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About Herald and news. (Klamath Falls, Or.) 1942-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 24, 1958)
lift ev TMl Religious Semites Mark Birth ot Print e By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Religious services in Christian communities throughout the world today quietly commemorated the eve of the day almost two thou-i sand years ago when the Prince of Peace was bom in Bethlehem. Thousands of pilgrims gathered In Bethlehem to offer prayers for peace in a worid which lives in the shadow of war. Many millions more made the short pilgrimage to their community centers of worship for Christmas Eve serv ices. The theme of "Peace on Earth. Good Will to Men" was repealed in thousands of churches. President Eisenhower said the theme of the Christmas story con tained an ideal of all men, regard less of their beliefs. The United States will work toward that ideal, the President said in Washington just before lighting the national Christmas tree in the park behind the White Houst. New Yorkers were still without their newspapers as a two-week-old strike of deliverymen con tinued. Thousands of travelers competed for plane space made scarce ' by two airline strikes. Many switched to crowded trains or buses. Many more couldn't get home for the annual reunion. ' In Bethlehem, the schedule of Christmas Eve ran from noon through midnight services. Between 4,0(10 and 5,000 foreign tourists crowded into the bleak little hilltop town 12 miles south of Jerusalem where Christ was born.- Another 1,737 Christians from Israel, mostly Arabs, received Is raeli permission to cross the Pale stine war truce line in Jerusalem to attend the Bethlehem services, About 200 foreign diplomats, cler gymen and others from Israel also were given permission to vis it shrines across the line in Jor dan. Peaceful conditions in the Holy Land which swelled the pilgrim ages were reflected in the Gaza Strip between Israel and Egypt. Non-Christians from India took over most of the guard duty along that border while United Nations Emergency Force troops from Western nations enjoyed the re ligious holidays. U.N. Secretary General Dag Hammarskjold and the I'NEF commander, Canadian Gen. E. L. M. Burns, joined the troops at Gaza who were decorating 90 im ported Christmas trees. In Baghdad, Iraqi Premier Ab del Karim Kassem pushed back the beginning of curfew until 1 a.m. to permit Christians to at tend midnight services on Christ mas Eve. Christmas brought no relaxation of tension in Germany, where the Christmas tree originated and 17 million were expected to be light ed this year. Residents of West Rerlin prepared to celebrate the holiday but wondered if this would be their last free Christmas be cause of Soviet eltorts to force the Western allies out of the city 110 miles behind the Iron Curtain. The people ol Russia's Euro pean satellites went to church as the West did. but in the Soviet Union Dec. 24 was just another day. Those whose faith has sur vived the Communist govern ment's long campaign against re ligion schedule their holidays by the old Russian calendar and Christmas for ihem comes Jan. 7. Westerners in Moscow planned Christmas parlies and observ ances at their embassies. Leaders of the Protestants and Roman Catholic churches from the United Suites were abroad to visit some of the thousands of American servicemen on foreign soil. Dr. Edwin T. Dahlberg, presi dent of the National Council of Churches and a Baptist minister from St. Louis, was in Morocco preaching at U.S. Air force bases. He told airmen in Spain Tuesday that the East-West dead lock "can be ended only through faith in God .md a wholesome lear of his judgments." Francis Cardinal Spcllmnn. archbishop of New York and mili tary vicar of Roman Catholics in the U.S. armed forces, was cele brating a series of Masses al American military chapels in West Germany. Nearly S.Olio U.S. servicemen spent Christmas Eve in Hong Kong, where ships of the 7lh Fleet were anchored. More thou sands decorated trees in Formosa, Okinawa, Japan and South Korea. The grins were silent around the Quemoy Islands off the coast ol Red China, one of the world's few sites of a shooting war. But the silence was in accordance with (he Communist policy of not shell ing the (jiiemovs on even days of the month. The Chinese National ist commander in chief ordered his troops not to fire back on Christmas Day. but there was no indication that the Reds also would observe a truce on an odd numbered day. On anolher hot war front Al geria the French army para chuted 700 live turkeys to isolated outposts and heiicopter delivered champagne and cognac. More than a million packages arrived from France for the half million soldiers in the North African territory. In The- Day's lews By FRANK JENKINS On this Christmas Eve, let's or the moment forget Santa Claus. Let's put out of our minds the gifts we've given and the gifts we