BROAD CASTING GOOD CHEER

Manawatu Times, Volume LXIX, Issue 2564, 23 December 1924, Page 9

BROAD CASTING GOOD CHEER

CHRISTMAS SPIRIT ABROAD. GLIMPSE OF BEARD AND REINDEER. Apart from the calendar, there are many other contributory factors that bring us to the realisation that Christmas, the festive season, is close upon us. Tho streets swarming with shoppers, retail establishments working at top speed, the loaded railway trains that steam into the station full and pull out fuller, the unending melee in the post office, and many other departments of activity all create the Christmas atmosphere that pervades the town. Shop windows are resplendent with colourful and enticing displays that draw the attention of the shoppers and lure him on to the inner mysteries, and much taste has been exercised in making the display worthy of the occasion. For the most part business is brisk, and shopkeepers as a whole have little to complain of in the matter of the spending ability of tho populace when the occasion warra'nts it. A peep through the doors of the post office shows a scone where, strangely, mortals in large numbers fight fiercely to dispatch messages and tokens of goodwill, and the volumes of such matter has been 'unprecedented. For the past week mail and other matter has been steadily increasing - fa size, and now the post office authorities are coping with the rush that occurs at this time. Friends and relatives neglected are reminded that one still survives the vicissitudes of existence, while the reciprocation keeps all ha'ads occupied. The railway trains, after their inopportune and unwelcome delays of the past few days, arc now running again to schedule, and arrivals and departures at the Palmerston North station yesterday were all according to time-table. While the temporary miscarriage upended many arrangements, the passenger traffic shows no decline with the return to the former basis, and trains yesterday carried their full complement of passengers to all parts of the island, tho static'll presenting a busy scene in its capacity as the avenue to beach and rolling billow, fields and pastures new. Quite one of the brightest aspects of the season,, and one of the most practical expressions of goodwill, is •the Mayor’s appeal fifad for the poor. The fund has been assisted by a number of philanthropically inclined institutions of the town as well as the citizens, and tho toys that will be distributed will bring joy to many a child, whom Santa Claus would otherwise pass by. In coming upon a gentleman cheerfully struggling along under a pile of parcels, a reporter, strolling through tho busy streets,, learned that the pilgrimage to the post office was duo to the activities of the New Zealand Sheepowners’ Acknowledgement of Debt to British Seamen Fund, who, in conformity with their usual custom, were dispatching Christmas gifts to those orphans in New Zealand, of men who died at sea in the war, and to the sons of those suffering war incapacity. The boys at Flock House are also being remembered by the Fund. | Although no party of performers has so far offered to entertain tho patients at the Palmerston North hospital, as has been the custom in previous years, arrangements are nevertheless being made to celebi-ate Christmas in the wards, while other homes will have festivities in keeping, sympathisers with tho All Saints’ and Willard Childrens Homes having made arrangements for a Christmas tree and party to-morrow night, when the youngsters will make merry'. Those Palmerstonians and visitors who are spending the festive season here will have many attractions to command their attention over Christmastide. The Manawatu Racing Club will hold a three days’ meeting at the jAwiapuni course, on Boxing night some more than interesting bouts will be staged, all classes of sport are being catered lor, and with tho civic and outlying places of interest, a pleasurable time should bo spent during the season “that comes but once a year.’’