Thursday, December 22, 1955.

THE TRIBUNE, WILLIAMS LAEE, B.C.

Page 5

G
s brightly as the star of Bethlehem,

that Silent Night, may the spirit of the

first Christmas shine forever in your heart. May

its message of Peace and Good Will become an

abiding source of hope to you and yours.

from
The Management and Staff
of the

LAKEVIEW HOTEL LTD.

Memorial Fund
Started for Scout
Commissioner

In memory of the late Col. C.
T. Batten,
sioner for
Columbia and Yukon until his
recent death, a special fund to
be known as the C. T. Batten
Memorial Fund has been opened
by the provincial couné¢il of the
Boy Scouts Association.

In announcing the council’s
decision, provincial president L.
C. Way said: “The memorial
fund will be a fitting tribute to
Col Batten’s devotion to the
Scout movement in his capacity
as the top uniformed volunteer
leader in B.C. and the Yukon.
Under his commissionership
Scouting in this part of Canada
took tremendous strides.”

Col Batten was a visitor to
Williams Lake ‘shortly before
his death, when he addressed
local Cubs, Scouts and parents.

provincial Commis-

Scouting in British

Christmas Rose Is
Hallowed by.Legend

The delicate beauty of the
Christmas-rose (helleborus _ni-
ge) is hallowed by legend. A
poor shepherd girl, the story
goes, Wept bitterly as she watch-
ed the Wise Men on their way to
the Christ Child bearing rich
gifts when she had nothing. An
angel appeared. Upon learning
the reason for the girl's distress,
the angel caused the ground to
be carpeted with shining white
flowers. The young shepherdess
gathered some blossoms. When
she presented her gift, the In-
fant smiled and as His fingers
touched the white flowers, the
petals became tinged with pink.

for all our friends we wish this to be a season

of significance. A holiday when peace mingles with
merriment, love with good fellowship, good works
a Ne
z with good will. And may the spirit of Christmas abide

“= with you and those dear to you, now and always.

WILLIAMS LAKE MOTORS LTD.

me

Just like most everyone else,
Saint Nick prospered after he
came to America.

In Burope, before he reached
these shores, Saint Nick was a
tall, angular man who rode a
bony gray mare. He hadn’t been
in American long, however be-
fore he had a new name, a new
face, figure and a new and bet-
ter mode of transportation.

The early English settlers in
this country started Santa’s ‘new
look’ process. They adopted the
legendary figure from the Duteh,
but couldn’t pronounce ‘Saint
Nickolous.”” The best they could
do was “Santa Kalouf,” avhich
was corrupted to “Santa Claus.”

In 1809, Washington Irving in
his ‘‘Knickerbocker’s History of
New York’’ changed Santa's
physical appearance by describ-
ing him as a jolly fellow with a
broad-brimmed hat and huge
britches. He also taught St. Nick
to smoke a pipe, and traded his
hay burner for a wagon.

Clement Moore in his famous
poem, “The Visit ‘from Saint
Nicholas,” went even further. He
gave Saint Nick a sleigh, twink-
ling eyes, cheeks like roses, nose
like a cherry and a round little
belly.

Future writers may try to
trade Prancer and Dancer off for
a jet ship and trim down San-
ta’s waistline. It will be a tough
job, for though he isn’t stream-
lined, Santa pleases the young
folks and that’s mighty im-
portant.

Gift-Giving Custom
In Ancient England

One of the most plausible ver-
sions of the origin of the custom
of giving gifts at Christmas time
is the one saying it began in
England.

In the days of the knights, it
was custom to hang kissing
rings in the great halls. These
rings were decorated with imis-
tletoe and beneath them would
meet the young knights and
ladies, each bringing Christmas
roses to their secret love.

As times changed, so did cus-
toms, and roses gave way for
other personal gifts at Christ-
mas time.

Mistletoe Once
Symbol Of Evil

The migtletoe, once a weapon
of death, later became to be con-
sidered as a magical medicine,
is now a universal symbol of
love and peace

it was with a mistletoe arrow,
(according to Norse mythology)
that Loki killed Balder, the sun
god after Balder’s mother had
obtained a promise from all liv-
ing things, other than the mis-
tletoe, that they would not harm
him. Balder was restored to life
and it was ruled by the gods
that the mistletoe would never
again be used to harm.

Ancient Buropeans considered
the mistletoe a2 magical medi-
cine. They carried-it about with
them for health and luck and
believed it a cure for ulcers and
epilepsy as well as a charm pro-
moting fertility.

The present day custom of
giving a kiss of love or peace
beneath the mistletoe, although
a relatively modern one, sis de-
rived from the fact that down
through the centuries the mistle-
toe has been recognized through
out the whole world as a symbo)
of lasting peace.

If CAN BE WISHED 2
IN MANY LANGUAGES

“Happy New Year!”

As the year 1955 rolls west-
ward from the Admiralty’s date
line, these words will ring out
in many languages.

Should you be in gay Paree,
the greeting you’d hear would

be “Bonne Annee!” Down in
sunny Italy, they say “Buon
Capo d’Anne!"" which doesn’t

sound too different. In Spain it’s
“Feliz Ano Neuvo!””

If you have relatives or
friends“in Germany, they may
write, “Ein Glueckliches Neues

Jahr.” If so, they wish you a
Happy New Year. The Swedish
and Norse greetings are differ-

ent from the ones above, al-
though they are almost the
same. The Swedes say, “Got

Nytt Ar,” and the Norse “Godt
Nytt Aaar.”

Any way you hear it, though,
it seems the same. The three’
words mean not only Happy New
Year, but imply best wishes for
all the days ahead. =

NIGHT BEFORE XMAS

Dr. Clement Clarke Moore
was ashamed of his famous poem
“Night Before Christmas” and:
would not acknowledge that he
wrote it for more than 20 years,

C&S Tire Service Ltd.

The Management
and Staff of

Ge is our sincerest wish
that this Christmas brings a
great abundance of warm and

lasting pleasures to everyone.

E.G. Woodland & Son