The Seaforth News, 1934-12-20, Page 2PAGE TWO
THE SEAFORTH NEWS
THURSDAY, DEC. 20, 1934.
THE CHOSEN TREE"
In the hall: of the stable •where th
babe was born was a window, and a
He :ay in the humble manger unde.
ueath, He could look out at the tree
:un1 the sky. .\n,1 as He lay there .II
heard rite trees begin to talk anion
themselves. there Wae a royal Palet
and a luxuriant Olive and a plain
little Fir Tree..1nd the Palin began;
"I ani the royal tree. I spread my
branches over the fountains ni princes
to give theist shade in the hot sultr
Summer. My leaves are waved
triumphal processions and scattere
at the feet of conquerors. It will I
my branches which will be used t
pr,rteot this newborn King, ,He w
;elect 111e to grace Itis •throne."
IAnd the Olive answered: "No, H
will choose me for 1 ant the emble
cif wealth and fruitfulness. Rich to
measure their gold by the number
my tree: 10111011 they possess, 1 w
pour Int oil over 1 -lis fret and pe
100le Itis ;radle with my scent.
,,will he my branches which will bet
over His throne."
pint the poor little Fir Tree said
never a word. It hail been left
,;row wild iu t. he :ands which edge
:he desert. It had never en 3000t1
r„y ;r: it .. received any recai;ni-
tion icon 111:tnt save when a poor
peasant used its wood for his scanty
tire, It hail neither heamiFtti Tranches
nor balls .,i fruit with which to gar-
land the cradle .,f this new Baby
King. ,So 3313' Fir free tans very sail.
And when the stars Looked rt
Lit 11 thew, :,r, , 10000 sa.l, and sort.
For it. So they al1 aar,ed: "Let us
down and 11111k11 the Fir Tree beauti-
ful," And they dropped down frit
their places in heaven and drape
themselves a;on the branches 1. th
little Fir and slum,: with tleinl.-lin
bridlianeo.
And it hen :he Babe Jesus L,okc1
out of 111' stna'i Amsler win,.han
and saw 110 glittering tree, 'lie clap-
ped His hturls and cried: "1 will
elti„ra0 that tree to !1e \Iv own an
it shah stand For Me as My symbol
111 the homes .,f num."
So it , not t'u conquering Palm
which we place 1, ',lay beside our tire
Paces. nor the luscious 1)lire which
we place today. -beside our fireplaces,
our the luscious 01ive which is de-
picted ,11 , 111• {'hrlstnlas greetin.z.
cards: it is the Fir, sturdy, simple,
enduring. 11 ,fors not have any one
seasonal burst „f col,re,l blowy n, n•
is it ,lucked wilt gal -look of rip
fruits. 1.111 Slimmer amt \V -inter it re
tailed its green garments 0ontrnt
That first Christmas long ago thrift,
upside down the n ,rld's sense
values. .lertt:t''em the golden sat
proud as the great ntctrrn,olis a here
wealth and ;rower were the only
gauge of success: Retool ruled ar-
rogant as a ruthless antorrat: Salome
danced for the head of ,i,,hn, Brough;
to her on a plotter; money -changers
cro.0,ie1 13) rt!te forecourt o1 the
1111 th1sc nassr,1 and ;stirui :'lire
Earl' inin down to n, ''ii1 i11)111 q'ial
reality, Mary. symbol .,f ideal 44,i -
man 11, I„-eph. carpenter. hunlbi-
e.: and most dentc,crati•0 ,.1 all trades:
and the Babe, Horn in a s'r31, Togeth-
er they snake possible .1 Family; t, -
other they compose .1 Hunte. That
Christmas re -valued many thi)1.4.
011.1 brought 'orwaril as rich human
currency the i old of virtue, simplic-
ity, kindliness. Love. So, too, this
Christmas, more than ever, there
:teed for re -valuing It these old-
htshi med qualities and ne, too, must
;deride what is worth while, and in
particular. where are we going? And
tln rt l t-i.in of values on the part of
leen may not lead to the honors of
the royal Palm, or the wealth of the
luxuriant Olive. These values prob-
ably'nmct return to hold fast to those
iquailties of the Fir which we and all
the world celebrate together—simple.
enduring, content.
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CHRISTMAS MAP STAMP
C\” unique commemorative postage
stamp was the Canadian Christmas
'Stamp of 1!St1'S.
