THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES SATURDAY, DECEMBER 24, 1927. CHRISTMAS.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20290, 24 December 1927, Page 10

THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES SATURDAY, DECEMBER 24, 1927. CHRISTMAS.

Ciiristmabtide is here again, with its compelling appeal to human emotion 4 its perennial associations of home reunion and brotherly fellowship and jocund pleasantry, its uplifting sentiment of peace and goodwill. From the night in .Bethlehem when, as sacred story has it, an angelic company heralded the dawn of a new Golden Age, down the long corridor of the nineteen Christian centuries, the benison of the Christ-child has shed its benign radiance on the holiest and most joyous of festivals. The glamour of the influence is perceived even by those who ignore its source. The ancestral spell of the occasion is happily independent of local or climatic conditions. Our kinsmen in the Home Country are experiencing a Christraastide marked somewhat too emphatically by the traditional quality of seasonableness. Christmas, for those who are no longer young, is a time of backward-looking thought; and many Dunedin residents may harbour a touch of wistful homesickness as they read in the cables of the typical features, the snows and the log fires, the frost and the skating, of Christmas in the' northern lands. But the regretful feeling is likely to be transient. Due tribute having been paid to the claims of memory, there will be no real desire to exchange the sunnier December conditions of Otago for the appropriate but trying rigours, stern and wild, of Scotland or England. It is right enough to give a passing thought to reminiscent sentiment. Alexander Smith, author of “Dreamthorp,” may not be very famous in these days; but, to the minds of knowing readers, he is a classic on the subject of old-world wintertide and Christmas. “ With what propriety is this jovial season placed amid dismal December rains and snows! How one pities the unhappy Australians, with whom everything is turned topsyturvy, and who hold Christmas at midsummer! The face of Christmas glows all tire brighter for the cold. The heart warms as the frost increases.” A pleasant enough idea, sanctioned by many literary sentimentalists from Dickens downwards, but surely tinged with fallacious illusion! No amount of optimistic eloquence can get rid of the fact that rigorous climatic conditions at Christmas produce much unseasonable distress and want, which cannot be wholly alleviated by seasonable generosity. Apart from this pressing consideration, it can hardly be questioned that the summer-time incidence of the festival adds incalculably to the extent and wholesomeness of the Christmas enjoyment of the young generation, especially the children. And the festival of the nativity of the Christchild is pre-eminently a children’s celebration. Happy those adults who can preserve the heart of childhood and claim their share of the feast year by year, in spite of deepened furrows and thinned Jocks by virtue of eternal youth of spirit! Here it will not be inappropriate to reproduce a passage from “ The Home Life of Swinburne,” by Mrs Watts-Duuton, commemorating the persistent Christmas enthusiasm of the great poet and his friend, both advanced in years, but ever responsive to the innocent lure of childhood.

In 1879 they both vowed that whatever of good or ill-fortune the passing year had brought to them, Christmas would always find them young in heart: and spirit. Walter wrote a sonnet to celebrate the occasion, and as it describes far more clearly than I can in what attitude of mind both Swinburne and he regarded the closing of the passing year, I quote it here:

Life still iiafh one romance (hat naught can bury— Not Time himself, who coffins Life’s romances— For still will Christmas gild tho year’s mischances, If Childhood comes, as here, to make him merry— To kiss with lips more ruddy than tho cherry— To smile with eyes outshining by their glances Tho Christmas tree—to dance with fairy dances And crown his hoary head with loaf and berry.

And as for us, dear friend, the carols Are Yresh as ever. Bright is yonder bough Of mistletoe as that which shone and swung When you and I and Friendship made a vow . That Childhood’s Christmas still should seal each brow — Friendship’s and yours, and mine—and keep us young. This vow the poets had literally and spiritedly kept, and the festival was looked forward to by them with a joy resembing that of a schoolboy home for the holidays. The delights of anticipation were apparent in their childlike demeanour; the years were rolled behind them, and many traits of the boy peeped out in them at this season. They were never too old for Santa Claus, Never to be too old for Santa Claus; always to bear in mind the seasonal lesson of public and private peaceableness : to love and to serve and to hope—these are among the salient ideals of Christmastide which we shall all be the better for cherishing.

