r-WEEKLY NEWS ANALYSIS-1
German Drive Reminder of Last
Desperate Fling in World War I;
Farmers Harvest Banner Crops
p»L».-,«»a by Western Newspaper Union - ■
(EDITOR’S NOTE: When opinions are expressed In these column*, they ere those of
Western Newspaper Union's news analysts and net necessarily ef thl* newspaper.)
Attired in civilian clothes, and with some of their number carrying
mace-like antitank projectiles, Heinrich Himmler’s home guard parades
in Berlin.
WESTERN FRONT:
History Repents
To many, the mighty German
counter - offensive Field Marshal
Von Rundstedt launched against Al
lied armies on the western front was
reminiscent of General Luden
dorff’s last desperate throw of the
dice in 1918 in an effort to improve
Germany’s position for the negoti
ation of a peace.
Then, Ludendorff’s drive failed;
this time, resolute U. S. troops
moved in to stem Von Rundstedt's
attack, with decisive Allied counter
measures expected to not only blunt
the enemy's thrust but also sap the
most formidable part of his force
and reduce his war potential for
next spring.
There was one difference between
Ludendorff’s suicidal gamble in 1918
and Von Rundstedt's of this war,
however, and that lay in Hein
rich Himmler’s success in holding
the German home front together to
supply the wehrmacht with men
and materials for the big drive. In
1918. on the other hand, Ludendorff
was faced with a crumbling home
front, once rising to a bawling rage
in those months because a tottering
government failed to provide suffi
cient troops and supplies.
As the Germans desperate
drive developed, it followed the
pattern of other major Nazi at
tacks of World War II. with pow
erful armored spearheads
punching through forward de
fenses and then speeding on
ward to let the trailing Infantry
deal with opposing elements sur
rounded to the rear.
It was thus that the Germans
wiped out the Poles', broke France,
and marched a third of the way
across Russia. This time, however,
the enemy faced a stronger, better
equipped, more resolute foe, and
as his attack developed, U. S. re
serves thrown into the battle moved
to dam the surge.
In launching the offensive, Von
Rundstedt followed the 1940 inva
sion pathways, pointing spearheads
across Belgium and Luxembourg.
In choosing this battleground be
low Aachen, the Nazi field marshal
concentrated the bulk of his forces
against the First army, which had
thrown the Germans onto the edge
of the Rhineland plain.
In the early fighting, the Nazi
thrust against Monschau was ap
preciably contained by the Yanks,
but the spearhead farther south
probed as deeply as 22 miles to
the important road juncture of
Stavelot in Belgium. Still another
Nazi force pushed across the Bel
gium border and threw a pincer
around St. Vith.
In Luxembourg to the south, the
Germans drove through the Ar
dennes forest beyond Echternach
after meeting stiff U. S. resistance.
Once the German attack got
underway, the battle turned into
a slugging match, with the ene
my pouring men into the initial
breaches to exploit their breaks,
while the Allies moved reserves
to the front to check the drive.
Coincident with Von Rundstedt’s
smash to the north, Gen. George S.
Patton’s U. S. First army encoun
tered stiffening Nazi resistance in
the Saar, with the enemy following
his favored pattern of throwing in
short, sharp armored counter-at
tacks in an attempt to momentarily
check the Yanks’ push.
Meanwhile, it was announced that
Himmler himself had taken over
command of German resistance in
the Colmar pocket in Alsace, throw
ing in strong detachments of his
motley but fanatical home guard
units. i
PACIFIC:
Put on Heat
All through the scattered Philip
pine islands, the enemy came un
der increasing pressure of U. S.
land and naval forces as the
Americans speeded up their attack
on this great archipelago guarding
the Japs’ vital inner imperial lines.
Latest threat to the enemy was
the U S landing on Mindoro island,
where the Yanks drove forward
again: i negligible opposition to es
tablish air bases from which land
based bombers could join carrier
planes in hammering the main is
land of Luzon to the north, nerve
center for the whole Jap defense in
the Philippines. Even as the dough
boys plodded forward, carrier
planes ripped at enemy shipping
feeding island garrisons from the
main staging point.
On Leyte, General MacArthur’s
triple-pronged offensive continued to
squeeze the Japanese into an ever
narrower corner on the island.
