The Daily Alaska empire Newspaper, December 24, 1927, Page 22

THE passed on and of their family only the little girl Lila has con- tinued to make her home in Ju- neau. She is now Mrs. A. Palmer and is herself a mothe: | planned months in advance for the great day and had sent 1o | Vancouver for gay tinsel, and other dress for a tree and for toys and books, as many and va- L JUNEAU, THEN ROCKWELL,HAD TREE IN 1881 Eatliest Cccasion of Tree ‘Here Is Told by An Oldtimer CGhristmas had come Juneau the first Christmas tae little: gold | camp, huddled on the cold blea beach of Alaska, had ever Knowr the first be se it was thé firs year of the camp’s existence away baek in 1881, The place was not even known | as Juneau in that but was | call\d Rockwell, in honor of ths | execative officer of the U. Jamestown. Later it wa Harrisburg and in 1885 named Juneau. Those¢ men and few women who were in the camp the first year of it’s lite paid scant attention the anniversary of the Natly and Chrsitmas day to them was fust December 25. i But there was one mother and father who determined Christmas should be all the day signified .o thejr three little children, Lils, William and 'Edward, the *only | hite children in the camp. The a1 ere Mr. and Mrs. John Pry two of the most prominent pio- Beers of Alaska. § Preparations Mrs. Pryor and her three chil dren had come north from Van-| couver, B. C. earlier in the yea: to visit Mr. Pryor who. had pre ceded them and was mining gold. They planned to make only a visit but the visit lengthened until they | finally decided to make the nor.h thelr home and Christmas founl, them in Rockwell. The little mother, vndaunted oy the difficulties of .ecuring the necessary bright decorations and gifts dear to the child’s heart, year ried as any child in a city woull ever receive. These were care- fully hidden aw and eager little eyes and ears v and heard no for them, The Tree And then the tree! In thot day obtaining a tree was a much more simple task than it is in Juneau today, for the hillside be- yond what is now Fourth and Main Stree where the Pryor home ptood, and which original site is still owned by the family, was notbing but a wildernes three little then that-Santa Cl find them even in a little gold camp far away from the world, the tree and stood in its place of honor in the Pryor home. On Christmas Eve out came the tinsel, shining and gay; the tiny bright and fragile balls and what nots that add to the festive splen- dor of the green fir. Grouped cn the tree and under it and every- where that space could be found were the toys and other lovely gifts on which a fond mother and father had spent so much time and thought that their little chil- dren might not miss a tiny bit of the Christmas splendor. On Christmas day the Pryor home was filled with friends of the family who came to take pari in the enjoyment of the firs: Christmas tree, and who were cheered from homesickness and lonely thoughts by the joyousness of happy children and the hosul- tality of Mr. and Mrs. Pryor. Hold Open House shrieks of who knew could really Since that first Christmas, Mrs. Pryor, until the day of her death a number of years ago, always had a tree in her home on Christ- mas day and the doors of her home were open who called to give Christmas greetings. Mr. and Mrs. Pryor have both and receive PUSESSSUSSEESS S S s ' % DSBS S PUBSUSSSSSEES S S S 2 IT IS GREETING TIME We're glad for the opportunity to pub- licly thank our hun- ,dreds of friends for, and a grandmother. She 'was only a little girl when her mother and father had mas tree in the tails of the day but as much ber she has told, related. the first B, gold camp that | thing of what was being planncd became Juneau, so young that de- are lost to her as €he can remem as it *has been Christ- —_— Tourists in Germany Headed by Americans' The Reriin hotels were filled IN, Dec. . = American aded the list of fore visiting according to Travel man Bureau. cut down Germany t estimate s prepared by the semi-dfficial Ge Good Luck. Good Health. DAILY ALASKA IRE, SATURDAY, DEC. 24 inite figures are not available; tiv bureau has taken numerous straw votes on which it bases this con .| clusion. In a certain hotel at Rothenbu:: | in Bavaria, a mecca of tourists ibecause of the excellent state of preservation of the city walls and ancient buildings, fully 80 pe cent of the guests this summer | were foreigners, and of these at ! Jeast 90 per cent were American Over 2,000 Americans attended Iflm festival plays at Bayreuth | The next largest foreign contin | gent, the English, numbered onl { about 200, this summer as never before with | Americans. In and about Cologn: athedral there was almost mors English spoken than Munich, Dresden and Nuremberg lalso award first place to the ‘While d»:l-} Americans. , Good Times. Good Cheer. Good everything for all the Year is our Christmas wish to her friends . L to all. 'MINERS' POOL HALL WE APPRECIATE THE PATRONAGE With which you have so gen- erously favored us through Germa. | ‘Bluck Cat Opens [ Way for Success Of Girl Singer, 18 NEW York, Dec. 24. — The: | esa Bloom, 15 years old, a Los Angeles soprano, told today how a black eat, symbol of bad luck, had started her on the road to | suceess, “Two years ago,” she said, “I heard that the Los Angeles Art | Center was giving a scholarship for music and I went to the build- ing. As I entered I met a black cat. 1 let out such a cry that |all the critics rush out and to TO HA CUSTOMERS AND FRIENDS, WE WISH A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A NEW YEAR ~ THE IRROS CO. s xclaimed: a magnificent, pnwer(ul} {and beautitul voice., I received| the scholarship.” | Six weeks ago she came to New, York for an audition. ! “She has a very beautiful lyric [soprano voice ot only will I give her lessons, but I will do everything to make her succcess-| tul as Rosa Ponselle or Mary| Lewis,” William Thorner, teacher| of Galli-Curci, R Ponselle, | Mary Lewis and others, said after| the audition ———er————— Adverusing arways pays. Use the columns of The Empire OUR PPY Among our assets we like to count the only one that money cannot buy --- Your Good Will. And so at this season we ex- tend to you, not as customers alone, but as friends, the Best Wishes for this gladsorhe Séa- son and for the Coming Year. JUNEAU FLORISTS : 1927 ‘and now may '3;0U have a+Merry Christmas: -and»a - Happy New Year. "'their patronage an i extend the seasons best wishes to all. COASTWISE TRANSPORTA- TION COMPANY PEERLESS BAKERY % CHRISTMAS VR ---When we like to think of and do for others. May it be a joyous occasion for you and may the New Year be a Happy, Prosper- ous one. California Grocery Nick Bavamo, Prop. oo WE WISH YOU A