Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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THE NEWBERRY SUN THURSDAY, DECEMER 22, 1955 SECTION A—PAGE THREE Many Christmas legends and customs are part of the folklore of • our ancestors in all parts of the world. Many of them, too, are a mixture of early Christian and pagan observances which time and Christianity have given new meaning. Santa Claus, our American giver of gifts, is little known elsewhere in the world. In Eastern and Scfuthem Europe, it is the Wise Men who arrive bringing gifts. In Hungary the gifts come from the Angels, in Poland from the stars, in Greece, St. Basil is the gift-bearing patron saint. Popular tradition has it that the candle we place in our windows at Christmas is a custom originated by early Christians to whom the represented the star that guided the Wise Men to the stable at Bethlehem. One interesting legend tells of a shoemaker whb, though poor, always placed a candle in his window at night to guide weary travelers, so inspired the villagers that soon each window con tained a lighted candle. The holly bush, long associated with Christmas, and with many legerde was 'bnoe called the holy-bush, because in its natural state the berries ripen at Christmas time. The Wassail bowl, which today is Christmas punch, is said to have to us from the ancient Saxons. Wassail was a word of greeting which meant literally, “What Hails?”, or “How fare you?” At Christmas time, traditions of the Old World live again. Pinatitas, doves and festive straw chains from South Europe; wheat sheaves, paper ywd carved wood from Scandinavian countries; angels, stars, Chechoslovakian bells and gold German stars are all bits of Old World Charm that we re-create in our homes. SANTA CLAUS LAND . . . You’d never convince the younger . aet, but photo shows the real Santa Claus land—Antalya in Southern Turkey, capital of the province where St. Nicholas was born, lived and became a legend 1600 years ago. Snow and rein- deer ( are never seen in this lush laud on the shores of the Eastern Mediterranean where swimming on Christmas Day Is common. *4 ft ft ft ft ft f 1955 TAX NOTICE After the close of business on January 3,1956 A ONE PER CENT PENALTY i will be added to all unpaid 1955 State and County Taxes ft ft 1 1 ft 1 J. Ray Dawkins, Treasurer The progress of Christianity — and our civilization as well — has been accompanied by the far-reaching message of the bells — bells that call the reverent to worship, that herald the approach of a holiday or commemorate a great or blessed event. But, particularly at Christmastime is the message of the bells most effective. From the echoing ring of the bell in a small n£ssipn church to the resounding peal that comes forth from massive cathe dral towers, the bells tell of joy and peace and call to the world to come and adore. Older themselves than the story they tell at Christmas, bells were first used to sound the alarm in fire or tumult. Rich burghers jealously guarded their bells and used them to rally their followers when danger threatened. Bishop Paulinas of Nola in southern Italy is commonly credited with introducing the first church bells about 431 A. D., when he put up a huge copper kettle on the roof of his church and struck it with a hammer. Before that, a crier had announced services by running through the streets ringing a hand bell. From Italy, the idea-spread to France and thence to England. Not until the 11th Century did bells appear in the towers of German and Swiss churches. Competition among bell casters developed the bells in size, quality of tone and beauty. A founder had to be a metallurgist, designer and musician as well. The race for bigger and better bells went on until a bell was cast in Russia that proved to be too heavy for machinery to lift into place. Cast in 1773, in Moscow, it is the Csar KolokoL” It weighs 180 tons, measures 20 feet in height, 22 feet in diameter and is 23 inches thick. Many costly but futile attempts were made to hoist it into place. China, the mother of many things cast the first great bell in 1408. Weighing 53 tons, it hangs in the Big Bell Temple in Peking. Another large bell, 15 tons, is suspended in the ancient Buddhist temple in Japan. The chimes of St. Michael’s in Charleston, S. C., are probably the most traveled bells, having crossed'the Atlantic seven times be cause of ownership changes or to be recast They last crossed the Atlantic in 1865. “I don’t know that I can answer your question, son, but 1*11 try. “The Christmas spirit . . . well, it’s something you can’t touch as you can the tree or feel as you do the cold and the wind and snow. It’s greater than the distance to a star or the silence of the night, more wonderful even than Santa Claus ... • “Oh, yes, Christmas trees and snow, presents and things, they’re all part of the Christmas spirit But these cure tilings that we could have the whole year round without the Christmas spirit It’s only at Christmastime that they . . . “Why? Well, it’s because the Christmas spirit sort of changes the way we look at things and the way we feel Little, everyday things, usually so important, go off somewhere and are lost among the Christmas tree lights or the evergreen arches along Main Street. We completely forget about ourselves as we gather presents for all our friends. Our troubles just seem to melt away. We buy gifts the year round for birthdays and anniversaries, its true, but it’s not the