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Athena Oregon, December 30, 1927
THERE IS A SANTA CLAUS
Little Virginia O'Hanlon, perplexed
by the question, "Is there a Santa
Claus?" wrote to the editor of tha
New York Sun, saying: "I am eight
years old. Some of my little friend3
say there is no Santa Claus. Please
tell me the truth, is there a Santa
Claus?"
An editorial written by Marcellus
Church, published in the Sun in 1897,
one of the finest pieces of English
literature, answered for all time and
all children this old, old question:
"Virginia, your little friends are
wrong. They have been affected by
the skepticism of a skeptical age.
They do not believe except they see.
They think that nothing can be which
is not comprehensible by their little
minds. All minds, Virginia, whether
they be men's or children's, are little.
In this great universe of ours man is
a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect,
as compared with the boundless world
about him, as measured by the intelli
gence capable of grasping the whole
of truth and knowledge.
"Yes. Virginia, there is a Santa
Claus. He exists as certainly as love
and generosity and devotion exist, and
and you know that they abound and
give to your life its highest beauty
and iov. Alas! how dreary would be
the world if there were no Santa
Claus! It would be as dreary as it
there were no Virginias. There
would be no child-like faith in them
no noetrv. no romance to make toler
able this existance. We should have
no enjoyment, except in sense and
sight.. The eternal light with which
childhood fills the world would be ex
tinguised. "Not believe in Santa Clause! You
might as well not believe in fairies!
You might get your papa to hire
men to watch in all chimneys on
Christmas Eve to catch Santa Claus,
but even if they did not see Santa
Claus coming down, what would that
prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus,
but that is no sign that there iH no
Santa Claus. The most real things in
the world are those that neither
children nor men can see. Did you
ever see fairies dancing on the lawn?
Of course not, but that's no proof
that they Tire not there. Nobody can
. conceive or imagine all the wonders
there are unseen and unseeable in the
world.
"You tear apart the baby's rattle
tind see what makes the noise in
side, but thcTo is a veil covering the
unseen world which not the strongest
man nor the united strength of all
the strongest men that ever lived,
could tear apart. Only faith, fancy,
poetry, love, romance, can push aside
that curtain and view and picture the
supernal beauty and glory beyond.
Is it all real? Ah, Virginia, in all
this world there is nothing else real
and abiding.
"No Santa Claus! Thank Cod! he
lives forever. ,A thousand years from
now, Virginia, nay, ten times ten
thousand years from now, he will con
tinue to make glad the heart of childhood."
Ford has sold a plane to Mexico, on
the strength of Lindy's hop over into
the camp of our Southern neighbor.
The plane purchased by the Mexican
government was the one in whichMrs.
Lindburgh rode to Mexico City. All
of which shows that Henry is still
looking after his business interests.
Aimee is focusing in the center of
the limelight again. She has given
$400 to the reward fund offered for
the capture and conviction of Hick
man. That means that Gurdane and
Licuallen will perhaps receive their
bit of "temple" money.
o
New York, with a record for virtual
ly a blameless city for the 24 hour
period over Christmas, when not a
single prisoner was brought into its
police stations, rather hang one on the
large village in Illinios, over which
big, windy "Bill" Thompson presides.
Louis Ludlow, president of the Na
tional Press Club and for thirty years
a Washington newspaper correspon
dent, said in an address before the
Indianapolis Rotary Club: "Speaking
in the parlance with which I am most
familiar, the time is coming in my
opinion when some political party
will be able to register a tremendous
scoop if it goes before the country
on a platform composed of those four
meaningful words, the shortcut and at
the same time the . most impelling
platform the mind of man can con
ceive: 'Buck to the Constitution!' Not
yet, perhaps, nor even soon, but some
day the thinking people of this coun
try will awaken to the demoralizing
and devitalizing influence which
paternalism is exerting in our nation
al institutions, and when they do they
will be not only ready, but eager, for
this four-word, seven-syllabic plat
form. "
There is evidently a bunch of ama
teur burglars in this part of Umatilla
county who are flirting with the
chance of a prison term. Officers
are of the opinion that the two recent
robberies of an Athena grocery store
is the work of inexperienced burglars.
o
Tom and "Buck" will be just as
nervy in vaudeville as they were in
affecting the capture of Hickman;
only it will take more nerve.
Just the same this wheat-growing
section would rather have several
inches of snow covering the ground,
instead of out-of-season springtime.
WHY WE CLING TO LIFE
(Klamath Falls Herald)
Here's a reply a retailer down
South, according to the Sylvania
(Oa.) Telephone, gave in answer to a
request for a check. It's the best di
gest of the present day complex we've
seen:
"I beg leave to inform you that the
present shattered condition of my
bank account makes it impossible for
me to send you a check in response to
your request for funds for the 'Aged
and Decrepit Army Worms.'.
