' J "Going TTp to the Christinas
(irt&tK. y Tree" from an English sketch
S:Wm', $233tr''ft A. sT in the time of Charles Dickens.
f Trees were often placed up-
J wAMYfic- W''J'WsPEwMi"' I stairs in dfly when young-
JJh''TVc' Jrlki&8f V 4f ster9 had quarters on first
r noor' away rom tne aduiu.
CHARLES jii)
dickens yJM&
7 - ' '
yi famous author is drawn
back, "With a fascination
I do not care to resist,"
to Dec. 25 in his childhood.
I HAVE bm looklnr on, thil
evening, at a merry company
of children assembled 'round that
pretty German toy, a Chnitmas
tree. The tree was placed in the
middle of a great round table,
and towered high above their
heads. It was brilliantly lighted. 1
and everywhere sparkled and
glittered with bnght objects.
Being now at home again, and
alone, the only person in the
house awake, my thoughts are
drawn back, by a fascination
which I do not care, tn resist, to
my own childhood. Straight in
the middle of the room, cramped
In the freedom of its growth by
no encircling walls or soon
reached ceiling, a shadowy tree
arises; and, looking up Into the
dreamy brightness of Us top,
for I observe in this tree the
singular property that it appears
to grow downward towards the
earth I look Into my youngest
Christmas recollections.
AU the toys at first, I And.
Up yonder Is the Tumbler with
his hands in his pockets, who
wouldn't lie dow n, but whenever
he was put upon the floor, per
sisted in rolling his fat body
about, until he rolled himself still,
and brought those lobster eyes
of his to bear upon me.
Upon the next branches of the
tree, lower down, hard by the
green roller and miniature gardening-tools,
how thick the books
begin to hang. Thin books, tyi
themselves.- at first, but many of
them, with deliciously smooth
covers of bright red or green.
What fat letters there were to
begin with!
"A was an archer, and shot at
a frog." Of course he was. He
was an apple-pie also, and there
he is! He was a good many
things In his time, was A, and
so were most of his friends, ex
cept A', who had so little versa
tility that I never knew him to
get beyond Xerxes or Xantippe:
like Y, who was always con
fined to a yacht or a yew-tree,
and Z, condemned forever to be a
Zebra or a zany.
BUT now the very trea Itself
changes, and becomes a bean
stalk the marvelous beanstalk
by which Jack climbed up to the
giant's house. Jack how noble,
with his sword of sharpness and
his shoes of swiftness!
Good for Christmas-time Is the
ruddy color of the cloak In which,
the tree making a forest of itself
for her to trip through with her
basket, Little Red Riding Hood
came to me one Christmas eve, to
give me information of the cruel
ty and treachery of that dissem
bling Wolf who ate her grand
mother, without making any im
pression on his appetite, and then
threatened her, after making
that ferocious Joke about his
teeth. She was my first love. I
felt that if I could have married
Little Red Riding-Hood I should
have known perfect bliss. But it
was not to be, and there was
nothing for it but to seek out the
Wolf in the Noah s Ark there, and
put him late in the procession, on
the table, as a monster who was
to be degraded.
Oh, the wonderful Noah's Ark!
It was not found seaworthy when
put in a washing-tub, and the
animals were crammed in at the
roof, and needed to have their
legs well shaken down before
they could be got In even there;
and then ten to one but they be
gan to tumble out at the door,
which was but imperfectly fas
tened with a wire latch; but what
was that against It?
CONSIDER the noble fly, a size
or two smaller than the ele
phant; the lady bird butterfly
all triumphs of art! consider the
goose, whose feet were so small,
and whose balance was so indif
ferent that she usually tumbled
forward and knocked down all
the animal creation! consider
Noah and his family, like Idiotic
tobacco stoppers: and how the
leopard stuck to warm little
Angers; and how the tails of the
larger animals used gradually to
resolve themselves into frayed
bits of string.
Hush! Again a forest, and
somebody up in a tree, not
Robin Hood, not Valentine, not
the Yellow Dwarf, I have passed
him and all Mother Bunch's won
ders without mention, but an
Eastern King with a glittering
scimitar and turban. It is the set
ting In of the bright Arabian
Nights.
v
OH, NOW all common things
become uncommon and en
chanted! All lamps are wonder
ful! all rings are talismans! Com
mon flowerpots are full of treas
ure, with a little earth scattered
on the top; trees are for Ali Baba
to hide in; beefsteaks are to
throw down Into the Valley of
Diamonds, that the precious
stones may stick to them, and be
carried by the eagles to their
nests, whence the traders, with
loud cries, will scare them. All
the dates Imported come from the
same tree as that unlucky one
with whose shell the merchant
knocked out the eye of the
jlnnl's Invisible son. AU olives
are of the same stock of that
fresh fruit, concerning which the
Commander of Faithful over
heard the boy conduct the ficti
tious trial of the fraudulent olive
merchant. Yes, on every object
that I recognize among the upper
branches of my Christmas tree I
see this fairy light!
But hark! the Waits are play
ing, and they break my childish
sleep! What images do I associ
ate with the Christmas music as
I see them set forth on the
Christmas Tree! Known before all
the others, keeping far apart
from all the others, they gather
'round my little bed. An angel,
speaking to a group of shepherds
in a field; some travelers, with
eyes uplifted, following a star; a
Babe in a manger; 'a Child in &
A
BY POPULAR DEMAND
CHRISTMAS TREK, ex-j HpvnI the ircond of the, THE
ccrpU from which appear i CHIMES, surpiusrd the lirnU
hwe, was written In 1850, the Rehrrlnir to It, In 1844, he told
year Die ken published DAVID j a friend that he had "written a
COPPKRFIELl). That was ' tremendous book and knocked
seven years after he hiut begun 'the CAROL nut of the field."
in A CHRISTMAS CAROL to The world did not a ere with
give new meaning to the festi
val on both sides of the Atlantic.
