THE CENTRE REPORTER, CENTRE HALL. PA. hristmas is Imost Mer Dangerous days A HE AD Inst saowinrer you and your children need reserves of sturdy resistance to ward off those nasty colds. Scott's Emulsi Cod Liver Oil will help you gain this resistance. Its Vitamin A promotes growth and fortifics against the common cold. And then there's a wealth of Vitamin D that helps build strong bones and teeth, Doctors will tell you how good it is for run-down adults as well as growing children. Aad the sleasant flavor of Scott's Emulsion makes it casy to take, Scott & Bowne, Bloomficld, N. J. Sales Representatives, Harold F, Ritchic & Co., Inc., New York, By LOUISE M. COMSTOCK “Merry, Merry Christmas everywhere: Cheerily it ringeth on the airl Christmas bells, Christmas trees, Christmas odours on the breeze, , , >» HRISTMAS Is almost here! And once more we find our- selves somehow again doing all the things one always does at this time of year, with an enthusinsm which yg repetition or business depres. SY sions fail to dampen, It is a wonderfuul thing, this spirit of Christmas, in the name of which we open hearts and pocketbooks In a stupendous effort to make joy universal for at least one day a year. When we stop to analyse it, clearing away from it the tarnished tinsel and candle drippings with which many years of sentimental. ity and commercial exploitation have to some extent covered it, we find it based after all on the most lasting, worthwhile and certainly the most pleasurable of human Instincts. There will always, of course, be Scrooges to sneer and flout the spirit of Christmas, and busy business men who will send the stenographer out to buy the wife's present or else sign a few checks and be glad it's over, and unhappy mortals who give because they have received or expect to receive or hope to outdo the rest of the girls in the bridge lub. But fundamentally the spir- it of Christmas is sound and true and health. ful, as is probably, right now when depleted bank accounts and curtailed wages put a new significance on gift-giving and indulgence in in- nocent merrymaking for the sake of a faith or a tradition, being demonstrated more convine- ingly than ever before. What else but the real spirit of Christmas makes it possible for us to go Into ecstacies over an off-shade necktie from Cousin Kitty, or a scrap of silk underwear three times too small from a school mate who hasn't seen us since we were twenty-one and a perfect size six- teen? What else gives us the strength, now that there are only a “few more shopping days” to go, to dive into crowded stores, elbow through erowds, and to pay more than we Intended for something we are not sure will please, Gift giving itself is founded upon the noblest sentiment of them all, the very heart and soul of Christmas, which Is after all merely the an- nual celebration of a great Gift. The custom of exchanging gifts as we today practice it dates from the first offerings made to the Nordic god Frey for a fruitful year. Saint Nicholas, the Fifth century bishop who is said to have inspired our modern Santa Claus distinguished himself by his lavish gifts to the poor of Lycia, Asia Minor, Like Christmas feasting, however, giving reached extravagant heights during the Fifteenth and Sixteenth centuries, and Queen Elizabeth is sald to have received almost her entire per sonal wardrobe as Christmas gifts from her courtiers, and an unbelievable quantity of prec. fous jewels. Introduced into this country by the first Dutch settlers, the custom of filling the children’s stockings, and heaping presents upon young and old alike has become one of the most fmportant things about Christmas, Nor is there any indication that there will be Jess gifts given this Christmas than in previous fatter years. When figures showing the total isavings represented by the various Christmas savings clubs throughout the country were pub- lished recently, they showed the staggering sum of $£503,000,000, 6 per cent less In actual money than last year, but much more In real purchasing power due to deflated prices, It has further been estimated that fully 40 per cent of this total annual savings Is actually used in making Christ. mas purchases, while an additional 8 per cent, this year probably much more, ean always be counted on for educational and charitable uses, Certainly there will be no diminution In the unts of charity gifts this year. National Women: rellef programs, local drives by aritable organizations, and individual gifts, old clothing, baskets of food, money, toys, will surely be made In greater abundance and In closer accord with the real spirit of Christmas than ever before. One of the most painless methods by which Join in the universal philanthropy demanded lly at Christmas time is by the purchase of Christmas seals. This is the twenty-fifth anni. versary of the Christmas seal in this country, The idea was first utilized in financing health work In Copenhagen, Denmark, in 1004, A familiar wit: the vast numbers of packages mailed At this time of year, sug- gested it as a means of ralsing money for a ty hospital. One of the original Danish stuck onto a Christmas package, reached Riis, social reformer and friend of Theo- 1. “Gee, | hope | get something like that!” Young America lines up in front of store win. dows to gaze longingly at the fascinating dis. plays therein and to hope that “ol’' Santy Claus” will bring just what they have been wanting. 