Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989, December 23, 1962, Image 10

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Medford mail tribune., December 23, 1962, Image 10

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Newspaper Page Text2 g SUNDAY. DECEMBER 23, 1962 MEDFORD MAIL TRIBUNE. MEDFORD. OREGON Christmas: A Time of Luke's Story, Carols, Decorated Trees St. Luke Tells Greatest Story BY JOHN A. GOLDSMITH United Press International This Is a Christmas story about a reporter named Luke. Long before the days of typewriters and city rooms, he was the most artful story teller of his time. Beside, he was blessed with the luck of a good reporter. Over the centuries he has been close to "exclusive" with the beginning of what has been called "the greatest story ever told." A couple of short verses in St. Matthew's Gospel are the only other telling of the Christmas story. Luke's full and poetic account begins with the "decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed." At Christmas time it Is usually ended at the 19th verse of the second chapter: "But Mary kept all these things and pondered them In lier heart." Believed To Be Gentile Luke Is generally believed to have been a Gentile convert to Christianity who lived In the the first century A.D. He was, according to most accounts, not a professional writer but a physician whose principal patient was St. Paul. The report of Christ's ministry written by Luke is thought to have been started about 60 A.D. when Luke was in Palestine. It probably was completed in Rome a few years later and may have been written in connection with St. Paul's difficulties with the Roman authorities. At any rate it was written to a Roman, called "Thco philus," to whom Luke later addressed a report on the works the acts of Christ's apostles. As reference works, Luke is believed to have used a collection of Christ's say ings and a version of the gospel written earlier by St. Mark. ' . Based on Original Research , Luke's version of the Christmas story Is cvidenlly based on original research on stories and songs collected by Luke, himself, in Palestine. Only about 30 years had elapsed since the crucifixion, and his account of the Na tivity could have been drawn from living witnesses. It is even possible that Luke may have met Mary and talked to her about events in Bethelhem. Tradition has it that she lived out her old ago in Ephesus where Luke could have met her when he was fashioning his gospel. Some distortions have crept Into the Christmas story after hundreds of years, thousands of Illustrations and millions of Chrismas pageants. Some say the Nativity scene took place In a cave, and it may well have. Used As Shelter Houses Caves were often the shelter houses for domestic ani mals In Palestine at that time. The manager, in that case, would have been a straw-filled hole In the earthen floor rather than a movable box or trough. Luke's Gospel makes no mention of kings or wise men at the Nativity scene. The presence of the wise men shortly after Christ's birth is drawn from St. Matthew's fragmentary account. Also from Matthew's account is the popular conception of the Star of Bethlehem functioning as a guide beacon for those seeking the Christ child. To Luke we arc indebted for the story of the trip to Bethlehem where there was no room at the inn, tor the swaddling clothes and but why paraphrase it! The whole story Is there In Luke, II, 1-19, and no one has ever told It belter. Sanfa Visits Eskimo Villages lmm l -tj leeiWIevr 7 .f i.'yAife:! DISTRIBUTE 'GOODIES' Children at St. Lawrence Island, Alaska, watch as Santa By GORDON W, SCHULTZ United Preti International St. Lawrence Island, Alaska -IVPIi-Suntn Claus Is a stranger to many Eskimo children who live practically beneath the shadow of the North Pole In the land of the midnight sun. But each year the dark-eyed children in many Eskimo vil lages in Alaska get little bit more acquainted wilh the man in the red suit wilh the long, while beard. sic" (the Eskimo version of , "" Merry Christmas), they squeal ! schools from 11W9 to 1H45, lie to the Jolly fat man, who Is gall his duties this month as the friend of all children. superintendent of the More For several years the men Vnd Consolidated School dis- at Elmcndorf Air Force base of the Aii."Kan Air command near Anchorage have been . sending Santa Claus to the re- The area includes 15 schools mole villages across the slate. ,an'd Iive m0,-e ow under con New Volunteer if (ruction. Each year Ihc men volun- ,, ... ,, , teer to galher, repair, wrap! .Dr' Norby rcccnlly served and pack toys and gifts for air shipment to the rrwnW r.A by the time "operation ! ton operate in the three eoun radar installations and nearby Alaska with Headquarters tn s.m, Claus ItltiJ'' Is com- ties and numerous convention. Kskimo village (or distribu- Jnn(,au. pleted. gifts will have been al farmers and "slump raucli- tlon to Hie children. i Mrs. Norhy Is the daughter distributed hi about 1.200 its" pick up side money rai- Sanla's vi.Mt to SI. Lew- of the lale J. Walter McCoy children living in the vicin-1 nig trees for these suppliers, rencc Island this Christmas She grew up In Ashland and : it y of Hie 14 radar stations' Outside of local retail mar- K'.imi :wis more special than Clans distributes "goodies' village. (UPI) usual. MaJ William L. Dow, ommaiider of the Northeast Cape Air Force station here, said a number ot tsRimos arc slill living in a temporary summer camp because of a heuatlli.i epidemic in their home village ot Savoonga, UI0 miles north. With a poor hunting season,) Dr. Ncrby Slarls New California Job Ashland - Dr. T. J. Norliy, !'': S"' Clara county, Call- j lornla. i " attended Ashland scltojls. Christmas Carols Have Become Indispensable Segment of Holiday Celebration By LOUIS CASSELS United Press International It says on the church cal endar that it's almost time to begin singing Christmas carols. This will be news to disc Jockeys, who've been hark ing to the herald angels since the day after Thanks giving. But churches which ob serve the ancient liturgical calendar insist that the (our weeks preceding Christmas are properly the advent sea son. The 12 days of Christ maslide during which carols are supposed to be sung don't begin until midnight, Dec. 24. Tree Harvest mi ' gm'mtA ":mi ADJUSTS STACK A worker is shown here adjusting a slack of Christmas trees at Shelton, Wash. By the time Christmas Day comes, $10 million will have changed f, tif t' 4. 1 u in the Kskimo the temporary villages have iieon living on wild ducks, sea- Lu, iim s,mu, $mni Kamc. I i suimlies :sin,lh',rn Olynoics. And for j f " "" "cl U rt m,t 8 '1I",0S these trees. Ml) million will ! brought by len Alaska "'f-1 have ehati'jed hands, Mines was Ihc visit of Santa1 Just likn I'D icin if livhriH t'laus loaded down with toys Kir,s for ,ho children from . i command. i arc grown are classified as ; sponsors the program. In this case. Santa was U. I farms on which county ngri-; The Madrigal is a tradition Col. Jay Thomas, a veterin- j cultural agents keep tabs and ' group at Medford High Brian stationed at Kleme LMidorf AFB. Ue Air Force Plane Transporlalion wasn't quite the same as a reindeer driven sleigh, but an Air Force C-l-3 transport plane from the 5040th Air Transport squa- cIa".s to the island wl'.h a .. ni tri.,.. j.,-. n.,. c .... regular supply mission. From the northeast cape , station, Sanla Claus ehoe a j more conventional method to 'make his way to the village a dugsled. Al, ,ir Force spokesman : scat! -red at'Mw the st;i Whether they're sung in season or out, carols have long been an indispensable part of the Christmas cele bration. The first Christmas carol was sung by an angel choir to an awestruck group of shepherds who were keep ing watch over their flocks by night on a hillside near Bethlehem. The words, as recorded in St. Luke's gos pel, were: "Glody to God in the highest,, and on earth peace, good will toward men." Under Its Latin title, "Gloria In excelsis Deo," this original carol is still being sung in churches on i- By ELDON BARRETT United Press International Shelton, Wash. -IUPII- When Paul Bunyan hitched up Babe, his big blue ox, and scooped out Pugct Sound to build the Olympic mountains, he didn't leave much room for growing potatoes. In fact, about the only money crop that flourishes on the Olympic peninsula is trees. Of course that was all right with big Paul because logging was his game. But the mythical lumber jack probably would dull the teeth of his misery whip ami hang up his corks it he saw the size of the trees they're hauling out of this neck of the woods by the carload th is season of the year. Hardly a one is more than eight feet tall and those wilh tlie most branches are the most valuable. And by (lie 25th of December they will be wearing more gewgaws and Iranpings than a logger's queen in a skiriroad honky tonk. Is Big Business Although it doesn't conv pure moneywise with the saw timber