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HomeMy WebLinkAboutZurich Herald, 1924-12-11, Page 7THE STORY OF CHRISTMAS Christmas Day, you know, dear children, is Christ's day, Christ's birthday, and I want to tell yeu why we love it so much, and why we try, to make every one happy when it comes: each year. A long, :long time ago—more than nineteen hundred years—the baby Christ vv'as born on Christmas Day; a baby so wonderful and so beautiful, who•grew up to be a man so wise, so good, so patient and sweet, thatevery year, the people who know about him Iove him better and better, and are more and more glad when his birth- day comes again. You see that he must have been very good and won- derful; for people have always re- membered his birthday, and kept it lovingly for nineteen hundred years. He was born, long years ago, in a land far, far across the sea. Before the baby Christ was born, Mary, his mother, had to make a long journey., with her husband, Joseph. They made this journey to be taxed or counted; for in those days this could not be done in the town where people happened to live, but they must be numbered in the place where they were b,ril. In that far-off time, the only way of travelling was on a horse, or a camel, or a good patient donkey. Camels and horses cost a great deal of Money, and Mary was poor; so she rode on a quiet, safe donkey, while Joseph walked by her side, leading him and leaning on his stick. Mary was very young and beautiful, I think, but Joseph was a great deal older than she. People dress nowadays, in those dis- tant countries, just as they did so many years ago, so we know that Mary must have worn a long, thick dress, falling all about her in heavy folds, and that she had a soft white veil, over her head and neck, and across her face. Mary lived in Nazar- eth, and the journey they were making was to Bethlehem, many miles away. They were a long time travelling, I am sure; for donkeys are slow, though they are'careful, and Mary must have been very tired before they came to the, end of their journey. They had ravelled all day, and it. was almost dark when they came near; to Bethlehem, to the town where the' baby Christ was to be born. There was the place they were to stay—a kind of • inn, or lodging -house, but not at an I like those you know about. They have them to -day in that fareI off country, just as they built them so many years ago. It was a low, flat -roofed, stone building, with no window and only one. "large' door. There were no nicely -I furnished bedrooms inside; and • no soft white -beds; for. the tired travellers; there were only little places built into � the stones of the wall, something like the berths on steamboats nowadays,' and each traveller brought his own bedding. No pretty garden was in I front of the inn, for the road ran close to the very door, so that its dust lay upon the doorsill. All around the house, to a high, rocky rill at the back, a heavy stone fence was built,1 so that the people and the animals inside might be kept safe. Mary and Joseph could not get very near the inn; for the whole -road in be good so many, many times, and front was filled with camels and don- I because he was the best Christmas great many men' were going to' and fro, taking care of the animals. Some of these people had come to Bethlehem to be counted,- as Mary and Joseph had done, and others were staying for the ;night, on their way. to: Jerusalem, a large city a little further on. The yard was tilled, too, with cam- els and sheep; and men were lying on the ground beside them, resting, and watching, and keeping them safe. The inn was se full and the yard was so full of people, that there was no room for anybody else, and the keeper had to take Joseph and Mary through the house and back to the high hill, where they found another place that was used for a stable. This had only a door and a front and deep caves were be- hind, stretching far into the rocks, This was the spot where Christ was born: Think how poor a place -but Mary was glad to be there, after all; and when the Christ -child came, he was like other babies, and had so late- ly come from heaven that he was happy everywhere. There were mangers all around the cave, where the cattle and sheep were fed and great heaps of hay and straw were lying on the floor. Then, I think, there were brown -eyed cows and oxen there, and quiet, wooly sheep, and perhaps even some dogs that had come in to take care of the sheep. And there in the cave, by and by, the wonderful baby came, and they wrapped him up and laid him in a manger. All the stars in the sky shone brightly that night, for they knew the Christ -child was born, and the angels in heaven sang together for joy. The angels knew about the lovely child, and were glad that he had come to help the people on earth to be good. There lay the beautiful baby, with a manger for his bed, and oxen and sheep all sleeping quietly round him. His mother watched him and loved elm, and by and by many people came to see