STATE DEPARTMENT:
O. K. New Setup
Amid fierce debate, in which
charges were levelled that the re
cent reorganization of the state de
partment put the House of Morgan
in an influential position in the shap
ing of U S. foreign policy, the sen
ate confirmed President Roosevelt’s
appointments of William L. Clayton
and Nelson Rockefeller as assistants
to Secretary of State Stettinius.
With ardent New Dealers Pepper
(Fla.) and Guffey (Pa.) leading the
attack, it was charged that the new
setup in the state department fol
lowing Secretary Hull's resignation
might indicate a reversal in a liber
ge&m&k..(■KiftBBl.aB
Secretary Stettinius (left) willi William
L. Clayton.
al U. S. foreign policy, to which
uator Connally (Texas) replied
at President Roosevelt would
chart the country’s course regard
less of the reorganization.
As the storm over the state de
partment reorganization first
mounted then subsided under presi
dential pressure, Mr Roosevelt told
newspapermen that the Atlantic
Charter was not a formal document
signed by this country and Britain,
but merely a statement of principles
to guide the Allies’ war aims.
CROPS:
Banner Year
Surmounting weather and man
power problems, American farmers
again answered the nation’s call for
high level production with a near
record output of crops. 24 per cent
above the 1923-'32 pre-drought av
erage. the U. S. department of agri
culture reported.
Pointing to near record acreage,
the USDA said: “ . . . Farmers
planted only when they could and
®iey kept on planting past the
normal season as long as there
seemed half a chance of suc
cess. . . ”
Production of grains, fruits, nuts
and commercial vegetables were all
above last year, with all-time top
harvests of corn at 3,228,361,000
bushels and of wheat at 1,078,647,000
bushels. Output of dry beans and
peas, oil seeds, tobacco and hay
and forage crops has been seldom
exceeded. Cotton was about aver
age.
(psuopdiL i/L thsL VlfiivJL . . .
Testifying that her husband
refused to work as long as Mr.
Roosevelt was president, Mrs.
Catherine Ingrassia of Detroit,
Mich., was granted a divorce.
• * •
Only a few days after purchasing
his own plane, 24-year-old Howard
Hoy of Urbana, 111., was killed when
it crashed in the barnyard of his
own farm.
• * •
While one of her newer customers
was chatting to Bessie Vandre, 50,
of Chicago, 111., another man
dropped into her cafe and asked the
way to the county hospital, saying
that he was carrying $20,000 out
there to endow a children's ward.
The new customer cautioned him
against carrying that much money,
suggesting that he put it into the
cafe's safe, which he faked doing
when Miss Vandre was persuaded
to open it. After the two men left.
Miss Vandre looked into the safe
and found $3,000 of her own gone.
Delivery of a premature two pound
baby boy to Mrs. James Snodgrass
of Forest Park. 111., came as a com
plete surprise to both husband and
wife. “We had no idea we were go
ing to be parents again, and I ought
to know,” said Mr. Snodgrass. “I’ve
got two boys already, one seven and
the other eight years old.” The child
was born after Mrs. Snodgrass’
complaint of a back-ache.
• • •
Of 15,000 British wives of D. S.
doughboys, only about 1,300 have
received permission to enter this
country, it was revealed, with
the remainder rejected chiefly
for health reasons. Tight ship
ping has prevented many British
wives of Canadian soldiers from
returning to the dominion.
• • •
Found after 14 years search 72
year-old Ed S. Young of Grants
Pass, Ore., a relief recipient,
dropped dead when told he had been
willed $5,000.
POSTWAR PLANNING:
Stability Sought
Looking forward to the day when
the war will end and the cessation
of wartime production will pose
problems of providing adequate op
portunity for a peacetime economy, j
senate and house committees busied
themselves in developing a program
for the prosperous employment of
both labor and agriculture.
Most specific action taken was by
a senate committee headed by Mon
tana’s Senator Murray, which sub
mitted a proposal for an annual esti
mation of the amount of expenditure
necessary for full employment and
the probable outlays by private in- .
d us try, with any differences to be :
made up by federal investment. Be
fore the government would under
take any expenditures, however, ev
ery effort would be made to stimu-1
late the flow of private capital.
While Senator Murray’s commit
tee presented the proposal, a house
committee held hearings in Chi
cago, 111., on means of bolstering
postwar agriculture.
