- in his entreaty and detained it. The spirit strong-
er yet repulsed hini.. Holding up his hands in a last prayer to have
his fatereversed he saw an alteration in the phantom's hood and dress.
Tt.shrunl collapsed and dwindled down into a bedpost."
Great was Scrooge's delight when he awoke to find it was
Christerias Day, and that he was not:too late to begin at once. Never
did a jollier old -gentleman set out to make people happy on. Christ-
mas Day. He sent the biggest prize turkey that ever was sold to Bob
Cratchit's—sent it in 'a cab, if you please, to be in. time. He_'met one
afthe. gentlemen . ho had sailed for thte•subeeription for the. . , and
gave him so big a donation that the gentlemen was amazed. `A great-
many back payments included in it." old. Scrooge explained to hini.
He hied, himself to the home . of his nephew and staggered Fred and,
• his wife and.her sister, and all the others who came to the Christ
m,as party by being the jolliest of the lot. "Wonderful party, wonder-
ful games; wonderful unanimity, wonderful happiness!"
He went early next morning to his office. Bob Cratchit was
late. Scrooge pretended to be very angry with him for a little, and
then playfully dug him in the ribs andsaid that, as a punishment, he
was goingto raise his salary!
"A merry Christmas, l3ob!"said Scrooge, with an earnestness
that could not be mistaken, as, he clapped. him on the back. "A
merrier Cliristrnas, Bob, my ;good fellow than T have given you for
many a year! I'.il raise your salary, and endeavor to assist your.
struggling family, and we will discuss' Your affairs this very, after-
noonover a Christmas bowl of smoking bishop; Bob! Make ap the
fires, and buy another coal scuttle before you dot another i B•ob
Cratchit!"
Scrooge was better than his word. He did it all, and infinitely.
more; and to Tiny Tim who did not die he was a second ['ether.
MUSIC
The Gift Everlasting
Select your Christmas Gifts this year
from things Musical
Violins„Ukeleles, Guitars, Banjos,
Mouth Organs, Jews Harps, Ocarinas,
Mandolins, Victor Records & Victrolas
y
— Pianos anal Player Pianos ---µ
`rani an's Music Store
Phone 284. Bax 129.
1
ERE .A
' C.LA 'S..
T is the salve eternal question. And' how often
will it be asked? . Just as long and as often as
Christmas conies. You will be asked- and
thousands more, and little children will be ans-
wered and reassured and made happy just as
wes the little girl who put her question to the great editor,',
Charles A. Dana. She sought high authority when some one
had carsed her faith in .childhood's patron saint to fall, and
this is whit the famous editor wrote her. It is the best'
answer that we know:
"Virginia, your little friends are wrong. They have
. _ been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical. age,, They
do not believe except they see. They think that nothing
can be which is not comprehensible to their little minds,,
All minds, Virginia, whether they be men's orchildren, are
li tle. .1n this great universe. of ours pian is a mere insect, an
. t,
ant, in his intellect, as compared with the boundless world
about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasp-
ing the whole of truth and knowledge, .Yes, Virginia, there
is a Santa Claus. He exists as ceriainly as love arid gener
osity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound
and give to your life its highest beauty'and joy. Alasl how
dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus. It
vvould be as dreary as if there were no Virginias. , There
'Would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance, to
Make tolerable this existence. We should,have nq. enjoyment
'except in sense and sight.' The eternal light with which
childhood fills the world would be extinguished. Not believe
in Santa Claus? You night as well- not believe in fairies!
You might get your papa to hire men, to watch in all the
chimneys on Christmas Eve to catch Santa Claus, but that is
no sign that there is no Santa Claus.. The most zeal things
in the world are those that neither children nor men can see.
Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not;
but that'.s no proof that they . are' not ,there. Nobody can •
conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and
misunderstandings, grudges or quarrels rob him of his own
peace; but now, as he puts away these differences as unfit for
the season of goodwill, the Aeace arrives. ,
That is the paradox of. Christianity, Isle who seeks.peec•e
does not find it. He who gives peace finds it returning to him
again. He who hoards his life loses it, and he who spends it
finds it:
"Not what we give, but what we share,
For the gift without the giver is bare;
Who gives himself with his alms feeds three,-
Himself, his hungering neighbor, and me,"
That is the sweet and :lingering exho of the angel's song
CHRISTMAS IN .THE, FAMILY •
At this trine of year all the family pick on father for the .`
wherewithal to buy.Christnias presents and sof.by a circuitous
route, father buys his own present but someone else gives it
to him.