"The state of present financial
condition is due to the effects of fed
eral laws, state laws, county laws,
corporation laws, by-laws, brother-in-laws,
sister-in-laws, mother-in-laws,
and out-laws, that have been foisted
upon an unsuspecting public.
Through their various laws, I have
been held down, held up, walked on,
sat on, sandbagged, flattened and
squeezed until I, do not know where I
am, what I am, who I am, or why
I am.
".These laws compel me to pay a
merchant tax, capital stock tax.exccss
profit tax, income tax', real estate tax,
property tax, state auto tax, city auto
tax, gas tax, water tax, light tax,
amusement tax, cigar tax, cigarette
tax, street tax, road tax, school tax,
surtax, syntax and carpet tax.
"In addition to paying these taxes
I am requested and required to con
tribute to every society and organiza
tion that the inventive mind of man
can organize, lo the society ot tot.
John the Baptist, the Woman's re
lief, the Navy league, the Children's
Home fund, the Policeman's Benefit,
the Dorcas society, the Y. M. C. A., the
Y. W. C. A. , the Boy Scouts, the Jew
ish Relief, the Near East Relief and
the Cold Diggers' Home. Also, every
hospital and every charitable institu
tion in town, the Red Cross, the Black
Cross, the White Cross, the Purple
Cross and the Double Cross.
"The government has so governed
my business that I do not know who
owns it. I am suspected, expected,
inspected, disrespected, examined, re
examined, informed, required, com
manded and compelled until all 1
know is that I am supposed to provide
an inexhaustible supply of money for
every known need, desire or hope of
the human race, and I refuse to do
nate all I have and go out and beg,
borrow and steal money to give away.
I am cussed, discussed, boycotted,
talked to, talked about, lied to.lied
about, held up, held down and robbed,
until I am nearly ruined, so the only
reason I am clinging to life is to see
what in the H is coming next."
THE CAGED FOX
(Oregon Journal)
Hickman was too smart for the
Los Angeles police. But his wits
failed when he hit the trail in the
Eastern Oregon cattle country. There
life is rugged and men are men.
In Umatilla jail he is thinking
it over. It has been a wild, weird
week for him, and an appalling week
for millions of people.
His visit to the school, his ride
away from the school with the little
girl, the notes he caused her to write,
and all the rest of the fiendish de
tails are in the picture that harasses
his tortured mind. As the "fox,"
he made sundry boasts of what he
could and would do. But he is a
caged and very tame "fox" now.
There is sorrow in a little home in
Los Angeles, where the chair of the
child is vacant. There is a little
gray-haired mother who is mad
dened with grief, in Kansas City.
That, , and himself execrated even
by criminals and en route to doom,
are what he got for his week's work.
A killing could not have been more
wanton. , Hickman denies that he
murdered the child, but they all
deny. He would deny that he stole
the girl, but the tell-tale $20 bills
in the ransom money make that
denial impossible.
They say newspapers ought not
to print crime news. It was the
finger prints and photographs of
Hickman printed broadcast' in the
newspapers that led to the capture
The fugitive's face became known
to every newspaper reader. That
he had passed one of the tell-tale
bills in Seattle was heralded through
the newspapers, and that was the
beginning of ' the end of the man
hunt. The newspapers made his es
cape impossible.
Hickman is only 19. Loeb and
Leopold were about the same age
when they set out to commit the
perfect crime in a quest for thrills.
In the state of Washington a few
days ago, a 17-year-old boy shot
an old man to get money for Christ
mas remembrances for his sweet
heart. Has society no thought of the
youth of these murderers? Mobs in
Los Angeles are clamoring for Hick
man's life. But when the blood for
feit is paid, they will forget and all
the others will forget. Out of what
we aro seeing wouldn't it be a wise
policy to get down to fundamentals
and seek prevention of killings by
boys that a generation or two ago
were rarely if ever heard of but
are of almost daily occurrence some
where in the country now?
Hickman and his crime are so
loathed that mob violence is threat
ened. The fury of the mass in Los
Angeles is as manifest as Hickman's
crime was ferocious.
But no stain of mob vengeance,
should bo added to the atrocious work
already done. The law, if let alone,
will settle with the hand that carved
the body of the little girl into fragments.
instigation of Loki, the spirit of evil,
Balder was slain by a twig of mistletoe
in the hands of the blind god Hodur,
Then the gods decreed that the
mistletoe should never again work
evil so long as it did not touch the
earth. This, it is said, is why it grows
as a semi-parasite on trees, and, never
on the ground.
