Bellefonte, Pa., December 18, 1925.
Som
RETROSPECT.
The roses were not just so sweet perhaps,
As we thought they would surely be
And the blossoms are not so pearly white
As of yore, on the orchard tree;
But the summer has gone for all of that,
And with sad reluctant heart
We stand at rich autumn’s open door
And watch its form depart.
The skies were not just so blue, perhaps,
As we hoped they would surely be,
And the waters were rough that washed
our boat,
Instead of the old calm sea;
But the summer has gone for all of that,
And 4he golden-rod is here;
We can see the gleam of its golden sheen
In the hand of the aging year.
The rest was not quite so real, perhaps,
As we hoped it might prove to be,
For instead of leisure came work some-
tiie,
And the days dragged wearily;
But the summer hag gone for all of that,
The holiday time ig o'er,
And busy hands in the harvest field
Have garnered their golden store.
The summer was not such a dream, per-
haps,
Of bliss as we thought ’twould be.
And the beautiful things we planned to do
Went amiss for you and me;
Yet still it has gone for all of that,
And we lift our wistful eyes
'o the land where beyond the winter
Snows
Another summer lies.
Kathleen R. Wheeler.
CHRISTMAS.
It is Christmas Eve. You have
hung the last bit of tinsel on the fra-
grant balsam. Father has tiptoed
down-stairs with the final armful of
mysterious bundles. The stockings
swinging from the fireplace are bulg-
ing grotesquely.
You have planned, oh, so lovingly,
to give the kiddies from 3-year-old
Junior to high school Bess, a happy,
happy Christmas. Their hearts’ desires
are spread out before you—nothing
has been overlooked, and you sigh
with satisfaction at the thought as you
and father turn out the light and go up
stairs.
But I am wondering if something
hasn’t been overlooked, after all, for
all your loving, thoughtful planning. I
am wondering if, in your program for
the children’s Christmas, you have
provided for a few quiet minutes for
a simple telling of the old, sweet story.
“Just a few minutes will suffice. And
if you would ask me when they should
be, I would name those first minutes
at the end of the day when dusk has
turned to darkness and you and father
and Junior and Bess and the two
youngsters in between are encircling |
the open fire in a happy group and the |
tree is glowing gloriouslly in the bay
window.
Then+I would have father hand you
the Book, It would fall open at the
second chapter of Luke, and into the
magical stillness of the room would
come the sound of mother’s low voice,
reading:
“And it came to pass in those days
that there went out a decree from
Caesar Augustus, that all the world
should be taxed * * *
“And all went to be taxed, every
one into his own city.
“And Joseph also went* * *
unto the city of David, which is called
Bethlehem;* * * to be taxed with
Mary his espoused wife.* * *
“And so it was that, while they
were there * * * she brought forth her
first-born son, and wrapped him in
swaddling clothes, and laid him in a
manger; because there was no room
for them in the inn.
“And there were in the same coun-
try shepherds abiding in the field,
keeping watch over their flock by
night.
“And, lo, the angel of the Lord came
upon them, and the glory of the Lord
shone round about them, * * *
“And the angel said unto them.
Fear not: for, behold, I bring you ti-
dings of great joy, which shall be to
all people.
“For unto you is born this day in
the city of David a Saviour, which is
Christ the Lord.
“And this shall be a sign unto you:
Ye shall find the babe wrapped in
swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.
“And suddenly there was with the
angel a multitude of the heavenly host
praising God, and saying,
“Glory to God in the highest, and on
earth peace, good will toward men.”
Just the simple story as Luke tells
it, ending with the shepherds’ visit to
the Babe; and mother reading it there
in the firelight and candlelight—a pre-
cious gift of remembrance that would
abide with them always.
Givable Gifts.
Only two words. Say them over
once or twice. Don’t you like their
sound? Now let’s analyze their mean-
ing. Aren’t givable gifts those which
express in a certain measure you?
And a gift cannot express you, your
individuality, your taste and your
love, unless you have expended some
thought on its selection. And to go
still farther, if this gift on which you
have devoted much to its selection and
expended money for its purchase ex-
presses only you, are you sure that it
is one that will bring real, definite joy
to its receiver?
Of course, it will not unless you
have kept the recipient in mind as you
walked the long aisles of the shops or
tied the fascinating bows of the gifts
you have fashioned.
Bulbs in a Bowl.