may get. Let's give no thought for a few minutes to the volume of the Christmas business and whether it was larger or smaller than expect d. Let's cease to worry about whether or not we remembered everyone we should have remem bered; ' ' Let's concentrate, ever so brief ly, on WHY IS CHRISTMAS? Christmas is the anniversary of the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. In His short life, Jesus of Naza reth changed this earth more than any other person who ever lived on this earth. He wrought . these changes by the simple beauty of His own life and the eternal truth of his teach ings. It was an unwholesome world when He came into it. The good things were rather ex clusively in the hands of the GREATS of the world. There was little enough left over for the little people. Jesus changed that. He changed It NOT by the sword. He changed it NOT by the power of armies He changed it NOT by the power of property.' He changed it NOT by the power of politics. ' "He ; changed it by the simple beauty of His life and the purity of . His teachings. Jesus gave to the world this fimple rule of life: "Whatsoever ye would that men thall do to you, do ye even so unto them; for that is the law and the prophets." i I What there is of good in this world has come about very large ly through adherence to that rule. What there is of bad has come about CHIEFLY through departure from it , , , : And- .: Whatever hope there may be for mankind of a PERFECT WORLD must be achieved through adop tion of that rule as a way ol life for mankind. . . i . . - One can't help feeling that if in the Christmas season more thought was given to what Christmas REALLY IS there would be more satisfaction with the Christmas season and more happiness throughout '-the year and through out the world. V fit ft v .y' 1 v KLAMATH FALLS. OREGON, WEDNESDAY. Price Five Cents 20 Pages DECEMBER 2t. 1958 Telephone TU 4-8111 No. .S2Si Tale Of Christmas Reply Recollected FIRST PRIZE in the window lighting category of the Christ mas Lighting Contest sponsored by the Klamath Jaycees and Copco went -to E. J. Boothby for this display which may be seen at his .residence, 2919 Summers Lane. The Boothby display is not only visual but also musical with choristers' singing heard during the hours of illumination. r Photo by Kettler r City Wants Atot Of Snow For Yuletide Celebration The Herald and News will be closed Christmas. By PEGGY WALSH DUNSMUIR "All we want for Christmas is five feet of m snow on Mt. Shasta" is the refrain in Dunsmuir. Otherwise the community is cel ebrating the birth of Christ In the traditional manner with' worship and music, special events for chil dren and friends, decorations and family celebrations. All of the churches in Dunsmuir had special events slated in ob servance of Christmas. At tne First Methodist Church, the cele bration began on Sunday with special choir music at the 11 a.m. service. Unto Us . . . was the theme of the church school pres entation on Sunday evening with pre-school through eighth grade participating. A Christmas Eve carol and candle service is sched uled to begin at 7:30 for all Christian families, Rev. O. A. Ter rell has announced. St. Barnabas Episcopal Church will have a holy communion serv ice at 11 p.m. on Christmas Eve with special choir music and a Christmas message. An 11 a.m. service will also be held Christ mas Day. The church school pro gram was held during morning prayer service on Sunday. St. John's Catholic Church will hold its annual midnight mass on Christmas Eve. "Simeon, the Stable Hand," a play presented by the young peo ple of the Assembly of God Church, was a feature of the special pro gram held on Sunday evening. The- congregation of the Church of Christ at Florence and Sacra mento avenues presented a' spe cial program designed to glorify the meaning of Christmas on Sun day evening. . . . The decorative start of Christ mas began in November with the chamber of commerce erecting and lighting a big downtown tree. A group of volunteers strung the tinsel and lights across the com mercial area of Florence Avenue. The joy of Christmas is not com plete without a concern for those less fortunate and Dunsmuir did not forget this portion of Christ mas. The children of the Methodist Church brought canned food for a family in need. The children of St. Barnabas Episcopal Church placed gifts on the altar to prove to the foster children in Siskiyou County that someone cares either at Christmas time or when a spe cial gift is needed. Gifts were gathered by the-Duns-muir Women's Club for the in (Continued on Page 4A NEW YORK (AP) Francis P. Church obviously was annoyed when given the assignment. "He bristled and pooh-poohed at the subject," his employer re called in later years. Finally, however. Church went to his desk "with an air of resignation" and set to work. Church was an editorial writer for the New York Sun, since merged with the New York World Telegram and- Sun. It was