While advocating a reapprais
al of farm credit needs, inter
national agreements to dispose
of surplus commodities and low
ering of trade barriers, Ed
ward A. O’Neal, president of the
American Farm Bureau federa
tion, also called for realistic
marketings based on feed and
labor costs to replace subsidies.
Movement of 2,000,000 persons
from farms after the war to pro
vide them with sufficient income and
guard against overproduction was
advocated by Chairman Oscar
Heline of the Iowa Farmer Grain
Dealers association. In agreeing.
Prof, Noble Clark, chairman of the
Land Grant Colleges' committee on
postwar agricultural policies, urged
a broadened educational program to
equip rural youth for occupational
opportunities.
WAR COSTS:
Pricing Policy
Aiming to cut government costs
and at the same time impose great
er efficiency on some firms with a
resultant release of manpower and
material, the war department an
nounced the adoption of a new pric
ing program employing teams of
experts that will comb over con
tracts before letting.
Expressing the belief that lower
prices would lead to greater use of
manpower and material. Col. Fred
C, Foy, director of army service
forces purchases, said: “ . . . When
ever a contractor’s selling prices
are close to his costs, the contrac
tor has an incentive to lower his
costs to increase profit. ...”
To firms establishing close pric
ing policies went the promise of
consideration for a higher rate of
return in reviewing contracts for ex
cess profits and maintenance of
work in case cutbacks, or re
ductions, are made in their line of
war production.
AGRICULTURE:
EZL't. - ,
Thanks to a new oil extraction
and harvesting process, the raising
of sunflower seeds may develop into
an important farm crop in the mid
dle west, following successful experi
mentation in Illinois’ Piat county.
Due to a new solvent process of
bio-chemist Ezra Levin, oil now ex
tracted from the sunflower seeds
and the resulting mash no longer
become rancid, while the construc
tion of a new combine cuts the once
high harvesting costs.
Planted in 40-inch rows and culti
vated twice through the season, 1,600
pounds of seed were obtained from
an acre, with a yield of oil at 14%
cents per pound reportedly higher
than that obtained from a similar
planting of soybeans. Not only is the
oil good for salads and cooking, it
was said, but seeds were found to
have protein content of 53 per cent.
WAR SHIPPING:
Big Profits
With nine American steamship
lines having made $26,847,000 in
profits on $31,364,000 worth of busi
ness from April to September on
lend-lease runs to the Middle East,
the U. S. maritime commission
started court action against seven
of the operators to recover excess
income.
Operating on rates that the
commission itself set at the
time when subs were scourging
the seas and ships were needed
to haul material to the British
in the middle eastern and north
African sectors, the companies
averaged $300,000 profit per ves
sel, or 910 per cent of the book
value of each.
Although two of the companies
have refunded $300,000, the others
have refused to make remittances,
claiming that they merely charged
prevalent rates, recognized by the
British themselves.
TIRES
With increased military demands
and manpower shortages limiting
supply, no passenger tires will be
available for “A” card holders or
less essential “B” card applicants
through the first three months ol :
1945, trade circles reported.
At the same time, it was said,
the supply of heavy truck tires dur
ing this period will be the smallest
for any quarter since 1941. Release
of experienced workers from the
army was proposed to help remedy
the truck tire shortage.
CASUALTIES
With 57,775 casualties reported in
November, U. S. losses in invasion
operations in France, the Lowlands
and the German border region total
258,124, the war department re
ported.
Of this number, 44,143 were killed,
189,118 were wounded and 24,863 are
missing, the war department said.
Announcement of the casualties
came as selective service revealed
that it would increase its January
and February calls from 60.300 ti
80,000 men each month.
I.~ 1.
-»-VMPWUIM9J 1» mwm • .-wwp iuv m^xr - mm pu pjii w '
Liberal Ground Swell
Sweeping Over Europe
Underground Coalesces Democratic Groups
In Fight for Popular Government;
Look to ‘Big Three.’
By BAUKHAGE
News Analyst and Commentator
WNU Service, Union Trust Building
Washington, D. C.
As the New Year approaches,
Washington is preparing to experi
ence the results of two titanic strug
gles which will chart the course fol
lowed by this nation and the world
in the decades ahead.
One contest will be witnessed on
the floors of congress. The other in
some unnamed spot where Presi
dent Roosevelt, Prime Minister
Churchill, Marshal Stalin and per
haps General De Gaulle will sit down
and try to agree on details of the
framework of an international or
ganization for the maintenance of
peace.