He lives under a nervous strain and when he sees a mem-
ber of the ,family approaching hini with a steely glitter in
their eye he puts his hand in his pocket and says automatically
—"I'Iow much?
No matter how long and carefully prepared your list is,
some unexpected person is sure to -present you with some-
thing and once in a while you get badly twisted, and give the
perfectly useless present one of the relatives gave you last
year, back to her with much love!
And afterwards! Brother Bob could swim in a sea of •
handkerchiefs but he got a lot more and' Sister Mary- (who
has a bilious complexion) got two yellow blouses!
Mother (who never goes anywhere but to church) got a
pink feather fan! and Dad (a home body) a, pair of opera .;
glasses! Father gave mother a double boiler and mother gave
father a new shovel for the furnace!
HAPPY MOMENTS •
This reproduction is front the original by the late Philip Boileau, who Was born in Quebec, and became famous after studying in Prance
and Fater in New :York, where many of his works of art were used by the large art publishers of the United States,
unseeable in the world. You may tear apart the baby's
rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a, veil
covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor
even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever
lived, could tear apart. Only faith, fancy, poetry, love,
romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture
the supernal beauty and glory beyond. 'Is it real? Ah, Vir-
ginia, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.
No Santa Claus? Thank God! he lives and he lives forever.
A thousand years from now Virginia, nay, ten times ten
thousand years from now, he will continue to make glad the
heart of childhood,"' '
PEACE AND GOOD WILL
We are beginning to feel already the sweep of life that
hurries us all, along to the keeping of the Christmas season;
our music already takes on a Christmas tone, and we begin to•'
hear the song of the angels which seemed to the Evangelists
to give the "human birth of Jesus a fit accompaniment in the
harmonies of heaven.
This song of the angels, as we have been used to reading
it, was a threefold message; of glory to God, peace on earth,
and good -will among men; but the better scholarship; of the
Revised Version now reads in the verse a twofold message,
First, there is a glory to God, and then there is peace on earth
to the men of good -will. Those, that is to say, who have the
good -will in themselves are the ones who will find peace on
earth. Their unselfishness brings theta their personal hap.
piness: They give themselves in good -will, and so they obtain
peace. That is the true spirit of the Christmas season. It is
the good -will which brings the peace, Over and over again
in these months of feverish scrambling for personal gain, men
have sought for peace and have not found it; and now,, when
they turn to this generous good -will, the peace they sought
tomes of itself. Many a man in the past year has had his
Uncle Henry (who wears a wig) was presented with a
handsome bottle of, hair tonic! and Cousin James who
"never touches the filthy weed" two, boxes of cigars' and a
cuspidor!
The home brew that father had made specially for the
festive season unfortunately turned into vinegar and cast a
gloom over, some of the male members, otherwise the Christ-
mas celebration is bound to be a huge success.
And 11 p.m. Christmas night!
Mother: "Father! have you seen the castor oil bottle
anywhere' lately? Willie seems to have a pain."
Willie sitting limply in his chair sees a vision of two
helpings of turkey, peas, potatoes, salad, 'plum •=pudding,
Mince pie, nuts and raisins and candy passing before him.
Willie: "Mother, it's not "'zactly a pain, it's only I'm„
just •too rounded out!"
Family Chorus: "No,.it's not a pain, it's jest we're too
rounded out: (deep sighs).