in September 1897. F.ven though Christmas still was a considerable time away, a lit tle girl of 8 had been thinking about it. And a great Dig ques tion had popped into her mind. She out the question to ner father who suggested she writel the Sun. It was her letter that was handed to Church with the request that he prepare a reply which could be published in the newspaper. Church pondered tne mauer, Ihen began to write. How well, he wrote ne pernaps did not realize at the time hut in the vears before his death 1906 he came to know tun well, indeed. It became a classic expression of Christmas senti ment. . The little girlto whom Churcn addressed his message still is nv- in?. She now is Mrs. Laura Vir ginia Douglas, a New York school nrincinal and a widow with chil dren and grandchildren of her own. She is 69. But bv courtesy of the World Telegram and Sun. the editorial is published again here: Iff THERE A santa tuausv We take pleasure in answering at once and thus prominently the communication below, expressing at the same time our great grati fication that its faithful author is numbered among the friends of the Sun: "Dear Editor: I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. Papa says 'if you see if in the Sun it's so." Please tell me the truth, is there a Santa Claus? Virginia O'Hanlon, 115 West 95th Street." Virginia, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They don't believe except what they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehen sible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they he 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 intelligence ca pable 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 you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus: it would be as dreary as if there were no Virginias. There would be no childlike faith then, nc poetry, no romance to make lol- erahle this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished. Not believe in Santa Claus You might as well not believe in fairies! You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the 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 is 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 are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world. You tear apart the baby's rat He and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil cover ing the unseen world which not 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 supernatural beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, Virginia, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding. No Santa Clans! Thank God he lives, and he lives forever. A thousand years from now. Vir ginia, nay ten times ten thousand years from now, he will continue to make, glad the heart of childhood. Weather FORECAST Klamath Falls and vicinity: Considerable cloudiness Thursday with night and morning valley fog. Showers early tonight Low tonight 23-28; high Thursday 38-43. High yesterday 41 Low last night 20 Precip. last 24 hours 0.01 Since Oct. 1 .'.....1.19 Same period last year 6.61 Normal for period 4.30 Northern California Rain tonight and early Thursday with snow lev el 3,5110 feel In extreme north and 6,000 in Sierra Ncvadas. Otherwise partly cloudy Thursday with little change In temperature. Southerly coastal winds 20-35 miles nn hour from Point Arena northward. CRATER LAKE High Tuesday 30 Mill. Tuesday 15 Temp. 8 a.m. Wednesday . 23 Snnw fall December 23 was 2 1 4 inches against a total of 87 Inches last year on the same date. Flfly nine Inches have fallen this year in comparison to 187 Inches at this time In 1957. The weather Is calm with overcast skies. Chains are ad vised on Highway 62 and manda tory from Annie Spring to t h e rim. Southern California Kids Cheer filing Santa Claus it, 4. 1 1 1 . Mill III III TOM TRULOVE AND TOBY SCHUH collaborated in pro. ducing this highly effective display, which took first place in the lawn lighting category of the Christmas Lighting Contest jointly sponsored by the Klamath Jaycees and Cop co. The display is at the Trulove residence,' 4055 Shasta Way. J Photo by Kettler MONROVIA, Calif. (AP) . HI was Christmastime, but none of the yuletide bustle filtered into the quiet room where the man lay, pale and gaunt. His only companions were memories. - Memories of other Christmases when big-eyed children told him their dream. Memories of hanoy days when he was the most popular, rotund, hewhiskered Santa Claus in Moiv rovia, a foothill town 20 miles from Los Angeles. Now he was alone in a hospital room, lorgotlen. A sadness welled inside him. Suddenly, the door opened and two small children tiptoed in. Merry Christmas, Mr. Santa Claus," they chorused. His eyes opened. Tears rolled down his emaciated cheeks. The spirit of Christmas had re turned to 81-year-old Tom Davies. For vears Tom has been Santa to thousands of San Gabriel Val ley children. Several months ago he suffered a stroke. The children who remembered Santa Tuesday were David. 