The election was supposed to
have settled the old issue of ‘‘isola
tionism versus internationalism” but
those terms were far too indefinite
to delimit any lasting decisions and
since November our allies have
been strewing land-mines of doubt
along the way, causing many cases
of non-interventionist jitters in con
gress.
There will be debate in the senate
flavored with remarks, the tenor of
those which criticized the British
course in Greece.
As to the battle behind closed
doors, you can imagine that the
American viewpoint will need all
the support the President can rally
behind it, to overcome the tendency
of Messrs. Churchill, Stalin and De
Gaulle to fall into all the old bad
habits of their happy power politics
days.
in order to understand tne differ
ences which have already arisen be
tween those who support British
armed intervention in Greece and
those who support the state depart
ment’s action in protesting against
it, it is necessary to take a look be
hind the scenes and see what these
forces are which are bound to
shape the new governments of Eu
rope as they are re-born after the
period of defnocratic hibernation
during Nazi-Fascist occupation or
control.
U. S. Favor*
Self Rule
In the first place, there is a pow
erful, liberal-oriented ground swell to
be discerned everywhere if we look
for it. It is the belief that, even
tually, this force will dominate,
which has prompted the American
“hands-off” policy. Uncle Sam
merely says: "Let the people of the
various countries choose the form of
government they want. Those who
want democracy enough will get it
if there is no outside interference.”
That is one thing to bear in mind.
Another is that this ground swell, as
I call it, is the result of many dif
ferent factors — not merely hun
ger and discontent or faith and en
lightenment; not only inspiration or
desperation, but aspiration as well,
aspiration toward the natural his
torical and evolutionary goals of
progress which are a part of man’s
eternal struggle for liberty.
The reaction against Nazi tyranny
and the successful resistance to
German control in the form of the
underground, generated certain
forces toward freedom and inde
pendence. The underground made
its own laws, gave opportunity for
the coalescence and strengthening
of all democratic movements. It was
natural when the Germans were
driven out that these forces re
fused to bow to representatives of
any regime, no mattter how benefi
cent, if it had about it even the
slightest odor of sanctified feudal
ism.
II IS necessary 10 get this premise
firmly fixed in our minds or else
fall into the error of writing off ev
ery revolutionary movement as
“communist,” including some cer
tainly no whit less virtuous than our
own in 1776.
It is well to study the France of
today in this connection, and inter
esting to note the comment which
appeared in the French press at the
time of the first revolts in Belgium
and later in Greece where Allied
support was given the government
in power. The “Franc-Tireur," whose
name indicates the "underground”
flavor of its opinion, explains why, so
far, France has had no such inter
nal trouble.
“It has been our great good for
tune,” it says, “to have a man to
protect our honor and prepare the
liberation, who had such character
and personality that he is univer
sally accepted, acclaimed and fol
lowed by the entire nation as our
leading member of the resistance.”
The last seven words are the
important ones — “as our leading
member of the resistance.” In
other words, De Gaulle was able to
lead his fellow countrymen into
liberation without chaos because he
had the approval of the most ac
tive and most militantly democrat
ic elements of the underground.
New Spirit
In Greece
Papandreou, premier of Greece
during the revolt, with all his vir
tues, was no De Gaulle in that re
spect.
I was reliably informed that
Papandreou had expressed firm
anti-monarchic sentiments, that he
is, as he says, a democrat and a
socialist, that he had a clean rec
ord through the occupation. But— \
and what a “but” there is. judged
by such standards as I imagine
“Franc-Tireur" would hold up —
Papandreou was selected by the
King with British consent. The mo
tives back of his election may have
been honest enough and practical
enough from the standpoint of the
old order. Here was a man with a !
good record who, it would seem, j
could reconcile the royalists and the !
leftists. But that formula itself
violates the very principles of the
new order, and when the left-wing
ers began to feel that the cabinet
was monarchist and British-made,
they withdrew and their followers
refused to give up their weapons.
All armed groups in Greece not
absorbed officially by the army
were ordered to turn in their arms.
The police, of course, did not turn
in their arms and they were the
same police who had helped the pre
war Metaxas dictatorship, and later
the Germans, "keep order.” The
“sacred battalion,” a group com
posed chiefly of former Greek offi
cers who fought bravely beside the
Allies all through the African cam
paign (and were charged with con
taining a strong monarchist ele
ment) was not disbanded but
became a part of the army.
