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1 u % t*a«e Four THE CLINTON CHRONICLE Thursday, tt> 1N4 ilfr (EUntira (Utirnnirlr •>'- • ■ EsUblUhed IMS WILSON W. HARRIS, Editor and Publisher .. HARRY C. LAYTON, Assistant PUBLISHED EVERY THURSDAY BY THE CHRONICLE PUBLISHING COMPANY Subscription Rate (Payable in Advance) - One Year $2.50. Six Months »1.50 Entered as Second Class Mail Matter at the Poat Office at Clinton, S. C., under Act of Congress March 3, 1879 The Chronicle seeks the cooperation of it* aubscribers and readers—the publisher will at all times appreciate wise suggestions and kindly advice. The Chronicle will publish letters of general interest when they are not of a defamatory nature. Anonymous communications will not be noticed. This paper is not responsible for the views or opinions of its correspondents. Member: South Carolina Press Association, National Editorial Association National Advertising RepresenUtive: AMERICAN PRESS ASSOCIATION New York, Chicago, Detroit. Philadelphia CLINTON, S. C., THURSDAY, DECEMBER 16, 1954 The Immortal Story... Christmas comes each year with the same glad message for one and all. We are pub lishing the original immortal Christmas story of shepherds on the hills and angels sing ing taken from the Gospels of Luke and Matthew. Nothing approaching it in beauty has been written or will ever be written for a newspaper. The Birth of Jesus And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augus tus, that all the world should be taxed. (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David;) to be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great wdth child. And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her first-born son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn. The Visit of the Shepherds And there were in the same country shep herds abiding in the field, keeping w’atch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them. Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy", which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; We shall find the babe wTapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them con cerning this child. And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart. The Visit of the Wise Men Now wnen Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, be hold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come 4 to worship him. When Herod the king heard these things, he was troubled and all Jerusalem with him. And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born. And they said unto him, in Bethlehem of Judea; for thus it is written by the proph et, And thou, Bethlehem, in the land of Juda. art not tne least among the princes of Juda: for out thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel. Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, enquired of them diligently what time the star ap peared. And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search diligently for the young child; and when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and wor- ship mm also. When they had heard the king, tney departed and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the younk child was. And wnen they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him; and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh. The Flight into Egypt And wnen they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to de stroy him. When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt: And was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, Out of Egypt have I called my son. BEAUTIFUL STORY OF FIRST CHRISTMAS EVE There is no more beautiful story in all the world than that of the first Christmas Eve. I can never find anything better than this to give to the read ers of this column at Christmas. There is some thing incomparably sweet and pathetic about the recital of those events on that first Christmas Eve, briefly described by St. Luke in the second chap ter, when the tired and travel-worn couple enter the little town of Bethlehem after a long and tire some journey to find shelter for the night. It was nightfall and when they came to the inn they find it overcrowded. However, Mary sent word in ad vance to her cousin Elizabeth, the wife of the priest Zacharias and the mother of John the Bap tist, telling her they were com ing. Elizabeth had traveled the ten miles from her home in Bethcar to Bethlehem, carry ing her six-months-old son, John, in order to be there and Dr. Spaugh care for; her cousin, of whose condition she was fully aware. The little village is crowded with those who have come back to register for the new tax listing. She finds the weary travelers at the inn, and im- mediatly takes charge of the situation. She is no stranger in Bethlehem, and has many friends and acquaintances there. Not knowing the exact time of arrival of Joseph and Mary, she had not made reservations, and now the whole town was full. But she does know where there is a clean, dry stable, where they can find refuge for the night, and where she had made ample preparations. £he was sure they would be able to find better quar ters for them on the morrow. Providence has a way of overruling the best laid plans of men, and turning their mistakes to fit into the great divine plan. The hour had struck for the advent into the world of the Prince of Peace. With the kindly help of Elizabeth, the Lord of mankind is ushered into this world amid humble surroundings, with the companionship of the meek ox and the lowly ass, that animal on which He was to ride to His coronation on the Cross. None may ever say that he had more hum ble surroundings at birth. On that first Christmas Eve, humble men, the shepherds, had seen the marvelous vision on the Bethlehem hills, and had heard its great message, accompanied by the music of heaven. They came immediately to the manger to give their best, their adoration. The next day Elizabeth finds a comfortable room in a home of relatives in Bethlehem, and the family is moved from the stable. Later came rep- reesntatives of world’s great and wise, with their costly gifts. The two extremes of society meet around the Christ Child. In His birth, men who have never had anything before, shared together. Barriers have a way of breaking down in the presence of Christ. Here is common ground on which ail mut meet, if they would find eternal peace. Beloved Hymns . By FRED PARKER Columbia Collogo O Morning Star, how fair and bright Thou beamest forth in truth and light! O Sovereign meek and lowly! Thou Root of Jesse, David’s Son, My Lord and Master, Thou hast won 1 M My heart to serve Thee solely! Thou art holy, Fair and*, glorious, all victorious, Rich in blessing, Rule and might o’er all possess ing. ; Thou heavenly Brightness! Light Divine! O deep with-in my heart now shine, And make Thee there an altar! be, Fill me with joy and strength to Thy member, ever joined to Thee, In love that connot falter. Toward Thee longing I Doth possess me; turn and bless me; Here in sadness Eye and heart long for Thy glad ness! (Hymn of the month, as sug gested by the National Federa tion of Music Clubs.) The text and tune of this “Queen