Trees, Dogwood
And Christmas
Some historians trace the cus
tom of lighting the Christmas
tree to Martin Luther. The
story is told that he was stroll
ing through the countryside
alone one Christmas Eve under
a brilliant starlit sky, and his
thoughts turned to the nativity
ot the Christ Child. He was
awed by the beauty of the heav
ens and the wintry landscape,
the blue light on the low hills
outside Weimar and on the ev
ergreens, and the snow flakes
sparkljflg In the moonlight. Re
turnlngnome, he told his fami
ly about It and attempted to
reproduce the glory ot the out
doors. To a small evergreen
tree he attached some lighted
candles to portray the reflec
tion of thq starry heaven.
Apparently candles did not
come Into wide use a.t once.
\ Mention of the Christmas tree
custom In Strasbourg a century
later did not Include lights.
For two centuries following
Luther, the Christmas-tree
custom appears to have been
confined to the Rhine River dis
trict. From 1700 on, when the
lights were accepted as part of
the decorations, the Chrlstmis
tree was well on its way to
becoming an accepted custom
In Germany, and during the
Revolution the tradition of the
Christmas tree bridged the At
lantic.
Just how Christmas-tree dec
orations other than lights de
veloped Is vague. At first, the
trimmings, If any, consisted
mostly of small tufts of cotton
and strings of popcorn. It may
be that these were used on the
branches as a substitute for
snow in the manner Martin
Luther used candles to repre
sent lights on the snow -flecked
evergreens. Other decorations
were flowers, replicas of food
stuffs, paper ornaments and
strings of cranberries. These
could have begun as a carry
over of the forest dwell
ers hanging food-stuffs In
trees.
Many people are troubled
about cutting evergreens .for
Christmas trees. President
Theodore Roosevelt, as a con
servationist, felt so keenly
about the matter that he used to
forbid their use In the White
House He called It wasteful.
6ne year, however, his sons,
Archie and Quentln, smuggled
one In and set It up In Arch
ie's room. The President's
friend and, advisor on conser
vation measures assured him
that the supervised and proper
harvesting ol^Chrlstmas trees
was good for the forests. From
then on the White House had a
tree .
Actually If properly directed,
there Is no reason why the joy
associated with the Christmas
evergreen may not be a means
of arousing In the minds of
children an appreciation of the
beauty andarsefnfriess of trees,
and keen appreciation of the
beauty and usefulness of trees
Is a long step toward the will
to plant and care for them.
When the prupose of the
Christmas tree has been serv
ed In homes, the tree should
be disposed of properly. A
Twelfth Night ceremony, In
which the Christmas trees,'
wreaths, and boughs are col
lected from several homes and
burned In a blaze of glory, Is
observed In some American
cities.
The community burning of the
trees, which appears to have
originated In Germany, was In
stituted to commemorate the
K> J
THE MIKE HI0HT
SHOW
Monday-Friday
12 N0on-1 P.M.
On
WIZS
1450
On/ Your
Handaraon Dial
1000 Wattts
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Tha Best Thara la.
light ot the Star of Bethle
hem, which guided the Three
Wise Men to where the Infant
Christ lay In the manger. This
seems to be a more fitting end
for a tree of tradition and sen
timent and much better than dls
heap. * *
This Is the fourth In a series'
of articles on Conservation pre
pared and presented by the Con
servation Committee of the
LOuls^urg. Garden Club. We
'Hope y$u*ijfll find them Interest
ing as> well as Informative.
Sli)4? our last article con
cerned trees, we thought you
might be Interested, In hearing
the "Legend of tne Dogwood"
and the beliefs of some
about the beginning of the tra
dition of Christitta's trees.
There Is a legend, that at the
time of the*Cruclflxlon the dog
wood had been the sire of the
oak and other forest trees. 'So
firm apd strong was the tree
that -It was chosen as the tim
ber of the cross. To be used
thus for such a cruel purpose
greatly distressed the tree, and
Jesus, nailed upon It, sensed
this, and In His gentle pity for
alf sorrow and suffering said
It: "Because of your regret
and pity for My suffering, nev
er again shall the dogwood tree
grow large enough to be used as
a cross.* Henceforth It shall
be slender and bent and twist
ed and Its blossoms shall be
In the form of a cross two
?long and two short petals. And
In the? center of the outer edge
of each petal there will be nail
prints, brown with rust and
stained with red, and In the cen
ter of the flower will be' a
crown of thorns, and all who
see It will remember."
Trimmed Christmas trees
were first used In the United
Slates apparently during the
American Revolution, when.'