Thirty pears •previnnsly, iu 1868,
the rate of postage on letters in Can-
ada was reduced from five cents to
t'hrce cents. During this time the rate
for pot cards' was one cent between
postotfices in Canada and also when
addressed to Uniaed States points,
On this ac11000t past cards were u:serl
-to'a very great extent, for private anri
also a .certaini amount of commercial
correspondence.
'I1 was argued at Ottawa that if the
rate w -as reduced from three to two
cents. that a -much larger revenue
apt
RISTMAS
17/04--rth
A CHILD'S SONG OF
CHRISTMAS
My counterpane is soft as silk,
My blankets white as creamy milk,
The hay was soft for Him, 3 know,
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,
Oh, soft and clear our mother sings
Of Christmas joys and Christmas
things.
God's holy angels sang to them,
Mary and Christ in Bethlehem.
Our hearts they hold all Christmas
dear,
And earth seems sweet and heaven
seems near,
Oh, heaven was in His sight, I
know,
That little Child of long ago.
—Marjorie fink:hall.
a
. a JRtf .B3Pt ++ e•px.:€t5+ - i7etfFc?
would be derived, dtte to the increas-
ed use of the letter rate and that
many would ceaseto use the one
cent postcard. This 0141111 later proved
to be correct.
Before the rate on Canadian corres-
pondence wild carried into effect, the
idea was born, "if for Canada, why
not :or the Etupi e?" Negotiations
were entered into, and as a result
"Penny Postage" Was obtained bet-
ween all places in the British Empire
whereas formerly the rate was five
cents.
:Such a reduction in the rate of pass
+tage was an historic occasion, quite
worthy of special recognition, Sir
William llulocic was then postmaster
general and the stamp which was is-
sued was of his design,
Few postage stamps have received
as much 'public comment as that
which greeted the appearance of the
Canadian Christmas stamp of 1892. I
The .alive season was. chosen to
eeebrate the reduced rate, and in the
tush of the Christmas a,tivlties, one
would almost have thought the ap-
pearance f the stamp would have
passe! ! ;uulo:iced. -
The first criticism was .to the spell-
ing of the word "Christmas" as
-Xmas-. The latter spelling is mak-
ing' use of the Greek letter `X" which.
stands f. : our "CH," and which was
the symbolic letter for the name of
Christ.
Then the 'phrase, "We bold a vaster
Empire than has beet," aroused com-
ment. The statement was 'true. but
some thought it boastful, and others
objected to the wording, "than has
been,"
It
will be noted ,that the neap is not
presented in the form of ttvo globes,
t: hick ii the familiar one to most
people, in which the meridians con-
verge at 111e poles, This usual method
of presentation has the effect of mak-
ing countries above or below the
equator seem smaller in comparison,
than they really are, As a result Can -
ado was thought by some to have
"spread" itself, and be given mord
space or arca on the stamp than site
really possessed. The map, however,
was approximately correct.
'fhe Standard catalogue lists this
stamp 115 hat•iug the oceans in two
colors, namely "lavender" and "blue."
This has occasioned some :confusion.
In our opinion, what is called "lav-
ender" would be much better listed
as 'pale blue"—and what is termed
i1'lue" is in our 'opinion decidedly' a
green:
1111 the printing process, the ocean
colors were allowed to. run "dry" the
effect being that the shades `;paled"
from deep to pale, One may easily
find specimens which apparently have
no coloring at alt on the oceans.
The ''Canada First" album lists
these stanips with oceans printed in
pale blue and green, and also prov-
ides a space for one of the very faint
shades of each color.
Quite freq.uen'tly specimens are
found in which the oceans may he
said to have hada storm, !for 'the col-
or is a muddy b -gown. This has been.
caused by oxidation, and such stamps
are spoiled,
'rile 1,Gaity-Pumos e 011:-8oth in
the house and stable there are scores
of uses for Dr, Thomas' !Etlectrtc •01I.
