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Christmas Section Chrlstmas Gift Suggestlon hoi on on o ces um ons ons Ee $ Northern Telephone What could be better than to instal a telephone in your home for Christmas ? The rent may be paid monthly at approxiâ€" mately seven cents per day For further particulars apply at local office i insl s â€" .‘.."..‘... '. ." ' Company Limited The Reason and the Need for Christmas A Christmas Message to the Hearts of Men by Dr. Dyâ€" son Hague, of Toronto. (By Dr. Dyson Hague) It was Christmas morning, Dickens said. The church bells were ringing their lustiest peals. Golden sunlight; heavenly sky; merry bells. O gloricus, glorious! "What is toâ€"day?" said Scrooge. "What is toâ€"day, my fine felâ€" low?" "Toâ€"day," replied the boy, "why, Christmas Day!" And you all remember the marvelous change that came over the mean monster of selfishness, Scrooge, as told in "The Christmas Carol," that masterpiece of the genius of Dickens. If you have not read it, do read ‘it, and if you have read it, read it again. And if you can read about Bob Cratchit anda Tiny Tim, as he said he hoped the people saw him in the church because he was a cripple and it might be pleasant to them to remember upon Christmas Day who made lame beggars walk and blind men see, withâ€" out a tear very near the eye, you must have something of the spirit of that clutching, covetous old sinner, Scrooge, hard and sharp as flint What is it that floods this old cold world with sympathy ang charity and love gifts, that mellows a myriad hearts with the spirit of forgiveness and unselfishâ€" ness, and releases the singing of blithesome songs and carols, the laughâ€" ter and the children‘s shouts? Why, it‘s Christmas! ~And our Christmas joy is heavenâ€"born. It started from the flashâ€" ing Angel in the environing glory of the Lord (Luke 2: 9â€"11). It sounded in the sky, that Christmas Evangel of joy, great joy, for all; that joy that sweeps across the rifts of space and time angq melts hard hearts and lights the love light in a million lives. Wil LAICL MUSELL C JJMAIL1,. _ AAdddillil, i2 UA LRA from the Greek word "dactylos," meanâ€" ing a finger. Dates,. before being pressâ€" ed, look exactly like human fingers, and the resemblance still remains in those you buy. "Brazils" are from Brazil, They are the produce of a tree called the "juvia." They grow in a hard shell about the size and shape of a child‘s head, and each shell contains about fifty nuts. Currants are 4 variety of smail grapes, dried. The name is our corrupâ€" tion of "Corinth"â€"where they grow tgo.st abundantly. For One Brief Starry Night For one brief starry night let us forget The clamour of the world, our loss, our fear, And let us light the candles in our souls This one night of the year. Let us be shrived of self, and let us pray Only white prayersâ€"white â€" selfless prayers toâ€"night, Lifting clean hands up to one glorious star That is burning with holy light. Unfailing it has shone through all the years, While we, God knows, have wandered strangely far; Now for this one brief night let us forget All but His steadfast Star. All but the supreme high sacrifice Of God, sending One to lift Why, it‘s Christ! Christ the Virginâ€" born: Christ the Incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary. Christ who for us men and our Salvation came down from heaven. Christ the Babe in the manger whose name was to be called Wonderful, the Mighty God, the Prince of Peace, and by the sweetest and grandest of all names, the Name that is above every name, the name of Jesus. Oh, if we could only think that every present we make at Christmastide and every gift we give to a friend or loved one, to the poor and the lonely, is just as if we gave a gift to Christ! Oh, if the myriads toâ€"day who think of the cold and hungry and stretch out their hands to help the poor and bring light into sad eyes and warmth into cold bodies would do it for the higher love, the love of God shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit given to us! I love that story told some years ago of the little Stratforg girl who wrote: ‘"Dear Santa Claus: I want you if you can to let me have a dol i havnot got one that‘s al i need beâ€" cause my sister needs more than i do she is sending a letter to you to an if you â€"havnt enuf dols you let her hav hers first. Dora." Surely that was a love that is the heart of Christmas. I heard only the other day a story about a little boy in Toronto who said to his mother:> ‘"‘Mother, what is Christmas?‘"‘ His mother looked at him and said: "It is Jesus‘ birthday; the day when Christ was born." And the little fellow looked up and said: "Mothâ€" er, what will we give Him for a birthâ€" day present?" Oh, what a different Christmas and a different world it woulqg make if we could look at Christâ€" mas from that angleâ€"the angle of a little wondering child. What will we give Him? We, too, can open the treasâ€" ure boxes of our hearts and offer Him gifts of frankincense,â€"sweet with symâ€" pathy, costly with sacrifice, and the gold of outpoured love. But, above all, yes, above all, we can offer Him the best of all gifts, cur hearts, and in the words of our beautiful Church of Engâ€" land prayer say: Here we offer and present unto thee, O Lord, ourselves, our souls and bodies, to be a reasonable. holy and living sacrifice unto Thee. And, as with gladness men of old ofâ€" fered gifts most rare at that cradle rude and bare, so