ty<
SEISM’S
OHM
* 'rc5'hank tyou”
I I
is tlic most sincere expression we j
know of to convey our apprecia- ;
' tion for the friendships which
have been so important to our
mutual benefit during the past j
twelve months. \
May we extend to you and ■
yours our best wishes for a joy- j
ous Christmas Season. |
Lemon Creek Sand & Gravel Co. j
W. J. Manihey j
There is no substitute for Newspaper Advertising*1
CHRISTMAS
(AMELIA;
A FLOWER
By John Scott Douglas
Stenographers hovered around as
Marta Manning unwrapped the
package that had just reached tne
law offices. There were startled
gasps of admiration when the paper
fell away, revealing a potted cam
elia. Large and pure white, except
for crimson-touched petals, its
heart was filled with delicate gold
en stamens.
“Oh, how beautiful!” Tessie gasp
ed. "Who sent it, Marta?”
“My boy friend,” Marta said, her
tone warm with happiness.
"I didn’t know camelias bloomed
in time for Christmas," said Boss.
"The Dai Kaugura does," said
Marta. "But it's all crimson. This
must be a new hybrid that Colby
Blake stocked for the Christmas
trade.”
Could Colby have developed it
himself? she wondered. She re
membered the day. when he had
been showing her around his nur
sery, that she started to enter a
small, new lath house at the back
"Don't go in there Marta!” And
then he’d been embarrassed a:; only
a big redheaded outdoor man can
be embarrassed by his own rude
ness. “Forgive me' for speaking so
sharply, darling. You'll understand,
some day.”
In the two years since then, he’d
never explained his strange words.
It was but one of the things that
had marred a more periect under
standing. The many broken dates
were another. Engagements he
could not keep because a truckload
cf plants must suddenly be deliv
ered, or a customer must be seen
about the laying out cf a new gar
den.
"For you, Marta," said the
switchboard girl. The girls dis
peised as she picked up the phone.
She heard Colby’s voice.
“I feel terribly to beg olf on
another date, darling. But Roberts
sprained his back lilting a tubbed
tree, and had to go home. About
twenty customers are coming in to
pick up Christmas plants this eve
ning, and someone must be here.
Let me explain, about that cam
elia—”
Sick with disappointment, sht
said, "Never mind,” and hung up
Tears pricked her eyes. Wasn’t
she ever as important as a cus
tomer?
“Garral Ladd wants you to take
a letter,” said the switchboard girl.
Any of the other girls would have
gone into a tizzy if he'd suggested
LjneeHl
Orme s Transfer
a date. Only Marta had had the
chance to refuse him, not once but
many times. For to her, he wasn’t
quite real.
Now, with a confident smile, he
dictated: “To do the town ori
Christmas Eve with a lovely young
blonde like you would make this
my most wonderful Christmas. Will
you say, ‘Yes’? Devotedly, Garral
Ladd.”
“To whom shall I address it?"
asked Marta.
"To Miss Marta Manning.”
Her cheeks grew warm. On the
point of refusal, she remembered
the broken date. "I’d be glad to,
Mr. Ladd.”
That evening, on her way home
to dress, she stopped at a nursery
to buy a small tree for her apart
ment. The tree, she recalled with
a pans of disappointment, that
Colby had promised to bring when
he called. A woman loaded with
bundles was leaving the nursery
with a plant identical to the one
Marta hid received that morning.
"Isn't it lovely?” the woman
asked, noticing Marta's glance. “ It's
the new hybrid developed by the
Blake nursery.” And she told Mar
ta its name.
Marta stood stunned when the
woman left. Then, abruptly, she
turned back to her car, thinking,
"I can call Garral Ladd later.”
She found Colby wrapping red
paper around a pot holding one of
the new Christmas camelias.
"Can you forgive me Colby?”
she asked humbly. “I'll help wait
on customers so we can be to
gether Christmas Eve. You've made
me so proud and happy."
"It was the only name for a
flower so beautiiul, darling.”
She felt a tonen 01 awe as she
stared at the oamelia he was wrap
ping. How like Colby to express
his love by naming it the Marta
Manning!
WANT AOS BRING RESULTS
Letters to "Santa
Claus" Come from
All Over World
Postoffice officials in Santa Claus,
Ind., are accustomed to overloaded
sacks of mail during the pre
Christmas rush. Senders want
their cards and gifts stamped with
the famous Santa Claus postmark,
plus thousands of wistful letters
addressed in childish scrawl to
"Santa Claus, Santa Claus, Ind."
And then there is the annual
crop of "Santa Claus" letters writ
ten by youngsters in far-away
places who haven't heard about
Santa's permanent address in In
diana, U.t’A. At least r dozen
versions of the time honored note
in-the-bottle story find their way
into metropolitan newspapers every
year.
The notes, sealed .In small hot
ties and securely tied to Christmas
trees, are discovered by Christmas
tree dealers, housewives; and even
enlisted men at naval centers and
military barracks: they come from
places like Reuous. a village in
New Brunswick, Canada, boasting a
total population of 85 inhabitants.
The notes range from the wistful
to the desperate, requesting such
things as a mamma doll, a sled,
a sweater or a pair of overshoes.
KRIS KRINGLE ISN'T
REALLY SANTA CLAUS
Popular notion seems to imply
that Kris Kringle is a German
term of endearment for Santa
Claus. Just what motivates this
idea is not at all clear, since Kris
Kringle is really a modification of'
Christkind who. although endowed
by German legend as a gift-giver,
resemoles Santa Claus not in th<|
least.
Santa Claus, as we know him in
America, never really caught on in
Germany. St. Nicholas cornea
around on his liturgical feast day
—December 6— with his pocket#
bulging with candy and nuts and
trinkets. Well and good, but Ger
man parents maintain, as did their .
predecessors of the Reformation
era, that the central idea of Christ
mas, the birth of Jesus, should
dominate the observances.
Nor is Christklnd depicted as th*
Infant Jesus himselt, but rather as
his messenger and gift-bearer who
comes to earth at Christmastime'
to bring happiness to good chil-f
dren. The Chrlstkind Is usually
represented as a child dressed in
white robes, wearing a golden
crown and having big, golden
wings. ^
The first Christmas card was de
signed in 1845.
—- ------ *+
S W M W M ■ %
Mmte
We would like to put into words the very nice things we're
wishing you this Christmas. Yet, it is not so much the phras
i
ing of a Christmas greeting hut the thought that pervades
it that counts. And so we send to all our friends the very
a
old yet always new Greeting — A Merry Christmas and a
_ •
Happy New Year to alL
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