Use it for cuts, bruises, burns, scalds,
the pains of rheumatism :and ,slciatica,
sore throat and chest. lEtorses are
liable very largely 10 similar ailments
and mishaps as afflict mankind, and
are equally amenable to the healing
111111tence bi this fine old remedy.
which hats made tJtonsands of 110
111
.
friends during the past ,fifty years,
0
lel!+r. «;
MADE CHRISSTM+AS CCSTOIV.S
James I. was not a very popular
King, and is chiefly remembered for
his hatred of 'to'bacco.- B'u•t there is
something in' his favor. It was he who
made turkey a - popular Christmas
-dish,
3m those days the boar's head pas •
the Christmas joint, but James 'hated
pork as savagely' as he did tobacco.
so his cooles substituted 'turkey and
the bird never fell out of favor.
Talking of tttrkey, it was the Jes-
uits who first imported the bird front:
America, They reared turkeys on a
large farm near Bourges in France,
and from.therethey spread all over
Europe.
!What a pity it is we don't know
who invented the mince pie. A41 we
do kncaiv is that they were-
originally
macre in the shape o11 the manger in
which the Christ -Child was laid and
that they were known as "coffin"
pasties,
Bo perhaps the mince pie grew
like plum pudding which, in its earl-
iest state, was nothing but a sort of
'porridge with plums in it. Our ances-
tors ate i•t for breakfast.
1 king popularized the turkey and
a queen introduced the Chrisrtnas
tree, I t was Charlotte, consort of
George 111„ 11'1111 brought the first
1)111 to Lond,,n,
Oddly enough, the fashion dill not
take on, and it was not until about
1111•}11 that the Christmas tree was ag-
ain seen, It was then re -introduced by
the Prince Consort who, by the way)�,,
became enraged to Queen -Victoria n•)
the morning of Christina. Day, 18'38.
No one knows who wrote the first
Christmas carol, hitt we do knnty that
the first book of carols was published
by \1)y'n•kyude Word,,, who was a
pupil. of :he famous Caxton,
\Zany will tell roe that we owe the
merriment of Clu•istnlas to Charles
Dickens, No one in there sen100 is
going 111 decry the work that -Dick-
0ns did in this way, but we ought not
to forget tite .,then writers who made
popular Christmas parties and revels.
'It was Addison wllo invented Sir
Roger de Coverh•i•, 00 who adapted.
hint from Squire \ewdegate or Ar -
'bury. And that worthy knight knew
all about Christmas festivities, 'J
"Christmas," he said, "is the most
dead, uncomfortable time of the year,
When the pon• people would suffer
very much front their poverty and
cold if they had not good cheer,
warm fires, and Christmas gambols
tosupportthem, I love to rejoice
their poor hearts 1111.1 to see the whole
village merry in my great hall.
"I allow a double quantity of malt
to 111y small beer and set it a -running
for twelve days to everyone that calls
'for it. 1 have always a piece of cold
beef and a 11111000 pye upon the tbale,"
Nor must five 'forget Sir Walter
,Scott, who centenary w•aes recently
celebrated, head "\larmion," and you
will see that his motto was' -We'll
keep our Christmas merry still,"
Many well-known writers of the
past have helped to slake Christmas
the jolly- festival that it is today,
FATHER CHRISTMAS
:Santa (,land Inas not an itllaginary
Genre, but a real person. He was St.
\icholas, who was archbishop of
Myra, in Asia Minor, and who has
always been regarded as the patron
5111111 of children; He lived 111100 years
ago, and gave it great spur to secret
bounties, by itis delightful mode of
playing the part of benefactor to the
"three portionless maidens,"
This happened while be was yet a
'005 :g man placed by his father's
lieadh i11 posessinn 11'1 an inheritance
hich he resolved to distribute
among the poor, He did not carry
'111 his project haphazardly, but care-
tualy tt11r1 discreetly,
'Noy there was in the city a noble-
man who had fallen into 'direst pov-
erty,and whose three fair -daughters
were about to be sold as slaves to
evil masters. St, Nicholas, having
learned this, on three successive
nights visited - the house in secret,
each time bringing ,with- '11101 a hag of
gold as a dowry For one of the maid -
Twice lie cont,'ia'ed ' to leave his
gift and to depart unseen. !Ilut on
the third night the father kept vigil,
and poured his heart outto the stran-
ger in gratdtu'de for the deliverance
of his chik1 0-11, in penitence for his
own 'lack of :faith,
'Wi'fe: "Did your— h that
mouse-,coltuired velt ',piece of
Il3nslban,1 "No0 for isle.?'
111 , you forgot to give ..
e the 31101151.