DICKENS AND CHRISTMAS
Christmas! A well-known public man once said that:
"Charles Dickens, to a great extent, made the keeping of
Christmas what it is." There is little doubt that the Master -
Author's. Christmas stories infused into the World that
Christmas spirit which is so prevalent to-day—the Spirit of
Love and Charity. _Charles Dickens works are as popular
to -day as they were fifty years ago. Branches of the Dic-
kens' Fellowship Society are established in many towns on
both sides of the Atlantic,and their membership is increasing
yearly, Charles Dickens will never be forgotten. The mil-
lions of his readers speak for that, and he will be always
especially remembered at `Christmas:tune,
It is more than half a centurysince all that was left
of the great heart and brain was deposited in• Westminster
Abbey. Yet the magic of Charles Dickens still touches our
lives, and the manhood of the whole 'Anglo-Saxon race is
Covered by those hours of our boyhood when we laughed at
Sam Weller, hated jonas Chuzzlewit, and Carker, :loved
little Nell, and trembled at Quiip,
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THE CHATEAU OF THE
ACCURSED
p eseirengagwM!-„e.eoerueeereeWaar.aweree ,amen gee ee,,ea4beeeer eep aro.w.
The Chateau de Plocrneuf was the terror of the 'Britons. Chi '
passing 1 it the peasants made the sign of. the cross and murmured un-
der their breath: "The Chateau of the •.A"ccuscd! Brambles grew
about its botiiidar. walls which no living soul dared pass, The valets
y , g 1
moved about within like shadows, neve? raising,their voices. No one
spoke to the master, ' ,
Alone, the young Comite Robert found grace before the =lord of the
manor, tlie.,old Duc de Kerberzoff, his uncle.
At the moment when this recital commences Robert was at the
feet of the old man; who, with livid face, glittering eyes, and marks of
fear .on all. his features, sat in the great ducal chair' listening: to what
the spectre of terror said to him.
13y his side, upon a porphyry column, burned, -a 'small' golden lamp
ornamented with Precious stones, into the flame of which a tall negro
poured, minute- by minute, 'a• drop of oil. In the old man's rude hand
,gleamed an ax; the negro would have .paid with his life the least for-
g'etftrluess of his duties..
The Duke was paler than usual, His for g .white hair clung to liis
brow, and from his eyes great tears rolled down upon his silver beard,
My dear Lord, are you in greater pain?" asked 1.obeet, tenderly,
The Duke shuddered.—listening still.
Christmas! Christmas!” sang voices in the fields, -"Christmas)
Christmas!" sounded' the 'church hells,
Thera drawing himself up, spectre -like, he said:
"Listen, Robert; listen!"
"I ar eo years""the bide -nail had not spoken,
The sepulchral voice resounded in,the great Ball` the arms, struck
,
by echo, ::gave out an iron plaint. The young Count fell frozen with
fear, .
"Twenty'yrears ago I had a sore—handsome ,•brave, and generous.
He loved a young, low -born ''girl :and wished to wed her; but I refused
1 could not consent to such an outrage. My son implored me but 1
remained inefixible. My blazon would have been shattered, by such a
shatnel- I was wrong 'child -'I was wrong! Never be arrogantly
proud, it is a mortal sin!"
•Sobs stifled OA old Dukes voice. 13.ut presently he Wein on.
''`The girl was beautifol and virtuous, I offered' her gold; she re -
:fused ie. "fhcii 1 had her abducted and shut up in a towel' of the
chateau, Months passed; my son remained faithful, to his .vows. 1
4'faithful -to my pride; I therefore resolved to,kili the girl. To that
'`end' I sent "her. secretly a message, advising her:to escape. A silken
]adder was convey..cd: to her, with minutely -detailed instructions as to
how -she was t:o• fasten it to her window, She prepared to' fly, and
then T invented an infamous trap!
• "Listen :Robert -listen! I caused the stones which supported the
window' to be loosened so that it should give way under her and she
would be, dashed upon the marble , pavement ,of the courtyard below.
It Was Christmas, the 'night ofthatevil deed; and ever. since •1 have
slelit 'in fear of ,God, • f
' "That same night T teas transported 'in dreams •intoan immense
gallery, of clouds, ••Vaul:ts, followed upon vaults in millions -extending
ever extending. Under these'vault's-hung little golden lamps, swaying
gently. - It >wonld-1•iave taken years . • to count them. Some of then
• burned brigiatly, others were extinguiihed'suddenIy. ' Some shone with
a violent glare, others flickered and sputtered 'a long while before
they, went govt. ,
"Some, of these laenps were guarded by angels, white and beautiful
ea beauty itself. Other of the lamps had angels, black, ugly and male,
violent, who seemed to wait impatiently the moment .when the flame
should expire. "
"What does all ,this mean?" I, asked my conductor.