Narcissus bulbs in pottery bowls
continue to make popular holiday
gifts. Boxes containing the bulbs
inscribed with little verses such as
this: “Water well these bulbs, then
they'll surely do their best to bear my
greetings and best wishes on to you!”
n———— pA ——————
——@Give him a smart hat. That
would please any man.
HERE wasn’t 2a sin-
gle child in the
family now and
Christmas, they all
agreed, was a time
for children. At
any rate they al’
said that.
They had scat-
tered as families sometimes do, and
those left in the town were two older
families. Yes, it was quite true. There
wasn’t a single child in the family
now. They had nieces and nephews,
small children they knew and were
fond of to whom they would give pres-
ents. They would give nice presents,
too.
They themselves would be sensible.
They would not give presents to each
other. They were grown-up. Why
should they go in for something that
was distinctly a possession of child-
hood?
They would have Christmas dinner
together. That they had finally de- |
cided they could not forego. Oh, the
other ruling was very sensible, and
they all agreed, but—well, it was
quite sensible. Children belonged to
Christmas, Christmas to children. Let
{it remain that way.
The family who lived down by the
old mill were having the Christmas!
dinner.
ing to it and were going to bring the
mince pies and the plum puddings as
their part of the Christmas feast. They
wanted to do something about a
Christmas dinner—there wasn’t any
special reason, for it but they wanted
to do something.
The table was set the night before.
There wasn’t much to do Christmas
7
The other family were com- |
morning. Later they would go to!
church and join in singing the Christ- |
mas hymns. That would be suitable |
to the day—to the holiday, holy day, |
joy. |
But there was a time in between—a |
time before when the children had had ;
their presents—while still they were |
children, before they had grown up or |
gone away. That time would be curi- i
ously, outstandingly empty.
No one talked about it. No one said
a word. But none of them could quite
bear to think of that Christmas pres-
ent time when the packages were
opened, when there was curious, eager | !
excitement and pleasure, delight in
one’s own gifts and in the gifts of
others.
No one said a word. No one knew
what each other was thinking.
But efrly that morning one of the
members Of the family down by the!
mill telephoned the other family and
asked them to come down early.
“I just fixed up one or two little
things,” said the one who had tele-
phoned, a little shyly, and to her cwn
family she said the same.
They came. Every one gathered
about the old table that had been
brought out every Christmas. It was
a shaky old table, but it somehow
seemed to be a part of Christmas. And
in no time it was covered with gifis.
Every one had surreptitiously been
fixing up little presents for each other.
And the table groaned under Its
weight of’ packages tied with gay old
ribbons and tissue paper as of yore.
“But we agreed we wouldn't give
any Christmas presents to each other
this year,” they murmured from time
to time.
“We said we wouldn't have a
Christmas celebration now that we
were all grown up.”
“Christmas, we said, was entirely a
day for children.”
Yes, so they had said. But so deep-
ly was the Christmas celebration
around the shaky old table, before the
big fireplace, rooted in the heart of
each that they couldn’t, in spite of
thelr resolves, do any differently.
“I think,” one of them said when
every present had been opened, sim-
Hw
x
Zl
\
4
\
y
ple, thoughtful little gifts and sur
prises, “that Christmas should be for
every one. No one is too old to enjoy
it.”
And how proudly they said to their
frieads as they met after church:
“You must come in and see our pres-
ents. We got lovely things. Just
what we wanted!”
4®, 1925, Western Newspaper Union.)
Christmas Wisdom
A foolish man is one who doesn’t
know what his wife wants, so he
goes and gets it—probably a clothes
wringer,
A wise man knows his wife needs a
pair of arctics, but has wit enough to
buy her double-decker jade earrings!
—Martha Banning Thomas.
Mistletoe
Mistletoe, when not suspended, is re-
garded by the superstitious as a har
binger of bad luck.—London Tit-Bits.
UNCLE JIMS
CHRISTMAS
By MARION R REAGAN
T WAS just a week
before Christmas.
The Jacksons—
that is to say,
the J. J.’s, the R.
P.’s and the W. J.
Jacksons—had, all
met in the home
of the latter to
discuss what was referred to as. their
“predicament.” The oldest son of the
W. J. Jacksons had just gone into
business some few months before and
his father, and his two uncles, J. J.
and R. P., had endorsed his note. In
the meantime the business had failed
and the Jacksons were now called on
to make the note good. To pay, as
they certainly would have to, meant
to sacrifice what little they had, and
none of them was any too prosperous.
*How about asking Uncle Jim for
the money?” R. P. suggested. “He's
rich enough and it wouldn’t hurt him.”
