PAGE EIGHT

lllliliiccvux

YES, VIRGINIA,

I ,1! llm;-e a Santa Claus? Mll- Iions of cliilrircn have asked that question, s.nce visits from St. Nicholas iwgazl to be associated with the observnlice of Cliristmas.

Ii: 189 one girl iiroie to tile edi- for of Nliv York Sun. asking hgri nho H.lll'R, and the next

av an editorial appeared, an edi- tdtial that ll'lS been reprinted njousands n! times since

Here is that famous editorial:

The Editorial

'.TP ill EIXISWPTIHK pmminently the

I full 8 years old. "0 frzeixds say there is no San!-.1 Cl s Paps says "If Sun, !”s I Plea-c tlirre a S

l.. you see it in The

is

Yllltllh O'HA.NL()N.

its West Ninety-Fifth Street. VlrgLr.'.a you: Little friends are 1n-oiig. Tliny have been affected by the skepticlsni of a skeptical . They do not believe unless " Tl 'l .:ik that noth- - 1 compre- .i e niinds. All . viivr-'.tie': rer.'s are little. of ours mall is in his in- with the him, as . F. Lntellicelice rap- rihie I. .9; the ivhole truth llI'ltI km" t - .

. tllerc is a Santa as i--cistuizilr as and devotion

THERE IS A SA

childhood fills the world would be extinguished.

Not believe in Santa. Claus! You might as well not believe in fair-

lS! You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas ere to

catch Santa Claus, but even it they did not see Santa Claus coni- ing down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa, Claus. The most real things in the world. are those that neither children or man can see. Did you

All(lli' that they '42 your life

Like lall-ll they. no poetry, no ro- mrtnce no make tolerable this ex-

We should have no en- lii sense and sight. light with which

isterice. joryni mit except ,This etcrilal

ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not. But that's no proof that they are not there.I Nobody can conceive all the won- 'ders there are unseen and unsee- cible ill the world.

3 You tear apart the baby's rattle and see what makes the noise in- side, but there is A veil covering the unseen world which not t.llc'

istrongcst man, not even the unit-

.-R5?-xa.

Inothlng else real and abiding.

NTA CLAUS

i

od strelictli 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 supernatural beauty and glory behind it. ls it all real? Ah, Vir- ciniii, in all this world there is

No Santa Claus! Thank God, he live,s and he lives forever. A thousand years from now,Vil-glnis, nay. ten times ten thousand years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.

1'-((lKlG'

Chi-.st.m'is Bel...-I Wt-at ii Jubil- can note ri.;::'.s nii' as they clash and claw in the clear, frosty airl N0l.hll7E so tlrilly svrnbolizes the lilinriniis mi" of Sai'inur's birth as pro”. :' i of tumultuous bells. when old "coco stuck his head out of his upstairs window

immediate?" fol.'o'.i1rir: his amazing series of (AA ams that God used to chance ”

f"rilll n. lniserly,cmnki' '-it 'r.:1li being, it

"..'. nrihanrcd his: 'l'i:ry were fairly from Old London's szcoples--St. Clrmenis. St. Brides, Si. D'.lns'..ans, St. Giles, All-IHal- lmis and the rest---and the sound in ;v thrzllr-ct the rcjuvenatcd Scrooge. iilzilst the picture pre- sented by the sparkliii; snow and the ll8.l?p' pmpln llulT)'lil:,' to di- vine st-rvices inane him bubble over with S.'fYKIWl'I and ceniline happi- Brlls are it '.vor.ricrfiil invention.

.' l” ii.'i:' . look at it,

is shroiiricd in mys- co 2:. long way tlonrcd by ll1F.'TiLl0ll of lit:-raturc. Bells were said to In the mar- i Pricsl. in Bible k as Moses day

olti man was tho hr” lieu"-Inillitl J rnllirkinc 0:

WSWIEET CHIMING

.5

ill) support the dead weight of at huge chimer, and 9. derrick to get it into place. The largest bell to be cast was termed, "The great bell of Moscow"-weight, 200 tons; height, twenvty-six feet. It cmcked at the first attempt (1735) and was merely set up on I. pedestal to be viewed with awe. However, another try was made and suc- ceeded. ringing out its deep-toned diapason from the great cathedral for many years.

weighty Bells

The second largest bell is at Rangoon. Bumia, and is reckoned the world's most perfect large bell. Big Ben, London's best-known bell, is thirteen and a half tons in weight. and nu voice is known the world over, thanks to radio's ma- gic scope, for it tells the world what time it is in London.