THE CHINESE PUZZLE

The situation in China has almost dropped out of notice in the speeches of public men at Home. Nor is this surprising. The British declaration oi policy was announced nearly twelve months ago. The friendly gesture which the Minister' of Foreign Affairs then made has evoked no response. There is no authority in China that is capable of responding on behalf of the nation. “ There are at this moment in China,” said Mr Baldwin, at the Lord Mayor's banquet last month, “ at least four selfstyled ' Governments contending one against the other, and a far greater number of military leaders) each playing for his own hand.” China must evolve some sort of order out of the condition of confusion that exists before there can be any readjustment of the relations between that country and the Foreign Powers. The policy of conciliation has so far been productive, of no result more favourable than the violation of British rights, as illustrated within the last few days by the confiscation in Shantung of a consignmen b of goods belonging to a British company, and the unpunished robbery, assault, and even murder of British subjects. There is, however, no disposition on the part of the British Government to make these occurrences an excuse for a modification of the proposals that were submitted by it early in the year. Those proposals remain on record as an earnest of the desire of Great Britain to assist China in the realisation of her aspirations towards a complete nationalism. The obstacles to the attainment by China of the status which she seeks are of her own making. When she has overcome them and has succeeded in establishing a Government that will exercise jurisdiction over all Chinese territory and that will command respect throughout the republic, she will be in a position to step straightway into the enjoyments of her nationhood and of the rights that will be associated with it. The Chinese puzzle is one the solution of which must be effected by the Chinese themselves.

A partial solar eclipse will take place this afternoon. The geocentric times of the eclipse will be as follows:—Eclipse begins 2.40 p.m.; maximum phase, 4.29 p.m.; eclipse ends, 6.18 p.m. (New Zealand summer time). The proportion of the sun’s disc obscured will be .549. There will be some slight deviation from these linos in Otago, owing to local parallax. A thunderstorm passed over Mosgiol about 4 p.m. yesterday. The thunder was accompanied by lightning, rain, and hail. Flowers, fruit trees, and vegetables all suffered considerably as a result of the storm.

The Maori feather box which has lately been added to the collection in the Museum is a magnificent specimen of its kind, made of a dark red wood that has not been identied. It was' bought in London by Mr H. D. Skinner from the Fels fund, and it is now on view in the main hall of the Museum. Rectangular in shape, it is about 2ft in length and narrow, with a carved human figure at each end, something after the style of a figurehead on the prow of a sailing ship. It is very old, and has apparently been made by stone tools. None of the other feather boxes are as big as the latest acquisition.

Yesterday morning at the City Police Court before Mr H. W. Bundle, S.M., the first batch of Christmas revellers who had celebrated not wisely but too well made their appearance under the supervision of the police. In all, four were dealt with, and it was announced that a sitting of the court would be held at 9 o’clock this morning before justices of the peace, to hear other cases, if necessary. An Auckland syndicate known as the Civic Properties, Ltd., has leased for £1920 annually the most valuable of the civic centre sites passed in at an abortive auction seven weeks ago (states a Press Association message from Auckland). The section has a frontage of S2ft bin to Queen street and of 70ft to Wellesley street. The lease is for 66 years, the first 22 at the above figure, and for the subsequent period the rental will be fixed by Early in the new year the work of erecting a five-storeyed building will commence. Timber from the old paddle-wheel ferry steamer Osprey, now in the hands of the ship-breakers, is to be used on a Wairoa farm (says the Auckland Star). The Osprey, which spent the last few years of her useful life in idleness in Rotten Row was at one time one of the crack steamers of the Devonport Ferry Company’s fleet. She was brought out to New Zealand from England in sections, and put together at Devonport on a site where the Devonport Rowing Club’s boating house now stands. Her most adventurous voyage was to Dunedin in 1890 to furry passengers between Dunedin and Port Chalmers during the time of the Exhibition. The Osprey also saw several years’ service on the Kaipara, where her light draught made her a very useful vessel for the Northern Wairoa River trade. A curious and unusual situation has arisen lately in the dairy produce market (states the New Zealand Herald). As a rule, the price ot eggs, both wholesale and retail, goes up sharply as the demand increases with the approach of Christmas. This year, on the contrary, the wholesale price of eggs has fallen, supplies are plentiful, and the demand upon the wholesale market is very poor indeed. For farmers' butter, on the other hand the demand is keen, which again is exactly the reverse of the usual position at this time of the year. The position of butter is the result of dry weather, but the cheapness of eggs on the wholesale market is probably due to an unusually early expiration of wholesale contracts between the large merchant houses and the producers. Large quantities of egg s are thus thrown direct - on to the open market.