him, for they had heard that a wonderful child was to be born in Bethlehem. All the people in the inn visited him, and even the shepherds left their flocks in the fields and sought the child and Ms mother. But the baby was very tiny, and could not talk any more than any other tiny child, so he lay in his mother's lap, in the manger, and only looked at the people. So after they had seen him and lov.ed him, they went away again. After a time, when the baby had grown larger, Mary took him back to Nazareth, and there he lived and grew up. And he grew to be such a sweet, wise, loving boy, such a tender, help- ful man, and he said so many good and beautiful things; that every one loved him who knew him. Many of the things he said are in the Bible, you know, and a great many beautiful stories of the things he used to do while he was on earth. He loved little children like you very much, and often used to take them up in his arms and talk to them. And this is the reason we love Christreas`Day so much, and try to make everybody happy when it comes around each year. This is the reason: Because Christ, who was born on Christmas Day, has helped us all to keys and sheep and cows, while a / present the great world ever had. A PLEA FOR SANTA CLAUS BY ETHEL CLARK BICKEL. Much has been said in the last few years for and against allowing chil- dren to believe in Santa Claus. Prim- lary schools' besides Sunday Schools have' taken up the subject of whether or not it is right to lead little folks into belief in the dear old saint. The first primary teacher in a certain well known school considers it very wrong and tells every one of her ehil- dren "the real truth" as she sees it, and they rapidly spread the sad news to all their little friends. The . super- intendent of the Sunday School in an- other town is of similar opinion, and from every Christmas program in his school all allusion to Santa is omitted; No merry songs of mysterious sleigh - bells aro heard there; no little red fireplaces, no tiny stockings ever de- corate the stage for festivities in con- nection with that Sunday School. 1 wonder how the readers of these columns feel on this 'subject? I for one am heartily in favor of Santa Claus. In my childhood, 1 happened to be one of a family of six children, and we wore all told of "Santy" when we were scarcely ' out of babyhood. The happiness of Christmas time' in our hone'` will always be a cherished memory, and it was the "Santy" part of it that made it so joyous, for our gifts were never costly, in fact, corn - Pared with the toys that little folks receive: nowadays, they were almost insignificant, • As for the "t :rrible. disillusionment" •''that is so often suggested as the na- 'tura' outcome of telling children of Banta Claus, we never suffered any such misfortune. As we grew older, lend began to (elation, our mother ex- plained to us very beautifully the real meaning of the dear aid saint. "Santa Claus is the spirit of :Christmas, sone - what as Jaek Prost Is the spirit of, cold acid Rost," she told us. "Santa is the sant of goad cheer and merri- meat, the spirit of loving gild giving." just to make Christmas time more bright and gay. Following her ex- planation, we were always ready to help foster the belief in younger chil- dren. Now I have a little daughter of my own. Her father and I led her to bee lieve in "Santy," for surely we should have been selfish parents had we de- prived her of a joy that had meant so much to us. The year that Barbara was eight years old, I explained to her about "Santy." "Oh; Mother," she ex- claimed happily, when she understood it all, f`now this year I'll be Santy Claus to cousin John and Herbert and little Mary Elizabeth!" You see how thoroughly she grasped the meaning. No disillusionment, no feeling of hav- ing been hoodwinked! Once, when Barbara was only a lit- tle over four, some child tried to shake her belief "Wel], of tourse," answer- ed Barbara, "if you don't believe in Santy Taus, there jus' isn't any Santy for you, that's all !" . Her father later confirmed her reply, and the danger of having to tell her at that tender age was averted. I have never favored "dressing up" to imitate Santa. Rather do I favor the keeping of his personality delight- fully mysterious and vague. Let the ki'd'dies get their `impressions of the jolly old fellow from colored pictures and verbal descriptions rather than from •.masked men. Then, when the time of revelation comes, one can make the story more charming by comparing Santa's epi cheeks to the bright Christmas `holly, his white beard to the snow and frost;' his little fat form may be symbolic of laughter and jollity, and so on. Even his nays- tenons method of coming down the chimney may be made to symbolize the fnseinating secrecy of the Christmas tide. People whose birthdays fall en Very easily she made us understand Christmas Day ate supposed 'ta be wb. t we It id been led to te believe' in him lucky all their lives. A Child's Song of Christmas My;;.ceenterpane ie soft