THE
Roanoke Beacon
and
Washington County News
PUBLISHED EVERT THURSDAT
In Plymouth, Washing-ton County,
North Carolina
The Roanoke Beacon Is Wash
ington County’s only newspaper
It was established in 1889, consoli
dated with the Washington County
News in 1929 and with The Sun
in 1937.
Subscription Rates
Payable in Advance)
One year-*1.50
Six months_ .75
Advertising Rates Furnished
Upon Request
Entered as second-class matter
at the post oSice in Plymouth
N. C., under the act of Congress
of March 3, 1879.
I )>nei f
/'“North Carolina
/PBESS ASSOCIATION^
December 24, 1942
RO SIEEE„t'M
NOT SHAvINb
TILL Kvar
IS ELECTED
“ H hen wo acquire with most difficulty ut
retain longest”—Colton
DECEMBER
•is*?? 24—Treaty of Ghent, 1814.
• ■ ■>25—Christmas Day.
. :hSi
Alien registration com
jm
pleted, 1940.
27— Incubator patented, 1370.
28— State* of Eire (formerly
x Irish Free State) estab
lished. 193a
29— First YMCA In U. S. or
ganized in Boston, 1851
ji 30—Iroquois Theatre Firt,
i&f? Chicago, 602 persons
perish. 1903.
-(31—Elis Island, N. Y„ first
opened as • immigration
//j) depot, 1890.
VNU $ervM«
Christmas—1942
By Ruth Taylor
On this, the second war Christmas,
home circles are broken all over this
land of ours. War has touched count
less families throughout our nation.
We are separated from those whom
we love. We are face to face with
broken homes, changed lives. Christ
mas gaiety is far from the hearts of
many of us.
But we can still keep Christmas i!
our hearts. Christmas is not merel I
a time of personal rejoicing and goo:
fellowship, important though that is
Christmas is the one holiday that
cannot be celebrated alone. Christ
mas is not getting, but giving—not of
mere material gifts but of ourselves.
All over this world, on the battle
fronts where the armies of right fight
the battle of Him who taught “Thou
shalt love thy neighbor as thyself’’;
behind the battle lines, in palace and
in humble home, in crowded city and
on lonely farm: deep in the conquered
countries where every act of worship
is watched with suspicious eyes, men
are keeping Christmas in their hearts,
praying that the Prince of Peace may
rule on earth.
We, the fortunate ones, in this land
protected by our valiant forces from
the onslaught of the aggressor, have
the opportunity to answer the chal
lenge and to share our Christmas
cheer with all. We who have much
to give must give much to bring com
fort to the desolate and happiness to
the sick at heart. We may be lonely,
we may be sad, we may be impov
erished But there is none of us who
cannot give in some way. Only in
giving can we keep the Christmas
light burning bright. Only in giving
may we follow the Star.
In another war. Henry Van Dyke
wrote a Christmas prayer for lonely
folks. In his words let us say:
Lord God of the solitary,
Look upon me in my loneliness.
Since I may not keep this Christmas
in the home.
Send it into my heart.
. . . For His sake, give me a cheerfu:
courage to endure my lot.
And an inward comfort to sweeten it
. . . Though I am poor, send me tc
carry some gift to those who art
poorer,
Some cheer to those who are more
lonely.
. . . Teach me that I am not alone,
But that many hearts all round the
world,
Join with me through the silence
while X pray in His Name.
Amen.
-$
Christmas Cards
We choose greeting cards withou
wondering just how long folks have
been following this custom at Christ
mas. The average citizen today re
ceives at least 12 cars at Christma:
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"PEACE ON EARTH”
% T/je R/g/jf Reverened HENRY HOBSON, D. D.
Bishop of the Protestant Fpisoopal Diocese of Southern Ohio and National
Chairman of the Fight for Freedom Committee
To many who read and hear the Christmas story this
year "Peace on Earth" will be words without meaning There
is no peace on earth.
There was no peace when these words were first sun?
by the Angels on the night that the Child of Bethelehem
was born. The crowds which jammed its inn, and filled
each house in the village, until only a stable manger offered
refuge for a new-born babe, were evidence of the oppressive
tyrany which robbed a people out of their peace. A de
cree from the dictator had gone out.