same. When the Christmas spirit moves us, we feel happy. We just want everyone in the whole world . . . “Is it being happy?” Not just being happjf as such. It’s being happy, and kind, and generous, full of peace, and, most important of all, being reverent, all at once. “Sure, like when we are in church. Outside the snow is deep and the midnight wind whistles through the trees. But inside there’s warmth and comfort and a quiet peacefulness that you don’t find anywhere else. Though just outside, the world, with its wind and snow and trees and stars and sky seems far removed. The flickering altar candles seem to be repeating a humble prayer in a language of their own. Your heart swells inside you and suddenly you are warm to the very tip of your toes. It’s then that you know . . . that you feel it . . . the true Christmas spirit. With every breath you know that you are nearer and closer to Him . . . you know ... . God? Surely Gdd. You kpew it all the time. The Christmas spirit doesn’t come from Santa, nor does it come to any man as a present. It comes only when each of us, though we may have been careless or forgetful, reaffirm our faith in His presence and goodness and so strengthen our hopes to be with Him forever and forever. Then we have the Christmas Spirit, the most wonderful feeling in the world. It was December 23, 1818 in a tiny mountain village In Austria. The night was cold and clear and a heavenly canopy of stars stretched over a peaceful earth as far as the eye could see. Father Joseph Mohr, a young parish priest, had just administered the last rites to a dying womah. Walking thoughtfully homeward, he looked down at the twinkling lights of the village and the bright stars above. A soul was about to depart from this world, to sleep forever in heavenly peace. Tomorrow at midnight the village and the Christian world would reverently observe the greatest birth—the Nativity that took place that holy night so long ago. How sad, the young priest thought, that the church organ was broken and the musical program for the holiday services had been cancelled. Franz Gruber the organist; had suggested ihey find a simple melody that could be sung to the accompaniment of a guitar. Give him the words, he’d said, and he would compose the music. Give him the words . . . and there would be music. As he thought of birth and life and death and looked down upon the sleepy, starlit village below. Father Mohr found these words. They sing the praises of the Holy Infant born to the world, eM we wonder if they do not also ask for the departed soul “rest in peace." Thus came the famous “Silent Night, Holy Night." Frans Gruber, true to his word, put Father Mohr's words to music that win endure till the end of time. FLORIDA STY^E . . . Sore, it's Christmas in Florida, too. Bat white sand most substitute for snow, a sea-grape for an ever green, bat what's the difference when two such expert and lovely decorators are on the scene. Outdoor Decorations Began in Small Towns Today nearly every community in the land has some kind of out door Christmas decorations and in nearly every big city you can find two or three spectacular displays. ‘ It was a small town that first came up with the idea of lighting up the outdoors at Christmas time, but no one is quite sure which town gets credit for the idea. Four communities are believed to have thought of it about the same^time, as early as 1913. Two of them, McDonald and German town, are in Pennsylvania. Salem, Ore., decorated a Sitka spruce and Riverside, Calif., illuminated a large evergreen, an Aracuria. The little metal trumpets deco rating Christmas trees date from early Danish custom of blowing in the Yule with four hymqs repre senting the four corners of the world. Scholarships Be Given By Champion The Champion Paper Founda- tion, has announced a new col lege schodarship program for high school seniors in the com pany’s operating areas. Six four- year scholarship awards will be granted for the 1956-57 college year. The foundation will underwrite one-third of a student’s “typical expenses” as listed by his or her college for each normal school year. In addition to the student awards, the collages and universi ties attended will be given grants- WeMevJ ^binn* Once '\AJo4 Popular C^udfom Jor Coeds Eating peas with a knife is con trary to Emily Post and doesn’t seem to have much qualification for observance as a Christmas tradition, but for more 'Jian 25 years coeds at Pennsylvania State University partook of a fork-less meal each Yule season. The traditional medieval dinner, complete with everything from costumed lords and ladies to the legendary boar’s head, dated back to 1919, finally had to be cancelled when coed ranks swelled to almost 1,000. The affair, sponsored by the Women’s Student Government As sociation, began with a formal procession through the dining hflU Lord and Lady McAllister—the dinner was held in McAllister Hall —led ti>e throng, which included noble lords and ladies, heralds, a poet, a cardinal, pages, and two jesters bearing the boar's head. All these girls were appropriate ly costumed and sat upon a raised dais in the center of the holly- bedecked room, which was illum inated by candlelight A choir furnished Christmas music, and the poet entertained the guests by reading Old English poetry from a scroll. In accord ance with medieval custom, no forks or napkins were allowed, although guests sometimes secret ed them in their pockets. The menu