HomeMy WebLinkAboutZurich Herald, 1920-12-30, Page 2.. r
JOAN'S
MANCIPATIOIN
Joan signed her name ht the ex -
areas book and marched upstairs wit 1
the package under her arm.
"It's Aunt.Estelle's Christmas Pres-
ent," she said, as she cu the cord.
°tDo you want to see it?".
"Joan Morgan, you don't mean that
you are going to open it now?" her
cousin crieal. Alice was visiting the
Morgans; she did not yet know their
ways---eepecially Joan's.
"Why not, when Aunt Estelle has
sent it now?" ' Joan retorted; and
then, seeing the look in Alice's eyes,
her voice softened. "She'd expect me
to, Allele. She always wants an in-
stantaneous acknowledgment. Be-
sides," added Jean as her voice hard-
ened again, "I don't want to spoil
Christmas. I knew it! If I could
only give it to you, Allier"
Alice drew a long breath of delight
as the folds of e'hinrmering amber silk
fell open. "Oh, how lovely!" she
cried. •
"It is lovely!" Joan replied slow-
ly. "It seems wicked not to love it,
but I don't go to two places in a year
•where I could wear a thing like this.
And it will cost ten dollars to make
it up even if we do it ourselves—
trimmings and fixings and all. And
that means that I shall have to give
up the two symphony tickets I had
set my heart on. I was going to have
the happiest tine --taking some one
to
each eooncert.
"It's always so," she continued.
"One year slue gave us that carved
chair downstairs. We were all sav-
ing for a phonograph, but we had to
spend the money in refinishing the
furniture ar else have the room en-
tirely spoiled by that chair. Another
year it was that extravagant copy of
Mena Lisa.. I hate Mona Lisa, and it
nearly broke my heart to have to
spend money I wanted for so many
other things in framing her!"
Joan turned sharply and looked out
of the window. In a moment she
looked back, penitent.
"•I know I'm horrid," she confessed.
"I'm ashamed of myself -clean• down
to the tips of my shoes; but oh, Alice
Field, if I ever, ever, ever, send gifts
with strings to them!"
Suddenly the expression on her face
changed.
"I'rn going to do it!" she cried.
''I've been a coward all my life be-
fore. I'm going ;t,Li silk
just made fem. you --and take
the consequences. Maybe 1 won't get
any more Aunt Estelle gifts—and. oh,
wouldn't that be aa, joy!"
"Oh, I couldn't!" Alice gasped. But
.roan was whirling her joyously round
the room.
"I'm erameipated! It's gone to my
head! To think of having one thing
go to the right person! For the first
nine s.iece I cin: remember I shall Love
?,e t Estelhae gift."
A Christmas Song,
Hear the angel voices ringing,
Hear -the sweet refrain,
"Pewee on earth, good -will from
heaven,"
Sang they o'er the .star -lit plain.
Down from the throneiand,
Clothed in power and night,
Carne the Son of God, the Saviour,
Filling earth with heavenly light.
Canine Ile to a lowly manger,
Born of lowly birth;
Yes, •the' Prince of Peace sued Glory,
Deigned He these to cone to earth.
Sing, 0 ye angels!
Sing, ye sons orf- amen!:
Tell the coming of the Saviour,
Sound the joyful note again,
Flocked the ct;owds to hear His mes-
sage. '
Joy for teary He gave;
Souls were healed, their sins forgiven;
Loved ones rescued from the grave.
Down through life's byways,
Walked He, lowly, meek;
. While the hearts of burdened sinners
Lightened when they heard Him
speak.
, Oh, ye weary, hear Him saying,
:Come to nie, and. rest;
Cast on me your every burden,
Be in me forever blest.
Then in the homeland,
All thy labor done,
Thou shalt reign with me in glory
, ,When the erown of life is won."