Hessian soldiers softened their
homesickness with them. In
a description of Christmas fes
tivities at Fort Dearborn* 111.,
? 1 '
In 1804 mention Is made of a
Christmas tree. . y
The Idea and tradition spread
widely through the young land;
we reacMhat people In Cam
bridge, Mass., put up Christ-?
mas trees lit 1832; In Phila
delphia, 2 years later; Rich
mond and Williamsburg, Vir
ginia, put them up in 164?.
Through the years the tradi
tion has become so well es
tablished that two-thirds of all
American homes now follow the
custom. The Christmas tree
is a symbol of a living Christ
mas spirit and brings into our
lives the fragrance and fresh
ness of the forest.
Egyptians for ceremonials
brought green date palms into
their homes as a symbol of
"life triumphant over death."
ttomkns raised an evergreen
bough at the feast of Saturnthey
observed. To the Druids,
sprigs of "evergreen in the house
meant eternal, life; td. the
Norsemen, they symbolized the
revival of the sun god Balderr
To Jhe superstitious, the
branches of evergreens placed
over the door would keep put .
witches, ghosts, and evil spir
its. The early Scandinavians
are said to have done homage ?
to the fir tree.' This does not
mean that our present Christ
mas -tree custom might have
evolve# from paganism, but
some feel it was -the origin
of the eventual use of the ever
green.
The fir seems to be the tree
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Seven Paths To Build Community House
Workmen are shown above re
moving the old Seven Paths
school building la^t Saturday
In the Seven Paths Community
The local Home Demonstration
Club has acquired the location
and plan to build a new c'8 im
munity .house tht?re - Projects
.will soon get underway to raise
the necessary funds with which
to complete the new building.
-Times Staff Photo.
That's Why
"Pardon me sir," said the
hotel cleric. "Would you mind
telling me your name?"
'?My name?*' snorted the new
guest. 11 'Can't you see where
I signed the register?' r
"Yes, sir," was* the reply,
"that's what aroused my
curiosity.'"
most commonly mentioned In
reviewing the evolution of the
Christmas tree. The fact that
the twigs of the balsam fir re
semble crosses more than do
other evergreens, may have had
something to do with it. Also,
It seems that extracts from the
fir, especially balsam fir, were
used for medicinal purposes;
probably for that reason it w^s
widely sought aftex and used.
Trees were worshiped by
many early dwellers of the for
est and gifts of food were, of
ten hung in the branches of
offerings or sacrifices to the
deities. Sucfl giving was a
Christian trait; thi^s the gifts
were hung in "Christian trees"
or Christmas trees. Also, cer
tain foodstuffs were hung In
trees to get them out of reach
of prowling animals. The sug
gestion has been made that the
idea of decorating tree^ is an
outgrowth, of these practices.
At any rate, if the fjr. tree
predominated as the Christ
mas tree, then our foorefath
ers selected wisely, for the
fir is the favorite of today.
ASCS NEWS
lohn R. Davis
Franklin County-ASCS Manager
Cotton' growers whoydo not
wish to plant all or/any part
of their 1965 cottpfi allotment
should release their unwanted
cotton acreage to the Franklin
County ASC Committee. The
final date to release acreage
is March 5, 1965. February 19,
19?5 was the final date ,for
producers to request addition
al acreage to plant.
Each year, a producer must
plant awl/or release^ at l^ast
75% of the farm'js effective
allotment if the allotment is- to
be preserved. A producer may
release all of his farm's cotton
allotment for two years but the
third year aH ofthe allotment
can be released except for one
third of an acre which must
be planted to preserve the al
lotment. A1J producers who do
not release any acreage should
r^iake a special effort to plant
at least~iM>% of their 1965 ef
fective allotment so no allot
ment will be lost because of
underplanting.'-" Producers who
plant within their Domestic al
lotment will receive a price
support payment based on the
planted acreage. Any producer
who has an effective allotment
over 15.0 acres should visit
the County ASCS Office in
Louisburg, not later than
March 2G, ld'65, If He wishes
to be eligible for the price
'support payment on cotton.
F^ed Grain producers who
have not signed up in the 1965
Feed Grain Program should
visit the County ASCS^Office
and examine the benefits of the
program. TJie 1965 Feed Grain
Program is designed to permit
producers to reduce their feed
grain production and earn a*
payment.
Also, for those who wish to
divert a portion of their base
and plant- within their permit
ted .acreage -for the faring a
payment will be made for the
land taken out of production
and for acreage planted in feed
grain. A producer who signs
iip in the program on one farm
must stay within the feed grain
base on all farms in whjch he
has an interest.
"For more information con
cerning this program, please
contact the .County ASCS Of
fice in Louisburg. '
Freedom of speech Is not val
uable unless sometody will lis
ten
FREE ! !
10"*14"
SIZE
HAND
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FROM YOUR FAVORITE PHOTOGRAPH
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OF ANY ?
