ROVER. WAITS FOR CHRISTMAS . .
. He knows that Santa is not
going to fall him, and that before long the genial saint will drop down the ehilnney and leave presents for all good boys, girls nnd dogs.
iihristmas With the Pioneers
Held Deep Religious Meaning
[CHRISTMAS on the frontier, as ' new bands of pioneers pushed lever westward to carvean empire ‘gout of virgin plains and wilder- ‘nesses, was in marked contrast to the present holiday. - i There was more meaning then in the words of The Book concerning hepherds in a certain country Iwatching their ilocks by night. The solitudes, the closeness of the stars, the virginity of the new world and ti: humble people made one feel at time had stood still. Christmas lin those days somehow seemed ‘much closer to that first Christmas. ' Those bleak plains could be the ones the Wise Men crossed, this the ight and yon sleeping village. Beth- .ehem. The faith of the trail break- ers was that of the Wise Men.
On Christmas Eve the pioneer folks would gather in a crude little Jvllurcll or schoolhouse where chil- Hren recited their pieces and sane
a n
ongs about the birth of the Christ
d. Santa would hand out mos-
‘to-bar sacks of candy, a golden
range or an apple to each one,
d childhood rapture would make
I at meager offering truly a gift of gold and frankincense.
‘H OMB-MADE sleds end sleigh: I skimmed over the snowy coun- tryside with sleigh bells jingling ac- companiment to the caroling of "Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells."
1 Except in the forest regions, few hildren enjoyed the sight of a hristmas tree. But always they ung up their stockings, an old ustom of their forefathers.
| lt was a lucky boy who awoke
ristmas morning to find a new
Rack-knife in his stocking; a lucky
or a calico doll from Santa Gaul. But that doll, made from spare strips of bright cloth, probably was more treasured than any modern doll that can say “Mamnfl go to sleep and perhaps require a diaper.
Children who received a slate pen- cil or a shell-box, a little sflalr covered with shells and containing a small mirror, were the special fs-_ vorites of Santa.
For goodies, no Christmas wssl complete without its pans of pop-‘ corn and ropes of molasses taffy.i In rare cases there might be a bag of candy. ~
IN THE isolated cabins it wasn't so easy to gather with one's neigh- bors to celebrate. There were wolves in the timber and being caught in a sudden storm on the pioneer trails spelled death. Christmas in some places meant
| l
a bobsled ride or perhaps a square
dance, often followed by a turkey dinner costing 25 cents.
Gifts, if any. generally were in the form of utilitarian mittens. muf- flers or home-made boots. For the women there might be a piece of intricate handiwork to which some enterprising friend had devoted her spare time for months.
Throughout the holiday season a candle burned in the attic window, guiding latefaring travelers to shel- ter-the Star of Bethlehem on the frontier.
But withall these hardy folks had as much fun as their greabgrand- sons and daughters who again this year will celebrate by exchanging elaborate gifts, dancing to name bands, feasting with no worries that tomorrow there may be nothing in the electric refrigerator.
v
‘girl who received a string of beads
Jill’! IN TIMI . . . "e. .. Youngsters all overwlll sleep with one‘ We open on Christmas Ive-if they sre lucky they might see Santa's
feet as he hurries on hls way. These youngsters arrived in time te bur, "Merry Christmas to all. and to all a goodulshl." .
Dickens sour own GREETINGS ro nlooasruaa
By James Aldredge
Just one hundred years ago a famous Englishman sat st hls ‘Mk and inscribed a greeting to "I0 of hls beet friends. This is what he wrote:
"Many merry Christmases, friend- ships. great accumulation of cheer- ful recollections affection on earth. and Heaven at last for all of us."
The writer was none other than Charles Dickens. The person to whom hls words were addressed was John Forster, the associate who later became the novellst's biographer.
' corresponding to the numbels
On the last night of the year, s young man, thin, pale, with arro- gant eyes, ran up the steps cf the church. He glanced up at the clock, high in the tower. and thought, "Another half nour. and l shall be above that clock. on the roof of the tower." The towel was two hundred feet high.