A hell that is decidedly unpop-

BELLS

pinesrr-not only at the thrill of the gliding ride but at the pros- pects of roast turkey and good fellowship within.

Reminder of the First Christmas

"Ring out, wild bells"; may your voices never be sileri-t; remind us again and again of that first Christmas, when the joybells were set a-ringing at the tremendously exciting news that the world's long night was o'er-that God had-"in the fulnes of time"--at last sent 3 Saviour whose coming meuit "peace and goodwill" and c. hop- plness men had never dreamed possible.

I heard the bells on Christma.sDay

Their old familiar carols play,

And mild and sweet the words ro- Deal.

of DPIICE on earth, good will to men.

THE GUARDIAN. CHARLOTTETOWN

5'Dhe Mystery of

God's Firmament

Pint. Christmas” may be inter- preted ln many ways. In all such interpretations we must put. our- selveru nearly as possible into the social and psychological frame of mind of those whom we try to understand. The astronomer knows that through the ages the word "star" has been used to indicate almost any celestial phenomenon. We still speak of "falling stars" or "shooting stars" which we know quite well are not stars at all. In more ancient times the comet was called a "hairy star" and was de- rived from the Latin word coma, meaning hair. The planets were the "wandering stars' as opposed to the "fixed stars". and from the Greek word for wanderer we derive our word "planets."

The Star of Bethlehem could have been any of these. It could even have been a "new star" or nova which suddenly burst forth with ; n',any-thousand-fold in- crease in brilliance, due to some great stellar catastrophe. These are all explanations of what the "star" could have been. Had it been any of the above, it would have been seen by many peoples, and in liter- ature would have been found rc- ferences to the appearance of the object which attracted attention. But nowhere in the literature or in the folklore of any of the peoples noted as astute observers of celes- tial phenomena do these referen- ces exist.

From this we are forced to con- clude the appearance of the star was a sight given only to the wise Men to see.

A Christmas Prayer

Soon will be the midnight hour And the joy-bolls forth shall ring From every steeple. every tower- To herald the new born King.

Holy! Holy! the choirs will singm Babe of Bethlc-llcni, lloly One!

Peace and joy to the faitlifill hrini: At this hallowed Christmas dawn.

Faith and hope we all must show A: we kneel and pray to Him. wicked through l-lim

Unholy deeds no joy will bring.

Pray every man from malice part That no one e'er the Christ deny. Supplicatlcn from each one's heart Will richest garlands multiply.

Pray they'll find the joy of living In God's peace and tranquility- He. the breath of life is giving

From His Heart so full and free.

May the star that led the Wise M

en To the Infant's lowly hetl Brightly shine o'er Earth ain- Those seeing-may to Chr at be led. -Lens Vessey. Portland 5, Maine. (Formerly of Montague).

' I The "STAR." which signaled "the

gundu-d, and, thinking of his mo er, hardened his voice. "Rea- son didn't hcvc a tree is we couldnft afford it. No Job for my dad. no douch. And lihe reason we didn't have my Christxniu sooner wu because of my mother. ,shc was in the hospital having a baby. Then they let my mother come home, right before New Year's, 'cnuse there wasn't anybody to keep care of the little kids 'ce.pt me when my dad was Job hunt-

(By Lorna Boone) wished his worn shoes wouldn't make so much noise on

Nevly . " me the rest," the bo said the cobblcstoned alley. In the ..HE::... Y darkness. he saw the di.Ica.rded am” much ,0 ML only we hos” Christmas tree standing tall buide PM; "W the baby .cmse W. a. trash barrel and even the nnk prumwre and may Eran-b sure odors 0! the alley c0liId'” d'W'i it's going to live. But the little Out the W"'- ”''F””9 "I 9”” kids-there's five of them-we needles.

Nevvy shivered, taking his himih from the dubious protect' of his pockets to pull his one mitten on. The tree, his treel (Just as he hefted it, he heard a shout.) Someone was coming down the path that led from the big -house to the alley.

For an eleven-year-old Nevvy was fast, but the shout came again and then hard, pounding steps- Thcn, abruptly. he stopped as a large hand grasped his shoulder.

