The Daily Alaska empire Newspaper, December 21, 1930, Page 15

SAINT by A. W. CALLISEN L e % “fume sy For jund:- -5 of years children cvcryxvrc have loved Santa Claus, | And wonder, for Santd Claus | "is a rgal person, as real as Capt.| John &mlth. General Grant, or! our o§n George Washington, only | his real name was Saint Nicholas. | Ages 4go the Germans called him | SanktZNic-laus, which their dren thirned into Sankt Claus—the , Santa iClaus of today. Saiud, Nicholas, the patron saint %ot chiffiren, was a Greek who lived in Asi@ Minor about sixteen hun- s> dred years ago, and his life was so cpotles§, and his good works so en- duringgthat he is even now beloved in all §ands. Many churches have | been mpade for him. i |4 The'parents of Saint Nicholas| were mch and respected and lived | yia a cify called Patara at the smuh—‘ west rner of Asia Minor. Long| Athey @Wwelt together, childless, but| at length their prayers were an- | \..sweredj and the little son, Nicholas, was s¢gt to cheer their loneliness. | It is | he wi and ndighbors, so different was he from the other children of his age in themeighborhood. At #Bhool he was one of. the brightest and best scholars, and so great was his love for the church, chil- ‘[ the . three hungry children asleep { on their bed, their cheeks still wet NICHOL/AS with tears. It made his heart ache to see their distress and tears came | into his own eyes. Gently dropping the purse of gold on the floor he climbed again to the ground and went on home. The next morning the poor man rejoiced greatly when his daugh- | ters brought him the purse of gold, | and for a time the family’s troubles were at an end. When the money was at last all | spent, Nicholas again climbed the | trellis by night and dropped a sec- ond purse, and later a third. You can fancy how astonished the poor | man was at this unexpected help, | giver, | came known in the town, and after the second purse he de- termined to watch for the generous This he did and the third time caught Nicholas in the very act. The poor man fell upon his knees and thanked him with tears for his act of mercy, but Nicholas earnestly begged him never to tell who had befriended him. Through the children, however, the story be- and as the kind-hearted Nicholas contin- ued to help the needy in secret, giving away the entire wealth he had inherited from his parents, | people soon learned to say when- and so anxious was he to serve Christ, his master in all things, that his father and mother will- ingly allowed him to study for the priesthood. Thus it came. that he was sent to the home of his uncle, Bishop Nicholas of Patara, under | whose loving care he was instruct- | ed in all the wisdom of the church | as known in, that day. | And now we come to the story of how Nicholas, from the kindness of his heart, first brought gifts to children while they lay asleep. It so happened that in the city there dwelt a very good and learned man with his three young daughters.| This man had at one time been| very rich, but by taking bad ad- vice from one he thought his| friend, lost all his wealth. Now he | was bitterly poor, and as he was too proud to beg, the family had no longer a crust of bread to eat. | Good Nicholas heard of this and| his kind heart was greatly trou- bled. So he filled a purse with gold and went by night to the poor id that from the very first| o houce though he had no|Ten O the wonder of all frlends | jGoq how he should deliver his gift | Us. | without being seen. The moon was shining brightly and by its light he ever a gift had been left during the night: “Saint Nicholas brought it Nicholas continued as he had be- gun, and devoted his whole life to the good of his fellow men. He visited the sick, and helped the needy both with money and good advice. Six hundred years later when King Vladimir of Russia came all the way to Constantinople to be baptized, he heard the splendid | story of Saint Nicholas. And from the king and his Russian people | the story spread to the Lapps in the Far North.sThese simple folk believed that the good saint lived at the North Pole amid the won- derful northern lights and that he came to them with gifts in a sled drawn by reindeer, the com- mon way of travel in their coun- try. So has the story come down through the years to the children of this day. Yes, indeed, St. Nicholas ta' Claus as he is better was a good real person! good and loving friend to reeded him! g THE EVE OF EPIPHANY or San- known, A very all who The Eve of Epiphany, or Twelfth night (january 6), is to the Child- f Rome what Christmas is to —,o——— WOULD NOT WRITE VERSES |saw a trellis which was bullt | against the house for a grapevine | to grow upon. This he climed, and | peeping through the window saw | Tennyson once refused an offer { of one thousand pounds for a short | set of verses for Christmas cards e, It was early evening and the air | was frosty in t forest. The full | moon shed a white light over every thing and the gay little frost-stars twinkled on every bush. | Only the trees seemed alive; they stood sentinel-like, quiet guardsmen. The huge out-of- shape spruce on the right scemed to have the authority. To him the others all looked for wisdom. He “ad seen many, many winters come and go, he had been buffeted by the great North Wind until he was ‘wisted and bent, he had felt the | cold strike so deeply into his heart that he groaned every time | breeze swayed his branches. | still he survived, the greatest, most powerful of the trees there. Suddenly the winter silence was brcken as a light wind rustled | through the forest and the old MAR]JORIE BROOKS SHEPPARD But | In nearly all the Christian coun- tries of the world, one of the sym- bols of this day called Christmas is the Christmastree. Now 'this Christmas tree is a plain ev green tree, just like one of us, an on it are hung brightly colored naments, sparkling garlands and gayly wrapped gifts. So much hap- pine: and peace does this tree bring that to be chosen for this purpose, whether it be for the rich- est or