Lower coast gazette., 1914-01-03
SATURDAY, JANUARY 8, 1914.
A Happy New Year.

A Happy New Year.
TIE sentimental holiday wishes so universal
ly uttered among friends when Christmas is
reached are very delightful. The general good
will that prevails and the custom that exists of
concentrating the present giving season into a
Christmas week, and nowadays frequently into
the Christmas tree..for final distribution, are all
alike evidences of that growing consideration
that civilized people are having for each other.
The wonderful toy distribution inaugurated in
New Orleans by the Times Democrat" and de-
veloped to enormous proportions by them with
the aid of quite a number of prominent gentle
men, who contribute. their time and their money
in this delightful charity, is always one of the
distinctive features of the Christmas holidays.
The great Washington Artillery Hall, with it's
thousands of square feet of floor room, is fairly
besieged by the army of children seeking to get
their allotments of the many Christmas gifts
there concentrated to be- distributed to them.
The scenes are sometimes quite pathetic. To
see a struggling young mother, poorly clad,
with two or three children dragging along with
her and these laden withsslittle wagons and dolls
&nd toys that always please the children's
hearts, is a scene always to be remembered.
We have thought sometimes. however, that
the phrase a Merry Christmas, " was scarcely
apropos to our life in the United States. The
pronounced features of Christmas as observed
'y us while in their origin are as old as history
itself. have been developed in England. Nearly
4 hundred years ago Washington Irving wrote
his noted :'Bracebridge Hall" which gave the
typical Englishman's idea of Christmas. Charles
Dickens in his Christmas Stories utilizes the
same IDEAS and cne pathetic is that of Tiny
Tins toast when he calls out the sentiment
God bless US everyone" The idea of merri-
ment, frolicking, dancing ETC., seem to come
historically to us. The Bible refers to the cele-
bration of feasts and dancing before the Lord
and to drinking vine. In fact one of the scrip
tural injunctions is to drink wine and be merry.
Still we must not take this literally, but in a
kindly sort Of a way and adapted to our modern
days. We may not dance. and we may not want
to get drunk as not many years. back was the
penchant. if not the ambition, of many thous-
ands of Englishmen.
The French in this country at least formerly
devoted themselves to the holiday seasons, but
e believe by regarding Christmas more as a
religious holiday and the New Year Day as the
real day for a jollification.
Wishing our friends..a HappyrrNew Year is
certainly a very delightful sentiment. Heppi-
ness to humankind is certainly it's highest de-
sire and when We wish that our friends may en-
10Y true happiness through all the coming wear
we express a wish that means much. To be
thus fortified by the good wishes of all of our
friends may aid US in REFRESHING those misfor-
tunes that are so apt to fall to u.s., whether we
expose ourselves purposely or not. Everyone
finds in life many misfortunes notcontemplated.
the loss OF friends, the loss of members of ones
family, the loss of health and the loss of wealth
all add 10 human misery and unfortunately
many OF us have had too much of such exper.
fence. When we wish our friends a Happy
Year we express the desire that they may es-
cape all OF these saddening influences of human
life and go on their ways through life, quietly
and pleasantly and usefully.
So now the Lower Coast Gazette says to all
OF Its readers that it wishes them q Happy and
prosperous New Year. Let each and every one
OF US do all that we can to bring about this re-
suit and perhaps when the autumn comes we
may feel like joining in a general Thanksgiving
for the good things that have come to US in this
life, although we are sometimes on the verge of
despair. We wish you all a Happy New Year.
&E&