may we with holy joy, pure and free from sin‘s alloy, all our costliest treasures bring, Christ to Thee, our Heavenly King." The oldest name for Christmas is "The Feast of Lights®‘â€"a reference to the glory in the heavens when angels sang their song announcing Christ‘s birth to the shepherds. It is of interest to note that the Chinese, in their asâ€" tronomical records, entered an account of a new and travelling star, which apâ€" peared a few months after Christ was born. Thus the Biblical story of the Wise Men being guided by a star has outside corroboration. There is a tradition in Ireland, which is observed by all, that one must invite some guest, who might otherwise be lonely on the Christmas day, and there are few families who will not have a guest to share the joy of the feast and take part in the pleasures of the home. Originally, the idea rose from the story of Mary travelling to Bethlehem, and the refusals she met on the road when she asked for shelter. No stranger will be refused a night‘s abode in any cabin in Ireland, fearing that, in disguise, they might send away the Stranger from another world. And so it is that each family looks around its cirecle to find some old friend, and someone who might otherwise miss the joy of the season and pass a lonely Christmas Day. Old Name for Christmas, "The Feast of Lights" Irish Hospitaility at the Christmas Season THE PORCUPINE ADVANCE TIMMINS, ONTARIO When you buy your Christmas supâ€" plies of currants. raisins, figs, brazils or dates, do you sver give a thought to what they are, how they got their names, or where they come from? Dates, from Arabia and Persia, grow on the dateâ€"palm. The name is derived from the Greek word "dactylos," meanâ€" ing a finger. Dates,. before being pressâ€" ed, look exactly like human fingers, and the resemblance still remains in those you buy. Many Lands Called Upon for the Christmas Pudding "Brazils" are from Brazil, They are the produce of a tree called the "juvia." They grow in a hard shell about the size and shape of a child‘s head, and each shell contains about fifty nuts. Currants are m variety grapes, dried. The name is tion of "Corinth"~â€"where Let us be shrived of self, and let us pray Only white prayersâ€"white â€" selfless prayers toâ€"night;, Lifting clean hands up to one glorious star That is burning with holy light. All but the supreme high sacrifice Of God, sending One to lift The burdens from our hearts, and let us reach Glad hands to take his gift. â€"Grace Noll Crowell. » While we, God knows, have wandered strangely far; Now for this one brief night let us forget All but His steadfast Star. Origin of Christmas Customs â€" Manners James I Popularized Turkey as a UOhristmas Food. Queen Charlotte Introducâ€" ed the Christmas Tree. One of the many writers who make a specialty of securing facts and figâ€" ures about Christmas, but who prefer to remain unknown, has gathered a great mass of material in regard to the origin of various Christmas cusâ€" toms. Sothe of the facts are surprising, showing that many things supposed ~to be new are in reality very old, and othâ€" ers thought old are comparatively modern. Here are some of the Christâ€" mas facts gathered by the collector:â€"â€" James I was not a very popular king, and is chiefly remembered for his hatred of tobacco. It was he who made turkey a popular Christmas dish. In those days the boar‘s head was the Christmas joint, but James hated pork as savagely as he did tobacco, so his cooks substituted turkey angq the bird never fell out of favour. Talking of turkey, it was the Jesuits who first imported the .bird from America. They reared turkeys on large farm near Bourges, in France, and from there they spread all over Europe. What a pity it is we don‘t know who invented the mince pie. All we do know is that they were originally made in the shape of the manger in which the Christâ€"Child was laigqg and that they were know as "coffin" pasties. But perhaps the mince pie grew like the plum pudding which, in its early state, was nothing but a sort of porâ€" ridge with plums in it. Our ancestors ateâ€" it for breakfast. A king popularized the turkey and a queen introduced the Christmas tree. It was Charlotte, consort of George III, who brought the first one to Lonâ€" don. Oddly enough, the fashion diq not take on, and it was not until about 1840 that the Christmas treéee was again seen. It was then reâ€"introduced by the Prince Consort who, by the way, beâ€" came engaged to Queen Victoria on the morning of Christmas Day, 1838. No one knows who wrote the first Christmas carol, but we do know that the first book of carols was published by Wynkynde Worde, who was a pupil of the famous Caxton. Many will tell you that we owe the merriment of Christmas to Charlkes Dickens. No one in their senses is going to decry the work that Dickens aid in this way; but we ought not to forget the other writers who made popular Christmas parties and revels. It was Addison who invented Sir Roger de Coverley, or who adapted him from Squire Newdegate or Arbury. And that worthy knight knew all about Christmas festivities. "*Christmas," he said, "is the most dead, uncomfortable time of the year, when the poor people would suffer very much from their poverty and cold if they had not good cheer, warm fires, and Christmas gambols to support them. I love to rejoice their poor hearts and to the whole village merry in my great hall. (ay wgggggggggggggggm Monday, December 23rd, 1935