humblest home, is indeed a great honor. “Sometime soon, aimost any da now, men will come into the for est and picking out the best will take them. Then the adventure begins. First the chosen ones will be tightly and very carefully rolled up and the branches tied to keep them from getting broken, and then they will be sent many, many Itree shook himself awake. With | the sound all the other trees bent | toward him alertly. “Today,” said | the old tree solemnly, “is the first | day of December.” The pine trees, both big and small, sighed in unison. Neither December nor any other month meant anything special to them. But the half-grown spruces were attentive at once. They were wise in the ways of the forest and they knew that the oldest spruce could be relied upon to keep in touch with the scasons. They knew per- fectly well what his announcement ment and they waved their branch- es about merrily. Only the baby trees failed to understand and join in"the glee with the others. Even the very beautiful, perfectly shaped large trees were moved to delighted expectancy. #The first day of Decemhber,” re- peated the very littlest baby spruce, “What dees that mean?” #8h,” cautioned the pines and the other trees nodded warningly. It did not do to interrupt when the old spruce spoke. | ' But the old spruce was kind, he | did not mind a bit. “It means,” he | said, “that exactly twenty-five days from today is Christmas.” “Christmas?” again queried listlest baby spruce, “What that?” the is Patiently the old spruce replied: | “Listen, and T'll tell you the story. { miles away, probably to a great city. In that city they will be just as carefully unrolled and then stood up so that people may see. “On Christmas eve they are set up in the homes of those who have chosen them and late ‘that night the loving hands of one who loves the children will decorate them.” The pine trees sighed sorrow- fully. “They never choose, us,” they said “No; mor birches sadly. The half-grown spruees and firs drew themselves up' proudly. “We are pretty sure to be taken,” said the most graceful of these. “Look at us, all our branches are gradu- ated so that they make a nice point on which to place a star. We all have straight trunks, tco. We'll be taken, that's sure. The littlest baby other question to ask the old tree, oné about which he was not very clear. “Why weren't you ever tak- en he said. us,” whispered | that the feelings of the old might be hurt. tree do thefr share| happiness s0 I ¢ in the forest.” y spruce was i sudden he look- many other to toward spreadina am content to The littlest lent and all of a |ed up startled, as the big fir tow- the | “Sh!” warned the tall pines once | pen. But Jim, dear old Jim, alway more. They were very much afraid | would be careless. cause,” answered the old trec|them after ering above his head began k. “I, too, may go this scason,” | e said with pride, now that com- munity. Christmas trees are get- ting so popular; cven ones as big as I am get a chance.” “Oh, my, ch, my!" wailed the littlest baby spruce. “Suppose I'm not chosen! Maybe they won't want such tiny one: “Come now, never mind, don't worry,” soothed the old tree. “The houses are so small nowadays that | a great many people have to have table Christmas trees. Perhaps you will be one of those. But I think we've talked enough for now. Lot us all go to sleep, it’s getting late. Tomorrow they may come to lcok us over and we must look our best.” So perfect silence ance more fell over Christmas Tree Land. The full moon, now low on the horizon, shed a light over everything and the gay little frost-stars still twin- kled on every bush. Everything was | in readiness and waiting for Christ- | mas. - - JIM ARRIVES BY PLANE, IN TIME FOR CHRISTMAS It was Christmas eve. The Gar- ner home radiated the spirit and happiness of Christmas. Soft lights filled the rooms; holly"*wreaths| hung in the windows, and a (:r:‘n!.: fire was blazing on the hearth There was a family reunion; the children were all there now cept Jim, and they were looking for him | at any moment. | Then the telephone rang and| Jim’s voice came over long dis- tance. He had taken a later train and had missed connections at Chi- cago—there was no way of getting there tonight. He expressed the deepest regrets; he had thought there was plenty of time to piek up a few last-minute gifts between trains. Why, they just woud be lost with- out Jim, they were all saying 5= entl sunny, careless Jim, who always was the life of the crowd. And he would miss the very best part of Christmas with -them. It| was just too bad this had to hap- | | | Then the telephoné rang ugam.‘ and they found he would ‘be with | all. A passenger plane | | sadly, “I wasn't beautiful enough.| was leaving Chicago and he would Fve never been straight like tho be home in ‘two hours. The new rest of you and who would want|mode of travel would bring Jim in | a gnarled old thing like me to dress plenty of time to | with bright ornaments? But I don't | Christmas make their reunion complete— !mind. T know there are a great Katherine Edelman. There is no finer harmony to be in tune with one’s fellowman--- than That is why we take. real pleasure in wishing all our friends and customers a M erry Merry Chistmas " and a H appy Proslierous New Year Butford & Co. “Qur doorstep is worn by I satisfied customers” Let's All Tune In! N CHRISTMAS TIME is the time of all the year where everyone of us should pack up , the petty worries and rattles of family skele- . tons and lay them ‘away to be forgotten in celebrating the greatest event in all the his- tory. of struggling humanity. better enable you to wrest happiness and We hope the full significance of the day may fill you with all the joy of living and prosperity from the future. PACIFIC COAST CEMEN T CO. ' PACIFIC COAST COAL CO. AND | SR T T LU R R an IR TR » We’re.glad :indeed to be alive this ~ CHRISTMAS SEASON and to know so many good people to whom we wish A Merry, Merry Christmas AND Happy, Prosperous New TR I 1 Year THE FIRST NATIONAL BANK