THURSDAY, DECEMBER 23, 1943.
HERMISTON HERALD HERMISTON. OREGON
PAGE FOUR
Fire Hazards
Beset Homes
At Christmas
wweseswe
CHRISTDAS JoY
paratrooper, Santa Claus, to start his
friendly invasion. We Just want to say we
hope he makes a happy landing, right in
your home, bringing you more Christmas
eheer than you’ve ever had before.
UNION CLUB
Yuletide draws people closer
together, helps us all towards
quiet friendliness and group
enjoyment of days like
Christmas.
A most proper time for us
to express our sincere appre
ciation for your friendship,
and to wish for you an abun
dance of Christmas joy.
MA SAWYER sewed the final
stitch in the Christmas turkey
while she kept her ear “peeled” for
the postman’s step. Still, she actual
ly dreaded his coming lest he bring
another card of loving regrets like
the one received yesterday from
their son Fred. Even four grown
boys did not dispel the possibility
of a lonely Christmas for Ma and
Pa.
She answered the double ring, and
forced a smile as she waved Ben's
card at Pa. “He can’t make it,
neither. None of them ever yet
mailed a card unless they wasn’t
coming.”
When she came out, Pa asked
mildly, "You ain’t gittin’ a cold, are
you. Ma’"
“Cold? Nonsense, Pa. Jest the
Christmas onions, I s’pose.” “Oh,
Jim will make it easy, seeing his
children is almost grown. And Billy
most died of disappointment ’cause
he couldn’t come home last year.
But folks can’t travel with a new
baby and three other young ones.
This year it’ll be much better for
him.”
When Ma left her tree decorations
to throw a log in the stove, the
crimson glow might have shown Pa
the lines of fearful doubt on her
round face. But he had just wasted
another match on his pipe. “Sup
pose neither Jim nor Billy can
come?” ran through Ma’s tortured
mind.
At quarter to four, she wished the
letter carrier a merry Christmas
and hurried back, her hands filled
with cards. This was the last mail.
If neither son had written, it would
mean both boys would arrive about
six, laden with mysterious bundles.
Then Ma spied Jim’s bold writing
in its usual purple ink. There was
a special message for his parents
and a five-dollar bill.
“The spruce trimmings look fine,
Pa,” she said. “I won’t think of
the mess when it dries, for Billy
does set such store by Christmas.
And coming on Sunday this year,
it will give them an extra day to
stay.” A peal of the bell interrupt-
ed her. “It’s Billy, got off a little
OASIS THEATRE
“Overlooked
Sawyer.”
HAT matter if
Santa comes in a
jeep, just so it’s
Santa Claus? And it
IS Santa Claus ! And
this IS Christmas.
May the 1943 season
be an exceptionally
happy one for you
and your family.
W
BEAUTY HAVEN
nEOHOPE M( SINCEREST WISHES
PROGRESS
IS THE
KEYNOTE OF THE
FUTURE. AND ON ONE POINT AT LEAST
WE ARE FIRMLY RESOLVED. WE ARE
GOING
TO
STILL BETTER
SERVE
IN
OUR
1944.
CUSTOMERS
OUR
EARNEST
this
before,
MANY
UNEXPECTED
BLESSINGS
IN STORE FOR YOU ANO YOURS.
L A. Moore, Furnisher of Homes
It is best to bring in a fresh tree as
short a time before Christmas as
possible, and to remove it as soon
afterwards as you can. If you do
this, ordinary precautions should
prevent it from taking fire. Fami
lies, clubs, churches and business
men who want to keep their trees
from a week or more before Christ
mas until after New Year’s day
need observe special safeguards to
keep it reasonably safe.
Place in Pan of Water.
The tree can be kept fresh if you
set it up in a pah of water. Cut off
the base of the tree at an angle at
least one inch above the original
cut and keep it standing in water
during the entire period that the
tree is in the house, adding water
to the jar or tub in which the tree
stands at intervals to keep the wa
ter level always above the cut. This
method when used with fresh trees
reduces the flammability as effec
tively as any fireproofing chemicals.
Chemicals may cause the tree to
turn brown or yellow or to lose its
needles.
The place you select for your tree
should be well away from stoves, ra
diators, and other sources of heat.
