THE HYDE COUNTY HERALD
I Guess It’s—No It Isn’t!
Artificial Christmas? You might call it that, for modern chem
istry has pulled all sorts of synthetic rabbits out of industry’s hat
for this year’s gifts. In fact, today’s fashionable miss will find in
her Christmas stocking enough synthetics to keep her busy from
tuorning ’til night. Give a look!
Picture
Parade
m
The morning tub with mountains
suds and a generous-sized bath
®Ponge! What, not a sponge? No,
•his “sponge” is made of paper, but
it Works just as well.
Surely there are no synthetics in
this picture. Guess again. The
bristles in that tooth brush never
had a speaking acquaintance with
any animai.
Something new in hats. This
JbJart littie number is made of plas
tics and wood. Everything from At-
tican mahogany to New England sil
t'd' birch goes into feminine head-
*car.
Miss 1940 steps forth on a rainy
day in her smart ensemble, water
proofed by a new substance made
of coke, limestone and salt, which
chemical science has made into a
magic material called koroseal.
'i'hls Christmas’ costume jewelry
datoi
comes from the chemist’s lab-
ry.
As does this tricky vanity with a
tiny light at the top for better
makeup.
i'hen milady retires, her tradi-
Oal hundred strokes with the
ish are accomplished with a com-
ation brush-comb made of plas-
More chemical magic: A pack of
playing cards of synthetic paper; a
cigarette lighter which looks like
metal but was really made of plas-
I tics.
THE CROWDED INN
A ll day long they had been go
ing by the inn, camels and don
keys stirring up dust, weary men
and women resting by the stream
outside the inn yard. The little coun
try maid had never seen so much
travel.
Just outside the city of Jerusalem,
near by the village of Bethlehem,
there were plenty of people who
stopped for refreshment. And Jere
miah kept a good inn. He was a
good man, too. But
he was hard, spar
ing neither man nor
beast. And his niece
Rebecca was hard
put to do the tasks
that were set before
her.
“Why are there so
many travelers to
day?” she asked the
little slave girl who
helped her prepare
the evening meal.
“The tribesmen,” replied Fatima,
"are going to Jerusalem to be num
bered, so that they may pay their
taxes. And this will continue for
days. These are not times of re
joicing and feasting for us!”
Rebecca looked up as a bearded
man, leading an ass on which a
young woman rode, entered the
courtyard. “Is the inn keeper
here?” he asked gently. “My wife
and I seek shelter.”
“There are no rooms left,” Fa
tima told him, going on with her
work. But Rebecca looked up at the
woman, whose face was weary and
touched with pain.
“I will see what provision can be
made,” the little maid exclaimed.
Her eyes never left the young wom
an’s sweet face. The woman smiled
at Rebecca, and her husband smiled
too. Rebecca’s face lightened ea
gerly and even Fatima found her
self softening.
Rebecca had some difficulty find
ing her uncle, busy as he was with
many things. ’Then it was hard to
make him listen.
“There must be some place, un
cle. That new stable, with the clean
straw, would be warm and comfort
able. She cannot go farther, I
know.”
“So be it,” he answered. Then,
as they neared the group, he too
was impressed by the young wom
an’s beauty and the lovely warmth
of her smile. "There is naught but
the stable,” he told them, “but Re
becca will seek to make you com
fortable there."
Even after she had done every
thing she could, and had crept into
her own dark corner for the night,
Rebecca found she could not forget
the couple in the stable. Mary, the
man had called his wife. There was
such a radiance about her. “I won
der what makes her so different,”
Rebecca thought. And she opened
her eyes.
In amazement she saw light in
the courtyard, so much that it
seemed the dawn must have come.
But the light came from a star that
shone just about the stable. Out into
the yard the girl crept, and sudden
ly she heard a child’s cry, a cooing,
happy sound.
Rebecca looked about. No one
was stirring. Far off, on the hill
side she saw what looked like a
group of men, shadowy, indistinct,
seemingly moving toward Bethle
hem. It must be her imagination.
Possibly it was Ephraim’s vineyard
she saw. Soon she stood in the stable
doorway.