2, This highly unusual Christmas tree is noth. Ing else than a gigantic prickly cactus being prepared for the outdoor celebration at Christ. mas at Palm Springs, Calif. The tree's holiday regalia was supplied by society folk from all parts of the country who winter there, 8. Mr. W. K, Public does his Christmas shop- ping. Loaded to the guards with packages, bundies and gifts, the poor fellow sets a good, if somewhat overloaded, example of buying his Yuletide gifts early in the season. Friend wife directs operations, and all he has to do is to furnish the funds and transportations & 2 v v dore Roosevelt, who was so enthusinstie about the idea that he wrote it up in an article pub- lished in the Outlook, There Miss Emily Bissell, trying to raise £3,000 for a tuberculosis pavilion in Wilmington, Delaware, read about it, borrowed the idea and had the first American Christmas seals printed and sold In 1007, Today, under the direction of the National Tuberculosis association, the work has reached vast proportions. In one year over 5,000,000,000 of these little stickers were sold. At a penny aplece their sale supports over 2,000 affiliated tuberculosis associations and committees throughout this country. Another way In which we spend a goodly proportion of our Christmas money Is on cards, which last year cost the American public some £50,000,000, not counting engraving and post. age. The first Christmas card was sent out in 1846. The Idea was that of Sir Henry Cole, Eng- lish gentleman and social reformer; they were designed and lithographed and hand colored to his order under the direction of J. C, Horsley, member of the Royal academy. The cards were € by 4 inches large, and bore three panels sepa. rated by a leafy trellis. In the two side panels were scenes illustrating the charitable acts of feeding the hungry and clothing the needy: in the central one was the whole family, grand. parents, parents and children, all holding up brimming beakers and about to drink to the recipient “A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year” 4 Cole ordered and sent out 1,000 of these novel Christmas greetings, and we may imagine that they were received with a great deal of curios. ity, if not of enthusiasm, However, the card be came really popular only in the 1870s, when, nlong with everything else they were highly ornamental and senders strove to outdo each other in original and expensive designs, The “best people” in this country got the craze about 1878, artists of note found it more profitable to prepare Christmas scenes for cards than te paint portraits, and poets of consequence did not think It beneath them to compose fitting sentiments for them, | As the result of our present need for Indl. viduality, the Christmas cards is no longer a sheer work of art, but a commercial novelty, and a good racket. This year In addition to the conventional design of religious theme or showing snow scenes, carol singers, holly, wreaths or candles, we have the card decorated by Scotty, the little terrier who is just now at the zenith of his popularity, or bearing a mod. ernigtic design, which, however incongruous ta a thing as old fashioned as Christmas, never theless is always striking sand fresh in appear ance. Most 1081 cards are Interesting also Ww w cause of the paper on which There are a great faces, black, gol dash gayly paper is rou texture and lettering in clear-cu tive, Time was weeks In the serving, but tha grocer around nea fce, an rivaling dinne ly white er elite m an old English © of flour, 20 poun u 8 rabbits, 4 wild ducks, 3 woodcock partridges, 2 neat birds, 6 pigeans!” Or even the day's cooking with little Fair fax of Virginia, writing in her diary In 1771, credits her mother: *, ples, and seven custards, twelve tarts one chick. ing ple, and four puddings . ..!" When Christmas feasting was in {ig heydey scarcely a self-respecting menu but Included 8 tongues, 3 which Rally . » Mamma made six mince *“Beefe, mutton and porke, Shred ples of the best; Piz, veale. goose and ecapon, And turkie well drest” Thee was also the famous boar's head, lemon in mouth and ears wreathed around with rose. mary: the peacock, roasted, sewn back into its own skin with every lovely feather in place; generously garnished and carried in on a golden platter with due ceremony; haunches of ven fson, plum porridge, frumenty and the steam. ing hot wassail drink, The shred ple, unlike its modern descendant the mince ple, was baked in a long dish, shaped like the cradle, or manger of Bethlehem. However this lavish outlay of food may, in the reading, make the mouth wa- ter, there was probably in the tasting another glide to the story. Imagine the fastidious and vitamine-conscious gourmand of today seated in some huge smoky baronial hall before a dinner served up by a nondescript retinue of servants from mysterious dark cellars and smelly kitchens and consisting of “. , . . thirty-pound buttered eggs, ples of ecarp's tongues, pheasants drenched with ambergris, and a single peacock covered with sauce made from gravy of the bruised carcasses of three fat wethers!