Just then, the clock struck half hour. Half past eleven.
Opening the vestry door noisily he entered the church. Inside the building four other men werc goth ered. These, he greeted with n cer tain condescenslon. They were al‘ much older than the youth, and they smiled a little at his manner
"We’ll have just a quick practice first." suggested a short man with a completely bald head, who seem ed to be the leader.
The men agreed. The bald head- ed man put some cards on three music stands which, in the vcstry. were arranged n little apart from
the
each other. These cards had lines of figures upon them instead of notes.
“Tom," he raid, “you'll take num ber 13 handball in this. I'll have 3 and 6 as usual. Bill 9 and 10. Harry 11 and 12, andjfr. Dodds hers 7 and 8. All right?" (he said "all right?" quite a lot).
They found their bells, young Mr. Dodds waiting with a tense expres slon, until everyone was ready. cor rectly lined in order of bells.
"Two, three," said the leader.
At his signal. the men began ringing, clanglng their respective bells at the time indicated on the cards: the figures on the cards on the bells held by the men. They played "Auld Lang Syne."
The young man rang his bells impatiently, frowning. had rung a second verse, the young man stopped and said angrily. “Can't you ring that bell properly?“ He spoke to the man, Tom, who held only one bell. _
Tom was an old man, short, like s bulldog, with long arms and a wide, rather vacant face. At the interruption. he raised his shaggy eyebrows in mild surprise.
"Doean’t it please you. Mr. Dodds?" he asked in his soft, slow voice.
"Ring lt more clearly. more loud- ly," declared the youth, snatch~ ing the bell from the old man's hand. "Like this." l-ie rang the bell fiercely. three or four times.
The old man watched the lad humbly. When the bell was re- turned to him, he appeared anxious that his hold of the bell should be correct. l-Ie asked the youth many questions concerning this. At last he seemed satisfied and he squared his shoulders preparatory to ringing. There was no expres sion on his face. He dropped hls hand. The hammer fell gently against the side of the bell; it tinkled softly. Gently his eyes blinked enquiry at Mr. Dodds.
The young man shrugged his shoulders angrily, his mouth twist- ed into a sneer.
"All right, all right." said the leader swiftly, “I think that will be good enough. Now, if every man will carry his own bells . . . Harry. will you take a music stand? Tom?"
"Let me carry something." de manded the young man. "Harry there can take the music copies, I'll take a stand. 1'm not old and in capable.
O O O r
They walked down the aisle to a little door which the bald-headed man opened with a key from the bunch which he carried. Inside. the light of torches revealed a flight of worn stone steps twisting steeply upwards. The man with the keys entered first, carrying one IOICh. then followed Bill. Harry, the young men. and Tom, carry ing another torch.
For a time. in silence they walk- ed up the narrow. winding steps which coiled around and around like tho stairs of a lighthouse, tun» nelllng upwards. Sometimes the thin beam of Tom's torch was lost to the young man behind the pll lars of quick corners. Then he ascended blindly. The pant of breath was behind and before him. occasionally. two bells collided loudly in someone’: hand.
After some minutes of climb, they passed a small slit window in the wall. through which. far below. the glimmer of a street light could be seen. The other men stumbled on. breathing heavily and quickly. The youth stayed by the ‘window. hls heart thumping a little-until Tom eyed him enqulrlngly. Then he braced his shoulders and began to ascend again.
Soon they came to a small loom almost filled by the clock, which ticked loudly. There they rested for a while.
"Not much farther." declared the bald-headed man, above the sound of the clock.
"I'm glad," said the man. Bill. simply. "I can't come up here as well as I could when I was young."
The youth said nothing. He put one hnndbell in each pocket ol hls coat. He felt better then; one hand was free.
When they had climbed another flight of stairs. they halted quick- ly, each bumping one another. Tom switched out his light.
