CHRISTMAS OVERSEAS

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LIV, Issue 16836, 27 December 1928, Page 5

CHRISTMAS OVERSEAS

PICTURESQUE CEREMONIAL GATHERING AT BETHLEHEM (Floe. Tel. Copyright—Uuileii Press Assn.) (United Service.) .ILIH'SALKM. I tec. 25. Tourists and Christian pilgrims I rout as far afield as China, and Japan joined to-day in a picturesque ceremonial around lire grotto which, according to tradition, served as a stable tor It ll ' vdlaoe hostel wherein Hie Saviour was born 1928 years ago. A procession headed by n Latin patriarch and an escort oi Palestine mounted police, and composed of hundreds ot cicrgv and natives in brightly colored robes, was formed at midday in Jerusalem. and proceeded from lire Jalia gate to Bethlehem. Many well-dressed and well-to-do .Europeans accompanied the throng, some as onlookers and some as devout worshippers ai this annual glorification of the Birth of Christ, the weather was more like an English spring day than a December of a Christmas card artist's skv.

A cloudless sun glinted on the jewels in (he patriarch's mitre and the accoutrements of the guards, and the ground was ablaze with a huge silver star’ formed of hundreds of twinkling candles around the site of the manger, now marked by a marble monument built over the grotto in the Church <4 Nativity. Into and around Ibis moved the throng. The observances continued till midnight, when the worshippers reassembled in Ihe Church of Ft. Catherine adjoining the basilica and formed a procession to the grotto, where the image of the Infant .Saviour was laid in the place of the manger, where it will be kept until Epiphany. Protestants commenced the observance of the holiest day in Christendom by a watch in the bright moonlight in the shepherds’ field situated on the east road to Bethlehem. They spent the night under the clear star’s and sang carols in tire courtyard adjoining the grollo.

ACTIVITY IN BRITAIN A SNOWLESS YU LET IDF. (Australian and N.Z. Press Association.) 1 LONDON'. I fee. 26. Reversing 1927. when the great blizzard began. Christmas in Britain is encountering extraordinary mildness. Warm winds ushered in a green Christmas. There is no sign of snow anywhere in tlie British Isles, even in Scotland. London celebrated the holiday with the usual spirits, despite a drizzling rain. On Christmas Eve many people crowded into Picadilly and the Strand, and the night clubs did a rushing busi ness. Stores remained open especially lajto for the benefit of those who lett purchases until the last minute in view of the seriousness of the King s illness. An Imperial Airways official said today: "YVe have 'beaten all records for transport at Christmas in connection with seasonable freight across the Channel.'' His story is repented by officials of every air line from London to Continental cities. Aeroplanes have carried capacity loads of gifts from Paris in the past few weeks, and quantities went from London to Cologne, Amstevdau and Brussel Is. 'lire heaviest trade of all was this morning wit 1 1 the shipping of lust - minute gifts. ALL RECORDS BROKEN TRADE IN AMERICA (Australian ami N.Z. Press Association.! WASHINGTON, Dec. 25. Having complied with the annual custom ami .pressed an electric button on Christmas Eve, lighting the Capitol Christmas Tret*. President Coolidge and Mrs. Coolidge departed to-day tor Eapclo Island, off Georgia coast, where they will spend the Christmas and New Year holidays. Mr. II novel’ passed Christmas aboard I tin* battleship Utah, which is nearing the equator on the voyage home, while the crew joined the President-elect in singing carols on the quarter deck. Meantime,' New York reports a bountiful Christmas. Mail records were broken and stores reported tremendous sales, some managers estimating that this year found the greatest buying in the history of their stores. The New York Post Office reported that 141,000,000 pieces of mail were handled, which is ■ the greatest Christmas mail ever handled in New York city. FRENCH MINISTERS REST M. BRIAND AS SANTA CLAUS (Australian and N.Z. Press Association.) PARIS, Dee. 25. As a result of the decision of the French Senate not to complete its work on the Budget, its prominent members were able to spend the holiday at their estates and elsewhere. The Foreign Minister. M. Brinncl, went to Cockerell, where he aeterl as Santa Claus for Ihe children of the town, according (<> custom. MM. Poincare, Leygues and Painleve went to their estates. \J. Clemenceau motored to the tomb of his j friend the artist. Claude Money, upon which he placed flowers. \ ITALIAN FESTIVITIES ROYALTIES’ QUIET HOLIDAY fAustralion and N.Z. Press Association., ROME. Dee. 25. - The Italian Royal Family celebrated Christmas quietly in their villa at Savoa, near Rome, and, according to custom, hundreds of children in tkc asyltfms of Hie city received toys as a Christmas gift from the Queen. The Pope officiated at a mass m lus private chapel, and gave communion to \a number of his relatives. Mussolini and family celebrated the day at his residence in the city., and were joined later by members oi the Italian Naval League. POPE’S MESSAGE

TRIBUTE TO KING GEORGE (Australian and N.Z. Press Association.) ROM K. Hoc. 24. Tlu> Pope replying to-day to Christinas gi(‘(‘linos of the'26 cavdinal.s residing m (tv,mi- said that two things Im V‘‘ him great rejoicing, though them were two others that (‘iitised him gvent rcgict. Ho rejoiced at the progress of the King of England, whose life now appeared to he out of danger, and at the disappearance of the threat of war between Bolivia and Paraguay, hut lie was ris tressed at what lie described as .the persecution of the church in Mexico and Russia. 'Plie Pope saidt the improvement m King George's condition had rejoin'd him: ‘'We trembled and praved." he .said, “for the life of a sovereign _ who graciously visited us. whose Empire is the greatest in the world. Many milCatholics live and prosper within it, as tbo Eucharistic Congress ui Australia, proved. We trembled and prayed for the life of a sovereign who had always showed himself well disposed and benevolent towards all these Cathoiids.”

SYDNEY JUBILANT EXODUS FROM THE CITY SYDNEY, Dee. 25. Tfic weather was gloriously fine for the holiday, with a forecast for a con ii nuance of good weather, with model ate temperatures. There is a great exodus of city people for the mountain or seaside resorts. ■Shopkeepers report record business, which is a happy ending for n year m which business men had many anxieties due to the dullness of trade.