After A CHRISTMAS CAR
OL, there was Insistent demand
for "more, more," to which the
author responded annually, be
tween such novels aa A TALK
OF TWO CITIES, DOMREY
AND SOS, BLEAK HOUSE,
until he had written more about
Christmas with tremendous
world wide effect than any
other author. Four tales besides
A CHRISTMAS CAROL ran to
book length, and Dickens be-
him and THE CHIMES Is one
of the lesser known works of
Dickens' today, when many of
his novels and stories are In
print In numerous languages.
A CHRISTMAS TREE, In Its
complete text, proved one of his
popular favorites. The complete
text can be found In a collec
tion, CHRISTMAS STORIES,
by Charles Dickens, with the
contemporary Illustrations, pub
lished by Oxford University
Press.
John Paul Adams
0paeiou temple, talking wit i
grave men; a solemn figure with
a mild and beautiful face, rais
ing a dead girl by the hand;
again, near a city gate, calling
back the son of a widow on hit
bier to life; a crowd of people
looking through the opened roof
of a chamber where He sits, and
letting down a sick person on a
bed, with ropes: the same, in a
tempest, walking on the waters;
in a ship, again, on a sea-shore,
teaching a great multitude ;
again, with a child upon His
knees, and other children around;
again, restoring sight to the
blind, speech to the dumb, hear
ing to the deaf, health to the
sick, strength to the lame, knowl
edge to the Ignorant; again, dy
ing upon a cross, watched by
armed soldiers, a darkness com
ing on, the earth beginning to
shake, and only one voice heard,
"Forgive them, for they know
not what they d?!"
Still on the lower branches of
the tree, Christmas associations
cluster thick. And if I no more
come home at Christmas-time,
there will be boys and girls while
the world lasts; and they do!
Yonder they dance and play up
on the branches of my tree, God
bless them, merrily, and my
heart dances and plays toot
ENCIRCLED by the social
thoughts of Christmas time,
still let the benignant figure of
my childhood stand unchanged!
In every cheerful image and sug
gestion that the season brings,.
may the bright star that rested
above the poor roof be the star
of all the Christian world!
A moment's pause, O vanishing
tree, of which the lower boughs
are dark to me yet, and let me
look once more. I know there are
blank spaces on thy branches,
where eyes that I have loved
have shone and smiled, from
which they are departed. But, far
above, I see the Raiser of the
dead girl and the widow's son,
and God is good: If age be hid
ing for me in the unseen portion
of thy downward growth, O may
I, with a grey head, turn a child's
heart to that figure yet, and &
child's trust and confidence!
Now, the tree Is decorated with
bright merriment, and song, and
dance, and cheerfulness. And
they are welcome. Innocent and
welcome be they ever held, be
neath the branches of the Christ
mas Tree, which cast no gloomy
shadow! But, as It sinks Into the
ground, I hear a whisper going
through the leaves. 'Thls, In
commemoration of the law of
love and kindness, mercy and
compassion. This, la remem
brance of Met"
Sixth
Street
Oxygen
and
Merry Christmas
HERALD AND NEWS, Klamath Falls. Oregon
.... i "kisTr
'l' I .. ., 1 'i 1 i luv, 1 . , . ! II " M t . W M m m w
.,,,.,,, ..in....... . .. -,, . S I SjM1 .mL
EST A WISHES
w&wik Tumss- aw
v.'H M SBiw 52
K5
I good luck,
all good cheer, all good
things we wish our many
good friends at holiday lime.
M. Ruth and John Novak
Cecil Crowse, Lynn Hayes
NOVAK PARTS SUPPLY
r-ctw Aj ;
. ""V season's the reason v , 0
!.V we're iumDinc for ioy, SJJ
we're jumping for joy,
with sincere thanks and
best wishes for a happy
holiday to all our
4
loyal patrons! i I I
'TtomLtf- 2gmr-
t. j"-
S3 a 23?
...and warmest wishes to all our friends
Here's taking time out at the end of a
busy yeor to thank you for your patronage and to
wish you and yours o very Merry Christmas!
From the whole gang here at
Lucas Furniture
Serving the
Klomath Boiin
for Over 40 Yeon
195 E. Main
v
Ik
r
from Asia ond all the Boys of
Monarch Tire Service
315 So. 6th
Your Cenerol Tire Deoler
I
i 1 iJSy
It
Ph. 4-3134
May you and yours
enjoy in abundance
alt the blessings
of this joyous time.
Let us help you be
the proud owner
of savings security
in 1963.
Please stop in soon.
FIRST FEDERAL
SAYINGS and LOAN
ASSOCIATION
540 MAIN STREET
I '1 '..vgiSBSa
M
rvi
Stee
Leo Clinkman
Walt Badorek
mai
Where You Sove DOES Moke o Difference'
k??m mm
4
ns
is the time to
remember friends
As niglit comes on . . .
wiik tkc lasf gift wrapped
ana ike las earn senf ...
as we close our aoors for tke
kolidaj all of us at
onfgomcry Wartl
extend our ikanLs to you, '
friends and customers, and
wisk you tke klessings
of tke Hokday Season.
It is our kopo tkat
will kring peace and
abundance to all.
AAoNTaoMinY i
WARD
1
. i
9th & Pine