Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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FRIDAY, DECEMBER 23, 1949 THE NEWBERRY SUN THE MAJESTIC STORV OP 6ETVU.EHEM HAS IMSPlREt? MAHKiIMP VOR CEHTlJRiSS. Ilf GLORIOUS SCcHES Ll\/E ASAlsI OH THIS VEARlS REUSIOUS CHRISTAWS CARPS WITH THEiR REVERENT SeHTIME MTS' - - - A<SA\*i HAS COME THE SEASON or THE 6LFSSEP SAVIOUR'S BIRTH, vjhem peace ahp love amp KlHPM^SS EHCIRCLE AH. THE EARTH- «/ -— v ,»% G\Y wr ——j I 1 ^Tor^ ee WC> ;^cvi-SE , KlHS HEROP'S TREACHFRV, THE " M OLV FAMILV FLEES TO F«^T When You Buy Santa Claus At Home Your Money Stays Where you Might get a Whack at it Again. «(C'C>Ct«'CiC«tCtC>«t<:'e<«C!«!CtCtC«tc«tCiCICICtCSCtCICIC«CIC*MICICIM>CIC«'CiC<C'«>C'C'«' S « ft X X X 1 i 8 I AY all the Joy and Happiness ■ of the Christinas Season Its peace, its cheer, its hope and faith, remain with you for many days to come. US. SlaU Sou, On sClif of y Jalloni Cfettinq 7leu/ lyfear From the precise Instruments of the naval observatory in Washing ton, and through the great Arling ton radio towers, America and much of the world will learn the exact instant when the old year has passed and 1950 has taken its place. And it is from another haunt of science in the capital. The Na tional Geographic Sfcciety, that one learns when and where the new year begins. The United States, accustomed to ranking itself pretty highly in world esteem, has to content itself with being about sixth-rate in the eyes of Father Time, the society points out. For time serves up the new year to Australia. Asia, Africa, Europe and most of South America before he gets around to the first of our citizens in Maine. Then, for three more hours, the people of California must munch the crusts and pick the bones of the old year before they receive a fresh helping of time; and the residents of Alaska must wait two more houri beyond that. When the New Year actually Is born it will be 7 a. m. December 31 in our eastern cities; S a. m. in the central time zone; 5 a. m. in the mountain zone, and 4 a. m. in the Pacific coast states. While the New Year celebrations in all countries are basically simi lar, there are many interesting variations and special features. For example, in Great Britain the king's honor list provides a large topic of conversation on New Year's day. The wassail bowl is an important part of the New Year observance in England, and "open house" is generally kept in town as well as country. New Year’s customs always have had a joyful theme. Few tears ever mark the death of the old year, but there is always gladness at the ad vent of the new era which mankind always hopes will prove to be bet ter than the old one. Want to assure yourself a happy and prosperous New Year? Well, first of all make sure that all debts are paid before midnight on New Year’s Eve. This ancient Chinese custom is designed to start the New Year off with a clean slate and. although its origin is lost in antiquity, solvency is still a good foundation for prosperity and friendly business relations. If you are unmarried and would like to remove the ‘un’ from your status, be sure to put on the left stocking before putting on the right one when you dress New Year's morning —and try to be as left- handed as possible during the day, thereby increasing the potency of the charm which is supposed to aid JAMES D. BROWN MHUSTMAS brings pleasant thoughts of our friends. That's why it is a pleasure to think of you and each of us join in wishing you sincerely a Joyous Christmas. love’s progress. Marriageable maid ens who look, out the window on New Year’s morning, can antici pate being married before the year is out if they see a man before they see a woman. Be sure to wish everyone a “Happy New Year,” but keep your fingers crossed for luck while giv ing or receiving the greetings; and don’t forget to say ‘‘rabbits’’ as soon as you wake up in the morn ing. An old English custom, presum ably founded on the superstition that whatever you do on New Year’s Day is indicative of your fortune during the ensuing year, advises opening a bank account on January 1. Since your New Year will be, to a certain extent, what you make it, resolve to make it a happy and prosperous one. THERE WILL ALWAYS BE CHRISTMAS TREES Washington, D. C. (Special) —Fifty years ago a President of the United States banned the use of Christmas treet in the White House because he thought the practice of cutting young evergreens was waste ful. That order, issued by Theo dore Roosevelt, went unchal lenged until two of his young sons were caught in the act of smugglin a Christmas tree into the Executive Mansion. To es cape their father’s presidential wrath they appealed to Ameri ca’s first professional forester and Theodore Roosevelt’s