Translate the above into terms of
the French attitude and see how
impossible acceptance of a Greek
government such as that could be
to groups thinking as the French
resistance groups think.
There is every reason to believe
that the leftist movement in Greece
and elsewhere in Europe, even
where the majority of their leaders
may be led by communists (as was
not the case in Greece) is actually at
heart a drive against tyranny and
toward democracy.
Here again it might be wise to
examine some of the opinion ex
pressed by Frenchmen now back
ing the De Gaulle provisional gov
ernment which is a product of the
forces similar to those operating in
other liberated countries.
The leading editorial in the
December issue of “Free France,”
that attractive and informative
magazine published in New York by
the French provisional government,
gives the reasons for the change of
attitude toward the French com
munists as follows:
1. The French communist party
joined the resistance movement and
later gave its allegiance to De
Gaulle’s national committee.
2. The comintem was dissolved.
3. The communists rendered in
valuable aid to the resistance
movement.
*. me striKing cunaoorauon oi an
French patriots in the underground
struggle removed many prejudices,
including the suspicion of “com
munists sans patrie" (a political
group with loyalty to no fatherland).
The editors of Free France cau
tiously state that it is too early to
answer the important question:
Have the French communists ac
cepted democracy as it is under
stood by the western democracies?
Nevertheless, they note for the rec
ord that so far “the communists
helped to draw up the National Re
sistance council program of March,
1944, tacitly accepting the democrat
ic principle” and "the abolition cf
private property is not listed among
the immediate demands of the com
munist party.”
BRIEFS. ..fey Baukhage
There is a new dodge in tax-dodg
ing. A black money market which
cashes big checks, thus preventing
the record of deposits. But look out,
some of those cash deposits may
bounce as high as a rubber check.
• • •
That great sporting race, the
Japs, recently organized a weight
carrying race around the island of
Java. The natives did the carrying.
• • •
Most unimportant rumor from
Germany: "Hitler is not dead.”
• • •
Spain has just abolished the old
compulsory rule that Spanish stu
dents had to study German and Ital
ian. Perhaps "addio” but not “auf
wiedersehen.”
• • •
A veteran homing pigeon of the
British signal corps has survived
three y ears’ operational service
without a single mistake. No
feather for the investigator's cap
available there!
- -- I I
Great Britain has found that true
love (even in Greece) doesn’t
always run smooth.
• • •
The appointment of Archibald Mc
Leish as assistant secretary of
state was opposed by certain sena
tors and others on the ground that
he was a poet. It is well they
didn’t have to pass on the confirma
tion of John Hay!
• • •
A Nazi district leader told a meet
ing of women in Nuremberg that
they must all make their husbands
fight. Make your own comment on
this.
• • •
It takes more than a cork tip to
win a cigarette these days.
• • •
Girls have taken up pipe-smoking
I hear. Well, winter is he"re, there
is a manpower shortage in the
plumbing business and if a woman
can smoke a pipe she ought to bi
able to mend one.
************
Improved
Uniform
International
I SUNDAY
I SCHOOL
L E S S O N
Bv HAROLD L. LUNDQUIST, D. D
Of The Moody Bible Institute of Chicago.
Released by Western Newspaper Union.
Lesson for January 7
Lesson subjects and Scripture texts se
lected and copyrighted by International
Council of Religious Education; used by
permission.
THE CHILDHOOD OF JESUS
LESSON TEXT—Matthew 2:13-23.
GOLDEN TEXT—Behold. I am with
thee, and will keep thee In all places
whither thou goest—Genesis 28:15.
Matthew is the Gospel of the King
and His kingdom. It stresses the
fulfillment of prophecy in the com
ing of Christ, the King. After His
rejection, it tells us of the Church,
"the kingdom in mystery,” and of
the death of Christ for our sins. His
resurrection for our justification,
and His glorious coming again.
This then is an important book
which we study for the next three
months. Teacher and student alike
should be enthusiastic and expect
ant.
The genealogy of the King, and
the story of His coming to earth as
the babe of Bethlehem (both impor
tant matters), are covered in chap
ter 1. In our lesson we find Him
as a little child. Observe how man
received Him, and how God cared
for Him. Without assigning definite
verses to our points we note that:
I. Men Received or Rejected
Jesus.