AS Bilk, My` blankets white as creamy nnilk The hay was soft to Him, I know, r. Our little Lord of long ago, Above the roof the pigeons fly -In silver' wheels across the "sky, The stable -doves, they cooed to them Mary' and Christ in Bethlehem. Bright shines the sun across the drifts, And bright upon my Christmas gifts, They brought Him incense, myrrh and gold, Our little Lord who lived of old, 0, soft and clear our mother; sings Of Christmas joys and Christmas things, - God's' holy angels sang to then, Mary and Christ in Bethlehem. Our hearts they hold all Christmas. dear, And earth seems ,sweet and heaven seems near, Oh, heayen was in His sight, I know, That little Child of long ago. —Marjorie L. C. Pickthall. Scrapbook Sets. For the small members of families whom I am to remember at Christmas- time I am making some rather unique gifts. . I have.. saved, pressed and cut into sheets, twelve by twenty inches, all the heavy wrapping paper that has conte to the house the past•dpw months. Then I made gingham -cover- ed cardboard covers for each book. Through the centre of the 'cover on the inside I stitched a piece of heave khaki cloth one inch wide, making my stitching come exactly in the centre of both strip and book cover to re - enforce my binding. With an ice pick for a punch, I made three hole" through one cover and strip, spacing them .properly to accommodate the fasteners. I allowed fifteen sheets to a book, fastening them with paper fasteners, with the points on the in- side of the book.' This makes thirty pages to a book. With this box will go a small box of crayolas, a small pair of kinder- garten scissors and a small tube of library paste. Some of them will be placed in paper bags and other sets will be given in boxes covered with pretty wall paper or holly paper. —R. J. Song for Christmas. Chant me a rhyme for Christmas— Sing me a joyful song • And though it is filled with laughter, Let it be pure and strong. Sing of the hearts brimmed over With the story of the day— And the echo of childish voices That will not die away. Of the blare of tasseled bugles, •'.And the timeless clatter and beat 0.f the drum that throbs the muster Of squadrons of scampering feet. And oh! let your voice fall fainter Till blent with a minor tone You temper your song with the beauty Of the pity Christ hath shown. And sing one verse for the voiceless, And yet ere the song be done :The verse for the ears ,that hear not And a verse for the sightless one: For though it be time for singing A merry Christmas glee, Let a low . sweet voice of pathos -;Run through the melody. -Jas. Whitcomb Riley. CHRISTMAS CANDIES When You Use a Thermometer They Can Not Fail. BY ANNA' COYLE. Probably the most important factor in candy making is the time at which it is taken from the stove. The ques- tion so important to decide is when has it reached the soft ball stage? The candy thermometer decides this ques- tion with accuracy and insures 'uni- form fudge of creamy ,texture, not just once in a while' but every time. CHRISTMAS FUDGE. Two c. sugar, 1 c. milk, 2 tbsp. corn syrup, 2 squares chocolate, 2 tbsp. butter, 1/2 tsp. vanilla. Put the sugar, milk and corn syrup into a saucepan and cook slowly, stir- ring often to prevent scorching. Cut the chocolate in small pieces and stir into the candy mixture when almost done. Continue cooking, stirring fre- quently, until the necessary temper- ature of 236 deg. F. is reached. Remove from the stove, add butter and vanilla and set aside to cool with- out stirring. When the fudge has cooled to a tem- perature of 110 deg. F. or lukewarm, beat until the fudge has lost its sticky consistency and shiny appearance. One-half cup of black walnuts, Eng- lish walnuts or pecans may be added just before the beating is finished. Pour out in greased pan or platter to cool. The mass should be from one-half to an inch thick, creamy and fine grained and not too smooth or glossy on top. TAFFY APPLES. Two c. sugar, ea •c. corn syrup, 1 c. wafer, few drops red coloring, 1 doz. apples, 1 doz. skewers, few drops cin- namon flavoring. Select bright red apples of uniform size, wash and dry. Insert the skewer in the blossom end. Put the sugar, corn syrup and water in a ,saucepan and cook, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Continue cooking without stirring until a temperature of 300 deg. F. is reached. Sugar crystals that form on the side of the pan' dur- ing cooking may be washed off with a small piece of cloth tied to the tines of a fork and dipped in water. Re- move from the fire and place in a pan. of hot water to prevent cooling w ile dipping the apples. add coloring and flavoring. old the apple by the skewers and k, di ,'quickly into the hot syrup. Take it_gnt. at once sand twirl it until the entire; apple is covered. 