There, lighted by a lantern, was
Joseph, bending over the young
woman and holding in his arms a
tiny baby—her firstborn. At Rebec
ca’s exclamation he turned, and in
to her outstretched arms he handed
the little figure and showed her the
snowy lengths of swaddling cloth.
Tenderly the maid clothed the in
fant and laid it beside the mother.
“Thank you,” Mary whispered.
“For the child’s sake and in His
name, I thank you for what you
have done. We thank
her, don’t we,
Jesus?”
The baby opened
his eyes and smiled.
“He smiled at
me,” Rebecca ex
claimed. "I shall
never forget, a new
bom babe smiled in
to my face to say
thank you.”
Mary drew the
child into the shelter
of her arms. Her eyes closed, Joseph
walked to the doorway and watched
Rebecca as she returned to her
room. He, too, saw the clump of
trees or vines, or was it a group of
men on the hillside? Then he re
turned to the manger and settled
down beside Mary and the sleeping
Jesus.
Glass backgammon board? ^ot a bit . . . it s also plastic.
Don’t Marry the Girl
Day After Christmas
If you believe the early monks,
don’t select the day after Christ
mas to get married, start a new
job or put on that new suit. It’s
Childermass day, commemorat
ing the slaughter of the Holy In
nocents by Herod, and in the ear
ly days was considered an occa
sion of the greatest ill-omen.
Children, according to legend,
were soundly whipped Childer
mass day to impress on their
minds the story of the baby mar
tyrs.
So intense was the fear of this
unfortunate festival that the coro
nation of England’s King Edward
IV was postponed in order to
avoid the fatal date.
White House Maintains
Traditions 139 Years Old
WASHINGTON. — Santa Claus
makes his 139th visit to the White
House this Christmas, carrying on a
tradition started December 25, 1800,
when Kris Kringle called on little
Suzannah, granddaughter of Presi
dent John Adams from Massachu
setts.
The White House in those days
was in an unfinished state and the
great barnlike rooms were only
scantily furnished, providing a great
contrast to the beautifully appointed
mansion of today. Yet the same
joyous spirit prevailed on that
Christmas morning, more than a
century and a quarter ago, as that
found in the White House this Yule-
tide.
From early years of our country.
Presidents have set aside the heavy
burden of state and made merry
Christmas day with their families.
Christmas Tree Useful
During Rest of Winter
AMHERST, MASS.—In northern
states where Christmas heralds the
coming of cold winter weather, the
tree that warms the living room De
cember 25 is being put to work the
balance of the winter outdoors. Ac
cording to Arnold M. Davis, exten
sion horticulturist at Massachusetts
state college, fir trees can make ex
cellent “feeding stations” for birds
and offer them cozy shelter on frosty
winter nights. Suet is often tied to
the branches. The tree is also used
to protect climbing plants, or the
branches can be ripped off and laid
as a mulch over low-growing plants
or bulbs. Northern beekeepers find
the trees handy as windbreaks.
Sun’s ‘Virginia’
Still Has Faith
In Santa Claus
"Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.
He exists as certainly as love and gen
erosity and devotion exist, and you
know that they abound and give to life
its highest beauty and joy.’’
Yule Flower Named
After U. S. Diplomat
Thank an early American diplo
mat for the poinsettia plant you
receive (or don’t receive) Christ
mas morning. The flaming flower
whose vermillion-red leaves are
mistaken at a distance for the
petals of its flower, was brought
to the United States about 1820
by Joel Roberts Poinsett, minis
ter to Mexico, who discovered it
growing there. Poinsett, who had
studied both law and medicine
abroad and served many years in
the diplomatic service, ended his
career in the American house of
representatives from 1821 to 1825.
But were it not for the plant he
brought back from Mexico, bis
name would now be unknown.
—Being Directions
On How to Carve
Christinas Turkey
Gather round ye masters of the
Christmas dinner table. Uncle Sam
will teach you a lesson:
The government has issued an of
ficial bulletin on the proper tech
nique for carving the Christmas tur
key.
The bulletin rules on such impor
tant problems as whether the fa
ther should stand or sit while do
ing the honors and the position of the
turkey on the platter. All you have
to do is read this, and carving the
festive bird will be a lead-pipe cinch.
“The turkey rides on the platter
back down,” says the bureau of
home economics. “The first prob-
"T^te 7Moytintpeniimi7
Tula is keepiAe
i
lem is father’s: Should he stand or
sit while carving?”