The tree should be well secured
against falling by inconspicuous
wires holding it against the wall.
The tree should be so placed that
standing or fallen, it cannot block
a doorway which might be needed
to escape from the room.
Candle Still Takes Toll.
The candle for Christmas is still
taking its yearly toll of lives and
property. It is found on Christmas
trees more rarely every year, but
none the less, it is used unwisely in
many places during the Christmas
season. Open flame lighting is en
tirely out of place unless you set
up your candles and lamps well
away from Christmas trees, win
dow curtains, and burnable decora
tions, have a fire extinguisher handy
and then keep constant watch over
them. Such precautions are not
needed for the equally attractive
electric lights made especially for
decoration.
But it is important that your
Christmas lights be in good condi
tion. A short circuit in worn wir
ing might be sufficient to start the
tree burning. Sets bearing the label
of Underwriters Laboratories, Inc.,
have been tested for fire hazard and
pronounced safe by experts.
T'O the far corners of the
- globe go the Christmas
wishes and packages to our
boys in the service. With the
new world of the future in
the making we look forward
hopefully to the Christmas
of tomorrow, while wishing
you the happiest of Christ
mases today.
Mr. and Mrs. Jess Connor
TO EACH AND ALL
May your Christmas of 1943
approach in joyousness the
carefree Christmases of early
years when you dreamed of
the coming of St. Nicholas.
J
Inland Cooperative
Mrs.
early,” she called as she hurried
to the door.
The postman beamed, because he
didn’t know that Ma’s expectant
smile was not for him. “Overlooked
this before, Mrs. Sawyer.”
Silently Ma passed the card to
Pa after her own swift perusal. The
simplest greeting in Billy’s careless
scrawl, “Sorry we can’t make it.”
“Well, I s’pose everything is for
the best. Pa. What with all I’ve
cooked, it wouldn’t do any harm to
invite poor Miss Coombs over.
Pa packed his pipe slowly. “You
sure hanker after work. Ma,” he
sighed.
“We might as well cut into the
ham and cake. That’ll be enough.”
“You ain’t eating before six?”
“Might’s well. I’m starved,” she
lied. Four boys and all alone for
Christmas! Not one of them able
to come home. A short, clipped ring
of the bell. Fred’s present, per
haps Billy’s, too.
"Express package,” sang a man's
voice. But the thought of a square
brown box held no thrills for Ma.
It was her brown square-shouldered
son she wanted as she opened the
door.
Three children stamped the snow
from their feet, and before Ma
reached the kitchen Billy's wife had
deposited the woolly clad baby on
Pa's lap. And then Ma found her
self folded within Billy’s spacious
overcoat with its smell of tobacco
and crisp fresh air.
"Ha-ha!
Expressman, huh?”
roared Billy, relinquishing Ma with
a kiss "Didn’t expect us so early,
did you? Didn’t hope for such good
luck when we wrote. You got our
card?”
"Oh, sure, but—Pa, what did you
read on Billy’s card?”
“What’d I read? Why, jest some
thing about having shopping to do.
But you read it. Ma.”
WISH IS THAT THE COMING YEAR MAY
HAVE
Your Christmas tree and the
decorations on it are fire haz
ards which you will want to
watch most carefully this Christ
mas. Remember when you
bring a tree into your house it
is going to dry up. A fresh cut
tree will not take fire any more
easily during the first day or two
than would the evergreen shrubs
growing outside but it becomes
a more serious fire hazard every
hour. At the end of a week, it
will be highly flammable.
CHRISTIAS
L CHEER
Billy. I— ”
“Ma!” He caught her hand. “Say,
you’re not catching cold, are you?
Good grief. Ma, you’re not cry-
ing?" His arma were about her
again.
“Crying? Nonsense, you silly
boy. But onions is onions even at
Christmas.” said Ma.
943
SEASONS
GREETING’S
tree is up, garlanded in wreaths of
tinsel, aflare with lights that glow
like fireflies. There it stands in
the window, sparkling with all
the borrowed glamour of elfland.
With this glowing background to remind
us, we are ready to speak our piece. It
is a very simple one ... the same as last
year and the year before: Thank you
one and all for your kindness to us, and
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
BURNHAM & BURNHAM