The grllp on Nevvy'l thin shoul- der tightened as a. loud voice de- manded: "Where're you going with our tl'ee':"'

Nevvy twisted around to face I husky boy in B. lettermufa twent- er. "You threw it out."

"Does that mean you can take it? You alley kids start in young."

"It wasn't stealing." tncrllv. Nevvy heard his voice shake. "To- morrow the trash man would have got it."

The light from it neon sign spot- lighted them. "You no young," the boy said, letting him go.

'"I'hirt.eev:i," Nevvy spoke quiikly.

"Don't lie," the older boy count- cred sharply. "Look, this is my tree. .

"All right, so I'm eleven and I know it's your tree."

"But today's the third of Jan- uary." the boy said, in A friendlier voice. "What do you want an old dead tree for anyway?"

Nevvy wanted to say, "You couldn't understand," but then he looked at the tree. still green md fragrant even if the needles were shattering. and spoke carefully. "We lia.ve1l't had Christmas at our house yet il.nd...imd we need a tree".

"That's tough," the bqy told; "how come?"

"Reasons."

"Tell me why or I wont give

you this tree."

Nevvy let the tree go, watched it rock back and forth on its

Every cthristims. the Gvrseiuide swordnanoers perform their Yule- tide dance on the turnpike in the centre of their village near Shef- field. The dancers are local work- era from the mines and quarries. and this tradtitloinnl Christmas custom canbetracedbedktothe

days of the Norman Conquest.

"The good old days" are always represented on Christmas cards

and calendars as "white", yet re-I

cords show that even in Dickens

and coaching times, Yuletide weather iwaspmore often of the warm variety. In 1852, for, in-

stance, the Christrnas Day temper- ature reached 56 degrees, while in

ular to young folk is the school

Prri-plict. Zechariah of llor"-cs being adoriictl 'Eieni lizirly I'll:-M In-s.7.cd rliilrl-Ii bell

:' on tile scene -at

we can discni'er- ceiinilry. Their use

in su-mmnn wor- cliilrrli; early chris- l.flll3 Ilf'llCl'PFI tlini. their peals drove the devil aunt: from the snuls of (li'iii;' lwlir-vrrs . Perhaps l.llPI'" '-ms. 1 mntlicuni of science in

zit-t mervlv

was sllipprlis in

tlzn hclxii 'lirii 'i:nir lirazeii cam- phoiiv 'm'llri impel ri threiitciiintz psinrnl, for akcrs llnvn prov- ed tlinf n zirilrtzt, noise, the blast

"of it vaiilirm or s.nnir-thins; similar can mid docs riflrr-t tlzn weather. As rcrr'ifl'.' rls 1842 the Bishop of Mrvltn n:-rlniwl Ill" bells to Tlll'.! out at tho 'iiv;1:'o:wl: of a flrrre pale,

.r':l l i ', t tar an hour, Whe-

lzplislicd lillytlling is

' lint. l-rs-mtlcil It must. have been a glorious uy for Enzlaz d after the war when the lnziz-abslrlii. rl.'i.nmr of bells ' , Tlicj: Riff-1'0 ordered tn W tilc rcveiit war, as wmilcl

. also, ll. that. in the rwmf of R sudden in-

W'asion hf; sea. the church bells . would ring nut in unisnii as a. slam for P.tir:alr'l In awake and resist the inc, Lurkily, th.-it eventuality did not. arise and, on the cessa- tion of strife, the ban was lifted -' and the bells chimed out aglfln. Bells seem to belong toiirhui-ch, but they have been used in other connections. As clock-chimes they serve wall to mark the passing hours. quarters amd halves: as A similar Mi-vim, thr-v are found iuiefill on board ship. while the thunderlna fire-mglne cit-ars a WSY for itself by the cluttering bell. But. few folk: liked them on the locomotive. Overseas immi- nuits were puzzled and a little amazed as their vessel approached Onncdirs shore: or werided its way up the St..Lawrencc to hear what .- they I-I'iN.l;2hIl were church bolls, only to find the sound emanntimz from I railway engine. Thin mac-

tlol has oi-act.-ti. hells started out modestly nnall. but grew large and larger. It loaned to be the unbttiori of the founders to make larger and still knew bells. nlthouuh they knew Qt it would take a mnsive tower

'- ' -'2.-Ix -tau...-.-A...1.4,,...;14.. .. - I:

saw,

bell. Don't we remember hurry- lllL' to school, praying that we might get these in time to avoid the master's slump eye and tongue, suddenly hearing the blatant cla- mor of the. bell, and reallzing,with sinking heart, that we couldn't "make it?"