onerations in th northwest, the Christmas live business In the Shelton area is big business. By the time Santa Cl.ms starts loading up his sleigh, nearly 2 million yule trees will have been shipped out ! Mason, Thurston and Kilsnp counties In the foothills of the corn. Christmas tree growing " ''' " specialised form of cultivation. In fact, the i oeveiopmenis lust as UH- IK, 11,1 I Ml ! D!!, Hill! H'ilS. Mason county agenl Charles K. reck says the Christmas tree crop this year is in fine shape because of last sum- mer's coolisli, rainy weather, j Excellent Conformity ' "Thev have excellent color iiiry rait rx iiin it i tor, density and conformity, he added. About 100.000 acres are under cultivation for yule tree ; growing in the ti l-county area, which likes to call itself "C h r I s I in a s Tree Land, U.S A." Eight of the IS m.nor suppliers in western Waslun, ikets, most of the trrss shipped cm 'i " ! . -v-TL. mm ami Christmas eve. Scores of great composers have con tributed musical settings for it. A Great Composer St. Francis of Assisi, who lived in Italy around the start of the 13th century, was a great composer of Christmas carols. His "Psal-.. mus in Nativitate,," al though rarely heard outside of churches, is still one of the loveliest pieces of Christmas music. Perhaps the greatest piece of Christmas music ever written George Frederick Handel's "Messi ah" was inspired in part by a Franciscan carol which Is Biq hands in one of Washington (UPI) out of this area go to Cali fornia, Arizona, Nevada and Hawaii. Douglas fir makes up the bulk of the seasonal cut, but some companies have intro duced the more exotic Scotch pine and noble and while fir which bring higher prices. Still Most Popular "But the old fashioned Douglas fir is still the most popular when it comes to price," according to Lclaud Wells, area manager for the J. Hoferl company. At its peak, the industry in this region employs about 700 cutlers, graders, balers and other workers on the site. The assembly line technique is used, complete with conveyor belts and electric saws, and once cutting starts It conlinues on a 24-hour basis until the harvest is complete. Workers generally gel paid by piece work, plus a bonus if they slay all season. Lack of frost delayed cut- Singing Groups To -jBe Featured Today Tw-' singing groups, the Madrigal and the Modern- aires, of Medford High school, will he special guests on the "Adventures in Medicine" pro gram at 3:30 o'clock this atler- j noon over station KBES-TV. This departure from the usual medical discussion for mat to feature choral groups from Medford schools before Christmas has become a tra dition, according to the Jack son County Tuberculosis and Health association, which anu ine immi'iiuiiivs is ' , i i.-i 1 1 1 1, 1 1 mi., .,,,. About 3(1 students in all will appear on the special pro- gram of Christmas music im- : iter the direction of Lynn j SJohmd and Garv Frame. ! Nl"l,l'r " 1,1 vary from old t El,!,'h rrols and Christmas j , , c , ,0I11!S ' ' lte Destroys Home 0 Former Residents A n explosion apparently started a (ire which destroyed the home of Mr. and Mrs Fred Svinth in Rcdway, Calif., re cently The Svinths are for mer Medford residents Mrs. Svinth and her 6-year-old grandson escaped trom Ihe hlams hmnc. Svmtli was at work at the time. v v- a r- r ri Handel heard on a visit to Italy. Handel was indirectly (and unwittingly) responsi ble for the music of one of the most popular of all car ols, "Joy to the World." Hymn books credit this carol to Isaac Watts, a pro lific English composer of the 18th century. But the melody was lifted from "The Messiah." Martin Luther is often given credit for the tender children's carol, "Away in a Manger." But the lyrics actually appeared first as an unsigned poem in a chil dren's book published in 188S. Business W4i State's largest enterprises. ting this fall. Unlike other crops, Christmas trees need a shot of frost to set and temper the needles so they don't drop off before the tree is placed on sale. The harvest this year will last up to within about a week of Christmas. Searches for New Methods Like all good farmers, the tree grower constantly searches for new methods to better his crop. Fertilizer is the latest discovery. Until about three years ago, the best trees seemed to come from the poorest land because they grew more slowly there and the sets of branches, called "whorls," were more uniform and not scracgly. But someone tried fertilizing and now al most every grower