The Barnwell people-sentinel. (Barnwell, S.C.) 1925-current, December 21, 1933, Image 11
THURSDAY.
cA Blessing £>
J inD' '
KUtKcrinc ExJelmai
Cabin Bey*s
Night Before
by Elizabeth Strother
WjVUTSIDE the tiny fo’cas’le of
tlp^ the fishing schooner, the winter
weather was having Its way with
the Annie Bell. Now and again « big
sea would come aboard, sluice around
the dory-nests, and wash off. The lan-
Mem, hung over the table, bobbed and
swung in crazy circles, casting a wei*l
light on the faces of the Banks fish
ermen busy- at various tasks. Some'
were laboriously writing home, dat
ing their letters December 24. Oth
ers were reading; one whittled with
Infinite patience, at a small boat
model. But one, far from a man’s
age or stature, sat off by himself. Mis
name was Willie Cole, cabin boy, four-
the cook, as each man smiled over'a
tie, a pocket-knife, a belt, or large
gaudy handkerchief.
The last to poke a finger In was
Willie Cole. All the time he was feel-'
ing around Inside there he had to re
member he was fourteen years old
and was expected to act like, a man.
At last he found somethlng. v It was
quite small. Unwrapping the p^per
he saw it was a brass-bound compass.
“To a brave bqy from Captain Angus,”
was scratched on the back. Before he
got over the wonder of this, a fisher
man pushed the boat model into his
hand. “Meant It for ye all the time,
boy," mumbled the man. “Any kid
that grabs the skipper and saves him
■■ ■■ ' ■■■■■
C HRISTMAS shoppers were mill
ing through Main street—happy,
good-natured folks who smiled
and exchanged cheery wishes with
each other.
Jja^k Weber, standing near tlie en
trance of the Anchor store, grew an
gry at himself. Why
couldn’t he enter
into the spirit of
the Christmas sea
son, as these peo
ple were oping—
why. was he bitter
and peeved at the
whole world be
cause Ethel Porter
had rudely refused
to go to the War
ing Christmas par
ty with him? She
had turned hinr
down at Uie last
minute for Bob Fuller. His pride whs
hurt; and his heart ached a bit, too,
for he had grown very fond of Ethel
in the last few weeks. And he was
pretty sure, until this evening, that
she had cared.
Well, that was all over now! Boh
Fuller would be dancing with her to-',
night, and showing her all the little
attentions that he had hoped to lav
ish upon her. He scowled deeply as
he thought of this..
Two small children looked curiously
at Jack. He drew' bao^c into the
shadow, growing more irritated, more
conscious of the fact that he was so
utterly out of tune with the spirit of
Christmas. He felt like an alien in a
strange land . . .
Suddenly his shoulders straightened,
and a smile chased the shadows from
his face. “I can t be the only one
with a grievance," he muttered to
himself—“among all these people.
There must be others who have had
disappointments. And look how they
ire but tif make others happy !
can't I do that, too?”
To think was to act with Jack Web
er. Soon he was Inside the store,
rushing from counter to counter, mak
ing purchases. His dark eyes glowed
with' eagerness. It was a shame the
way he had neglected his sister Betty
and her family lately. He had given
all his time to Ethel Porter. He had
even allowed himself to get mad at
Betty for hinting that Ethel was not
exactly suited to him. He must try
and make amends. He would see that
Betty’s qhlldren were supplied, with
toys for ffvlong time to come.
The lights, from a big Christmas tree
shQn£_out^lnto the starlit night as he
carried ms packages to the door of
the bungalow. Betty showed her sur
prise and pleasure. ^
“Why, Jack," she cried, “how—how
lovely of you; .this m\kes Christmas
Just perfect. And you can’t think who
has just come to spend Christmas
with usr—Gladys Dare, who "used to
live next door to us in Melvin'! Gladys,'
come and ineetVsomeone. Surely you
haven’t forgotten Jack?’”
A pretty, dark-hatred girl Jumped
up from where she had been playing
with Billy and Sue by the Christmas
tree. Her eager brown eyes were
alight with pleasure. “Remember
Jack?" she echoed, as she held out her
hand; “as If I ever could forget the
big boy who teased me so much, and
who was so good to me, too.”
“Uncle Jack teases Sue and me,
too,” Billy broke In,, “but we like him
a lot. He’s the most fun. Don’t you
-like him?”—looking up at Gladys.. A
quick flush covered her face. “Why,
of course I like him, Billy," she stam
mered.
Jack Weber enjoyed Christmas more
than he had ever done before. He
found that dlsap-
’ polntment can be
changed Into a
thing of Joy. For
the comradeship
with Gladys, with
its background of
memories of child
hood years, ~ filled'
him with a strange
new happiness. He
thought now of
Etlrbl’s behavior
with a feeling of
relief ; It had real
ly been a blessing
In disguise, for It
Gladys.
But It was several
fora bo awakened to tho trno ototo of
hli feelings, and found that ho lovod
Gladys more than all tho world. 8bo
seemed to fit Into his Ufa. as If oho
had always been there. Ho wondered
how ho had gotten along before sha
came.
And. when Gladys answered Ifc shy
"yes" to a question he asked a few
days later, he knew he was folly In
tune with the Joy and gladness of the
Christmas season.
C. ISIS. West •in Nawapapw.UnU^.
Problem Solved
Uncle John had sent father a pipe
for Christmas. But father never
smoked a pipe. k As It came from a
long distance It could not be ex
changed. The family was discussing
the problem of what to do with It
when five-year-old Bobby spoke
“I know t Give It to Santa Claus,
been good to us.”
