The Chemawa American, December 20, 1916, Page 4, Image 4

T H E C H E M A W A A M E R IC A N
PAG E 4
THE TRU E CH IRSTM AS S P IR IT
T o every h eart th a t know s th e m eaning of C h rist­
m as, th ere com es a little m ore w arm th, a little m ore
tenderness, a little m ore love, as the h appy season a p ­
proaches. E ven th e h ard est h earts will open tip to
some e x te n t w hen the sp irit of C hristm as asks a d m it­
tance. A bout a week ago a m an was heard to say, ‘ I
am not going to give any p resen ts th is year; nobody
gives me a n y th in g .” A few days later, th is sam e m an
was seen at the post office reg isterin g packages to dear
ones in the E ast. H e could not harden him self ag ain st
th e call of love th a t dem ands a desire to give. G iv in g
is the real significance of C hristm as, and th ere is b u t
one tru e w ay of g iv in g — th a t is in love and good w ill.
I t was th is g reat and pow erful force th a t created the
occasion for C h ristm as in th e b irth of th e C h rist— G o d ’s
greatest g ift to th e w orld. It is in th e th o u g h t of th is
th a t we should celebrate th e season.
C hristm as is and should be th e happiest tim e of the
year; yet we should not keep it in h ilarity and th o u g h t­
less pleasure. W e are, indeed, to be m erry and ch eer­
ful an d get all th e enjoym ent possible out of th e o p p o r­
tu n ities for innocent pleasure th a t comes to us at th is
tim e; b u t th e k ey n o te to our happiness should be th e
th o u g h t of giving others pleasure, com fort, or cheer.
Somehow d u rin g these days our th o u g h ts go back,
perhaps m any vears, to som e little act, or w ord, or gift
of a kind friend or associate, and even yet we feel
strongly draw n to th a t person, w ishing we m ig h t do
som ething to show our appreciation.
In some of th e cities th ere is a pretty custom of
children of com fortable m eans giving to those in need.
H u n d red s of hom es in our own cou n try scarcely
know th a t C hristm as conies. T h in k of th e g en uine
happiness th a t a basket of goodies, w ith some articles
of warm clothing and a toy or tw o, would b rin g to
th e little ones in poverty.
T h ere is still an o th er way to give happiness and
thereby gain it— th a t is, in g iv in g k in d , e n c o u ra g in g
words and a b rig h t, cheerful co u n ten an ce to those
about us. T h is is th e way in w hich all at C hem aw a
can give. W e do not have the needy and u n fo rtu n a te,
but we have m any w ith ach in g , lonely h earts. To
these we can give the tru e C hristm as gift of love and
th u s create th ro u g h o u t o u r school th e g en u in e C h rist­
mas joy.
DEBATE
Probably as m uch in terest was taken in th e deb ate
last W ednesday evening as if it w ere an an n u al foot­
ball gam e. A representative from each of th e four
societies w as chosen to tak e part in th e debate. T h e
question debated was Resolved, th a t th e P resid en t of
the U nited States shall be elected bv p opular v o te .”
Leona Jo h n , of th e N onpareil Society, and R obert
Service, of the E xcelsior, took the affirm ative side;
w hile N ellie M etcalf, of the W inona, and Jam es C rane
of th e Reliance, the negative.
M uch society sp irit and health y riv alry w as e x ­
h ib ited , and each society gave songs and yells w h en ­
ever an o p p o rtu n ity offered. T h e speakers show ed
no little ability as orators as well as know ledge of the
subject, and it w as really a w ell-handled debate.
F o r th e past few w eeks the respective debaters m ade
freq u en t visits to th e Salem as well as C hem aw a lib ra­
ry to secure data, and each speech was prepared w ith ­
o u t assistance. T h e negative was u n fo rtu n a te in
h aving the h ardest side of the question.
Both sides deserve credit for the efforts p u t forth.
T h e ju dges, com posed of M rs. Jaq u in s, Mr. Brace
and Mr. P endergrass, rendered a decision in favor of
th e affirm ative. A violin solo by G eorge B arrett anti
a couple of accordion solos by \\ illiam C huck, to ­
g eth er w ith a song by the m ale double q u a rte tte were
also much enjoyed. M r. H am m ond presided.
P U P IL S ’ ITEM S
T h e g irls’ new uniform sk irts will be finished this
w eek.
Alvin Todd left for his hom e at A rlee. M ontana, on
account of illness.
M r. and M rs. B angs of P o rtlan d visited M rs. C lark
one day last w eek.
O ne of the best boilers of th e school h eatin g system
is u n d erg o in g repairs.
M iss R oberts has been very busy teaching the eig h th
g rad e class how to m ake out m enus.
T h e 9th grade are co nsidering the cast for th e play
w hich they are to give on W a sh in g to n ’s b irth d ay .
T h e p rin tin g office force is k ep t busy these days g e t­
tin g out the W eekly A m erican and the Chem aw a M ag­
azine.
T h e Reliance Society and W inona Society lost in
th e jo in t debate; b u t as som eone had to lose, they
took the loss gracefully.
Louise Sheehan and P ete r F o n tain e , of B row ning,
M ontana, have been m arried recently. Both were for­
m er stu d en ts of C hem aw a.
Miss M itchell is g iving her class in th e sew ing-room
lessons in lace m aking. T h e th e pupils are taking
g reat interest in th e ir w ork.
M rs. Leland S hort, nee V iola F erris, an ex -stu d e n t,
w ishes to be rem em bered to friends at C hem aw a. She
is located at O rleans, C alifornia.
‘‘E xcellence M eans L ab o r” is the m otto of th e 8th
grade, so every one of th e class should p u t fo rth his
best effort and try to live up to it.