Jingllng Sleigh Bells

Perhaps the most charming bell is the sleigh-bell variety- stringa of them being draped over the horses' backs and suspended from the shafts of the cutter or bob. Some horses even boasted a fine brass bell, dangling from an archway above the animal's neck. There is but a step between these bells a'.nd "dear old Santa's Jingle bells", the mention of which sets the kiddies hearts thmbbing with Christmas anticipation.

But how bells can change their mood! The same church chimes that ring out the news of peace or poured out 3. paean of praise ifor some wedding, can strike a lp0iRn:In'1 note of awe and sadness ,to the heart when they tell the world nvf the death of some devout worshipper. "Toll" is the word used then; "chime" is when the bells strike the merry note. "Toll" is also the word used when the grim jail bell indicates that II. wretched murderer has paid the penalty for his crimes. Bells can ring the changes on A variety of exzprealons.

But, coming back to Christmas, the bell is 9. susonnble symbol.

l

Think of the gleaming, silvery ones that adorn the Christmas tree. Picture the funcy, paper

nnes that dangle from the door- wavs of our homes. Think of the ecstatic tlnkling of sleigh-bells- still heard in many parts of Can- ada mot quite oblitcmted by the hideous chug-chug of motor ve- hicles) coming to us faintly ncross the glittering snow. The rhythmic bent of the sounds speak to us of joyfully speeding horses for. the factor the animals trot, the quick- rn the stroke of the bells, only slowing in A stop and 1 final jan- gle when the creatures strip in front of the farmhouse. clouds of steam issuing from their rudenes- trils. Then their jolly passengers tumble on into the snow. may face: nndlspuukling eyes telllm of glowing health and ndlant hap-

1898, spring flowers were picked in the South of England and birds were seen building their nests out. in the open. on the other hand, Christmas 1860 was attended by

thick snow and 17 degrees of front.

I I

.4, i --so

all-lillsuilis .. by I

promised them Christina and we're going to have it. I was go- ixiglotskathlstrce hoxncfar A stu-ter. Mo and my dud have been making prucnta, but. my cosh? you gotta have a tree! Even they know that."

The boy was quiet a -long time. 'I'hen,, "Your brothers and sisters still believe in Santa Claus?"

"Oh, sure. I gave than A story about Santa Claus waiting until my mother got home to come to

our house. They're beginning to wonder though." "Listen," the boy's voice was

eager, "let me be Bunta. will you? We have a suit I could wear with some pillows. How Ibout it?"

Nevvy felt the boy's enthusiasm. "Sure," he answered. of!-hundedly.

'DECEMBERWIg. 1953

"If you want to." Inside he stay. thinking how thrilled the kids would be. "That'll be keen," the boy said "Are you sure you don't mind?"

Nevvy knew then that the boy really wanted to do it. "Heck. no," he said sincerely: "they'll love it. Look, I'll give you the address and you come down in an hour-I'll leave the toys outdoors for your pack. Oh, and I'll have the win- dow-the front one-open for you. It'll take me awhile to get the tree up."

"swell," the boy sounded excited.

"Marry Criristmns," Nevvy called after him and picked their Christ. mu tree up. not caring how mum noise hls shoes made as he ran down the alley.

preetingo

of

and a

Bright New Year

The Management and Staff

Iv1ARlTlME CENTRAL AIRWAYS wish their many friends and patrons

in Joyous Christmas Season

see that your fellow-men are just

behind their faces to their hearts, hungry for JOY: to own that probably the only good reason for your existence is not what you are going to get out of life, but what you are going to give to life; to close your book on complaints against the management of the universe, and look around you for a place where you can sow H. few seeds of happiness-ue you willing to do these even for a day? Then you can keep Christmas.

Are you willing to forget what you have done for other people. and to remember what other people have done for you; to ignore what the world owes you, and to think what you owe the world; to put your rzghts in the background. and your duties in the middle distance, Ind your chances to do I. little more than your duty in the foreground: to

as real as you are and try to look

X XXI?

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