There are two schools of thought
on this subject, and the government
grants father his constitutional
rights to do as he pleases. But it
is suggested, after deliberation, that
a short person had best stand and a
tall person should sit for the most
effective work. Are you short or
tall?
The next problem, says the bulle
tin, is the point of attack. It is
here that many a head of a house,
the bureau believes, has lost the
Christmas spirit through ignorance
or awkwardness—or just plain stub
bornness.
Only a few simple rules need be
followed. ’The most important, of
course, is to keep the bird on the
platter, because it’s rather difficult
to work on the fioor. Also, the bu-
Ttext probleTto
4^ Ruth Wyeth Spears
HEM
SEAM
Patchwork border for lunch cloth.
'T'HE new uses for crazypatch
stitches in Sewing Book 3 have
aroused so much interest that it
set us to thinking of smart new
ways to use pieced quilt block
designs. This border pieced of
small patterned cotton prints of
all kinds and colors put together
with red and blue strips is the
result. It is very striking and
decorative for lunch cloth shown
here which, by the way, is made
of unbleached muslin bags. The
seams where the bags are joined
to make the cloth the desired size
are covered with straight 1-inch
bands of the red and blue mate
rial as shown at the right.
The diagram at the lower left
shows you how to make a pattern
Strange Facis
8-Year Salvage Job
Nurses Out of Sky
Pontiffs Train Shy
Forty-two years ago an editorial
writer for the New York Sun penned
these now-famous lines in answer to
a scrawled letter from a little girl
named Virginia, whose faith in San
ta had been shaken.
Today Virginia is grown up, mar
ried, and serves as assistant prin
cipal in an east side New York
school. Her name is Dr. Laura Vir
ginia Douglas and this Christmas
she’s playing Santa Claus not only
to her pupils but her own daughter.
Meanwhile, in 42 years she’s evolved
some ideas of her own on what to
tell children about Santa Claus.
Pink-cheeked, vivacious, yet shy
and hesitant in speaking of personal
matters. Dr. Douglas is not in favor
of breaking the news boldly to a
child that there is no Santa Claus.
He win learn naturally, she says, as
he turns from the free, imaginative
stage of early childhood to an in
terest in the world around him.
When she first became old enough
to realize the lull meaning of the
Sun’s editorial, she felt badly be
cause poor children were not able
to have Christmas gilts as tangible
evidence of Santa’s existence. Lat
er, she says, she grew to realize that
material gifts were not so impor
tant as the faith which even the very
poor child could have in something
spiritual.
reau estimates, a bird on the plat
ter is worth two on the tablecloth.
“First,” the bureau said, “remove j
the leg from the body by grasping j
it in your left hand (but what if j
you’re left handed?) and cutting
straight down to the hip joint. Re- I
move the wings and the other leg. |
“Then place the fork squarely |
across the breastbone toward the'
end of the keel, to anchor the bird
while you carve the breast in slices;
using a slightly sawing motion.”
If you don’t like the shape of your
turkey, or the distribution of dark
and white meat, well—why not have
your wile carve in the first place?
Christmas Hymns
Ring From Depths
Of Michigan Mine
ISHPEMING, MICH. — “Silent
Night, Holy Night” drifts mysteri
ously up the pitch-black Morris mine
shafts here. Down below, 1,500 feet
underground, 200 grimy-faced work
men pause for the world’s most
unique Christmas party, an annual
event held at the Inland Steel com
pany’s iron mine here.
Finn and Au^rian, Swede and
Englishman, Italian and Irishman,
these helmeted giants of the earth
join lustily in Christmas hymns as
elevators carry them to the 1,500-
Genial Jim Fowler, garbed as
Santa Claus, gives Elmer fPetara,
one of the miners, a folding
rule as remembrance of a six-
inch error.
loot level where their party is held.
“Genial Jim” Fowler, 225-pound
timber boss, strides forth in a Santa
Claus costume and takes his place
at the brightly lighted tree. Like
children around a tree at home, the
miners stand eager and expectant.
Gifts are rib-tickjing reminders of
errors during the year. Last year,
for example, the mine carpenter was
given a rule—inspired by a six-inch
error made a few months earlier.