There has been no peace on earth since that first
Christmas, for always through the years that same hand
of opprssion has rested heavily upon conutless millions of
men made by God to be free.
The Angels proclaimed not a fact but a hope—a hope
to be realized on earth only as all men everywhere are able
to live not as slaves but as children of God. For Christ's
peace is not just for the I'nited States. <>r for people of
white skins, or for those with education in their minds, food
in their stomachs, or money in their pockets. It is for all
men on earth, and he who would find peace for himself
must be striving to insure it for others. Those who seek
to live in a peace of isolationism, while others arc in tur
moil of body and soul, will never share in realizing the
hope of peace on earth. God doesn't answer the prayer.
"Peace for me"
Peace is that state in which man, no matter what his
race or nation or color, can freely live with an equal oppor
tunity to use his talents and abilities as a child of God.
When this right is denied to men anywhere there can be 1
no peace on earth.
As Christians are are called today to face the fact that
the forces of oppression arc robbing man of his right to
peace. The people of England can have no peace as long
as shelters must be their refuge from destructive bombs,
and while their coasts are threatened by invasion. The peo
ple of France can have no peace as long as the Hitler-ap
pointed appeasers force a hailed collaboration with the
conquerors who have made them slaves. The peoples of
* Holland and Belgium—violated, improverished—can have
no peace while they suffer under the tyrant's heel. The
people of Poland—the tragic country of broken homes and
divided families, deprived of leaders by mass slaughter—
can have no peace while systematic ravishing destroyes life
and land The people of Norway—betrayed by men who as
children they nurtured—ran have no peace while they shiv
er through bitter cold nights robbed of their blankets and
hungry for want of food stripped from their land. The
millions of China—wandering, starving, history’s supreme
sufferers—can have no peace while bombs fall like rain to
wrack their bodies and blast their homes. The people of
Greece—« litre courage never faltered and vision was never
dimmed b> appeasement—will never know peace while forc
ed labor makes slaves of their bodies and while the invader
defiles the beauties of their land. The people of Germany
—the older people distraught and in terror, the younger
ones poisoned from infanthood by falsehood—ran never
have peace while the concentration ramp closes its brutal
jaws on every free spirit, and Hitlerism prostitutes truth
and justice to make right appear wrong and wrong appear
right.
People ask me how I can give allegiance to the Prince
of Peace and at the same time urg6 that our country take
up arms against the aggressors of our day. My answer is
that there can be no peace on earth in a Hitler-dominated
world, and that we face a moment in history when the use
of force is the only effective means of halting the rush of
those evil powers which, because they despise true peace, are
seeking to enslave mankind under a brutal war system for
centuries to conic. There are times—and this Christmas,
1942, is one such time—when our desire for peace is de
termined not by our willingness to sacrifice and suffer as
we courageously fight against the enemy who seeks to de
stroy all peace. By action, not evasion, we have our chance
to share in the fulfillment of that hope which the Angels
have held before all mankind—Peace on Earth.
and New Year, and the total number
mailed is in the billions.
Charles Dickens gave the incentive
with his “'Christmas Carol,” and an
mateur artist, using some of Dick
ens' characters as subjects, made per
sonal greeting cards around 1850.
This started the vogue. The early
cards were all signed by hand and
then, as today, many folks had writ
er's cramp during the holidays. To
day there are many who perfer to
have their names printed or engraved
upon their Christmas cards, which
saves in strength, though peijhaps
lacks in the personal touch. With
the sentimental wording changing so
drastically on the greeting cards from
year to year, you can never be sure
what the envelope will contain until
you open it. And there are so many
that are so foreign to the true mean
ing of Christmas that it makes us a
bit ashamed.
-s
Examine Yourself
The following is a quotattion from
Henry Van Dyke: "Are you willing
to stoop down and consider the needs
and desires of little children; to re
member the weakness and loneliness
of people who are growing old: to
stop asking how much your friends
'ove you. and ask yourself whether
ou love them enough: to bear in
■ind the things that other people
ive to bear on their hearts: to try
> understand what those who live in
te same house with you really want,
.uiiuui well ling iui uiciii iu urn ^uu,
o trim your lamp so that it will give
more light and less smoke; and to
carry it in front so that your shadow
will fall behind you; to make a gar
den for your kindly feelings, with the
gate open—are you willing to do
these things, even for a day?