At Christmas time people still sus
pend it from the ceiling as an emblem
of peace. When persons of the oppo'
site sex pass under it they give each
other the kiss of peace and love in
the assurance that the mistletoe is no
longer an instrument of mischief,
Mistletoe had an important place in
the regilious ceremonies of the Druids,
to whom it was sacred, especially when
found on oaks. Some authorities
credit the Druids of early Britain, a
half century before Christ, with be
ing the originators of this now world
wide custom. When people became
Christians they held on to many of
the old customs. Thus we continue
to decorate our homes and places of
worship with greenery. Holly, which
is easily secured at Christmas time,
has become the favorite, while mistle
toe has by no means been forgotten.
The latter, however, is not generally
used in churches because it was once
so closely allied with pagan cere
monies. There are some 20 species of
mistletoe, made up of over 450 va
rieties, the berries on some varieties
being pink. But just one variety is
enough to kiss under. The usual cus
tom or practice nowadays is that
when a man sees a lady walk under
or stand under mistletoe he is privi
leged to kiss her, but he must do so
while she is under it. A lady has the
same privilege
MISTLETOE
(Pathfinder)
The origin of the mistletoe custom
is interwoven with one of the myth
ological legends of Scandinavia. Bald
er, one of the principal gods, was
about to be tortured by Mara, the
demon who spent his life flitting
savagely among sleepers with tor
ments. The other gods decided to
conjure all things water, metals ,poi
sons -to save him from harm. But
they forgot one thing mistletoe be
cause they thought It too frail and
young to harm anyone. But at the
AIR FIXED NITRATE FERTILIZERS
ARE NOW SHIPPED TO FAR LANDS
Made At Niagara Falls And Warners, N. J., For Shipment To
Japan And Java
When the census Bureau completes
its count of the inhabitants of the
United States in 1930, it will be found
that the population will have reached
KM.OOO.noO, W. M. Stcuatt. diicilor
f the census, says in his annual re
port. The first time Uncle Sam
counted noses was in 1790, and the
number found was 3,929,214. At the
last count, in 1920, the total was
105,710,620. Mr. Steuart suggests a
census once in five years instead of
once in ten years.
Well, it didn't take very long for
the "fox" to turn yellow, once the
Los Angeles officers arrived at
Pendleton, Their presence brought
him back to the nearness of his de
parture for the scenes of his awful
crime and hia nerve simply melted be
fore the ordeal.
Nitrogen from the air thousands
of tons ot It are being manufac
tured and turned Into fertilizers,
right hore In the United States.
With all the controversy about
making cheap fertilizers at Muscle
Shoals, one might conclude that
this Is a highly questionable ven
ture. It should be reassuring,
therefore, to know that this project
Is thoroughly practicable anil that
we not only have a plant at Niagara
Falls turning out great quantities
of atr nitrates fixed by the cyanamld
process, but that this nitrate ma?
torlal Is combined with phosphoric
acid at Warners, New Jersey, to
fertilizers is able to sell abroad
without any help from protecttvo
tariffs because of the low original
cost of the product and because of
the large savings In freight and
handling duo to the concentrated
nature of the product.
Even more Important to the
American fertilizer consumer Is the
fact that this is the same company
the American Cyanamld Company
which last, winter came forward
with the offer to take the cyanamld
plant at Muscle Shoals the same
plant, Incidentally, which this com
pany erected for the Government
during tho war and operate It. to
5&
II 1 k II MM: ' 'ilM'l ftllll- 1
VAu
President Signs Deficiency Bill.
Washington, D. C President Cooi
Idge has signed the deficiency bill
carrying emergency appropriations of
$203,00,000 for various government
activities. .
NOTICE.
In the County Court of the State of
Oregon, for Umatilla County.
In the matter of the Estate of Clar
ence Ogilvy, presumed to be dead.
Notice is hereby given by an order
of the above entitled Court made and
entered in the matter herein on the
16th day of December, 1927, the
above entitled Court has found that
the legal presumption of the death
of the said Clarence Ogilvy is made
out.
Notice is hereby further given that
the said presumed decedent, if alive,
or any other person for him, is re
quired to produce to the Court with
in twelve weeks from the date of
the last publication of this notice,
satisfactory evidence of the continu
ance in life of said presumed de
cedent; and that if no such evidence
is produced within said time the
above entitled Court will proceed with
the administration of the estate of
the said presumed decedent.
This notice is published pursuant
to an order made and entered by the
above entitled Court in the above en
titled matter, on the 16th day of
December, 1927, which said order di
rects that this notice shall be pub
lished for a period of two successive
weeks in the Athena Press, a news
paper of general circulation as de
fined by Section 68, Oregon Laws.