'Stand the apples in a rack or:some deliee in order that they may cool wi h 'an even covering of candy. These apples will not keep long as the apple, slightly cooked by the hot syrup, discolors and dissolves the coating. Skewers' for this purpose may usu- ally be bought at the butchers. MOLASSES TAFFY. One c. white sugar, 1 c. brown sugar, 2 c. molasses, ei c. water, 3 tbsp. butter, % tsp. •soda, %tsp. salt. Put the sugar, molasses and water in a saucepan and cook slowly, stirring frequently. Cook to a temperature of 265 deg. F. Remove from the fire, add soda and salt and stir. Pour into a greased pan and let stand until cool enough to handle. Pull until quite firm and of a light creamy color. Cut into pieces and wrap in oiled paper. FRUIT -AND -NUT CONFECTION. Not everyone can eat or cares for sugar candy. For these and for chil- dren,.this fruit -and -nut confection is a perfect substitute. Chop-fine—chopping is better than grindingeefigs, dates, citron, stoned or seedless raisins, a litie Iemen and orange peel, English and black wal- nuts, almonds, pecans. Use these in- gredients ngredients in any preferred proportion —some like more nuts, less figs, more or less peel and so on. Peanuts are. notbest for this mixture. Moisten to taste with lemon and orange juice. Mix thoroughly, Shape in balls or "croquettes" and roll in confectioner's sugars Or, pack hard into a shallow pan and cut in slices. Serve on plate or wrap individual .pieces in wax paps`., THS CRACKER FAIRY A Charming Little Christmas Story. for the Children to RR'a d Once upon a tine there lived a little girl whose name was:. Peggy,, Site was a dear little girl, and everybody loved her. Her father and mother were not -very rich, and they lived in a wee cot- tage that stood a long way from any other .house, So it was not often that Peggy had playmates. She°_was only six years old, and not nearly big enough to walk to the school which was three miles away. On Saturdays Peggy went totown in father's cart. While he was busy in . the market, friends of Peggy's would take her to see the shops, or to have tea in their homes. THE FAIRY'S PLEA. Now it was getting near Christmas, land, • every Saturday, Peggy's first thought on reaching town was the! shop in which beautiful Christmas; things were being shown. In the bot- tom corner of the window stood a' wonderful box of crackers. Great big,! big crackers, which had fairies and goblins made of crinkly paper stuck on the outside. Peggy longed to have just one of those crackers.-•• "Please, how much is the box of , crackers—that big box in the corner' there?" said the little girl to the shopman one Saturday. "Two dollars and a half, my dear," 1 said the shopman. J Peggy's face grew sad. As she r turned ,away, the man said that he would sell her just one for a quarter. Peggy hurried off to find her father.: Yes, father was quite willing to give his Peggy a quarter. How happily she sped back to the shop! The little friends who were with her could, hardly keep up with her fleet steps.' And how they looked at each crack-; er! How hard it was for Peggy to make up her mind which she would have! One wee fairy in a white crinkly dress seemed to say: i "Buy me, itltle girl—do buy me!" 1 ON CHRISTMAS AFTERNOON. So Peggy bought her. Carefully; she carried her parcel to the cart. And carefully she nursed it all the way home. Mother wondered what her little girl had, so carefully did the child walk into the cottage. Christmas Day came along. Father Christmas brought Peggy some pres• - ents, but not the one present she want- ed most of all—a baby brother or sis- ter to play with! It was lonely without anyone small to play with. Father often crawled on the floor, and pretended he was a' lion or an elephant; but, still, it wasn't the same as having a real boy or girl to pretend all sorts of lovely things with. On Christmas afternoon Peggy took! out her cracker. It was so beautiful j that she felt she could not bear tot pull it with father. She drew her wee chair up to the fire and nursed the cracker on her lap. She fell asleep and in her sleep managed to loosen the, crinkly fairy. How pleased the fairy was, to be sure. She .danced and danced all over .Waggly, and .;awaloened her: "Fairy, iittle,tairy, have you coma alive?" asked Peggy, in great e, cite- anent: "I have been alive all .the Vette, but I was a prisoner .under a spell until you set me free, Now my power has. returned, and I am a magic being once more. What can I do for you to show, my thankfulness?" THE WONDERFUL WEDDING. "Stay and play with me for a while," said Peggy. "I will do more than that. I will summon my fairy subjects to play here as well!" And the fairy waved her wee arms and said magic words. And through the keyhole of the door I and down the chimney, came dozens and dozens of fairies. They crowded round their Queen, crying: "Dear Queen, we have found you at fast!" "I should still be a prisoner on that cracker if Peggy had not set me free. What shall we do for her?" asked the Queen. "Let her see your wedding. We will fetch .his Majesty, and the wedding can take place here at once!" the fairies said. The Queen thought this a splendid idea. And so it came about that a fairy wedding was held in the