THE NOME NUGGET
Published Monday, Wednesday and Friday by The
NOME PUBLISHING CO.
Nome, Alaska
Telephone: Main 125 P. O. Box 618
SI.50 PER MONTH $16.00 A YEAH
W. A. and EMILY BOUCHER.Editors
Entered as second class matter October 14. 1943, at the postoff'^
at Nome. Alaska, under the Act of March 3, 1879.
Tuesday, December 24, 1946
Christman
“AWAKE! SALUTE the happy morn, whereon the
Saviour of the world was born.”
Each year we remake our world for the children. Our
homes are decorated with greens and lights. Stores are
colorful, with beautiful and interesting gifts. Little
faces are gay and expectant. Churches are debecked
with flowers, Christmas trees, and happy voices are
raised in hymns of joy, “A Child Is Born.” Believe it
or not, grown-ups get a greater enjoyment out of this
season of giving, than from any other time of the year.
We actually live in an unselfish world, the one we
create for the children at Christmas time, when folks,
buy, not for themselves, but for others.
The happiness we obtain through sharing with
others at Christmas time should be carried on through-,
out the year. If this were so, peace would be possible,
now, without the slightest hint of a veto. Let us all,
each and everyone, make a promise to ourselves, as(
even the old miser, .Scrooge, in Dickens’, “A Christmas
Carol,” said “I will honor Christmas in my heart, and
try to ke£p it all the year.”
Remember, joys are forgotten too soon. Let us try to
honor Christmas in our hearts and keep it all the year,
so that there may be “Joy to the world,” and “Peace on
earth, good will toward men.”
The Joys Of Christmas
(Anne McCollum Boyles) ,
WE ARE FREE! Liberty is still with us. It was Long-j
fellow who spoke of “the great world of light that lies
behind all human destinies.” Therefore let us make our
Christmas Eve this year shed its fullest brilliance up
to the midnight hour. This holiday season is indeed an
occasion for us to be filled with deep, heartfelt grati
tude.
Some sav that these are no times for tinsel and holly
and the good cheer of Christmas. To them our world
today appears wholly grim, without one saving ray of
brightness.
Yet almost never in our lifetime or in the time of,
our ancestors has there been a Christmas without trou
bles and fears. We have been gay always not because
we are free of cares, but in spite of them, because we
know we can face them, defy them, and beat them at;
last. This great tradition of our race showed itself most
nobly not so long ago in London, when cockney and
aristocrat alike, seeing terror dropping out of the skies,
laughed and shook their fists and fought back, and went
about their work and play singing, “There’ll always be
an England.”
The very day we celebrte, the day when Christ was
born, was one of agony for millions. The great Roman
empire had cut its cruel way across continents, leaving
a swath of death and poverty, slavery and degradation.
“And it came to pass in those days, that there went out
a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world
should be taxed. . . . And Joseph also went up . . .
into Judaea ... to be taxed with Mary his espoused
wife . . . And . . . while they were there . . . she
brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in
swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger.”
To the humble in oppression and defeat and the ashes
of lost hope came then the bold cries we now repeat:
“Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which
shall be to all people ... on earth peace, good will
toward men.”
So the Christmas faith began in a period of political
oppression and distress, and in defiance it flung ut .ts
call for peace and good will. Grounded in confidence,
it is and always has been highhearted.
It is right that we should guard our own hearts
against overmuch anxiety, against gloom and self-pity.
It is right that children should have their years of secur
ity within four walls, of happiness in the intimate circle
of home untouched by distant evil, and that they shorn d
be able to celebrate with carefree merriment, happi
ness, and love holidays like Christmas.
Such insistence upon the necessity of Christmas joy
in the home for children is, we think, no sentimental
weakness blind to harsh realities. It is rather a call to
gather up afresh the resources of the spirit with which
to meet the days to come. It is a call to make the child
strong in the fight for home and freedom by teaching
him how to value them.
This we must comprehend beyond all doubt or uncer
tainty, that Christmas brings joy and strength to the
family because it celebrates the birth of Him who is the
Prince of Peace and whose power in the world is finally
to establish peace among all nations.
f
Keeping Christmas
(Henry Van Dyke in Alaska’s Health)
THERE IS A better thing than the observance of
Christmas Day; that is, keeping Christmas.
Are you willing to forget what you have done for
other people, and to remember what other people have
done for you; to ignore what the world owes you, and
to think what you owe the world; to put your rights in
the background, and your duties in the middle dis
tance, and your chances to do a little more than your
duty, in the foreground; to see that your fellow-men
are just as real as you are, and try to look behind their
faces to their hearts, hungry for joy; to own that prob
ably the only good reason for your existence is not what
you are going to give to life; to close your book of com
plaint against the management of the universe, and to
look around you for a place where you can sow a few
seeds of happiness—are you willing to do these things
even for a day?
Then you can keep Christmas.
Washington
News Letter
ALASKA STATEHOOD
At about the same time Dele
gate Bartlett announced he would
introduce a bill for Alaska state
hood shortly after convening of the
80th Congress on January 3 there
were several other developments
in connection with statehood for
both Alaska and Hawaii.
Visiting the White House, the
Delegate learned from President V
Truman that the Chief Executive
has not forgotten the statement he
made at a press conference some
months ago pledging the adminis
tration’s support to Alaska state
hood if the people of the Territory
voted affirmatively at the October
8 referendum, as they did by a big
majority.
Active Interior Department sup
port for statehood is indicated.
Upon his return to Washington
from Hawaii, Delegate J. R. Far- y
rington of Alaska’s sister Terri
tory announced the Hawaii State
hood Association would open a
Washington office soon.
A dissenting note was heard
when Senator Hugh Butler, Re
publican of Nebraska was quoted
in a press association article as ex
pressing opposition for statehood *
for either Alaska or Hawaii. Sen
ator Butler may be the new Chair
man of the Senate Committee on
Public Lands which under the
Congressional reorganization act
would have general legislative
charge of the territories in the up
per House. “I will never vote for
statehood for any off shore area,
at least not until the people of this
j country have been thoroughly ed
ucated to the responsibility that®
would involve,” he told a reporter.
“I am expressing the opinion of
every other member of Congress
I have talked to on the subject.”
The Washington Post came out
editorially for Alaska statehood on
December 3.
! “Now that a sizable majority of
YULE LIFE SAVERS
>SP ,V*wjP*of
SAVE a life —your own or
another's —for Christmas!
Statistics show that each year
4,500 people are killed in
accidents between Dec. 16
and Dec. 31. The National
Safety Council warns that the
number one killer of the holi
day season is the traffic mis
hap. Falls arc a close runn. -
up, because of Yuletide rush,
fatigue, ice and snow. Fatal
burns result from overloaded
electrical circuits. Dangerous
Joys often mean death instead
of delight. Here are some do's
and don'ts suggested by the
council for holiday health.
anyshincTA
WRONG,
OSSIFER? J.
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