"Why are we stopped?" asked
When they pe
Oi
AS THE 0LD__Y_ElR PASSED
(By D. A. Dyer)
the young man, nervously.
“Jim's unlocking tho door to the
bells," explained Bill from above. They waited in blackness. "l hope he hurries." murmured Tom slowly. his \oice coming soft- ly from somewhere in the lower darkness. "We must get oul on the roof before twelve o'clock strikes. It would be deafening if lt boomed while we are still in the tower."
The tall figure of the man. Harry. twisted around.
"What time is it now?" he asked
A torch shone. “Four minutes to twelve," said Tom.
The young man was __ ssessed by a sudden feverish impatience.
"What the devil are you doing up there?" he shouted nervously. "Can't you hurry?"
Jim didn't answer; the question echoed back.
They began to move forward again. Beyond the small doorway. spanning the bells, was a narrow plank. This led to a long ladder which dimly stretched upwards to a hatchway-like opening to the roof. The men walked along the plank
carefully. There was no rail for support: below them, the bells hung massive and still in space.
Jim. the bald-headed man. began to climb the steep ladder. It sway- ed as he did so. He pushed open the trap-door with his head; a nar- row shaft of moonlit sky could be seen for a moment, then it was ob- scured by the black figure of the man climbing through the hole.
"I hope by next year." said the
man, Harry as they waited. "that these bells will be mended." He pointed to the shadowy, huge bells below them. "Then we shall be able to ring out the old year pro- rly." At s call from Jim on the roof. Bill began his climb. Then follow- ed Harry. a black, crouching figure. holding by his hands to the rungs; an eerie sight in the dim light of the torch.
The young man shifted the music stand to hls hands. I-le looked at the ladder. He turned to the fig- ure behind him. "Could you . .7" he asked. Tom's gentle ayes look- ed at him unblinklngly. Queerly. just for a moment, memory of that little incident of the bell came to the boy. Of a sudden he wished it hadn't happened. He shlvered. Holding the stand in one hano. with the other he began to pull himself up tho rungs slowly and with difficulty. The ladder sway- ed under him.
Suddenly, there was a complete. shrouding darkness: a dreadful clatter of noise; sonlething striking a ledge, then falling again, seem- ingly endlessly. through space. un- til far away it shattered on hard stone; a shivering silence.
The young man lay flattened against the ladder, his eyes clos- ed. After a long moment he whis- pered. “what was that?"
From the darkness the voice of Tom floated upwards softly.
"The torch. I've dropped torch."
the
On the roof the men arranged the music stands and copies. The night was as bright as day; above them. just over their heads, the moon stood. The short parapet around the tower was white: it reached only to the knees of the lTlEIl.
"A lovely night," sighed Bill. "By golly, if there is any wind you feel it up here. It seems to drag your legs from under you."
"A nasty fall," agreed Harry. The clock struck midnight sonorously: there had been plenty of time.
Tom raised his eyes to the white, shadowy distant country.
“Look," he invited, “from here you can see the Beacon." _
But the young man did not look, keeping his eyes fixed on the mu- sic, and holding hls two bells, 7 and 8. .
“All right?" called Jim, the leader.
The first few bars of the tune rang out on the soft, still night. Then there W118 a hesitant silence. Jinl nudgcrl the young man gently, then again, more violently. The youth remained as if asleep. "Sev- en"! hissed Jim angrily. Mr. Dodds gritted hls teeth and opened hls eyes. He swungea bell wildly. The tune struggled raggedly to an end.
"Tom," said Jim grimly. when the
alr," take Mr. Budd's bells."
The young man silently exchang- ed bells with the older man. Per- haps, just for a moment. a smile flickered across Tom's weatherbezlt- en face. but quickly it was gone.
The men took up their fresh positions. the youth now standing at the end of tile line with one un- important bell in his hand; five men silhouetted against the silver moonlight.
The lune was played again: in the streets below, men turned their faces upwards lo the sound, joined hands with their neighbours and surged forwards and backwards to the thin. clear rhythm of the bells.