I NSURAN
FIRE
WINDSTORM
PUBLIC LIABILITY,
ACCIDENT-
SURETY
AUTOM
BOl
AUTOMOBILE
THEFT
and Co.
P. A. PRIC& M>u»r.
Agricultural Studies
in Century
Agriculture began to be Studied, as
a science, in the principal countries of
Europe, about the middle? of the Six
teenth century, notes a writer In the
Montreal Herald. The works of Cres-
cenzio In Italy, Olivier de Serres in
France, Heresbach In Germany, Her-
Yera In Spain, and FItzherbert In Eng
land, all published about that period,
supplied the materials of study, and
led to Improved practices among the
reading agriculturists. The art re
ceived second Impulse In the middle
^f the century following, after the
general peace of Alx-la-Chapelle. Then,
as Harte has observed, “almost all the
European nations, by a sort of tacit
consent, applied themselves to the
study of agriculture, and continued to
do so, more or less, even amidst the
universal confusion that soon succeed-
ed/ • \ ^
During the Eighteenth centqfj the
march of agriculturo was progressive
throughout Europe, with little excep
tion; and It has attained to a very
considerable degree of perfection in
some districts of Italy, in the Nether}
lands and In Great Britain. Tn Spain
It has been least Improved, and It'Is
still In a very backward state In most
parts of middle Europe and, of course,
Russia
ADVERTISE IN
The People- Sentinel.
/-
CALL ON US FOR
AI/L KINDS OF
/BEAUTY
TREATMENTS
AU work done by experienced
operators.
FOR APPOINTS!!
PHONE NO. 43.
The Bari
Beauty Shop,
ADVERTISE IN
The People- SentmeL
from washln’ overboard
a grand Chri^mas!’’
This $ras jnore than
stand. ''cried right
them all! and didn't
“Thank you, thank you .
Christmas," he gulped.
Angus, standing the
“Same to ye all, boys.
deserves
Willie could 1
there before
mind a bit
, . . and Merry
And Captain
doorway said.
Many of ’em!”
©. 1)33. Weft tern Newspaper L'nion.
“We’re Coin’ to Have a Bit o’ Christ
mas 'Around Here!"
*
teen years old, and desperately home
sick. He tried not to think of his
small home fur away, his mother prob
ably trimming a tree for the younger
children, his father chuckling over
this or that toy for the baby. Certain
ly a “boy fourteen years old, used to
many of the hardships of a fisher
man’s Ufe, must not break down and
cry on Christmas Eve. Certainly not!
The other men paid no attention to
him. The pens drove on. The knife
dellcajfcly/iiared off a splinter from the
mast/ o< the boat model. Willie
clamped his jaws together and tried to
•ay over and over the multiplication
table of nine. It was the hardest,
and took up the most attention. He
was frowning with concentration
when the cook burst in, hla leathery
face all a wide grin, bearing a large,
round tin. It was covered with a
piece of red paper. This he set down
In the middle of the table. “Belay
there I" he roared good naturedly. “Git
cleft r of all your gear . . . we’re a-go-
in r to have « bit o’ Christmas around
here!" ’
The men growled a little, but gath
ered up their traps. Willie gave one
great gulp and nearly let a tear fall
He bad reached “nine times eleven”
la the tables, and could hardly believe
there was to be a real celebration
iht here In the fo’cas’le. The red
over the tin bad slits. In these
men were to poke and draw forth
a gift The tiny place began to take
on an air oT holiday cheer, not to say
, .. "...
tipper give most of ’em,” grinned
ypG&MPtP&PV&NPi
/fr\F ALL the Christmas carols the
'BS Christian world will sing the
best-known and undoubtedly the best
loved Is that one which we know in
English as “Silent Night, Holy Night.”
It is by no means the oldest of the
Christmas carols, for It was written
only 114 yearq ago by Franz Gruber,
organist In the Austrian village of Ob-
erndorf, with Josef Mohr, pastor of the
parish church, coutributing the words
which begir^, In their original German,
“Stille Nacht, HelligY Nacht.’’
For many years the song was known
throughout Europe simply as a “folk
song from the Zilerttfl,” a distrl# in
Austriq. This was partly because an
organ builder from the_ Zillertal had
come to repair the Obefndoff church
organ on that Chrlstnjtd Eve In 1818
when Gruber and Mohr were rehears
ing their new song. Back among his
native mountains the organ builder
sang the card'which the StrasseflFjfi®-,
ters, also natives df the Zillertal and
widely noted singers of folk songs,
promptly added to their concert pro
grams. ’
» Not until 1854 was any'inquiry made"
into the origin of the Christmas song,
which was popularly attributed to
Michael Haydn.. In that year coart
musicians at Berlin sent to SL Peter’s
in Salzburg to ask if a manuscript of
the song might be there. By chance
the youngest son of Franz Gruber waa
a choir boy in SL Peter's. He told the
story of the song’s composition, the
request from Berlin was forwarded to
the senior Gruber and 9 statement,
“Authentic occasion for the writing of
the Christmas song, 'Silent Night, Holy
Night,”’ was drawn up by the com
poser.
The Teutonic race baa given to the
observance of the great Chrlatlaq fes
tival as we know It the tree (also cele
brated in a German Christmas song,
“0 Tannenbaum”), the legend of Krla
Krtngle and many other charming sen
timents. Bat none embodies the,
Christmas story so utterly and with
such sweet tenderness as the simple
words and melody of "Silent Night,
Holy Night”—-Detroit m§ Preen,
/ // /'
//,