is using it. "Ever since we started fer tilizing," explained Fred Pesic of the Douglas Fir Christmas Tree company, "we can't sup ply enough Irces." On the Alpine Evergreen company's lands near Brem erton, Wash., college scientists are experimenting in an effort to produce a bushier fir with a deep blue-green color. Some Use Helicopters Some companies use heli copters to scatter seed and almost all have nurseries growing seedlings to supple ment natural regeneration. It takes from six to 14 years to produce a Christmas tree and the tree farmers can't take a chance on old mother nature. Bears and mountain beaver, which feed on the hark of young trees, are a hazard, but neither is as great as the tree rust lor. The Mason countv sheriff's office has a Christ mas tree posse patrolling tree farms to keep off the poachers at Ihis lime of year. Most of the farms arc situ ated on land where once stood giant saw trees - the kind Paul Bunyan used for tooth picks. It was through these stands that the timber barons sliced their monstrous swaths. leaving only stumps, snags ari slash. Fire usually took over to complete the carnage. Dp Wounds Heal But even deep wounds heal. And today, these once-scarred I acres again are doited forest j green. ' This year about 30 million trees will be trininied in Hie United States alone. And tiiat makes for giKxt business. i Ac Ptt iit II .!.,. inc hv he crows Christina trees 1 wanted to gel into busi ness and I figured as long as people produce children, uc d , be able to produce Christmas 'trees" some carols which are popularly regarded as very ancimt are in fact of rela tively modern origin. "Silent Night," for exam ple, first was sung 144 years ago, in St. Nicholas church in the village of Oberndorf, Austria. The church's organ broke down on Christmas eve, and the pastor, Fr. Jo seph Mohr, was desperate for Christmas music. He called in a schoolmaster named Franz Gruber, who played the guitar, and to gether they composed the words and music of "Silent Night" just in time for the midnight service. "We Three Kings of Ori American duojecT or BY DORIS ROBINSON Mail Tribune Correspondent Yreka - "Christmas on the American Frontier'' was the topic of a recent talk given by Mrs. Hazel Pollock, cura tor of the Siskiyou County museum, at the Christmas meeting of the Siskiyou Coun ty Historical society. As the story of the frontier making its westward move ment was told, figures repre senting the Puritans, plains men, pioneers, miners, mis sionaries and the Spanish and French people, were pinned in their proper places on a United States map. Mrs. Pollock emphasized that the spiritual factor was the most important in all of the Christmas traditions brought by different nation alities to this country. Celebrate Holidays The 13 colonies had many ways of celebrating the holi days, she said. The Puritans were opposed to entertain ment and celebrations dur ing the Christmas season. They thought England made too much of parties, and so they were strickly religious in their observance. The German people brought the first Christmas tree and St. Nicholas, which later was changed to Santa Claus. They made Christmas a family af fair, wilh much cooking and baking for a big dinner. The Virginia, the planta tions were full of excitement during great parties. Slaves brought in Yule logs, holly and laurel which were used to decorate the halls. Satin coats, wigs and beautiful gowns were worn to dances, and tables groaned under the weight of foods such as wild geese, fish, wild turkey, mince pics, and toasts made to the coming year. An old music box loaned to the historical society by Mr. and Mrs. Buff Ackerman, offered the melody of "Silent Night". Mrs. Pollock said mu sic bridged the way between all there traditions. Many important events hap pened on Christmas day, Mrs. Pollock said. In 1776 George Washington crossed the Dela ware. And the war of 1812 F- A - S v "si .-L CvU.W4iLi(N. ,'t'tA.Af1" l,iit V ' J H,!