The greatest salvage job in his
tory, to which the British na'vy
devoted eight years, making more
than 5,000 dives, was the recovery
of $24,800,000 worth of gold from
the wreck of the White Star liner
Laurentic, which struck a mine
and sank in 120 feet of water off
the north Irish coast in 1917.
France now has a volunteer
corps of approximately 200 “flying
nurses,” women skilled in para
chute-jumping as well as nursing
who are ready at a moment’s no
tice to be flown and dropped, with
their medical kits, at points where
their services are urgently needed.
Keratin is one of the oddest sub
stances produced in human and
animal bodies. Not only is it the
chemical basis and an essential
ingredient in such soft appendages
as wool, fur, hair and feathers,
but also in such hard ones as horn
hoofs, nails, claws and shells.
The only Pontiff of the Roman
Catholic church who ever rode on
a railroad train while pope was
Pius IX, who reigned from 1846 to
1878.—Collier’s.
The Spoken Word
Far more effective (than books)
is the spoken word. There is
something in the voice, the coun
tenance, the bearing and the ges
ture of the speaker, that concur
in flxing an impression upon the
mind, deeper than can even vigor
ous writings.—Pliny the Younger.
for the blue, red and print pieces.
Cut a triangle of stiff papet 4%
inches high and 7 inches wide at
the base. Mark the blue strip 1
inch wide along the left edge as
shown and then the red strip join
ing it on the right edge. Now cut
away the top and lower right cor
ners as shown. Cut the red, blue
and print sections apart and use
them for patterns in cutting the
fabric pieces adding y4-inch seam
at all edges.
NOTE: Readers who are now
using Sewing Books No. 1, 2 and 3
will be happy to learn that No. 4
is ready for mailing; as well as
the 10-cent editions of No. 1, 2
and 3. Mrs. Spears has just made
quilt block patterns for three de
signs selected from her favorite
Early American quilts. You may
have these patterns FREE with
your order for four books. Price
of books—10 cents each postpaid.
Set of three quilt block patterns
without books—10 cents. Send or
ders to Mrs. Spears, Drawer 10,
Bedford Hills, New York.
rOK XMAS STOCKINGS,,
Ineligible to Judge
It is not permitted to the most
equitable of men to be a judge in
his own cause.—Blaise Pascal.
A GREAT BARGAIN ^
VESPER TEA
PU^E ORANGE PEKOE
SO Cups for lO Cents
Ask Your Grocer
YOU'LL SAVE MONET
• • With This “AO” If You Visit
NEW YORK Within Sixty Days
s»*Upon its presentation, you and your
party will be accorded the privilege of
obtaining accommodations at the fol
lowing minimum rates for room & bath.
Single S2.50 • Double $4.06 • Suites $7.00
HOTEL WOODSTOCK
ONC OP NEW rOJtK'S PINE HOTELS
Two Restaurants—Famous for Good Food
43rd STREET Oust East of Times Squan)
GOOD TASTE
Get relief from coughs due to colds without
swallowing bad-tasting medicine. Smith Bros.
Cough Drops taste delicious. Cost only 5^.
Smith Bros. Cough Drops are the
only drops containing VITAMIN A
Vitamin A (Carotene) raises the resistance of
mucous membranes of nose and throat to
cold infections, when lack of resist
ance is due to Vitamin A deficiency.
fire Women Better O
Shoppers than Men ■
GRANTING a woman’s reputation for wise buying, let’s trace the
methods by which she has earned it. Where does she find out about
the advantages and details of electrical refrigerationPWhat tells her
how to keep the whole household clean — rugs, floors, bathroom
tiling — and have energy left over for golf and parties? How does
she learn about new and delicious entrees and desserts that surprise
and delight her family? Where does she discover those subtleties
of dress and make-up that a man appreciates but never understands?
Why, she reads the advertisements. She is a consistent, thought
ful reader of advertisements, because she has found that she can
believe them—and profit thereby. Overlooking the advertisements
would be depriving, herself of data continuously useful in her job
of Purchasing Agent to the Family.
For that matter, watch a wise inan buy a car or a suit or an insur
ance policy. Not a bad shopper himself! He reads advertisements, too!