Watts & Prestbye, R. T. BROWN,
Athena, Oregon, Clerk.
Attys. for Petitioner. D23J6.
NOTICE OF FINAL ACCOUNT
In the County Court of the State of
Oregon, for Umatilla County.
In the matter of the Estate of Will
iam P. Willaby, Deceased.
Notice is hereby given that the
undersigned has filed her final ac
count and report in the above entitled
matter and that the above entitled
Court has fixed Saturday, the 7th
day of January, 1928, at the hour of
10:00 o'clock a. m. of said day, as
the time, and the County Court room
in the County Court house at Pen
dleton, Umatilla county, Oregon, i as
the place, for the hearing of said fi
nal account and report. Objections
to said final account and report
should be filed on or before that date.
Dated at Athena, Oregon, this 9th
day of December, A. D. 1927.
HESTER WILLABY,
Administratrix of the Estate of Will
iam P. Willaby, Deceased. Watts &
Prestbye, Athena, Oregon, Attor
neys for Estate. D9J6
. tr'
y
DR. J. L. GEYER
Dentist
Post Building, Athena, Phone 582
DR. S. F. SHARP
PHYSICIAN AND SURGEON
Athena, Oregon
DR. W. G. COWAN
PinsiCIAN AND SURGEON
Athena. Oregon
WATTS & PRESTBYE
Attorneys-At-Law
Main Street. Athena. Oreguu
State and Federal Court Practice
A Happy New Year o
all is our Sincere wish
Marcelling
Scalp Treatments
Shampoos, Henna Packs
Weston Beauty shoppe
Located in Barber Shop
Lilla R Sherton.
Rogers C& Goodman
( A Mercantile Trust)
m We Handle Genuine m
ud GoodSjNo Substitutes. K
D.R.SHAMPQO
Good, Clean
Shaving
and
Baths
Up-to-the Minute Bobs
Hair Cuts and Shingles
DUFFIELD'S BARBER SHOP
Athena. Ore.
I over
Christmas
andKew&ars
to all points
in Oregon
Washington
Idaho and
Montana
Sale Dates
December2t23t24f25
final return UmiUanwryS
U N I O N
PACIFIC
.1KB OVliUAND ROUTB
C. M. EAGER, Agent MiM
..... mmi
mnena. wreir
Foley's Honey sad Tar
wres colds, prevents pneumonia
Jensens
Blacksmith Shop
Horseshoeing
Prices Reasonable '
Athena, Oregon.
3
1
American Beauty Bread
Baked by the most modern and up-to-date process known to the
art of baking. Insuring you uniform quality the year round. Ask
your grocer. .
MILTON BAKERY, H. W. Kreiger Prop. .
WE CALL FOR AND DELIVER
Monday, Thursday, Saturday
Cleaning, Pressing, Repairing,' Dyeing
r Rugs Cleaned and Sized
Twin City Sanitary Cleaners
F. E. Smith, Milton-Frecwater
Our Agency is at Penn Harris Barber Shop?" The home of good
Haircuts and Shaves. Phone 583.
t Pays to Look Well!
r
To look well you should keep your hair properly cut your face
shaved and massaged In fact everything in the Barber line.
Come in and see Herb Parker and I.
Penn Harris Barber Shop
Agency for Troy Laundry and Twin City Sanitary Cleaners.
Phone 583.
fi SOME OF THE FACILITIES OFFERED BY
p THE FIRST NATIONAL BANK OF ATHENA
-? . .
p. SAFETY DEPOSIT BOXES For rent from $1 per year up.
jg These boxes are kept in our fire-proof and burglar-proof
p$ vault, and they are accessable to you at any time during
banking hours, -INTEREST
ON DEPOSITS We will pay you Interest at the
rate of 4 per cent per annum, compounded semi-annually
if you, wish, on our certificates of deposit. In the last five
years we have paid our customers over $75,000 in interest
on deposits.
WE OFFER FOR SALE Insured mortgage bonds, insured by
the National Surety Company of America. These bonds
are in $100, $500 and $1,000 denominations and draw in- jp
terest at the rate of 6 per cent, coupons payable semi- H
annually. &
CSTABLISriEJ) 1865
Preston-Shaffer Milling Co.
AMERICAN BEAUTY
FLOUR
is caade in Athena, bj" Athena labor, in one ol the very best
equipped mills in the Northwest, of the best selected Bluestem
wheat grown anywhere. Patronize home industry. Your
grocer sells the famous American Beauty Flour
Merchant Millers & Grain Buyers
Vthena. Oregon.
Waitshurg, Wash