Page 2—MIRROR-HERALD—Tuesday, December 20, 1977
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OPIhlOn
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EDITOR’S NOTE — Each year we have
published “Ten Commandments for Chriatmae"
at the beginning of the Christmas season as an
assist in preparation tor this great festival. We
clipped the following from Gideon Magaiine a
number of years ago.)
FORCHRBTMAS—
THE TEN COMMANDMENTS
Thou Shalt not leave Christ out of Christmas,
making it Xmas for this is the sign that thou art
lazy minded and spiritually listless. To most
minds “X” stands not for Christ, but for the
algebraic unknown.
Thou Shalt not value thy gifts by their cost for
verily many shall signify love that is more blessed
and beautiful than silver and gold.
Thou Shalt give theyself with the gifts. Thy love,
thy personality and thy service shall increase the
value of thy gift a hundred fold and he that
receiveth it shall treasure it forever.
Thy Shalt not let Santa Claus take the place of
Christmas. In many homes Santa Claus super
sedes the Christ Child and Christmas becomes a
fairy tale rather than a sublime reality in the
spiritual realm.
Thou shah not burden thy servant The shop girl
and mail carrier and the merchant should have
thy consideration.
Thou shah not neglect thy church. Its Christmas
services are planned to help spiritualize tbs
Christmas season for thee, thy child and thy
household. Remember the church is a symbol of
what we are fighting for.
Thou Shalt not neglect the needy. Let thy
bountiful blessings be shared with the many who
will go hungry and diiver with cold unless thou art
generous in their time of want.
Thou shah be as a little child, Christmas is the
day of the Christ child. Not until thou has become
in spirit even as a little child are thou ready to
enter into the kingdom of Heaven.
Thou Shalt prepare thy soul for Christmas. For
verily most of us spend much time and money
getting gifts ready and few seconds in getting our
souls ready.
Thou Shalt give thy heart to Christ. Let thy
Christmas list have Christ at die top and thy heart
as the gift. For in so doing thou are as the Wise
Men of old, and verily thou Shalt find thyself bom
again on Christmas day.
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Corner
A GIFT OF FRIENDSHIP
Friendship is a priceless gift
Thai cannot be bought or sold.
Rut its value is far greater
Than mountains made of gold
For gold is cold and lifeless
And can neither see nor hear
And in the time of trouble.
It is powerless lo cheer.
It has no ears to listen.
,No heart to understand.
Cannot bring you comfort
Or reach out a helping hand.
So. when you ask God for a gift.
Ko thankful if He sends.
Not diamonds, pearls nr rubies
Hut the love of real, true friends.
M>KT1,E GOFOKTH
A letter to Santa
Here’s encouraging news
Reports are that Kings Mountain Senior High Principal Forrest Wheeler has taken
s(Hne steps toward bringing about a little more order within the hallowed educational
halls.
A few teachers, it is also reported, have taken up the standard and are applying firm
ness where needed to make sure all of their students have an equal opportunity to hear the
text.
Hats off to them. Not only have ttiey done themselves proud, but they have performed a
service to the students who have acted out of line at times and to the numerous eager
students who have seen their own time and effort wasted because of a ruckus.
Suzanne Britt Jordan, an English teacher at N. C. State University, has some com
mendable ideas on the subject of education that all educators and administrators could at
least consider.
In an article published in Newsweek Mrs. Jordan points out that teachers should
become once again, fearsome and awe-inspiring in the classroom. She says that
schoolmasters and administrators cannot change until they “shake off the guilt, the
simpering, apologetic smiles and the Freudian theories.”
She says the schools’ function is not to probe tender psyches, not to feed and clothe the^
homeless and not to be mama and papa, but to teach.
To teach. That’s it in a nutshell.
But sometimes it becomes necessary to get the attention of certain students before they
can be taught. It’s like the old jdte about the farmer who whacked his mule between thp
eyes with a two-by-four. He got the animal’s attention, then issued the orders and the mule
complied.
One senior high teacher was fcrced toapply the same method recently. However, he got
the attention of his disruptive students by warming their backsides. It is ridiculous that a
teacher is forced to resort to this, but that teacher, in fact, was teaching a valuable lesson.
Once the student receives his diploma and marches out to face the world, he or she is
going to discover there will be more backside warmings in store. If this situation is faced
and the lesson learned early enough, a person will have the knowledge to avoid as many of
life’s paddlings as possible.
We, as a community, should thank Mr. Wheeler and his teachers for reinstating a bit of
authority and, hopefully, making it become respected once again. It is a start, however,
and not at all the end.