“Yes,” interrupted his wife, “but
you forget he’s just as tight as he’s
rich, and there isn’t one of us that’s
even laid eyes on him since Cousin Wil-
liam’s death four years ago,”
“That’s all right,” replied her hus-
band, “people get generous impulses
at Christmas time, and you never get
anything in this world unless you ask
for it.”
Everyone agreed that what R. P.
said was true enough, but none would
“stoop to ask a favor of him.” It
wouldn't do, that was all. It wouldn't
do.
However, after the little meeting
broke up and the families went on
their various ways, each had the idea
that after all it wouldn’t hurt to try
Uncle Jim. They would say nothing
to the rest and if it did not turn out
well, no one would ever know.
And so that night three letters were
sent to Uncle Jim—one from R. P.,
one from W. J. and one from J. J.
Jackson, asking for $5,000 to pay off
the note of the young Jackson, and
thus save three families from utter
ruin.
Uncle Jim, an irate, extremely
¢lose old bachelor, was furious the
morning of December 23. He paced
the floor, his face crimson, three lét-
ters crunched in his fist. “By George,
what nerve! The hegging beasts!” he
exploded. He sat down to write a
.
= 4
. X 3 K
{ (0 5H
*
= 4 §
‘And Cne From J. J. Jackson Asking
for $5,000.”
cerse note to each saying “No,” defi-
nitely, but found it a little dificult—
even he—to be so cold. Finally he
thought the easiest way to get out of
it gracefully would be to write saying
that he himself had had reverses and
was poorer than any one of them. To
make it a little more graphic, he even
referred to his ‘cold garret.”
Mrs. J. J. Jackson appeared at the
breakfast table next morning with a
letter in her hand.
“From Uncle Jim,” she answered
simply to her husband’s inquiry.
“Nothing doing, I suppose?”
asked.
“Oh, it’s much worse than that,
Jack; the poor old man—read this.
Isn’t it too bad, after all he’s had?”
. “Let's invite him here for Christhas
dinner,” suggested Mrs. J. J. “It's
pretty hard on him, you know, being
alone and old like that.”
It was agreed. Mrs. J. J. sat down
and wrote the following:
“Dear Uncle Jim:
“We are so sorry to have bothered
you with our note, but we never knew
of your—reverses. Won't you come
and spend the Christmas holidays with
us? The enclosed is a postal order
for $2.50 to cover the fare. Do come.
We are most anxious to see you.
“Your affectionate niece,
“ANN.”
The peculiar thing was that pre
cisely the same thing happened in the
home of the R. P’s and W. J.’s, with
the result that Uncle Jim again re-
ceived three letters from his nieces,
all enclosing the fare to Evansville
for Christmas dinner.
Old Uncle Jim was genuinely
touched. Of all the things that might
have happened, certainly this was the
last he would have expected.
That night, Christmas Eve, the
Jacksons met again at the J. Js to
discuss what could be done about the
note, which had to be met on the
26th. They had not gotten far with
their plans when the noise of a high-
he
powered motor was heard outside and ;
the bell rang.
“Gracious, Uncle Jim!” exclaimed
Mrs. J. J., when she opened the door.
“Of course, Uncle Jim,” said the old
man. “I was only teasing yon when
I wrote that letter. I had intended
coming all along and paying off the
little note. Here take these—just a few
Christmas greetings for each of you.”
(©. 1988, Western Newspaper Union.)
IF YOU'RE GOOD.
Santa Claus will come tonight
If you're good
And do what you know is right,
As you should.
Down the chimney he will ereep,
Bring for you a wooly sheep,
And a doll that goes to sleep,
If you're good.
Santa Claus will drive his sleigh,
Through the wood,
But he'll come around this way
If you're good.
With a wind-up bird that sings
And a puzzle made of rings,
He will bring you many things
If you're good.
Jumping jacks and cars that go,
If you're good,
And a rocking-horsey, Oh!
If he would!
And a dolly that can sneeze,
That says, “Mamma!” when
squeeze,—
He'll bring you one of these |
If you're good. \
you
Santa grieves when you are bad
As he should:
jut it makes him very glad
When you're good.
He is wise and he's a dear;
Just do right and never fear;
He'll remember you each year,
If you're good.
mn stannic pl somata,
Powders and Puffs.
Those very attractive puffs which
boast a long ribbon handle and are so
extremely useful when powdering
one’s back and shoulders, are now ac-
companied by their pretty bowls.