"All those. lamps are h.iini:an •souls,"`he replied. "Those which
burls so brightly are the souls of new -bpi -re infants; stainless angels
guard- them. ,'Here are the souls of those who are;. at the age when
some think, the Spirit of Evil and the Spirit of Good contend to them;
but; at "the supreme maraca, ;the last breath almost always returns. to.
the Spirit, of Good.„
"I then 'asked ..to be shown my -own lamp.
"Colne with .nee," -said the strange being, and,, leading, ane under
innumerable vaults, he Made vie traverse a great distance. At _length,
stopping me abruptly, he said: ''Behold! .there is your soul!"
"I was petrified with terror! A single drop of oil remained in nay
lamp; and above it an angel with black wings ble•ty upon the flame to
accelerate, its extinction, I. was seized with dread—overtaken by
cowardice! 'said the Duke, trembling in every limb.
"Listen, Robert -listen!' Beside vie burned a flame - of purest
light; that lainp of gold, protected by an angel with wings of spotless
• white. The Spirit of Evil w.leispered its
The old Duke: stopped—as if the voice.were'speaiking to him again
His eyes became. bloodshot, his hair rose .en his head with horror, his
teeth,. Shattered with: affright,, and when he continued lois voice was
almost a shriek`• . „
"1 went to, the,larnp guarded by the,angel with the white
who looked at me sorrowfully; but the angel with the black wings still
whispered my -ears, I saw nQth.ing; 1 did; not wish, to see anything,
T plupked a.feather 'from the eying of the black attg'el and dipped it ip
t'•he brightly 'flaming lamp and took from itthe o .l,, drop by drop, and
poured it iato mule.. My flame became glittering' and red as blood;;
the other paled, but preserved still the b.righiness•of P. start 13utwlren
the drop of oil was left init'the..an$el that S"ardel i: t spread his s wlitc
wings andwould have stayed with me;, but an angel:with pearly
wings
and bearing a golden sword suddenly appeareel.
"Let this human being do according to his will—God will judge
him," said. d h
"I took the Taitdropof oils Theis fear seized me.: 'What lain,p is
this?' I asked, pointing to theoor flame that was readyo' expire, n
pt zp ,a d
the .voice replied:
"It is the soul of your beloved son,"
"At the same moment the clear flame ;of tire oil died out; the white'
angel took its last breath in its .wings and flew away, uttering as ho
wentriumpt
ah
•cry 9f distress, The Spirit of EYil replier! with a ory of
. .
"I' was frozen with horror.
' my clrainber lay, two bodies—cx_ushed, unrecognizable. My
• son, informed, by hiifiancee, had tried to protect her in her fight, and
nay Criminal snare had destroyed thein both. It was Christmas twenty
years ago.
Saying this, he made a sign to the negro tending the. precious
larrip to cease feeding it flame., "
"1 have made confession, he added„ "and eau pow die, but will God
• forgive me?"
At that moment. the bells of the 'chateau pealed forth' and the
voices of the singers in the church were heard. The doors of the
great hall opened.. At the back of the chapel of the old manor, re•
splendent with lights, the infant Jesus lay upon his bed of straw, a
geared radiant with cellectial glory. p
The old Duke fell on his knees before the infant Diet
"Man," said the•voice of the priest, �
"Jesus was horn i:cr suffer, and
died for the redemption of, sinners. You have slimed, ted, ha you
you c ve sots
feted, you have repented—God forgives you, Ydur soul pass • from
vola in peace,,,
Thethe old man turned his 'eyes toward the rani aabov
ptvhi4h
,lir angel with. white wings was hovering. Chat anf,�el 1r,c receogtiizet(
-'-it was the guardian of the brilliant lamp;
'T he atrgcl,slnifed sweetly and tools within his wings the expiriti•g
.flame, with which he flew heavenward,.
The Due de Kerberzoff was dead,