Commandmehts"of Christmas ^
It’s difficult to bdieve, but the time has come
once again to write a letter to that jolly old elf —
Kris Kringle.
In the past I have written, tongue-in-cheek
mostly, about the trials and tribulations of your’s
truly concerning the Christmas season. It’s only
natural because I am much more of an expert on
personal trials and tribulations than on anyone
else’s.
Like everyone dse, I have had my triumphs and
tragedies during the past year. Of course in all
honesty my “tragedies’’ are best defined as small
disappointments. I sincerdy hope everyone else
can say that.
AH in all life has been pretty good to many of us
if we only stop to consider. It’s like the late
Maurice Chevalier once said after reaching his
Toth or so birthday. Someone asked him how it felt.
He replied “when you consider the alternative it
feels great."
So, instead of asking Santa for gifts for myself
this year I’ve decided to put in a few words for
some other folks.
Are you listening, Kris?
Good.
Let’s start with Rob Goforth. At 3:30 last
Tbursday morning Rob was convinced that his
house was haunted. There was something going
“bump in the night’’ in bis domicile. Rob called the
police for help.
The “ghost” turned out to be a squirrel.
So, Santa, give Rob a quart of courage so he can
control himself long enough to do his own in
vestigating next time he hears strange ghostly
noises in the middle of the night.
Next, Santa, is A1 “Flea” Grigg. Please give
him a deck of Bicycle playing cards loaded with
Aces and Kings so he can hit Blackjack everytime
he deals.
Margaret Walker, 319 Scotland Dr., needs a
little help, too, Santa. The street in front of her
house is awful dark at night. She’s asked the city
for a street light, so you might give her request a
little boost to the powers that be.
And Santa, the Kings Mountain Woman’s Club is
in a pickle. They placed several barrels in front of
their club on E. Mountain St. to collect paper and
10M
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aluminum for their recycling project. Well, Santa,
some culprit has made off with the barrels. See
what you can do to replace them, huh?
And talking about replacing things, let me put in
a good word for The Mirror-Herald. Somebody
absconded with her newspaper sales rack last
week. It lasted longer than we thought it would,
but I guess that’s because it was not nailed down.
That probably confused the thief.
There is a woman in the Bethlehem Community,
a member of the Bethlehem Baptist — I don’t
know her name — who called on us in hysterics
over a recent article. For her I’d appreciate it if
you could stuff her Christmas stocking with some
tranquilizers.
Now let’s consider Thomas H. Barnette. He
owns and operates the Park-In on Hwy. 74 west of
town. What he needs, Santa, is a sense of humor.
Poor fdla, he never has any fiai. I’m only jesting,
Santa. Thomas is okay in the humor department.
Just make sure he never loses it.
There are a couple of vacancies in the religious
community, Santa. Well, one vacancy now and
another expected at the end of the year. Both of
them are Litheran. It would be nice, Santa, if the
The flight-of
replacements for the Rev. Robert Allen and the
Rev. Glenn Boland turned out to mean as much to
the community as they did and do. Let's face it.
We need all the help we can get.
Now, there is a tall order for you to consider,
Santa. New life in the Central Business District.
Sorry to put this burden on your head, old fellow,
but there isn’t much being done in other quarters
to interest outside businessmen and merchants in
settling down here.
If you could do something in this area it would
mean a great deal to a lot of people in this com
munity.
Such a present would mean bustling business
here.
By the same token you can do something to
make business lousy for the firefighters, police
officers and rescue volunteers during the coming
year, if you get what I mean.
At the same time see if you can-t do something
to set the rip-off artists and criminal-minded
citizens on a more constructive path. And if that
fails, then bless them with an abundance of car-
bincles on their feet so they can’t get around so
good.
And to ow young Mormon Missionary friends,
make their roads mostly downhill. It isn't easy to
cover an entire county on a bicycle.
For our good friend George LublanezU, always
make sure the coffee is tasty and hot.
And, Santa, not wishing anyone bad luck, but
make sure something appropriate occurs to the
next merchant who writes "Xmas” instead of
“Christmas” on his store windows.
While on this point, how about hovering over
Texas long enough to give Madelyn Murray
O’Hair a little peace of mind about religious
scenes and activities. If she has peace of mind
then she won't drive the rest of us nuts.
Santa, Baby, this list could go on forever. But by
this time I think ysu got the general drift of what I
am trying to say. . . .
In general make this one a Merry Christmas.
One that will spill over in essence and feeling
throughout the coming year.
See you, Christmas Eve.