cottage, _-- on a Christmas afternoon. A. naughty goblin who loved the Queen dearly had stolen her, and be- cause she would not marry him he had carried her into a big factory where crackers are made and stuck her on to a cracker when the girl who was making it turned her head for a minute. And -the sweet elf who was to have married the Queen had nearly died of grief when he found that she had dis- appeared. But now the fairies soon brought him along, and many of his subjects also, for he was a King, The elves made a great fuss as they cleared the cottage table, and laid a silken mat and silken cushions upon it. When all was ready, one elf went to the keyhole and gave` a long, low whistle. An owl came flying down the chimney. He settled himself on the table. Then the elf led the fairy to the owl, and he solemnly married them. Peggy had hard work not to laugh, because the owl wore big spectacles which kept on coming off his funny beak, and some of the elves tittered right out. But the owl took no notice. After, the fairies and elves danced. the owl sat and blinked, the King and Queen held each other's hands. Then,. with a "Good-bye, kind, kind Peggy!" they all flew up the chimney. "I expect that the Queen has gone to her palace to change her frock. Fancy being married in a paper frock, mother!" cried Peggy. For nights and nights Peggy dream- ed of the fairies. I expect the fairies really came and whispered the dreams in her ears, so thankful were they that she had set their Queen free. The First Christmas. Like .small curled feathers white and soft, The little clouds went by, Across the moon, and past the stars, And down the western sky, In upland pastures, where the grass With frosted dew was white, Like snowy clouds, the young sheep lay That first blest Christmas night. The shepherds slept, and glimmering faint, With twist of thin blue smoke, Only their fire's crackling flames The tender silence broke, Save when a young lamb raised his head, Or, when the night wind blew, A nestling bird would softly stir, Where dusky olives grew, With finger on her solemn lip Night hushed the shady earth, And only stars and ;angels saw The little Saviour's birth, Then came such flash of silver light Across the bending skies, The wondering shepherds woke and hid Their frightened, dazzled eyes. But all their gentle, sleepy flock Looked up, then slept again, Nor knew the light that dimmed the stars Brought endless puce to men; Nor even heard the gracious words That down the ages ring; "The Christ is born, the Lord has conte, Good will on lath to bring!" Then o'er the moonlit, misty fields, Dumb with the world's great joy, The shepherds sought the white -wall- ed town, Where lay the baby boy. And, ole, the gladness of the world, The glory of the skies, Because the longed -for Christ had smiled In Mary's happy eyes! ---Margaret Deland. A Happy Christmas to All. Ye Christmastide hath come again, Ye joyful time of all ye year.; God rest you, merry gentlemen, And bring you health and all good cheer. Christmas crackers originated in lr?^rs co over: seventy years ago, When in Doubt, Throw it Out. If anyone doubts the need of re- form in the marketing of apples, let him go into any market in the fall, particularly after there has been a wind storm, and see the fruit that is sent in for sale. Some of it is good, much of it would perhaps be market- able if graded and handled right, but altogether too large a percentage of it ought never to have left the farm —at least not in a fresh condition.' These poor grades of apples, hand- led in this way, are a serious detri- ment to our business. The remedy lies first of all, of course, in better methods of growing our apples so that there wi•11 be fewer poor grades. Second, in handling, grading and packing them better, so that they shall arrive on the market in better condi- tion. And lastly, in marketing more of them in some other form than in the fresh condition. In the meantime, and as a starter, let us adopt this autumn in our apple packing the slogan that was in use in some sections last year: • "When in doubt, throw it oui.," Plowing Match. The old time student plowing match was revived by the Agronomy Club of the 0.A.C. and a competition staged on Saturday afternoon, October 25th. This event took the form of an inter -year competition, four classrnen from each year participating. The scoring was done under the rules of the Ontario Plowmen's' Association by a board of three judges. The aggre- gate of the four men from each class made up the year total. Freshmen class score, 276 points out of. a .possible 400. Sophomore plass score...271 points out` of a possible 400. Junior class score 270 points out of a possible 400. Senior class score 250 points out of a possible 400. Best plowman-•-Sophornarc A. lute tersoir= score 87% points. Second best, plo Mien• --F reshnian A. Nichol, 81ei points. Third' best plowman-•-iophemore W.. Talton, SO points. Dr. Zavitz, Professor W. I2, Graham and F. L. Ferguson fo;strieti the heard of judges