0001 '3 Igk, 362K goR, '3 0, ot Hg 363L ..1e Circulatingin 61.00 per year. SIX PAGES A Weekly Newspaper the District of West Vancouver-Ambleside, Hollyburn, Weston, Dundarave CyPreSS Park, Caulfeild, WhyteCliff, Ete. Newsstands 6c per copy HOLLYBURN P.O.. WEST VANCOUVER, B.C., FRIDAY, DEC. 19th, 1930 sfiP&2Sw No. 30 Pp R Chok Clark Choir gnding +114 kjOIIPPS, dine. ' jQ» P~ kj*j Inrling .Choir Froid ..Choir Eag&r )nlhln .Choir Idgoon ankho bby, d Jack ..Choir .egg&&a Choir bnohoo Choir ~oy Soar, &oab" .. y'Cl~rjstilja9'6IIral95 j)rlgt11189 kind of men to the shepherds truly, but possessed of the same certain simple faith of the Godhead m, the poor manger at a country inn. Wise men, and therefore too wise to offer any explanations to an un- believing world. Yes, it is and always will be a mystery which must ever appeal to the human heart. We have referred above to the wide- spread desire to help the poor at Christ- mastide. Would that it could be maintained throughout the year, for then the social troubles, which at present threaten to destroy our civilization, would inevitably disappear. Christ on one occasion, snd, be believe, on one occasion only, gave an incisive pic- ture of the Last Judgment. The picture is so very clearly drawn that it can hardly be regarded as altogether a parable. It can never be too strongly impressed that no questions of dogma or even of personal morals were raised. The Judge apparently only asked one question, and on that ques- tion hung each human's fate. What had he done to help his fellows? There was heaven for those who had extended the helping hand, snd hell for those who had only thought of themselves. (Continued on Page 21 Everybody enjoys singing the old Christmas carols, for there is a quaintness about them that appeals to all of us. Probably our love for them is in- herited to a certain extent, also, for our forefathers sung them for generations before us, and Christmas without carols is unthinkable. bfost of them are very old, and their history very interesting, For example it is a matter of history that Wenceslaus, a King of Bohemia, did fare forth on the feast of St. Stephen, hence the carol we are so fond of singing. The waits were a great institution around Christmas in England. Those of us who passed their childhood there will remember how pleasant it was to wake up in the early hours in s warm bed and hear the Mistletoe Bough snd other caro!s stealing out in the night under our windows. Sometimes thc singing wss not very good, in fact it was often not at all good, but we were in a warm bed and the sing- ers were outside, so everything was quite alright. Soon we fell asleep again listening to the waits being sr&ng at other places in the neighborhood. Unfortun- ate!y, due chiefly to the fact that sub-nero tempera- tures obtain in most parts of Cans&la in December, the waits are seldom heard. but there is no reason wh!& the custom should not obtain in the mild climate -f this Pacific slope. Christmas is probably looked forward to, at any rate in Canada, with more eager anticipation than holiday in the year. For at least one month previously we make preparations to have " appy Christmas," and, which is far more important, we most of us try our best to see that others have an equally happy Christmas. This is especially the case in the matter of the poor, and it is one thing on the credit side of the ledger for our so-called Christian ci ilization amid a host of debits. For one day in the year, Christmas Dsy, we call a truce in the batt e! of life. On that one day we are willing to shake hands with our most dangerous business competitors. Incidentally, if the pacificists could only induce the world to adopt the Christmas spirit for the other three hundred and sixty-four days, peace would in- deed be a reality on, the earth. With the exception of the very young, the thoughts of most of us Christmas Day turn to the Christmases of the past, in the old home town or village, more especially if the latter was situated in the Old Country. Somehow, also, those Christmases seem to have been better and gladder than the pres- ent ones. The snow was deeper--of course, no Christ- mas of the past ever failed to be graced with snow -- and somehow people were more sociable There were s number of dear old customs then which somehow seem to have lapsed with the passage of time. And so on. Yet it is pretty certain that most of us do have just as good a time at Yuletide as we ever hsd, even if the greeting cards with the coach and four and the red-nosed wrapped-up driver and passengers do bring a feling of regret for a day and a time that have gone. Again, there are very few, even among those nominally Christians and no more, whose thoughts at this time do not turn to that first Christmas Eve. There is a mystery about it all which in some way produces s feeling of reverence in the mind of the most hardened sceptic. The sudden appearance in the sky of the choirs of angels to the simple shepherds, tough toil-worn men innured to fatigue and accustomed to stern fights with wild beasts and well-armed bandits who from time to time tried to steal their meagre flocks. Not the kind of men, it must be admitted, who would be easily stampeded or alarmed by sudden fancies. And then the visit of the magi. The velvety eastern night with its brilliant curtain of stars snd that one great now star which travelled so certainly across the sky. The ever mysterious desert across which padded softly the camel train bearing the wise men, who, come from the mysterious far east, wor- shipped and, having left their gifts, vanished back into the desert and were no more seen. Diiferent Kl)rt9iIIIII9 'K1151111119 hIany quaint old custo&ns, some of them dating jb hundreds of years back, are observed during the Christmas season. The original of Santa Claus was a certain St. Nicholas of Peters in Asia Minor, who lived in the third century of the Christian era. Originally his festival, the great festival of child- le hood, wss observed on 6th December, but following the Reformation, it was changed to the 26th. The Turkey is somewhat of a newcomer at the Christmas festivities, for our ancestors'reat dish on Christmas Day was a wild boar's head. The boar' head is still sung up st Oxford in Queen's Co!leg~ hall on Christmas night, just as it used to be all over England. Preceded by the college choir singing a Latin hymn four men carry up the gaily bedecked head on a huge silver dish and place it on the head tabk. The custom of the Christmas tree goes back into the dim past. It wss originally a palm tree. but circumstances, of course. in Europe, made it neces- sary to use some kind of evergreen in its place. The Puritans, who were great abolishers of a deal that was harmless and beautiful, did away with the cus- ONk tom, and it was not revived again until comparatively recent times. It is probably the most beautiful of all our Yuletide customs, and as such deserves Io retain its present firm hold on our affections. »f N»VINA~~»MAC»V Ih f)P AIIitP)9 I stood beside a restless sea And from the stars there came to me The music of an ecstasy Pg Such songs ss only angels sing,High in the heavens on poised wing To hail the birthday of the King. Trumpet and shawm aml psaltery And through that golden melody The notes which made eternity. In multitudes they thronged the sky, Wheeling is serried ranks on high 'Fore Him who came on earth to die. The peace of Heaven stole down to me A calm fell on the restless sea, And earth bowed to the mystery. »~ ~»g ~'~»4 ZAN'~4K.»Ã»L. ~ 4 AC»V»4