™ Nevertheless, it Is to this old-time cookery that we owe many of our favorite Christmas dishes, and at no other time of year does the modern kitchen show such a flurry of old-fash. foned activity as now. The Christmas turkey is, of course, America’s contribution to the feast: and is found on almost every American table Time was when one of the most important duties of the last few days before Christmas was to cut, bring into the house, and set up the Christmas tree, which had been marked out from ite sisters In the old back woodlot months ago for this very purpose, and tenderly watched over ever since, Onto its fresh, fragrant branches went homemade tapers, fancy paper cut-outs, strings of popcorn prepared with much ado by tie children themselves, its glowing lights, its shining tinsel strings, its sparkling colored balls, represent the age old love man has felt for warmth and light, for the sheltered companionship of the open hearth, for the life-giving rays of the sun. In them the Christmas tree carries on the purpose of the old heathen festival to which our mod. ern celebration In some ways corresponds, ex- pressing their joy at the return of the winter golstice, when the sun once more hecame friend ly to men, when days commenced to lengthen, and spring wes not so far away. Our modern Christmas tree decorations are thus in one sense merely modern symbols of the sun, descendants of the burning barrel and the flaming torch with which the ancients used to worship it. Martin Luther made the first Christian use of the tree, when he set up in his home In Germany, for his own children, a little fir tree, and hung it with eandles, like the stars, he explained to them, which lighted the night of the Nativity. mas tree par excellence, particularly in the northeastern and lake states, because of its long, spreading and springy branches and its deep green and fragrant foliage which stays fresh longer than that of almost any other type. In the western states fir, while abundant, it fs harder to reach and cut, and its plece is largely taken by lodgepole pine and spruce, while on the Pacific coast white fir Is most popular. i (BD by Western Newspaper Union) NORWEGIAN High Honors Accorded Fourth-Century Hermit The world laughed tolerantly at last summer's “Monkey when small boys took durance contests: and to trees in en- there could be no better proof that times have changed. Consider Simeon BS chained himself to a great rock on which he began to erect of smaller stones, Alded miirers, ! rapidly in i Crea Re pumbers, +» raised the plle a heigh feet, out descending i { ng COD LIVER OIL origin to pride. The devil, so the story goes, assumed an angelie form and drew up beside the pillar top in a flery chariot, He I to ascend, as had Elijah, and the gaint lifted his ose vited Simeon wis ready. to stleg foot him cruelly and nd Plain Deals For Domestic Peace 5. 1 QUALITY SINCE 1833 Camels and Locomotives in the world is along the new rallway lines being built thro though only a little over 500 miles long, the two lines penetrate difficult country, necessitating the bullding of ’ average of ROX blasts of dynamite a day are used to dislodge wastes, More than 18000 peasants and shepherds are employed on the women who labor as stone breakers An oriental touch is given to the pic- transport progresses, supplies as Scalp Is Heirloom The scalp of an Indian chief slain by her father is among the cherished Fort Worth, Texas, This heirloom and other trappings taken from the recently on the death of her mother, Mra, Ira Long, widow of the former Texas ranger captain of frontier fame. Captain Long died in 1913 at seventy-one, The Indian chief was kifled by Captain Long in a hand-to hand encounter in Lost valley in Jack county, Texas, more than fifty years ago, Place for the Amateur here is a current tendency fos tered, 1 regret to say, by many of our clever writers—to scoff at the “ama teur” and the “dilettante” This is an attitude with which 1 have very SOLD AY ALL DRUG STORIS sympathy Ve might as well take our fot ba nisiang t another plat al activitl romebody els keep on letting o for us in ti i1 find us with not! interest to say to each gation is already hecoming a lost art. An evening of talk is a rarity. One plays bridge—Harold Bauer, in the Etude. Wanted to Know it says here the government a plan to thaw out the frozen ussets of the banks,” remarked Mrs, Dumbell. “Well, “Why, do ers to do of it?" he asked. the banks hire plumb- she inquired. Can't Convince Police “I saw you arguing with your wife on the street yesterday.” “Yes, 1 was trying to convince her that the police wouldn't refuse to tag the car merely because she insisted it was all right to park that near & fire plug.” May Be Round the Corner “Hasn't be got a rich wife?” “Yes, but ghe hasn't declared any dividends so far."—DBoston Tran- script. The people of any nation who want to be free had better get an educa tion. You can't be free unless you know, Milady’s Toilet skin. See it at any bookstore or send for FRER Prges of the New Internationa G & C. MERRIAM CO. Dept. HK Vacation Land Sunshine All Winter Long Splendid ng mountain ranges—Highest type hoteladry ine vigorating yn starlit nights California's Foremost Desert Playground Write Croe & Chattey alm springy CALIFO RNA : BASEBALL PLAYER Amat or semis eamional interested In tryout on Minor we team. Write Silk Cex, 4138 Meyeor-Kiser Bldg. Miami, Fla. AGENTS, EASY MONEY Grape hrisha, ovey ae profit on Shae TiN order BA or RDO Ww. HW. NEW YORK 0 selling ° Pate Fh AE a P $1.88, A HOB To. Dept. 1, Melly w ’
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers