The Daily Alaska empire Newspaper, December 20, 1931, Page 14

THE DAILY ALASKA EMPIRE, SUNDAY, DEC.20, 1931. ~ "~ i R S5 A T 5 YN Sl T 7 P —— 1y at every possible place. Over the plctures on the re large branches of spruce ::::Lweln onsg corner of the room stood a small Christmas tree, gayly bedecked with tinsel and fayors and on the very top was perched a cardboard Santa Claus who still ap- peared as ruddy and festive as he had when first he had stood there n years before. .e‘;:t:”smgkmxs which h:nzfl !: as thoug he; e 1ot would drop their load any min- ute but they were, #ecurely fastened ~and held down at the top by heavy books. “Mumsie” cried a girl's volce. The front door had just opened. “Hello,” came back the answer from the wom- an sitting be- fore the fire in the lving room. She gazed with halt wistful eyes at the stockings, then she called, although she knew the an- swer— “Yes! Who is 1t?” “Oh, Mumsie,” the girl exclaimed as she came in the door, “how love- ly the house looks! And you've trimmed the stalrway siice I've been gone. Did you put some green in the pulpit?” Louise Waterbury ran out of the ltving room and up the stairs, around the bend of which was an opening which strongly resembled 4 'pulpit architecturally. There agaln and agaln as a child Loulse had preached “sermons” to Mumsle who had sat on the stairs, the sole ifstener to her oft-repeated text and germon on the theme she loved the best. It gave her a chance for so | e WO stockings hung from either side of the mantle- plece of an old-fashioned room. They were well Z filled. They bulged in- artistically but geénerous- & ¢ again, In her own way she would give her text. “‘Sam'el, Sam'el’; and he an- swered “Here am I'” Again and again the Lord would call Samuel in Louise’s recitation. If she had gathered gome of her friends togeth- er at any time she had formed a ||| chofr processional and they had|| 2 ¢ HEN one thinks of the tra- ditions of Christmas cele- bration in New England, the ‘Middle states, and even farther West, in the early part of the Nine- teenth century, it is to added to the service by singing “From Greenland's Jey Mountains.” || It was such a graphic hymn. She could see Indla’s coral strand, the great icy mountalns of Greenland || and the hot sofl of Africa—all viv- || idly In her mind, Yes, the pulpit had been dec- orated with great branches of green spruce and pine and hemlock. There was pothing in the house which didn't show that it was Christmas time and the room where they sat, with its fotir windows, its wreaths at each one, its white woodwork, | its huge open fire dancing gayly || and throwing shadows and lights | and making a wonderful serles of fantastic, fanciful pictures on the walls, all breathed the spirit of the || season. £ So they bad sat every Christmas eve now for seventeen years, Mum- sie had walted until Louise was a year old to decorate the house. li : “Hadn't we better be having sup-| per now? We've a long evening || ahead.” | So these two eelebrated thelr ' Christmas together, one of them old, | the other young. And when Louise said good-night to Mumsie one 1it- tla happy tear dld escape her, and Mumsle felt it on her cheek. “What's the matter, dearie?* “Nothing at all!” Louise ex- claimed. “Only I've been thinking | that the most wonderful gift of all, the most beautiful Christ: mas gift, or gift of life or any- thing and every- thing, is the way you have always made us have so much happl- ness and so much joy out of keeping ‘days’ and entering in- to the spirit of them, and in making the day- by-day llving something 8o beautiful and so bappy. Oh, Mumsie, you put the spir- it of Christmas into every moment of the year."” [ And Mumsie hugged Louise and; sald: “My, dear, you're the secret of it all. It 18 because a young, young | creature such as you, has never, many repetitions, and again and never made me feel old!" & ' X t powye vision snow - covered ground, sleigh rides, and the jingle of sleigh bells, with Christmas trees and Santa Claus, much as today in those sections. Whole familles go- ing visiting in the bob-sled, to par- take of the Christmas feast bullt around the turkey! Those were great times and days, and their annals live in the works of famous literat! of the East coast when our Republic was compara- | tively young, But