"Then you can keep Christmas.”
-«•
The Toy World
Children love Christmas as prob
ably the high point in the year. It
provides them with new facilities for
happiness and self-development. The
child's toy is to him what tools are
to a man. By his toy he imagines
himself as taking part in the work
and activity of the adult world. When
he plays with his little shovel, or his
toy automobile, he dreams he is a big
man. and is out in the world doing
remarkable things.
Thus the child, through his toy,
gains faith and self-confidence. He
oasses happy hours as he plays that
he and his toys are performing use
ul tasks like those of the grown-ups.
The child without toys is to be pitied,
ind kind friends should see that he
ha« them.—Exchange.
Common Ground
An admiring note stressed in a for
eigner's conception of the American
way is our common ground of fel
lowship. The Old World finds such
a difference in class that the wall be
tween high and low is almost insur
mountable. The man born to the
lowly, the very poor and uneducated,
finds the space so broad that he can
not cross to the other side. In our
country, in our own town, there are
various classes, but the line is not
drawn so decidedly, the boundary not
impassable, the feeling of rank not
so distinct. Wherever you go you
will find distinctions in breeding,
wealth and education, but in Ameri
ca the highest positions can be at
tained, the loftiest pinnacles in so
ciety scaled, by the man that comes
of lowly birth.
The present war has had its effect
on the class feeling in England, where
there was such a pronounced differ
ence in class. It seems that disaster
^brings men together, and they meet
/4 Christmas Prayer
(From an Editorial by the Late
\V. C .Manning)
Heavenly Father, as the
Christmas Day arrives, we conic
to thcc humbled in heart and
mind, praying oj thy goodness
to teach us to be thankful for
what we have. Help us, not for
ourselves, but that we might
help those less fortunate than
we arc at this, the one season
of the year. Turn our thoughts
from our greedy wants to those
oj us who have met with adver
sity and now need help. Let us
make the age-old wish, “A mer
ry Christmas to all mankind,”
come true. Amen.
on common ground when grief and
disaster visit them. Where trouble
brings title to the side of peasant,
where a cockney peddler aids my
lord, the charwoman is lifted by my
lady. A family will consist of four
children who grow up to differ in
temperament, intelligence and dili
gence. They wander far ways to
greatness, poverty, disgrace, and nor
malcy. Comes grief to the parental
roof and from afield return the four
to stand intact and united in the
common sorrow, on common ground.
A blessing in England from out the
smoke and debris.
Having Oir Doubts
A scientist who na'lf a report on
alcohol before the American Associa
tion for the Advancement of Science
made a distressing statement when
he said that folks who think drinking
! can be controlled b> will power, res
i olutions or abstinence pledges are
j wrong and are laboring under a de
lusion and ‘'popular misconception."
According to science, perhaps 'there
is need of physical treatment to have
a sure cure, but there are many peo
ple in this section who know of cases
where liquor addicts were able .to be
cured of the habit through their own
will power and tenacity. Many a
person has been helped to overcome
the drinking habit through pride for
self and family. Religion also has
brought some drunkards to a right
about-face. Maybe it isn't all in
medical and scientific treatment.
The most successful man on a
quiz program is the father of three
small children.
A fact is a fact until it happens
to disagree with our own personal
opinion.
Fencing should be more popular
than boxing, for foils are so much
more romantic looking than a pair of
boxing gloves.
-<?
A man will advertise publicly for
his lost dog, but try to hush up the
fact that he has lost his wife.
Prince of Peace
By PRESTON E. CAYTON
Pastor Saints Delight Christian Church
Some 1942 years ago, some shep
herds were on the hillside of Bethle
hem watching their flocks by night.