Many women like individual powder
puffs, especially for their guest room.
These may be had as marv as desired,
in a decorative bag which hangs at the
side of the dressing table.
Knowing how popular the compact
powders are, you will not overlook
them in your giving. Boxes which are
delightful on the dressing table are
enameled and traced with delicate
flowers.
Others which are meant to be car-
ried in one’s bag are gold plated and
are flatly convenient. These compacts
which come in several tints and also
in rouge, are most attractive and have
a touch of personality as a gift.
From powder to perfume is but a
step; and toilet water and perfume is
shown handsomely for holiday giving.
Or one may give only the container
which may be filled and refilled with
the individual preference in scents.
There are many who like better the
more subtle sachets. And this is of-
fered in numbers of charming ways
from the scented ribbon fiower, which
is tucked in the corsage, to the ex-
quisite package of satin sachets in dif-
ferent odors. There are rose, violet,
heliotrope and the like each in its satin
covering of a corresponding color.
For the Man About Town.
Give him a belt buckle.
Have his initials on it, of course.
A silver one for working hours.
Or a gold one for sport wear.
-Or a platinum one for dress wear.
roc sae i oc
SS Br da
i
Umbrellas for Everyone.
The rain falls alike upon the just
and the unjust—provided neither has
an umbrella. But the umbrellas now
being shown in the shops are a decided
adornment to a street costume as well
as a protection against the rain. The
day of long and unwieldy handle has
passed and the present fashion pro-
vides for a short, straight, post han-
dle, usually with a leather wrist strap.
This does not imply lack of adorn-
ment, however, for the handles are
frequently made of ivory. Black and
dane blue are the colors usually select-
ed.
For Miss Bobbed Hair.
A comb, all her own, and made es-
pecially for her depleted tresses.
It is very slender, very new,
doubtless very useful.
Sterling silver, either shining or
gray in finish, mounts it.
And fashions also the chic little
and
case in which it is carried.
A A RR 3
Merry Christmas
We take pleasure in announcing that enrollment in our
1926 Christmas Savings Club
Began Tuesday December 1, 1925
You will be sure to have money for Christmas if
you Join one or more of these Classes.
Class 25
Class 50
Class 100
Class 200 Sass 200d
Class500 St
Glass 1000
Giass 2000
will receive
receive -
will receive
weeks will receive
Class 25—Members paying 25 cents a week for fifty weeks
Class 50—Members paying 0 cents a week for fifty weeks
Will TECEIVE sesreererrrisrrsnacrrasses
Class 100—Members paying $1.00 a week for fifty weeks
Will TeCeiVe... iii crs iacriesenese
Class 200—Members paying $2.00 a week for fifty weeks
Class 1000—Members paying $10.00 a week for fifty weeks
Class 2000—Members paying $20.00 a week for fifty
$12.50
$25.00
$50.00
$100.00
Class 500—Members paying $5.00 a week for fifty weeks $250.00
$500.00
$1,000.00
with three per cent. interest added if all payments are
made regularly in advance.
Bellefonte Trust Company
70-48-tf
BELLEFONTE, PA.
=
Juality Work only done at the Watchman Printing House:
LEEUELEE ELSE UEUEUEEUEUELEL EEE EE BER
Why Not?
Why Not. Make The Fauble Store Your Christmas Store
quality ?
and save yourself the trouble of looking ?
will convince you that FAUBLES is by far BELLEFONTE'S
BEST MENS STORE. Let us help you select a gift that we
know will be appreciable to all.
gs Why not let his gift carry the Fauble label—a guarantee of
Why not come to us with your Christmas shopping list
A minute in our store
Gifts at 50c. and More
TIES
HANDKERCHIEFS
GLOVES
GARTERS
SUSPENDERS
HOSIERY
COLLARS
BELTS
GOLF BALLS
Gifts at $2.00 and More
SHIRTS
PAJAMAS
UMBRELLAS
CANES
MUFFLERS
UNDERWEAR
GOLF CLUBS
WASH SUITS
Gifts at $5.00 and More
SWEATERS
LUMBER JACKS
BATH ROBES
OVERCOATS ;
SUITS
TRAVELING BAGS
Fitted Over-Night Bags
SHEEP LINED COATS
o matter how much or how little you want to spend—if it is for man or
or boy, we have it—and have it to please you.
Just see us—you will
be sure to say ‘‘Faubles is the Best, Store in Bellefonte.
A. Fauble