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V '' THURSDAY, DEC. 24, 1953 THE NEWBERRY SUN PAGE SEVEN Christmas Tree Fires Should Be Prevented Clemson—Preventable fire trag edies take the lives of many Americans each year during the Christmas and New Year holiday season, according to W. J. Bark er, leader, Clemson Forestry Ex tension Work. He points out that one of the greatest fire hazards during this period is the ordinary Christmas tree. “A Christmas tree catches fire easily from an electric spark, defective wiring, candles, or a 1 carelessly handled cigarette and burns very rapidly,” he cautions. “An average-sized Christmas tree burns up completely in less than two minutes,” he adds. Mr. Barker calls attention to the following recommendations of the National Board of Fire Un derwriters which, if observed, should help reduce the death toll and property losses from fires originating at Christmas trees 'mo/nu (j ooJ[iihJua Shealy’s Laundry 1116 Purcell Street Noel Preparations Started In Norway In Middle Of Year Christmas just couldn’t help being the event of events in Nor way when grandmother was a girl. Without exaggeration, prepara tion for Christmas actually began six months before December 24. Everything which was used— food, clothing, household furnish ings—was prepared in the home. Even from hides raised on the homestead. The cloth for apparel, from the skin out, was woven on hand looms. Cobblers came to the house and made the shoes; dressmakers and tailors came. Everyone in the household had to have a new wardrobe for Christmas and, since tailors and cobblers and dress makers couldn’t be at all places at once, it was necessary to get an early start. When the butchering was fin ished—in October cy November— the suet was melted and the can dles were made. The children al ways had a hand in making the little ones for use on the Christ mas tree. And they usually made one which had three prongs which, placed at the very top of the tree, represented the three wise men. For choosing and installing the tree, this board suggests: Choose a small tree instead of a large one. A small tree can be just as pretty and it is less of a hazard. Don’t set up the tree until just a few days before Christmas, but keep it outdoors until ready to install. Set up the tree in the coolest part of the house, away from radiators, heaters, or fireplaces. Stand it in water to retard the drying-out process. Do not use cotton or paper for decorating the tree unless the decorations are flameproof. Do not place electric trains around the tree. For safety in lighting the tree, the board suggests: Never use candles. Use electric lighting sets only. Inspect every socket and wire to make sure the set is in good condition. Discard ’V' HQLIDA Y tASON FENNELL’S 1505 Main Street Newberry By LYN CONNELLY N OW THAT King Arthur Godfrey is back at the helm of his “Talent Scouts’* program on CBS Radio, he is forecasting a banner 1953-54 season for the aspiring en tertainers who find a national show case in each Moriday night broad cast . . . The performers on each program are screened from among thousands of applicants . . . They represent the cream of the hope fuls. and orchestra leader Archie Bleyer sees to it that their special musical arrangements are given the thought and careful rehearsal worthy of their professional back grounds. Winners, in addition to receiving a cash prize, are presented on the morning “Arthur Godfrey Time , • and are introduced to producers of stage, movies and television . . . One of the present “little God freys,’* songstress La Ann Simms, first stepped into the radio spotlight on ’Talent Scouts,’* and so did such other top entertainers as Eddie Fisher, Vic Damone, Rosemary Clooney, Jane Valli, Wally Cox, Denise Lor and a host of others. P1~ATTER CHATTER CAPITOL: — Another wonderful little 45 RPM album-in-two* records is “Dreamtime** by Axel Stordahl . . . Sengs include such standard favorites as “As Time Goes By,** “That Old Feeling,” “Love Let ters,” “Imagination,” “Getting Sentimental,” “Blues Serenade,*' “Easy to Remember” and others . And a fine 33% long-playing slbum-record has been released featuring the popular Stan Kenton . . Featured are “You and the Night and the Music,” ‘Crazy