Christmas has its geography as
well as its festivity. There are three
Christmas IsI•atals--'one in the .Pacific,
eeevered with guano, where Captain
Cook celebrated one Christmastide;
•+oin,e e f Cape Breton, and a third fin
t'ie Indian Ocean 2.5 miles'south-nowt
of Java. There is a Plumnpuddnng
'`stand, situated eft the West Coast
of Africa.
Yelped String Beane. -Soak two
i tablespoons of gelatine in one-half
cup of cold water. Adel orae putt of
i llmtrilimbg Water, three-fourths cup of
' auger, : one-half' coup of lemon juice.
f 1 our green siring .beans in a morm;1
'Pour gelatine over. Chill and serve
•with drostinng.
Novel Ways of
Istributmg Gifts.
It Santa Claus and • all the Christ-
mas trees should go on strike this.
year and refuse to have 'anyth'! g to
do with presents, there are anyunm-
ber of other ways to distribute them,
jolly and original ways too, that are
not much trouble ar expense,
How delighted the family will be
on Christmas morning, especially the
children in the family, to see the big
living -room. table appareartly sn*W-
bound. The whole surface is covered
with a layer of white cotton batting
sprinkled with artificial snow, and
rising out of the snow are just as
many sparkling snow-covered mounds
as there are members of the family.
On each snowy hill a tiny white -clad
Eskinzo sits or slides, and each hill is
likewise marked by a gay red -lettered
sign bearing the name of the owner.
Lifting the imaginary blanket of
snow ---in reality a blanket of sheet
wadding be -sprinkled with artificial
snow—each person discovers a cache
of gifts.
If there is a dog in the household
you can plan a fine surprise for the
children. Christmas morning he may
come trotting in wearing a wee red
jacket and a collar of tiny jingling
bells. He makes the rounds, and
each person is entitled to one bell.
but must pick out the one tagged
with his or her name. The other side
of the tag mentions the place where
that person's gifts are concealel. One
label may state, "The lowest shelf of
the china closet," another will say,
"Under the hall table," and so on -
A very simple way which snakes
the presents last a long time is to
put them all beforehand into a big
clothes basket, decked with ground
pine or other Christmas greenery.
When it is time to have the presents
the basket is brought in to occupy
the centre of the room, and the folks
aII sit in a circle around it. One at
a time, in turn, draws a package,
Iocks at the name, and hands it to
the proper owner, all watching while
it is opened.
Thismakes the opening. of the
parcels a long-drawn-out sweetness,
and everyone shares in everyone else's
joY•
The kiddies will love a Christmas
ship, :its Beeks loaded with golden
packets. If there is e toy ship in the
playroom or among the gifts of the
day, it is not difficult to arrange it
on a table, trim it with a bit of holly,
and heap its decks with the Christ-
mas presents tied up in gilt and silver
paper to seen more treasure -like. A
• small boy in his sailor snit may be
chosen to help unload it, Or a real
sailor uncle- or cousin among the
grown-ups. •
Almost every family has a toy ex-
press Bart, and this can be easily be
made affective as the centre of the
occasion. To each corner of the cart
fasten upright a tiny evergreen tree,
or merely a branch decked with- 'a
few shining ornaments ar colored
balls. Spread the centre of the east
with a yard or so of starlet paper or
cloth to hang over the edges, On top
of it in the cart, sheltered by the four
little corner trees, pile the zesents.
Quite a pretty way taave the
presents on Christinias. Eve is to ar-
range in a burning row, on the men -
tel, a candle for each person, corm-
sponding to a.ge or size. Thus, Baby
may have one of those very wee ones,
the older children may have graduat-
ed sires—Father inay have a. very trill
oche, Grandma, who is portly, may
have arae of those plump bedroom
candles, and so on. Each candle has
on it a ribbon boW of distinguishing
color, and all the presents that can
be found •about the room, tied with
that partieular color, belong to the
owner of the candle.
Some time ask each member of the
family to do his or her own pa"cic-
ages up inm .a distinctive way. Maybe
Aunt Mary will tie hers all in green;
Cousin Jane may use yellow raffia to
tie hers; Mother may choose gray
paper and orange ribbon; some jok-
ing brother could use newspapers.
