The Forrest City times., 1909-12-17
THE SWEET BELIEF IN SANTA
 CIAIS.

stH .1dliAd 'ldA> t~ t5pitd rom tHe Memphis Scimitar We com mend it 10 all reader. especially te those who entertain an idea to rob childhood of it's greatest pleasure:
 One of the first tragedies of life is when the child begins to doubt 'he existence of santa Claus.
 \ ehiid's day dreams are the ,tar~ of destiny. The child who las Iii, dream, may in after year dream s5me af He great things thai make tte ] world better and happier TaeHFeams ot one generation become tHe realities Hof the next.
 II k becoming popular sar preachers and writers 10 argue that T is NrouE Q lie to the children about santa Claus. even r. the sake uf rulfieafing their imagiuations II would be loss of time e. argue with these. fer their cold logic brooks no resistance and they can quote all the human and di. vine authority against you.
 Aet fl We take from childhood the i fancies that belong To it. we rob 1t of iis real happiness ! strictly matter of-iact child is one of the most pitiful things on earth. and life lived cut along these lines is as mournful a. a funeral procession and as unfruitful aS cemetery.
 Those who would discount santa Claus utterly underestimate the value of Christmas and the character of it's patron saint
 Me are the heirs of the age. and what we do and what We think and what We have. gre but the result of evolution running through centuries of heredity Originally the span Of time which has become the Christmas tide was pagan satarnalia, win pa- gan leasts and pagan obseryances. II took ages tu lift ii from it's debase- meRt We have come 10 the stage Of progress where the mere act 6f selfish aecumulationcannot be considered the nohlest purpose Of life. We have sen sibIe men and women who estimate their usefulness by what they give and not by what they keep. The most practical church k the one from which radiates the most enterprises of chari- ty and benevolence and practical phi laHthfopy Into our rational fife has come the broader view. wherein selfish business considerations give way tothe profitable exercise of generosity All l these tendencies and achievements may be traced back to these fancieS and kindnesses which We throw around childhood and he greatest prince Of all this goodness is Santa Claus.
 santa Claus is illogical, Of course
 He exists only as Uncle Sam or John Bull, exist, but in far greater reality to millions who look 10 him for re- membranes and fayors.
 He enriches us by impoverishing us.
 He takes our money, but he gives us 1 back lot Of things that money can not buy-good fellowship, love of fam fly, the smiles of children, toleration, good cheer, good humor, good living.
 He defes all the laws of science by taking sunshine into homes which the sunshine cannot enter
 He puts upon death itself the smile of life, and he starts the year with freshened hearts and finer ambitions.
 To deny the existence or the useful ness of such saint is to commit a crime against the most precious joys of life, to draw clouds over childhood. and to rob the unfortunate of the only pleasures that come to them in the dreary years
 It may be illogical to believe in san La Claus, but let Us hold to the belief and all il precious results as long as We can.