4, and Debbie. 7, children or Mr. ana Mrs. Paul R. Dickcrson of Monrovia. The Dickersons started a move ment to get Santa's young fans to write him "thank you" and "get well" letters. "Tom was the best Santa we ever had." said President Jerry McBralney of McBratney's De- nartmnt Store where lorn worked tor eight years, -lie was wonderful wilh kids. He even vis ited them at school. Tom knew the true meaning of Christmas.' After the Dickerson children had led the quiet hospital room, Tom looked at the letters they had given him. "I always told the children when they sat on my knee to say their prayers at night," he said. "I thought that was the real way to teach them what Christmas means." Ten Members Of KF Family Aided By Kingsley Airmen CHRISTMAS GROCERIES FOR A NEEDY FAMILY were loaded by Ellis Landrum, left, manager of the South Sixth Street Safeway Store, l.bgt. Virgil K. Mast, center, of tne in Ifattatlon engineers section at Kingsley Field; end S.Sgt. Allen Eidion, of the field s fire department. The two sergoants initiated the collection of groceries for the family and were generously assisted by Landrum. A family, consisting of a mother and nine children, ranging in age from 4 months to 14 years, are going to have more to eat this Christmas than they could have dreamed of, thanks to the com bined efforts of Kingsley Field personnel and the South sixth Street Safeway Store. Personnel from Kingsley Field s Fire Department and installation engineers section joined forces .ind contributed $15 toward pur chasing groceries for some needy family in the Klamath rails area T.Sgt. Virgil Mast and S.Sgt. Al len Eidson were selected to pur chase the groceries and present them to the family. Ellis Landrum, manager of the South Sixth Street Safeway Store, helped the two sergeants select a variety of food, and then went on to contribute at least another $20 worth of groceries. As Mast and Eidson drove away from the store, their car was piled high with canned fruit and vegetables, milk, sacks of flour and potatoes, a large turkey. candy and everything else that goes to make Christmas dinner. SHOOTING HOURS: OREGON December 25 OPEN , , , CLOSE 7:02 , 4:40 December 28 OPEN CLOSE 7:02 4:40 CALIFORNIA December 25 OPEN CLOSE 7:03 4:39 December 26 OPEN CLOSE 7:03 4:39 Scribe Tells Poignant Tale Of Waiting For St. Nick By RUTH KING . This Is a Christmas Eve story . . a story that unfolded in the city of Klamath Falls ... a story that sounds so fantastic it can scarcely be believed, but it is true and it happened not loo long ago. The family might have been your neighbor or ours . . . identity would add nothing to the tolling so the principals remain unknown. It all began back m the mid- 20s when a businessman m the Midwest stepped outside the pale of human rights and later paid the "penally in a Midwest prison. He left a daughter who migrated to Oregon, eventually to our town. She married and children were born. Letters from her father arrived from time to time, postmarked fol lowing the serving of his term from many parts of the United Stales, Canada and even from Mexico. He never mentioned a per manent home because he had none. One year, early in the depres sion that lotiowea tne crasn oi 1029, he sent an appeal to the only child he had. There were then two children in her family, a son and a daughter. The wanderer, for he had taken to the road and (he jun gles, hungered to see them. In that letter, he made a proposal Because of his oast, his identify. he said, must not he known to his growing grandchildren. Could he come for a few moments on Christ mas Eve, take the part of Santa Claus, touch small tousled heads, give his treats and leave? If the plan was not acceptable, they had only, to send a postcard to a cer tain . address. If he could . play the part life would take on a deep- ; or meaning. He vowed never to let slip one word that could offend. He had never seen his son-in- law nor his daughter since she had been a small child. The decision was a difficult one for the young woman to make but blood tics were strong and soon after the Thanksgiving holiday that first year, she wrote the invita tion for him to come. The base ment door would be open on the evening of December 24. The chil dren would be about the lighted tree and the front doorbell was lo the right of the door. A blue light would be burning on the porch to guide him . and there would be cookies and hot coffee. In the days thai followed no oth er word came. She was skeptical. Her husband was also. The days before Christmas passed in the rush of prepara- (Conlinued on Page 4-A) INGENUITY AT WORK hat transformed this Dunsmuir home into a veritable candy house. The home, that of Lester Siliean, on Surrey, has been adjudged the best outside decora tion and awarded a $25 prize by the California Oregon Power Company. The Dunsmtilf Chamber of Commerce sponsored the decoration contest. Photo by Peggy Walill I