A very simple and happy plan is
to assign: each person .a chair with a
green wreath lung on the back, from
which a gay red holiday balloon sways
cheerily in air. On the seat of the
chair arrange the gifts that are com-
ing to its assignee.
She Knew What She Wanted
Anyway.
One man said to another in the
first weeks of December, "What are
yon going to give your wife for an
Christmas, present?"
don't know yet," said the other.
"She pat It away in a drawer before
1 had a chance to see it."
'Mather Christmas.
Away with melancholy?
`:Thais. day is .for delight;
When mistletoe and holly,
in 'wreaths and garlands bright, •
Are hung above the ing•1e,
And joyous voices mingle
To welcome Father Christmas, •
Who comes elad all in white.'
Green spray and crimson berry, .
A brown for hire shall be;
Gay catch and carol merry
Shall fill his heart with glee;
Shall match his sleigh -bell's jingle,
And warm his ears a -tingle,
A greeting for Father Christmas,
The Christmas fairy he;
Within his sleigh he 'carries
The presents high up -piled;
Not long with us he tarries,
By leaf and song .beguiled;
God speed,, down dale and dingle;
11•Tay there not be a single
Forgotten one this Chr'-stnras,
But gifts for every child,
•
A Prayer.
I pray that while I live here
in this world,
Though I should poorer grow,
alone and sad,
I still may have one candle
burning bright
In my best window on God's
holy night;
A holly spray to make. my..
room seem glad-- •
And in my heart- the blindfold
hope to rise
Singing dream carols of the
Christmas skies.
Took Her at Her Word.
"What was his present, dear?" ask-
ed a chorus of female voices on
Christmas Day. "Was it a pearl
brooch or a bracelet, or was it a. dia-
mond tiara?"
The fair" fiancee's eyes, which lately
had glittered with glowing anticipa-
tions, grew moist,
"It wasn't --anything!" she' replied.
"Not anything?" cried her friends.
"Oh, the brute! How did it happen?"
"Well, you see," explained the bit-
terly disappointed one, the tears now
bursting through their barriers, "he -he
asked me w -what I wanted, and I told
him I'd I -love him just as much if
A Christmas Carol.
The 1Shepheeds had an Angel,
Tho Wise Men had a star,
But what have I, little child,
To guide me lune trent Tar,
Where glad stabs •sing together
And singing nugelm ate?
Those Shepherds through the lonely
night •
Sat watching by their sheep,
Until they saw" the heavenly host
Who neither tire nor sleep,
All singing "Glory, glory,"
In festival they keep.
The Wise Men left their country
To journey morn by morn,
With gcild and frankincense and
myrrh,
Because the Lord was burnt
God sent a star to guide them
And sent a dream to warn.
My life is like their journey,
Their star is like God's book;
I must be like those good Wise Men
With heavenward heart and look:
But shall 1 give no gifts to God?
what precious gifts they took!
--Christina G. Raseetti,
' P'eace on Earth."
We cannot hear with the angels
The song that the angels sang,
As over the hills of Judah,
Their glorious message rang
Of a Christ that was born in a manger;
A Saviour Meek and mild,
Who left his home in glary,•
And became a little child-.
Our ears cannot ea,ts+ the music
Nor the words of that eweet i'efrairi,
That mire from celestial choirs,
A sweet and solemn strain,
Of "Glory to God in the Highest,,
On earth peace, to siren good -will,"
That floated to earth from Heaven
That night in the midnight still.
• We cannot: go with the wise men
And follow the •blessed gleam
Of the silver .star that beckoned
To the Hope of a n'ation's dream;
Not ours to give to Him treasurer
Of frankincense, myrrh and gold,
Not ours to gaze on the graces
Of the Christ -Child manifold.