Rhythm,” “Reverie,” “April in Paris,” “Autumn in New York,” “How High the Moon,” etc. What Is Christmas? MRS. A. J. VAN EXEM t As the Christmas season ap proaches our opportunity is at hand to make it the most inspir ing and beautiful of all, conscious with a prayful hope for P-E-A-C-E for all the world and imbued with charity and good will for all. Christmas is a thousand things. It is a winter’s night and an angel song—a giant star and a tiny stable—a manger, and straw and swaddling clothes. Christmas is a chime, a boy soprano and silent night, carolers and the first Noel —the tinkle of a sleigh, of a coin in a cup. It is Dickens, and Scrooge and Tiny Tim. Christmas is cards and ribbon—a trip home, an open' latch. It’s giblets and biscuits and cranberries and mince meat pie. Christmas is cold and warmth, forgiveness, and a smile, Joy to the World. Christmas is a prayer, a renewed plea for an ancient hope for Peace on Earth, Good Will toward Men. sets with frayed wirjng. When buying new sets, look for the Un derwriters’ Laboratories, Inc., label or marker. Other safety suggestions in clude: Use flameproof or fireproof dec orations of glass or metal to deco rate your tree. Remove gift wrappings prompt ly after gifts have been opened. Provide a switch some distance from the tree for turning tree lights off and on. Don’t leave lights burning when no one is in the house. From time to time, inspect the tree and see whether any of the needles near the lights have started to turn brown and if so change the po sition of the lights. When needles start falling, take the tree down and discard it out doors. CHRISTMAS By LILLIAN MITCHELL S ANDRA sighed and slipped into her white fur jacket. Mabel laughed, her brown eyes crinkling at the corners. “Oh, well, maybe it isn’t as much fun going out for New Year’s Eve with a crowd of girls, Sandra. But, at least, come Monday morning, we shall have something to tell at the office.” “I know, I know,” agreed the grey-eyed Sandra. “Only if I’d guessed how very few men there would be here in Emeryton, I’d have chosen to stay in the City where I do know men—from school days. And I’d never in the world have bought this fur jacket on the so-called easy term basis.” Arm in arm they left the board ing house and hurribd towards the bus stop where they were to rr*eet two other girls. The air was fresh and icy and Sandra pulled the col lar of the white fur jacket closely In the darkness, a small dog crossed the sidewalk, nearly trip ping them in the dragging leash. m m And best wishes for your happiness WHITAKER FLOOR COVERING Paul Whitaker Melvin Attaway Annie Caldwell Helen Whitaker Robert Bishop “Come on,” Mabel said. “The girls are waving that a bus is coming, Sandra.” “That must be the doggy in th« window,” Mabel laughed. “That doggy must have a good home,” Sandra chimed in. “What a coat! The golden fur drags on the sidewalk, for a fact.” The golden Pekingese looked up at her with enormous eyes and waited. Sandra stopped, looking closely at the collar that stated, "I’m Tang. I live at 452 Euclid Avenue. Please take me home.” Sandra glanced up at the nearby house. “Well, Tang, you are homo. Skip up those steps. Pup.” “Come on. The girls are waving that a bus is coming, Sandra,’* Mabel said. “I’ll meet you at the corner of State and Broadway. I’m going to. ring the bell and tell them their dog is loose,” Sandra said. “Oh, the dog will get inside, all right. Come along!” But Sandra stooped again, swooped the tiny dog into her arms and ran lightly up the greystone steps. Her ring brought no one to the door although she could clear ly hear the soft chime when she pressed the button. Opening the door that was unlocked, she called gently, “Here’s Tang. Anyone at home?” “Oh, come in, please,” answered a silvery voice. Sandra, still holding little Tang, moved along the hallway to an open doorway where a fireplace glowed and an elderly woman sat in a wheelchair. “Donny took him walking, my dear, and Tang must have got away, somehow.” “Ah, well, he couldn’t have got himself lost,” smiled Sandra. “He was right outside your door.” “Yes, but he chases cars. We even had him trained by a pro fessional training school and they really trained him in everything except car-chasing—and with his leash