The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, December 25, 1896, Page 1

VOLUME SAN FRANCISCO, FRIDAY MORNING, DECEMBER 25, 1896 — FORTY-TWO PAGES. PRICE FIVE CENTS. - ....-- R 0 0088008000000 00 S Bwr o0 cceeSecnc SOt OCOOoe 0w oo W TS D © e @Rla R SN Across the somber night an iron voice Flings out with sudden clang a brave * Rejoice.” The startied shades of silence creep and hide While tower and belfry echo far and wide. From hill to hill the crashing bells prolong The message of their glad, triumphant song, Whil2 down the throbbing ceast.they shout abroad, 0, all ye floods and terry;usts, biess the Lord 1™ 4 Christmas pea! of stern and solemn tone ity’s: towers on the height Cleave darkly u%m blackness of the night. It thunders to the slesping town below To fear no more the tumult of the foe, The smoke of war, the clamor or the Sword== “ Behold, 2 mighty tower is the Lord!™ Dim and forgotten old Dolores lies, . Yet year by vear it whispers to the skies The holy Christmas tale that throbs and thrills Through all the listening City of the Hills. Its brave old voice uprises, ciear and sweet, Above the sodden stupor of the street, Proclaiming to the world, in minor chord, “ A comforter of sorrow is the Lord.™ So one by one the bells of every creed Ring out the tale of Christ, and none may lead, And none may follow, while aloft it swells Divine grand harmony of pealing bells. QOur Lady calls to Zion, Luther's peal Rings back to Calvary—their only zeal To cry across the night in glad accord, The Prince of Peace—the King of Kings—the Lord.” JULIET WILBOR TOMPKINS.