LIVING ROOM
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Retail Value Of
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Johnson Mop Company
i .....
about vou
. cyul your neighbors . . . -
Louisburg
Mr, and Mrs-. Ctfbll Horne&nd
children, Celia and Lisa, of
Burlington spent the weekend
with Mrs. tyorne's parents, Mr.
and Mrs. Harold Hudson of
Louisburg.
Miss Joyce GUI ii m of Raleigh
spent the weekend vyith her par
ents, Mr. .apd Mrs. J. F. ?Giu
liani, qt Louisburg.
Mrs. Thomas "Copley of Vir
ginia Beach, Va., spent the
K^eekend with her parents, Mr.
arkkMrs. Fred Hight, of Louis
burg. ^ ^
' .
Mr. and Mrs. <?red C. Hight,
Jr.. and Mrs. Jimmy Martin
of Louisburg spent the weekend
in Baltimore with Mr. Martin,
who is in school there.
Miss Mary Conn, a student at
East Carolina College inGreeh
vllle, is spending a few days
with her mother, Mrs. E. P.
Conn, of Louisburg.
Mrs. C. M. Vaughn has re
turned -*homev "from a two
months' visit with her son and
family*, Mr. and Mrs. W. W.
Vaughn, in Boynton Beach, Fla.
SHOMfER PROOF? -New for
young fashionables is the
rain suit, seen here in tan
cotton poplin combined with'
black ana white polka dots
The suit, is protected with
Zepel fabric fhioridizer to
repel oily substanccs as well
as rain and to resist staining.
By Suzy Brooks ^
Bobbin
Mr and Mrs. Herman Wood
llef from Raleigh were visitors
in the homes of Mesdames H.
J. Johnson, Ruby Hayes, E. L.
Klttrell and J. T. Hlght Friday.
Miss Emma Montgomery of
Washington," D. C. was week
end guest of Misses Mary and
Maurice Rogers.
During the week, Mr. and Mrs.
Dwight Rowland visited Mr. and
at Cary. ?
t ,
Mr. and Mrs. E. S. Abbott
visited Mrs. Myrtle Abbott and
family and Mrs. E. G. Collins,
Jr., In Raleigh Monday.
Mr. and Mrs. Donald Mitchell
were in Zebiilop Monday to vis
it Mr and Mrs. John Brought -
on. Glad to report that Mrs.
Broughtorv is Improving.
Sixteen members, represents
ing Plank Chapel, attended The
Raleigh District Lay Rally at
Edenton Street Methodist
Church Jh Raleigh Tuesday
night.
Mr. and Mrs. O. T. Smith
of Raleigh and Mr. and Mrs.
J. R. Houchins of Henderson
w?re visitors Jn the I. W. Finch
home Sunday afternoon
Mrs. Palmer Johnson is tm
the sick list this week.
Mrs. Ira Finch and Mrs. Ries
Finch visited the C. M. Tip
Some people pay their debts
and others forget them, if they
can.
rch 2, 1965 ?
petts In Oxford. Sunday.
Miss Betsy Moss of Wilton
was week-end guest of Mr. and
Mrs. Lewis Moss and Mr*.
Henry Parks. j
Epsom 5
Mr and Mrs. John flowen
and son Walt spent Jthe week
end In Boone. They also visited
other points of Interest In the
mountains Including the skl re
sorts.
Miss Betsy Paige Renn of
Raleigh visited her parents,
Mr. and Mrs. C. A Renn, dur
ing the weekend. - (
Among College students home
for the weekend were Miss
lege, Miss Phyllis iurrtn of
East Carolina College and Mr.
Stfnny Duke of State College.
Mr. and Mrs. James frown
visited In Smtthfleld Saturday.
Franklinton
Dr. and Mrs. Fleming Fuller
of Kinston visited Mrs. H. F.
Fuller and Miss Inez Fuller
on Wednesday.
Mrs. Yalman Balta of Durham
visited her grandmother, Mrs.
H. F. Fuller, on Friday.
Mrs. Eugene Pearce visited
her mother in Greenville dur- -
ing the weekend
Mr. and Mrs. Charles Rogers
of Greenwood, South Carolina,
were week-end guests of Mr.
and MrS. Thomas Preddy:
Ben Williamson, a student at
the University of Chapel Hill,
visited his parents during the
weekend.
Mrs. Fred Cooke has returned
home after being a patient at
Rex Hospital iriNflaleigh.
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"How much is that Dart in the window...?"
, "I just have
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chasing .
Oodge Darts . ?
too tiring
i For a change.
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"Like thai Dart G.T . .
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seats, padded dash,
carpeting . . .
the works. .
It's so sporty
I'm sure
she'll ndtice it.
"But ?
I'm not
"taking
any
chances "
Don't you take chances either ... get a sure thing. Get a Dart.
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