"All right," said Jim, “that's enough."
Silently, they began to Bother lo- gether the music stands and bells.
"Harry, will you carry Mr, Dodd's music stand?" Harry Iplfl over the parapet.
‘ Clumslly. Tom started to claln~
In this puule you will
the top row. has a partner
Which ls Which’? Solution
things that are used In popular games. which pairs up with which,
Clues and Solution on page IO namnaannl fllli
find twelve part-pictures oi Can you discover for each of the pictures '.n in the bottom row‘!
run GUARDLAN. CHAKLLYlIIIJlIUWN
hum of sound had died away on tlle_
l QUIZ-PICS
Read carefully the clues In each section; then see if you can fill in the answers.
Clues and Solution on page l0
QUIZ-PICS
l. WHAT .CAM£ Is runs l’
2.. WHAT IS walrrcn on AN ENVELOPE?
"for 5. WHAT
' D FLAG
ls THIS P
4. THIS l6 PART or
wuar MUSICAL msraunrnr 2
5. WHAT soar
FOREST om Roam noon LIVE ?
_.._i-_-—-—- Tut lNlTlAL LETTERS or "me Slx ouiz-Plcs WILL cw: You ‘ms NAME or soucs THAT Alta sum: AT xnAs
ber through the small hatchway. The young man waiter. his hand resting on the parapet. Suddenly he felt his fingers give n little. there was a crack, and a small piece of plaster spun over the edge of the tower. Waiting to enter the hatchway, looking down as he was. the youth saw the plaster spinning in the moonlight, until s blackness veiled his eyes.
Harry gave him a prod. He scrambled into the hole, his feet feeling desperately for the rungs of the ladder falling blackly into space. He descerr‘ ’, pausing now and then to rest his trembling legs, his hands sweating on the ladder.
At last his feet were once more on the plank stretching across the expanse of the bells. Ho tried to move his legs. They felt like jelly. He swayed, and would have fallen into space but for a hand which suddenly caught him. Two strong arms encircled his body and pro- pelled him across the plank.
They were the arms of the old rnan, Tom.
As soon as he felt himself des- cending the winding steps. the youth found pale courage growing ln him, until, on the ground. a curious exhilaration possessed him. The men packed away the bells in a box, and left the church. While they llt cigarettes in silence, the youth looked up at the louver. ris-
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(l) said the small boy.
plied:
was it?
“That was good fun." with a little laugh. to do it again.”
Westminster Chimes
JEWELLERY
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Brain Twisters
"What's the time, please?‘ The old fei- low looked at his watch and "In three-quarters hour lt will be half as many min- utes to 12 us it now is lifter l0." Tile boy soon had the time:
f2-
of an
what
(2) Tony had a stall in the vege-
ing grey in the white light.
he said
"We shall have
The men didn't sny anything. The youth murmured “Goodnight", and
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table market. He received a ship ment of extra large potatoes. He tried putting them into a barrel. two at a time, but found he had one left over. l-le emptied the bar rel and tried packing the potatoes three at a time. Again he had one potato over! Then he packed them four at a time, with the same re- sult! He packed them by fives and by sixes, and both times there was the odd potato left over! Finally he packed them by sevens, and had none left over! How many potatoes were there?
Answers worked out:-
(1) In 45 minutes time it will be a certain number of minutes (C.N.M.) to ‘l2. so it must now be 2 CNM past 10. The time between
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1O and l2 must be therefore (2 CNM + 45 + CNM) which equals 120 minutes. Take out 45 minutes from each side; then 3 CNM equals 15m. Therefore 2 CNM=50 minutes past l0. the answer.
(2) (2x3x4x5x6) equals720. and 1 more is 721 which divides by 7 and ls the answer.
"love came down at Christmas. Love all lovely. Love Divine: Love was born at Christmas. Stars and angels gave the sign. Love be yours and love be mine, Love shall be our token.
Love to God and all men.
Love for plea and gift and sign.‘
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