Perhaps David had tended sheep in
that same field. These shepherds
knew about David, and about God's
promise to David that one of his de
scendants would be the Savior of
men. And suddenly there came near
a glorious light. They were sore
afraid. The angel said, “Pear not,
for I bring unto you good tidings of
great joy, which shall be to all peo
ple. For unto you is born this day
in the City of David, a Savior, which
is Christ the Lord. You will find the
baby wrapped in swaddling clothes
and lying in a manger. Glory to
God, peace on earth, good will to
ward men.”
The shepherds said. “Let us go to
Bethlehem and see this thing which
the Lord has made known to us."
They went to Bethelehem, and there
they found Mary and the baby Jesus.
The shepherds told the angels’ mes
sage, and the people wondered about
the strange things that the shep
herds told.
When the baby was eight days old,
Joseph and Mary gave Him a name,
"Jesus,” meaning "salvation.” and it
told to men the works that God had
sent this child to do. The rich peo
ple gave a lamb as an offering; the
poor gave two young pigeons. There
Jesus was blessed and called "The
Princd of Peace," who came to the
world to bring joy to all mankind.
The world today is1 fighting for
peace and liberty. We will have no
lasting peace until it is found through
God. Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace among men in
whom He is well pleased. The Prince
of Feace will bring joy to the world
this Christmas.
Just before Christmas in 1941. the
newspapers carried stories of a black
out in Bethlehem, the place of
Christ's birth. Usually the birthday
of Christ is celebrated there in a fes
tival of lights and processions. Un
der the conditions of modern war
fare, such a festival was prohibited
by the authorities. War blacks out
Christmas in the place where Christ
mas began! What more pointed
commentary upon war itself could
there be than this dramatization of
its result? War is the negation of
Christmas. It is everything that
Christmas is not. If we allow it to
rule on earth for very long, everything
that Christmas stands for will sink
into darkness.
On the Christmas of 1915, in the
trenches of France, a very curious
thing happened. The German and
English trenches were close enough
in some sections that the Tommies
could hear the German soldiens sing
ing Christmas carols. The language
was different, but the tunes were the
same. They joined in. Tire fighting
ceased. The men left this trenches
and mingled in no-man’s land, be
tween the trenches, talking and sing
ing. All day the little fraternzing
groups up and down the line broke
the routine of battle and Christmas
had sway. Then the matter came to
the attention of the headquarters.
Soldiers were moved so that the new
ly formed friendships would not in
terrupt hostilities. Yet for a brief
hour, the Prince of Peace had ruled.
Christmas had brought men to
gether. Christ will bring men to
gether. This Christmas, the day we
will worship the Prince of Peace, men
will be killing one another. Is that
what Christ came to the world for?
No, he came to the world to bring
peace and good will to all men.
This Christmas many will let it
pass and will not catch the real
meaning of Christmas. Thank God,
that He gave His Son to come to a
world in darkness to bring light.
Jesus said, “I am the light of the
world."
In Bethlehem, in London, and al
most all over the world, the Christ
mas lights will be dimmed. But in
the hearts of every American, the
real light of Christmas will burn. And
we pray before another Christmas
the lights will be burning all over the
world. And the Prince of Peace will
have His way.
Tbe Quickest, Surest Way
Defense BONDS—STAMPS
Now!
i
i!
Merry
Christmas
To All
From Your
Local Bakery
i|
ii| j«?sr«s,<a «?*s»a ««a wSWSWBW*!
fWSrtass ana s?qra?si «?<a «?s
HASSELL Bros.
BAKERY
; pa •♦. .'v .'V T••’V4 ^.-.v .“w T-.v *
i
100
PER CENT
LOYAL
TO THE
I DEALER
1
Sixteen Years
of extending the greetings of the
season to our patrons have only
served to make more sincere our
good wishes for them . . .
In the uncertain and difficult days which lie
ahead for all of us, we hope to continue serving
you as in the past. Come what may, the entire
facilities of our organization are at the disposal
of our customers whenever we can be of service
To you and yours at this Christmas
season, we would extend our sincerest
wish for happiness, both now and
throughout the years to come.
★ ★★★★★★★★★★
W. H. Basnight & Co.
Wholesale Distributors lor Eastern Carolina
PHONES 122 and 123 AHOSKIE, N. C.