An Australian who arrived at Auckland by the Maunganui this week discovered on Tuesday that the sundial at the Ellerslie racecourse was exactly one hour out (states the New Zealand Herald). On the voyage ah watches had been advanced the hour and a-half, which is the difference between Sydney and New Zealand time. On Monday night there was another notice without explanation that watches had to be ad vanoecl another hour. On a sight-seeing trip he examined the sundial and, complete! v unaware that daylight saving was in operation, thought the difference between its reading and his watch “ very funny,” hut forgot about the matter when ho continued his journey. Not until dinner did he learn about the Sirley summer. ' The sundial was not wrong at all,” he remarked. “ I was sure they had made a mistake when erecting it.”

The first annual conference of the New Zealand section of the Institute of Chemistry of Great Britain and Ireland is to be held in \\ ellington towards the end of January (says the Post). The first time that the institute ha s been officially recognised by the New Zealand Government was in October of this year, when a position for dairy research chemist in the Agricultural Department was advertised, and there was a stipulation that applicants should be members of the Institute of Chemistry of Great Britain and Ireland or hold equivalent qualifications. The first object of the institute is to maintain the status and advance the interests of the profession ol chemistry.

Intending visitors to Portobello are notified that the holiday time-table of the Portobello Railway Ferry is advertised m this iSS "We are in receipt of a calendar for 192 S from the Australasian T. and G. Mutual Life Assurance Society. . Christmas greetings from the Dominion Executive of the New Zealand Licensing Reform Association, the Canadian Trade Commissioner, the managing editor and staff of the Hawke’s Bay Tribune (Hastings), and the Sisters of Mercy, South Dunedin, are heartily reciprocated. Arthur Malcolm, Rheumatic Expert, 13 retiring shortly. Read new advertisement on another- page of this issue.—Advt. The new “ Dorothy ” Wedding Ring is the popular shape. It’s comfortable, too. At Williamsons, next the Bristol. —Advt. Pishing season now in full swing. Barth Electrical Supplies. Ltd.( 90 Princes street, are sole proprietors Wilkie’s Fishing Tackle. Send for illustrated catalogue of our large and varied stock. —Advt.

For anything electrical consult the Stewart Electrical Co., 171 Rattray street. Installations at lowest prices. Large assortment of up-to-date fixtures. Cut crystal chandeliers a specialty.—Advt. When buying a bottle of perfume secure the latest Viville Futiche and Vogue. We have them in all sizes. Dozens of bath ■ salts to choose from.—H. L. Sprosen, Ltd., chemist, Octagon, Dunedin.—Advt. Many years' experience, plus the most up-to-date equipment scientific optometry ca- suggest, entitles W. V. Sturmer, G.A.0.C., D. 5.0.1., Octagon, Dunedin, to guarantee complete satisfaction in all eye troubles. Advt.

A. E. J. Blakeley and W. E. Bagley, dentists, 8.. k of Australasia, corner of Bond and Rattray streets (next Telegraph Office) Telephone 12-359. —Advt. Xmas Jewellery.—Compare our values. Just landed, large selection Diamond Rings, Reliable Watches, Jewellery, and Silverware. —Peter Dick, the most reliable jewellers, watchmakers, and opticians, 490 Moray place. Dunedin.—Advt.