But bark! the air is pulsing
With the vibrate!: angel song
In our hearts we catch the message
And the gladsome notes prolong,
As they ring down the bong -past ages
"Peace on earth, good will to men,"
he didn't g -get me anything—and s- And the Star leads ever onward
• so h lie d-diddam't!" "'ire To the Babe at Bethlehem.
The Lad's Gift to His Lord.
Two shepherds and a shepherd lad
Came running from afar
To greet the little new-born One
Whose herald was a star.
But empty were their toil -worry hands,
And on the stable floor
The Wise Men knelt with precious gifts
The Saviour to adore.
"Oh, take my cloak," one shepherd cried,
" 'Twill keep the Babe from cold."
"And take my staff," the other said,
" 'Twill guide Him o'er the wold."
The shepherd lad looked sadly down;
No gift at all had he,
But only on his breast a lamb
He cherished tenderly.
So young it was, so dear it was—
The dearest of the flock—
For days he had been guarding it,
Close wrapped within his smock.
He took the little, clinging thing
And laid it by the Child,
And all the place with glory shone—
For la! Lord Jesus smiled.
HERE WE ARE AGAIN!!
Christmas Prayer for 1920.
Greatest Babe of every age,
Teacher, Prophet, Monaach,Sage;;
Send a vision now, we pray,
For rampant sin beclouds our way.
While we celebrate Thy birth, •
Blind confusion sways the earth;
So we kneel and . humbly pray,
In compassion guide our way.
Most gracious God, Lord on high,
Spread Thy light and come Thou nigh;
Help us tide our fiery day,
Lift us from the miry clay.
Lift us up and out of self,
Cure us of our love of pelf; .
Still the din and fearsome strife,
Teach us of that higher life.
Great Jehovah, only King,
Throne secure, Thy praise we sing
Hearts illuminate again,
Let good will forever reign.
Christmas at Jerusalem.
"I have spent not a. few romantic
and p'icturewlne Christmas Days,"
said a well: known clergyman to the
welter, "but •iaonze that .remains. se
vividly in my memory as the one I
passed a few years ago at Bethle-
hem. h •
-
"It was a .cold but very beautiful
naming on which .I joined the thou-
sands -of pilgrims • who •ntrefnnred out
of the Jaffa Gate on the way to Beth-
lehem. And a motley, picturesque
crowd it was!
"A two hours' walk brought me to
the quaint, old world little town, in
its setting of alive -groves and fig -
trees, nestling among the. Judae'ati
hills, and looking so old sand hoary
that one night well believe it is un-
thawed since Christ first opened his
eves on it.
"But that day the narrow streets—
so narrow that .one could almost
shake hands aerass any of them, were
already full of life and color. Pass-
ing through the market -place, where
is the world-famous Church of the
Nativity, I followed the stream of
people until I found myself one of
the crowd in the Field of the Shen-
herds the very field in which, so tra-
dition says, the -shepherds were
watching their fineke that memorable
night more than nineteen centuries
ago. ,.
"Li the field were priests engaged
in blessing the pilgrims :and after re-
ceiving. my benediction I hurried
back to Bethlehem in time to witness
the procession of priests and people
to the Church of the Nativity.
"At the head et the procession
walked the I'atriarrh of Jerusalem, a
stately, impressive figure in rich ---
even gorgeous—veitment.s, with a
bodyguard of almost equally splendid
priests bearing aloft towering candles
and magnificent banners; while be-
hind eame a most picturesque medley
of priests and people.
"Orme by one these hundreds of wor-
shippers filed through the low, nar-
row doorway loading into the church,
until the building was full almost to
suffocation.
%r 1
PREPARING FOR
THE DAY
e
•
Only a short time yet' reni ins to
prepare. our homes and ourselves to
receive the (treat (-ft that comes, to
us oaa Christmas Day, -
And to make 'ready, let us first
read again the story of Ilis life; how
He •cane to earth, how Iia lived here
and how He left, The story is one.
of the simplest ever written; of enc
who .was a poor man, who never had
any money to give to any one, who
never bought gifts of any kind, What
he gave was Himself, ' and of that He
gave fieeiy and gladly. It is Ills
birth that we are to eelel:,r•ate on
Thursday. We are to give thanks
that He cane to us, and for that
great and lasting Gift w'.e give to
others.-]ivciy'thing that we give on
Christmas Day is in memory of Him.