It has always been so. Men, then
as now, were either for Him or
against Him. The world or today is
far different from that of the first
century, but the difference is all on
the outside. Almost breath-taking
have been the developments of mod
ern science, but these have not
changed the heart of man. He still
fears and hates and fights and sins.
His attitude toward Christ is un
changed. There arc still only two
classes of people in the world—those
who have received Christ and are
saved, and those who have rejected
Him and are lost.
1. Men Are Against Christ
How do men show their rejection of
God’s Son? Just as they did at
His birth, by:
a. Fear. Herod was afraid lest
the coming of this One should result
in the loss of his ill-gotten gains.
His anger and fear made all Jeru
salem afraid.
b. Indifference. When the Wise
Men asked where Christ was to be
born, the priests and scribes knew
exactly where to find the facts in the
Holy Scriptures, but having done so,
they relapsed into utter indifference.
They had no interest in the fulfill
ment of the prophecy.
c. Hatred. Herod poured out the
violence of his heart by killing the
first-born. He was the first of many
who have raged against the Christ
in futile anger.
d. Sorrow. The tears of the moth
ers of Jerusalem but foreshadowed
the weeping and wailing which char
acterizes Christ-rejection both in
time and eternity.
2. Men Are For Christ.
Thanks be to God, there were
those in that day who were for
Christ and, like those who follow
Him today, they showed:
a. Spirituality. Men have mar
veled that the Magi knew of the
birth of Christ. They must have
studied the prophecies of the Word
and been responsive to the teach
ing and moving of the Holy Spirit.
Can we say as much for ourselves?
b. Interest. Not content to know
and to marvel, they shamed the
priests of Israel by their persistent
interest in this great thing which
had come to pass.
c. Love. They brought themselves
in worship and they brought rich
gifts from their treasures. You can
give without loving, but you cannot
love without giving.
d. Action. They came. They per
sisted until they found the Christ.
Then they listened to God and pro
tected His Son by not returning to
Herod.
II. God Protected and Prepared
Jesus.
The ruin which sin had brought
into the world could only be met by
redemption which Christ had come
to bring. Some men had already
shown their hatred for Jesus and
their rejection of Him. But God still
ruled, and for the sake of those who
received Him (and would receive
Him in all the centuries since). He
kept the Child Jesus from harm. We
find Him:
1. Protecting Jesus. Men may
hate and seek to destroy God’s Son.
Satan may inspire them with ingen
uity and cunning. But see how the
Eternal One spoke to Joseph in
dreams, how He prepared a place
of refuge in Egypt and ultimately
in Nazareth, where the boy Jesus
might increase in wisdom and stat
ure and favor with God and man.
2. Preparing Jesus. God knew ot
the days of public ministry which
were ahead, and above all, of that
day when on Golgotha's hill Christ
was, in His own body, to prepare
salvation for you and for me. God
is never taken by surprise. He
moves forward to the completion of
His plan with the stately tread of
eternity.
He took Jesus to Egypt. He
brought Him again to Nazareth. In
it all He was preparing His Son
for the days of ministry which were
ahead. All this was in fulfillment of
prophecy (see w. 15, 17). God’s
Word is always sure.
Without Deeds
The one who can boast only of
what his ancestors have done is like
a potato—the best part is under the
ground.
Trouble With Habits
Some people have so much trou
ble with bad habits that they find it
difficult to cultivate good ones.
As We Do, We Are
We grow to be what our daily
thought, feeling, and conduct de
termine.
When the
New Year
Will Arrive
Among U. S.
Fighting
Men
the
j World Over j
__I
Many churches of America, of all denominations, will keep their doors
open Sunday and Monday in order that relatives and friends of American
fighting men and women throughout the world may offer New
Year’s prayers at the time their loved ones are welcoming in the New
Year, no matter where they will be. These services are in addition to
regular watch night services.
When 1945 reaches New York City in a blare of noise or a silence
of prayer, it will already be early Monday evening just east of Australia
in the Chatham Islands. Meanwhile, at Honolulu the clock will register
6:30 p. m. Sunday. The New Year is born on the lonely Chatham islands,
414 miles southeast of New Zealand, and races westward at 1,000 miles
an hour. About 200 shepherds and fishermen, augmented with troops
in the Chatham group, will celebrate the New Year by ringing the church
bell on Hanson island. The international date line, near these isles, was
set by the British admiralty and runs near the 180th meridian of longitude.