at the same time a mighty clvilizatfon was belng builded on the West coast, though how different was the Christmas observed in the sparsely settled and undeveloped land that 18 now Californial And how few to leave record! However, Albert Robinson, a clerk who left Boston for Californla in July, 1828, and after 110 days reached Valparaiso, 2nd Monterey on February 15, 1820, has left in his “Life in California,” published in the late forties, description of a Christmas celebration held at the mission ig San Diego that shows the contrast between such events on the east and west coasts at that time. Roblnson’s business took him to ,varlous parts of the (now) state, and while on a visit from his head- | quarters in San Francisco to his ! friend Don Jose Antonio Estudillo, comandante of 8an Dlego, wrote of the Christmas festivities he had wit- nessed: “Don Jose Antonio . .., was ever aen the alert seeking for some new device for my gratification. It was nearly time for the religlous festival of ‘la noche buena’ (the holy night) and he directed the customary ex- hibition of the ‘pastores.” They were rehearsing night after night, till at | length Christmas arrived, and I had an opportunity of beholding the mid- night mass and the subsequent per- formances. “At an early hour illuminations commenced, fireworks were set off, and afl was rejolcing. The church i A Happy Christmas bells rang merrily, and long befor\e the time of mass the pathways lead- ing to the presidio were enliven by crowds hurrying to devotion. accompanied Don Jose Antonlo, who prozured for me a stand where "] could see distinctly everything that took place. The mass commenced, Padre Vincente de Oliva (died 1845) officiated, and at the conclusion’ of the mysterious ‘sacrificio’ he pro. duced a small image representing the infant Savior, which he held in{’ his hands for all who chose to ap: proach and kiss, “After this, the tinkling of the guitar was heard without, the body of the church was cleared, and im- mediately commenced the harmonl- ous sounds of a cholr of voices. The characters entered In procession, adorned with appropriate costllmég'}r and bearing banners. There were 8ix females representing shepherd- esses, three men and a boy. “One of the men personated Lucl- fer, one a hermit, and the other Bartolo, a lazy vagabond, whilst the KANSAS CAMPUS GOES HOBE)HEMIN \_F or Christmas 1 931 _ I wish you an abundance of Happiness and Prosperity.:' I thank you for all that you have done for me in the past . year. ; & Dr. R. E. Southwell OPTOMETRIST | S e Office in Valentine Building 2 b Associated Press Photo “Hobo day” Is one of the most hilarious days In the life of a student 1t Kansas university at Lawrence, Kas, Here is a group of the typical ek~ ' --==matare on the campus. 0Old Papers for éa‘e at Empire Office Fireworks Were Set Off, and All Was Rejoicing. boy represented the archangel Ga- briel, The story of their perform- ance is partially drawn from the Bible, and commences with the angel’s appearance to the shepherds, his account of the birth of our Sav- for and exhortation to them to re- pair to the scene of the manger. *A dialogue is then carried on of considerable length relative to the attributes of the Deity, which ends in the submission of Satan. “For several days this theatrical representation is exhibited at the principal houses, and the perferm- ers at the conclusion of the play are entertained with refreshments. The boys take an enthusiastic part in the performance, and follow about from house to house, perfect- ly enraptured with the comicalities of the hermit and Bartolo.” ‘How dlfferent from the gay Christmas ce'»brations of Califor- nia’s present millions! And how difs ferent from what was taking place on ih;a cast Goast! We find great Christmas joy in greeting' the many people of Juneau who 'have granted us their friendship and'a part of their patronage. We face the future with a determination so to conduct our ‘busi- ness as to merit and retain that good will. Juneau Water Co. = --as the bells of Jolly Old Kris come tinkling across the sky bringing joy and gladness to . ™\ so many homes--we pause for a moment to wish you,; oumr customers and our friends; every happiness and thank you for any service it has been our privilege to render. A Connors Mptbr - Co., Inc.