One of tfaemost famous events in North Carolina
history took placeon December 17,1903 — the first
recorded flight of man.
Orville and Wilbur Wright’s invention rose from
the sands near Kill Devil Hill at Kitty Hawk.
The event transcends state history, of course,
and is a memorable event in the history of all
mankind and his eternal reach for the skies. It is
regarded, specifically, as “. . . the first powered
flight of a heavier-than-air machine.” The
brothers from Ohio not only made a name for
themselves in history, but also brought q)ecial
attention to North Carolina as their testing
ground. A national monument and museum now
mark the site of that historic flight.
The brothers had proviously made over a
thousand successful glider flights at Kitty Hawk,
over a three-year period. They selected the spot
because of its isolation, its sandy, open ground and
constant winds. They spnt several months a year
at Kitty Hawk, then returned to their bicycle shop
in Dayton to earn a living and make further ex
periments in motors and designs.
A total of four successful powered flights #ere
made that morning of December 17 in a one-and-
one-half - how period. Orville (by a toss of the
coin) made the first, then Wilbur. A handful of
men from the nearby life-saving station were on
hand to carry the machine back to its starting
point and place it on the guide-rail. The historic
first flight was accompanied by little emotion or
cdebration (Orville had already described it as
“inevitable”). It was not true that — as a Norfolk
papier wrote the next day — Wilbur bad run along
side shouting “Ewekal;; as Orville left the
grotmd.
The longest flight that day was 8S2 feet, and
lasted for 57 seconds. It is ironic that today hang-
gliders on nearby Jockey Ridge exceed that
performance on almost a daily basis.”
-oOo-
€D
9MITH
(Hyde R. Hoey, Governor of the state (1937-41)
and U. S. Senator, was born in Shelby, on Dec. 11,
1877. As a boy he worked as a printer's “devil”
(assistant) on the old Shelby “Aurora'.” After
learning the trade he moved to Charlotte to be a
typiesetter on the “Observer”, but rMurned to
Shelby to take over a bankrupt papier, becoming
editor and owner at sixteen!
Reading law in his spiare time he pamed the bar,
and was elected to the state legislature at 20,
before being able to vote for himzelf.” Hoey
swved in the U. S. Senate from 1945 until his death
in 1954. s
-pOo-
Samuel Johnston was born In Dundee, Scotland,
on Dec. 15,1733. Coming to North Carolina to serve
as assistant to hti unde. Royal Governor Gabriel
Johnston, he remained here to practice law, then
switched sides to back the American cause of
indepiendence. He later served as Governor
-V
RC^DCR A Christmas story
DIRiLOGUe
Appreciation
To the editor.
Just thought I would drop a line to express my
appreciation to the city for the new (Hiiistmas
decorations.
The decorations are unusual and vary pretty. I
know the city employes worked hard putting up
the decorations because I mw them at work.
JANE MOREHEAD
Kings Mountain
It was Christmas Eve; and after Bobby had
carefully hung his stocking by the fireplace, he
went off to bed Usually Bobby did not like to go to
bed early, but tonight he was eager to get to sleep
so as to be sure to wake up early to see his gifts.
For thdr Bible reading that day Bobby and his
father had read Jesus’ own words to His friends in
John 15:22. Five words had stayed in Bobby's
mind, and hs kept saying them over until he fell
asleep. They were the words, “If I had not come.”
It seemed as if he had not bean asleep any time
when a cross, harsh voice said: “Get up, get up, I
tdl you! It’s time to get igi.”
Thinking about the skates he wanted, and the
flashlight and the books for which he had been
wishing, Bobby got up and hurried into hie clothes
himself, and acted as chairmen of the convention
which ratified the U. S. Constitution and brought
this state into the Unioa
-oOo-
On Dec. 13, 1862, the Fifty-Fourth and Fifty-
Seventh North Carolina Regiments — both new
and Inexperienced — participated in the bloody
Civil War battle of Freckicksburg. According to
the North Carolina Historical Almanac, the Fifty-
seventh lost 250 men in less than half-an-hour.
and went downstoirs. But all was still. No one was
there tOvgreet him; no stocking hung by the
fireplace; no wreaths were In the window; no
splendid tree was there.
Hwrying to the door, Bobby looked down the
street. The factory was open, and he could hear
runbleof the machinery. He grabbed his hat and
sweater and raced down the street to the factory
door, and thero stood a grim-looking foreman.
“What’s the factory running for on Christmas?
Asked Bobby.
“Oiristmas?” asked the man "What do you
mean? I never heard that word. This is one of our
busy days, so clesr out.”
(T\irn To Page 3)
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