Bells Over the World Will Herald
In a New Year of Promised Peace
For Centuries the Old Year Has Died to Tolling
Of Bells—With Hope for Better Times.
“Never forget the cheerful and cordial
observance of New Year's Day."
—George Washington.
Since early ages, the sound of
stone, of hollow resonant wood, and
of all the metals that came out of
the earth, fashioned as a means by
which man could make his gods
hear him, have also been used to
announce peace and the turning
point toward better things of life.
The first bells were fashioned by
primitive man of wood. Prior to
this time the “click stone,” some
times called the first bell, was a
resonant stone suspended by a thong
and struck with a stick or another
stone to give the ringing effect.
The first church bell was erected
by Paulimus, bishop of Nola, in the
city of Campania. Italy, in about
400 A. D. Early bells were bap
tized. In Switzerland a curious tra
dition is that all baptized bells take
a trip to Rome every year during
Passion weeks and get back in time
to be rung on Easter morning.
“All they thunder here are harmless!
For these bells have been annoinled
And baptized with holy water.
They defy our utmost power.”
The science of music of bells has
been recognized in some of the lead
ing music institutions of the world.
M. Kamiel Lefevre is carillonneur of
the Riverside church in New York
City where the chief of carillons, by
size and scope, were installed. He
has started a movement for the wide
development of carillon music, be
lieving they could be made an ele-j
ment in promoting human accord
and genuine sympathy among the
many racial groups in America.
Just when bells were first used to
announce the end of the old year and
the start of the new is not known.
Long before the clock had found its
way to the tower, they had been
used to announce time, often united
with the observance of the canonical
hours. By this usage a monastery
became timemarket to the neigh
borhood.
RING OUT, WILD BELLS
Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky.
The flying cloud, the frosty light ;
The year is dying in the night;
Ring out, wild bells, and let him die.
Ring out the old, ring in the new.
Ring, happy bells, across the snow;
The year is going, let him go;
Ring out the false, ring in the true.
Ring out the grief that saps the mind
F or those that here we see no more;
Ring out the feud of rich and poor,
Ring in redress to all mankind.
Ring out a slowly dying cause.
And ancient forms of party strife;
Ring in the nobler modes of life,
With sweeter manners, purer laws.
Ring out false pride in place and
blood.
The civic slander and the spite;
Ring in the love of truth and right,
Ring in the common love of good.
Ring out old shapes of foul disease.
Ring out the narrowing lust of
gold;
Ring out the thousand vjars of old.
Ring in the thousand years of peace. ,
Ring in the valiant man and free |
The larger heart, the kindlier
hand;
Ring out the darkness of the land,
Ring in the Christ that is to be.
—LORD TENNYSON.
Variety of Uses for Old Greeting Cards
Don t throw away the Christmas
and New Year's cards you have re
ceived. Almost every church and
i philanthropic society has a commit
tee which collects greeting cards
and sends them to institutions, hos
pitals and organizations that put
your greeting card to good use. If
you take the trouble to distribute in
some such fashion the greeting
cards you have saved, you'll earn
the satisfaction of sharing with oth
ers the joy the cards brought you.
Meaning of January
The name January was derived
from the two-faced god Janus. Janus
was originally the god of light and
day, but he gradually developed into
the god of the beginning of all
things.
The beginning of the year was
sacred to Janus and a festival in
his honor called Agonia was cele
brated.
At the beginning of any important
undertaking the aid of Janus was
sought.
The next time you wrap a gift for
someone, glance through the greet
ing cards you have saved and pick
out one with a colorful or appro
priate picture on it. Cut the pic
ture out neatly, glue or paste it on
your gift wrapping. That’s all there
is to it and you’ll be amazed to find
you’ve transformed a plain package
into something original and charm
ing. Fancy gift wrappings are now
scarce and seldom found on the mar
ket
There are a number of objects
about the house that cutouts from
greeting cards might brighten; clos
et doors, furniture, waste paper bas
kets. screens and cigarette boxes.
Pasted on and coated with preserva
tive of clear shellac, greeting cards
can serve a variety of decorative
purposes.
Army and navy hospitals look for
ward to receiving tray favors made
from holiday greeting cards which
add an extra fillip to the holiday
dinner served the shut-in patients.
The Red Cross will gladly receive
and distribute any such favors.