consisted of roast pork, mashed potatoes, peas, and a very rich plum pudding. Today’s students eat a special Christmas dinner before going home for vacation—but it’s served “sissy” style. They’re allowed a full complement of table utensils. The tallest Christmas tree on record was a 212 foot Douglas fir set up in 1950 in Northgate, a sub urb of Seattle, Washington. It dis played 3,500 colored lights. in-aid to further the development of higher education. Both boys and girls are eligible for the foundation’s, scholarships. However, they must rank among the top third of their high school classes graduating in the spring of 1966, while maintaining resi dence in Champion Paper's oper ating communities and graduating from high schools as set forth by the foundation. A student may choose his or her own course of study and at tend any accredited college or university, provided the course Chr i dint ad Ore* Jfnduslry. ^4ids ^doreslry programs That beautiful Christmas tree you’ve purchased for your living room this Christmas needn’t cause any qualms of conscience if you’re the type who worries about the effect of the Christmas tree busi ness on our forests. , The fact that yours is one of 31 million trees used for holiday decorations this year makes it seem that our‘forests are in great peril, but such is not the case. In fact, at least half of these trees are coming from sources that did not harm or actually improved the forebt land they occupied when cut. Foresters who grow saw-log i trees generally divide cut-over land into four classes and Christ mas-tree land is the lowest classi fication. It won’t grow good forests, but is ideal for Christmas trees since it barely supports tree Ufa. The tree, in its struggle to exist, throws out quick and frequent branches. On such land are the Christmas- tree farms, such as one operated at Tacoma, Washington, by Paul Kirk, the “Christmas-tree king." Kirk distributes 4 to 5 million trees a year and keeps several times that number growing. The last two or three weeks be fore Christmas are about the busiest of the year for Paul Kirk, for his carefully grown trees must arrive at their destinations on time. It Isn't unusual for him to tour dozens of cities checking on shipments before be gets home at tha last moment to gather with his family around the Kirks' huge white-sprayed tree. HANDY GIFTS leads to an AB, BS or equivalent degree, and provided the student maintains the standards of the school and the Champion Paper Foundation, i To qualify for a scholarship award this year, a student must make application to hie or her high school principal by Janaary 10, 1956. iiach principal of an ac cepted high school may nominate one or more students for consid eration, depending upon the size of the school. High schools now eligible to nominate students for the founda tion's awards in North Carolina include Canton, Bethel, Clyde, Waynesville, St. Johns of Waynes- villa, fines Creek, Crabtree-Iron Duff, Reynolds of Canton, Enka, and Newberry, S. C. The school principals will have full informa tion a n d student application forms. How often at Christmas time have you experienced that panickv feeling that comes when you dis cover you’ve forgotten someone 7 It happens nearly every year. You can, however, save yourself a good deal of embarrassment by having gifts wrapped and on hard in case someone drops by With a gift for you—someone acciden iy omitted from your gift list. A safe bet ahd a gift that will be appreciated is something that y .. yourself, have made—perhaps sea sonal cookies and candies, nu s, and stuffed fruits. These are gifts with h particularly personal touch. And that, after all, is what tha spirit of Christmas giving shouM be—giving a little of yourself te others. You can pack your handiwork ha wooden or earth—wavs bowls, a flower pot, smalt basket, or in expensive cake or loaf pan. Other handy and inexpensive packaging items are oatmeal boxes, coffee cans, or paper plates covered with gay paper. A gaily wrapped package makes even the smallest gift look good. Use odd ends of wallpaper.' bright ly colored magazine covers, shelf feaper or scraps of material. If you have a favorite candy, cookie or fruit or nut bread recipe, use tt, by an means. And for an additional touch, tuck a copy of your pet recipe into your gift ELECTRIC MOTORS New-Used-Rebuilt Boufcht-So*t-Exchanged We repair all ♦ype‘» Satisfaction Guaranteed Mann Electric Repair Co- 2329 Main St, Columbia, S. C 33-ttu FOR Expert Repair Bring Your / Radio or Television GEO. N. MARTIN Radio and TeleYision SALES and SERVICE 1309 MAIN STREET Newberry, S. Cl 24 HOUR SERVICE Telephone 311 •—" Greetings! ( Each year, in the hustle and bustle of this glad holiday sea son, we like to pause to wish you and your family the happiest Christmas and the most prosperous New Year you have ever known. It gives us great pleasure to do this, because we fully real ize that your friendship, goodwill, and patronage have made it possible for us to serve successfully the people in this area ever since the frist horseless carriages began to appear on our streets. ‘ ' ' T_ ' " -• As we enter our forty-third year of operations, we pledge to you that we shall make every effort to continue to merit the con fidence and support which you have given us in the past. Again—we wish you and yours a happy holiday season! Smith Motor Co. J. W. “Bill” Smith—Mrs. J. W. Smith, Owners •- f% ' 1309 College Street Phone 777 Newberry, S. C.