- k vfrw ,is v i .. N tf-V h I W. I'- ORIGINAL LIGHTS Mrs. Hael Pollock curator of me mskivou i ounly museum at Yreka. is a daughter of the man who put up the first electrically lighted Christinas ent Are," "It Came Upon Midnight Clear," and "O Little Town of Bethlehem" all were written in Ameri ca during the latter part of the 19th century. Church members some times get upset when they hear Christmas carols being played in department stores and other commercial set tings, But it has always been difficult to draw a fine line between sacred and secular in Christmas music. The great Methodist hymn writer, Charles Wes ley, used the second chorus of Mendelssohn's "Festges ang" as the melody for his "Hark the Herald Angels Frontier Christmas society s ended Christmas Day, 1814 The frontier around the Great Lakes region was of settlers mostly Roman Catho lics. Their feasts included such Items as roast pig, goose, bear paws, roast beef, sausage, head cheese and berries, all cooked in huge ovens out doors. Christmas day observ ance was simple and no gifts were exchanged, but they did exchange gifts on New Year's. French people settled in New Orleans and their slaves were free on Christmas day. It was everyone's birthday. The Spanish people settled in the southwestern part of the country, and brought cus toms and traditions of Spain. The Pueblo Indians took to the customs and religion. 'Rooster Mass' They held what wsj known as "Rooster Mass." The mass lasted until the first rooster crowed on Christmas day. They danced ancient dances around the altar of the church wearing masks and chanting while others knelt and pray ed. Strange, beautiful music, like the warbling of birds', was created by blowing through straws into pans of water. Gifts of tobacco and handkerchiefs were ex changed. The Pathfinders' tune on the music box was "Home Sweet Home," a tune which might of been uppermost in the minds of Fremont and his men as they surrounded the camp fire in 1943. Camp was made on a lake in Oregon on Christmas day. It was named Christmas lake, and is now known as Hart lake. Cut Christmas Trees The plainsmen who came through the gatcwa of Mis souri in their trek west ob served Christmas by cutting cedar and pine for Christmas trees. It was a hard life and provisions were prepared by preserving berries, rendering lard, collecting nuts, making syrup and cooking venison for the larder. Father Junipero Serra mov ed inlo southern California from Mexico and held mass in the first church he estab lished there on Christmas eve. John Sutter celebrated Sing." (The first line, inci dentally, was originally, "Hark how all the welkin rings.") The hauntingly lovely Eng lish carol, "What Child Is this?" is set to the music of an old folk song called "Greensleeves," which had nothing to do with Christ mas. And "Deck the Halls With Boughs of Holly" is an old Welsh song which recalls the pagan rituals of the druids, who brought ever green branches indoors at the time of the winter sol stice to shelter wood nymphs from the ice and snow. fvieering Christmas m Caluorma at a big party. Thirty d. ys later gold was discovered and a great migration followed, Mrs. Pollock noted. Hold Elaborate Ball Weaverville in Shasta coun ty, Calif., held an elaborala ball one Christmas eve. Days of preparation preceded tha event, and miners saw to it the children were not for gotten. The 1900! era saw Alaska the last frontier where Ilia Christian religion 'was recog nized and Christmas became a legal holiday. On Dec. 7, 1893, in a little town in northern California a son was born to one of the descendants of these pioneers. The father was so pleased ha decided there should be a spe cial Christmas tree in honor of the little son. He was an electrician by trade and made strings of electric lights to light the tree. This was the first electrically lighted Christmas tree in California. The man was Mrs. Pollock's father and the son was her oldest brother. The lechniqua of wiring the Christmas tree has been handed down in the family from father to son, then son to the oldest grand son, and the lighting of tha Christmas tree is traditional. Original Lighting System The Christmas tree at the museum this year holds the original lighting system wilh tiny individual sockets for each light. There were only clear globes at that -jarly date, so the museum tree has only clear globes. Three of the original Christ mas tree ornaments, a tiny drum, a bell and one other ornament hang on the tree. There are many other old ornaments and strings of pop corn, some of them 60 years old. Under the tree is a life sized doll dressed in a red flannel ette nightie representing a child discovering under tho tree an old fashioned doll buggy and a doll more than 80 years old. The Christmas tree will ba displayed on the main floor of the museum all this month. it- . tree in California. The tree shown ahme, now on displav at Ihc museum for the ret December, bears the original lighting sys tem that Mrs. Pollock's father devised.