dragging—” she sighed. Then the ctoor burst open and a tall, dark-haired young man rushed in. “Grandma! Tang—why, you little yellow rascal! You—” “He’s not yellow—he’s golden!” interrupted his grandmother. “And I’ll wager you took him in that convertible I got you for Christ mas—and he jumped out—and this is the blonde girl who lives down at 666 on this same street—goes home every night with the brown haired girl at sixteen minutes after five. My grandson, Donny.” “How do you do,” murmured Sandra, edging towards the door way. “How in the world did you ever guess I lived at 666?” “The lady who keeps it is a friend of mine, my dear. Me, I get to sit in the front window all the time because I fractured my hip ten years ago.” “Oh,” said Sandra. “I am to meet some girls downtown—” “How’s for me driving you down, the busses will all be jammed at this time—on New Year’s Eve— and if your brown-haired girl friend will double date, I’ve a classmate home from ,the hospital—he’s an intern where I am this year—” “That’ll be nice—and maybe I’ll see the four of you on TV when I look on at midnight,” said his grandmother. “Don’t let me keep you,” she urged. She heard the front door click and motioned to the dog to jump into her lap. “Well, ol’ pup, I never made a better trip, down that hallway to the front door—in double quick time, too. That girl and Donny— they couldn’t be lighter for each other, eh?” Quaint Rehearsal Of Christ’s Birth Found In Old Carol “Auld Lang Syne” has become such an integral part of our mod ern New Year’s eve that no cele bration, however gay, would be complete without It. The music sheets for those nos talgic strains simply say “Robert Burns—Scotch Air,” and Robert Burns generally is supposed to have written it after he had set tled down on a farm and taken himself a wife, following the sweeping success in 1778 of the second edition of his “Peoms.” Well and good, but Auld Lang Syne was not exclusively a Burns’ pro duct, nor did he claim it to be. In a letter to George Thomson, a publisher, Burns explained: “It is an old song of olden times, which has never been in print. I took it down from an old man’s singing.” Modern scholarship has discov ered that Burns was wrong when he told Thomson “Auld Lang Syne” never had been in print. Its refrain, at least, was printed obscurely long before Burns heard his “old man singing.” Father, the orginal song often has been credited to Sir Robert Aytoun (1570-1638). Aytoun was one of the earliest Scots to use the lowland dialect as a literary medium. Multitudes of Americans decended from non-British stock are perpetually mystified by this dialect, nor does it seem to make much sense in the standard Eng lish translation. Regardless of its orginal author and orgin, it was Burns who gave “Auld Lang Syne” its immortality. And though the bells now welcome the New Year with joyous peals, symbolizing mankind’s hope for a bright future, the nostalia of “Auld Lang Syne” summaries an adherent reluctance to leave the security and friendship of the past and embark upon a future which, however promising, may not be more pleasant. Thus, it remains a part of the English speaking herit age to “Drink a cup of kindness yet For Auld Lang Syne.” MERRY CHRISTMAS J. & HUTCHNSON GROCERY Main Street .il xt*& mm m Mm m ‘g!***3 * J: m. m 1 JBI ii yk**. $ § % mm : V' ■mm mmiz There are many thoughts that go through the minds * 1 of each of us at Christmas ... impressions that remain with us for days to reflect the happiness that prevails at the Yuletide Season. From Christmases past there are remembrances of associations with loved ones and friends... of tokens of esteem from those about us ... there have been Christ mas festivities... family reunions... religious worship .. . the joy of giving ... and the happiness that comes from being remembered. These and many others are - - T • . « the impressions that make Christmas meaningful and joyful. It is the sincere wish of your City officials that you may enjoy every one of these blessings this Holiday Season ... that the Christmastide this year may be the most impressive of them all. ■ W s V>.*i mm mm X mm The City of Newberry J. E. Wiseman P. D. Holloway Forrest Dickert C. A. Dufford E. H. Layton C. E. Kinard George W. Martin 1 I •I * tj