The Holbrook news., 1912-07-19

~ ALIFORNIA has some beautiful
 ceremonies and customs, well
 worthy of comment. They are
 H unique as well as beautiful, and
 1t is fitting that in this new iAnd, SO full of the spirit of progress, % alive to the artistic, so keenly aware of the value of beauty. these hew ceremonies should have birth. Los Angeles has her May Fiesta, a reincar- nation of the Spanish feast day. The beach towns have their touching serv- ce of Memorial day, when they com nit their garlands and flowers to the sea on an outgoing tide, thus com memorating the death of all sailors who died for their country. Pasa- dena has her Rose tournament on New Years day. One of the most beautiful of all ceremonies of Cali eornia's creating is that of the yearly sunrise Easter service on Mt. Rubi- aoux. Nearly 2,OO0 people grouped about the Serra cross on the summit of the mountain this year, and I have never witnessed a more impressive Voene, writes Gussie Packard Du Bois ln the Los Angeles Times.
 On that first Easter, we read that the disciples rose before dawn and hurried to the sacred place outside the city. So, in the hush before day break, the footballs of pilgrims echoed Dn the streets of Riverside, the tread of many feet, the sound of wheels, On the evening before, the Mission Inn had been well filled with those who had come from all the neighbor- ing towns to rest under it's arches until daybreak. Great fires glowed on the hearths and roared up the chim- neys; so they may have glowed and toared on the hearths of old abbeys when Arthur and his knights went on quests.
 OIden Days Recalled.
 Sitting in the cloistered music room, with it's stalls like Westminster, it's many banners and ancient hangings, heraldry and swords, one might well be minded of the olden days of pill grimage, and alone in the cloistered walk among statued saints, the sound of the great organ coming faintly to the ears, the days of the Mission padres came again It was fitting to rest in such a place and await the dawn. At a quarter before four o'clock came the summons that the hour had arrived for the assembling of the pill Trims, and soon the court was full.
 It was a morning of fog, and out of the pale, gray opalescence the arches lifted indistinctly, half-hidden, half disclosed. The bells were still, their .1a Unfrnc huchnd The great eyes of motor cars gleam- sd strangely, many people passed on the dim streets, and all were still. The foot of the mountain was reach cd, the ascent began. Here a group. discarding the road, climbed up the mountainside over rocks and around great boulders. Up and up, around and around went the crowd, disappear Ing into the dimness,. Beside us were precipice with no bottom. Great rocks loomed before, beside us, and were gone. Roof by roof, spire by Bpire, grove and garden disappeared. We were out of the world, we had climbed above it, we had reached the top, and the Mount of Transf1guration. Earth and earthly things were gone. There were a few moments of quiet while we got out of our car and climb ed up to the foot of the cross, then from the enveloping, tremulous opal clouds came the clear, pure notes of the cornet. To the unearthly beauty of that sound listened until it ceased; then from the vast throng, as with one voice, came the Lords Prayer, and responsive reading of the Scripture, and one voice took up the melody of . simple song, sweet and high.
 Two Thousand Sing.
 Again the sound of singing fell upon the ear, but now it was the many, the vast assemblage in a familiar hymn caught my breath to hear that vol ume of song rising from 2,000 voices. It seemed to me like "the great null Htude" that we read about in Revela- lion. 70 never harp nor horn, nor Sught we blow with breath or touch with hand was like that music as 1t )ame" A single voice followed, clear, Itrong, vibrant. in Henry Van Dykes