of Chorales” appeared in Phillip Nicolai’s “Frewden-Spie- gel,” 1599—the text was probably written a few years earlier. The author, Phillip Nicolai (1656-1708), the son of a Luth eran minister, first preached from his father’s pulpit at Her- decke in Westphalia. In later pastorates he gave himself to the defense of the Lutheran interpre tation of the Communion as against the Roman Catholic Mass and also the Calvinistic theology. He became pastor of St. Kather ine’s church in Hamburg, Ger many, and from this pulpit exer cised a wide influenco. Perhaps one of his best known hymns other than this one was “Wake, Awake, For The Night Is Fly ing,” which was written during the pestilence of 1597-98, when thousands died and burials were constant. Nicolai’s “O Morning Star,” a spiritual wedding song, came to be 1 universally used at weddings The tune “Frankfort,” an old I chorale, was used by J. S. Bach in his Cantata No. 1, for the, 'Feast of the Annunciation.” Jle also used it as an organ prelude This chorale was beloved and us- ed everywhere, especially at weddings and festiavls. It is best sung in unison, with a leading voice, and thus becomes easy lo sing. To All People By JAMES C. KINARD St. Nicholas BABSON . . . Discusses Our Dollar By ROGER W. BABSON Babson Park, Mass, Dec. 33—Three specialists, just back from Europe, discussed the effect of our dollar-aid program aboad. Since this was a small, J closed meeting, I shall not identify these men. What they said was that the millions of dollars spent in Europe have not, as had been hoped, won \ ery many of our European neighbors to our way of thinking. Why Aid Europeans? The thinking behind our muiti-billion-dollar aid program was that we could raise the living standards of Europeans by increasing their pro- dijctivity. This means by showing them how to develop mass markets for their manufactures. We hoped to win converts with refrigerators, shoes, radios, and many other items. What we seem to have overlooked is the fun damental European desire for security. The American economy is dynamic. Competitiveness is inbred; risk-taking and venture capital ~ are common denominators of our success. The Eu ropean economy, on the other hand, is a static, protected economy. Production is stabilized; prices are controlled; the worker is protected; • ompetition is discouraged; the common denomi nator is security. People are interested in work ing harder for security, but not in selling more units at less profit per unit A Cynic's Reaction One cynic in the group said, “All right, then why do we try to force the American ways on Europe? These Europeans are happy; why should we unload a dose of American ulcers on them?” A comment from another went something like this, “Austria’s productive capacity has been sharply increased since World War II. We were not concerned about them before the war; why thould we be concerned now?” A reputable econo mist in the group raised another issue: “Europe knew it had a threat from the East, an enemy in Communist Russia. Might not Europeans now be lieve that they have two enemies seeking to in filtrate or absorb them—Russia and America?” My own belief is that we must fight poor eco nomics with good economics. We cannot hope to sell democracy to people who are economically enslaved by their institutions. If we do not act constructively, we shall lose Europe to Commun ism by default. Our Spiritual Value Below Par I have a pet notion which I know will shock some of you, but think about it a while. Our dol lar bill is a good measure of our spiritual values! A paper dollar isn’t worth anything of itself; but, as a medium of exchange, it is a measure of val- nes. It reflects such spiritual values as honesty, wisdom, courage, and integrity. From 1939 to 1953, the value of our dollar declined from 100 cents to about 55 cents. Does this decline in dollar value mirror our decline in character? Dollar depreciation is largely a result of war. But why? Instead of paying as we weAt, we were taught to borrow against the future. This could be perfectly O. K., because we owed nobody but ourselves. But it gave us the illusion of prosper ity. It sidestepped self-ascrifice while increasing our national debt fcve-fold during these war years. Importance of Sacrifice We have given young Americans the notion that they can charge their present happiness • against some future date of accounting. We have developed the materialistic belief that money will buy everything, including the way Europeans think! The present value of the dollar reflects The real name of Santa Claus, so dear 4o the heart of childhood, is St. Nicholas. He was a priest who lived 1,600 years ago. He was such a godly man and his life so full of good works that even today he is beloved in many lands. In Germany he was called Sankt Niclaus and in time the name became our modem Santa Claus. There is a beautiful tradition that in the city where Nicholas lived there was a good man who had lost ell his wealth. He was too proud to beg and with his three young daughters lived in poverty. When Nicholas learned that there was not even a crumb of bread in the home his kindly heart was disturbed. He wanted to help without being known and so one night he came to the house, climbed a grapevine trel lis and dropped a purse of gold into the room where the three lit tle girls were sleeping. Later a second gift came and the grateful father determined to watch for the generous giver. He was there when Nicholas came the third time and fell on his knees to thank his friend, who asked that his identity not be revealed. However, through the children the story somehow became known. Nicholas continued to give to the needy the wealth which he had inherited from his parents. After a time it came about that whenever a gift would be left during the night the people would say, “St. Nicholas brought it.” This story has come down through the years to our chil dren. To them St. Nicholas, or Santa Claus, must always mean the spirit of happy giving at Christmas time. this beliet Perhaps it will take deefeat in Europe to bring us to the realization that freedom can not be bought with dollars with- ( out sacrifice. We should have learned that lesson 175 years ago. j The practical cure for Com munism is not material, it is spir itual. It is not the amount of dol lars you pour into a situation; it is the ideals. It is not security and pensions and comfort; it is ideals and ethics and character. It is those principles that make our dollar worth something. Right now our dollar is below par; I have faith, however, that as hi ore Americans come to real ize this great truth, we win put our own house in order. Then maybe what we have to say will. make more sene to Europeans. 1 We must practice and teach sac rifice. Faith la but an idle canvas, flap- oing on an idle mast, If it be not found within thee as! the work of life at last —Samuel Hageman Citizens Federal Savings & Loan Association B. HUBERT BOYD, President J. SLOAN TODD, Sec-Trens. 4a t- l *, » » ». *>V. * a ' * e* May this Holiday Season hold for you a heaping meas ure of good cheer and happiness - that is our true wish for you. « v Bank of Clinton 4*