Do we think of this enough? Do
we tell our childr.n a;: unuch aaboet
thin most pt e; lour of all Gifts as we
do about Santa Maus?
The whole story of Chri,.1's donning
to earth, as told ir the four gospels,
is summed up by the late Dr. (George
Hodges in his beautift,'- °look, "When
the King Came,: in these words:
"This tells. how once the Xing of
Glory came It ons heaven to visit ns
here on earth.and live among us; how
He was born. in Bethlehem and
brought to Nazareth; how He went:
about telling peopled of the heavenly
kingdem and doing ;'nod, aninist•ering
to the sick and the poor; how He was
misunderstood and disliked and hat-
ed, till at last they took Him to Jeru-
salem and nailed Ilia: to a cross, so
that Ile died; and l;ot*, after that.
He'
eame to life again and went back •
• into heaven, promising to return."
• And in memory of the little child
who was horn in a stable at Bethle-
hem on a (.;dmistm.as Darr, centuries
ago, we are to keep Christmas again
this year. Christmas always will be
kept as long as -the world endures,
, but the way of keeping it rests with
each one of us. Let us snake our
gifts, but with each one let us give
something of ourselves. Let us tie
them up with love, and dispatch them
with thoughtfulness; bet us make no
gifts that cannot take .with ureas the
spirit of Christ; and., with Tiny Tim,
let us say with hearts that mean it,
"GOD BLESS US, EVERY ONl »
"Here services are held all through
Christmas Day and night until dawn
breaks, the Patriaarc+h himself tela'-
prating mass at midnight.
"From the ehurrh and its- dignified
anri solemn service I found my way
into the famous `Grotto of the Na -
"It
"It is but a tiny room, this 'Grotto
of the Chamber,' as it is called, and
it contains but a small altar,. said to
occupy the very ground on which the
Wise Men from the East prostrated
themselves before the infant Jesus."
4,
A Christie s Hymn.
'Tie Christmas time, the crowded
setreet, the busy mart,
All- witness to the tidings sweet, and
while we start
The Yule -log blazing; on the hearth;
With measure meet,
While hearts o'erflow -with genial
mirth, we haste to greet
The Christmas tlrne,
'Tis Christmas time, 0 God above, •
our heart:t unite
In bonds of 'sympathy and love this
holy night,
And may the message angels breagl.t
inspire the song
That swells to tell; may every Thought
to thee belong.
This Christmas time.
O Christmas time, 0 holy night when
Christ was born,
That saw the breaking of tie? light
ie perfect morn,
Shine, ywith thy rare effulgence an
and light our way,
Till we at last 'behold the :lawn of
perfect day, '
In Ohris't"s awn times
Soil for Growth.
At Christmas time Elinor got sev-
eral • little candy animals, which she
had been saving because they were
so cute. But one day the toy rabbit
was missed.
"What did you do wiith Bunny'T
"Oh, he, got too dirty to play w:.tt,
so I ate ,him," replied Ellison.
`It was always said of him...
that he knew how to keep
Christmas •well if any man
alive possessed the knowledge.
May; that by truly said of us,
and all os us! "—Dickens_
Then Shat: Come Peace.
Christmas is here
Wide its good cheer;
Peace and good will
Is fits nneasage so clear
O'er all the earth,
To herald Christ's biz•th;
May lovo instil
All its prete'epts of worth.
Where there it Idight
(}f Sin's dark'night,
May this good news.
Enter with its blest light;
''''hen 'shall coarse Ind -tee,
Then sorrow cense,
And holy truths . -
Ciive from error 1 eleaese