good friend, Gifford Pinchot, to in tercede for them. Pinchot did, pointing out that proper cutting of small evergreens for Christmas use is not harmful and frequently actually helps a forest. That advice, good enough 50 years ago to lift a White House ban and convince a strong- minded president, is echoed this year by no less an authori ty than the American Forest Products Industries. “Don’t worry about the plight of the poor Christmas tree,” says this wood-industry sponsored organization, “it’s as replaceable as the Thanksgiv ing turkey and just as indis pensable to the American scene.” Nearly half of the 21 million evergreens that make up Am erica’s 1949 Christmas tree har vest were farm produced. Nearly nine-tenths of the en tire crop was cut on privately owned timberland. To aug ment this domestic Christmas tree harvest, about five million evergreens are imported annu ally, most of them from Cana da. Besides bringing a fragrant freshness of the forest into two out of every three American homes this December, the three month Christmas tree harvest pours an estimated 50 million dollars into the Nations' eco nomic bloodstream. Most American Christmas trees are thinned from natural growth forests. An original stand of from five to ten thou sand trees per acre will actu ally mature only a few hun dred sawlog-size trees. Most of the small evergreens, selec tively cut for Christmas sale, would sooner or later have been eliminated by Nature in the life and death struggle for: forest space. ■When it comes to selecting a Christmas tree, most Ameri ] cans have as many individual likes and dislikes as they have I in motor cars or hats. Color,, limb strength, shape, compact-! ness, fragrance, an ability to retain needles and, of course, i price ar e factors. Best seller on the Christmas tree market today is the bal sam fir, a product of New Eng land and Northeastern United States. About six and one- half million of these are sold in an average year. Douglas firs, products of the Pacific Coast, are the second most pop ular. Black spruce, red cedar and white spruce follow in that order. Together thest make up 83 percent of all Christmas trees sold in the United States. Scotch pine, Southern pine, red spruce, Virginia pine, white fir, Norway spruce, hemlock, cypress, juniper and Engleman spruce also are marketed in commercial quantities. Historians disagree over how and when this Christmas tree business started in America. Homesick Hessian soldiers, brought over from Germany by the British to fight George Washington’s Continental Army propably introduced the cus tom. Another German, the six teenth century religious leader Martin Luther. generally is credited with originating the custom of decorating Christmas trees with lights. Noting how snowflakes on the bouhs of evergreen trees reflected moon light, Martin Luther determin ed to capture the same effect by placing lighted candles on the tree. Th e idea spread through the centuries. This Christmas eve, just as they have since 1923, people will gather around an ever green tree on the White House lawn to participate in a tree lighting ceremony dedicated by the President and broadcast nationally. Forestry-wise the United States has traveled a full circle since Theodore Roosevelt’s day. Christmas trees, like sawlogs and pulpwood, have become a crop in America. F. J. HARMON GARAGE * FRIEND Street—Newberry Day Phone 106W Night Phone 160W idolatrous Rites Caused Ancient New Year Ban Although' It Is not generally re called, Christians at one time were prohibited trom participating In the focial customs prevailing at the season of the New Year. The reason for this was that while the Christian emperors kept up the custom of observing the New Year, the people continued so many Idola trous rites that the church applied a ban upon participation In the rites. Finally, after December 23 had been fixed as the date of Christ’a nativity, the church made January 1 a religious festival. This has bean observed in the Roman church since 487 and in the Anglican church since 1549. I I I ( THE ENCHANTMENT ■'Si OF CHRISTMAS Take the glowing association of loved ones and friends or the opportunity to express our sentiments of good will by word or by material gifts. Take a lot of little things — holly wreaths, brightly lighted Christmas trees, gaily wrapped packages, songs of joyous carolers or the soft glow of candles — Each is symbolic of Christmos ond every one of •ts? them fills port of the picture of the en- C chontment of Christmos. A The South Carolina National Bank A. P. Salley John T. Norris Joe L. Keitt J. A. Satterwhite J. A. Bowers, Jr. Lewis Shealy Jim Simpkins Aldon Bedenbaugh Geneva H. Wall Eleanor S. Griffith Gladys H. Carlton Alice Danielson Minnie Kinard