The Pleasantville press. (Pleasantville, N.J.) 1912-1929, 1922-12-20

appearing on earth at Christmas time with a mes
sage to all mankind? Certainly he has a mes
sage well worth delivering. And certainly 1t Is
a message well worth listening to. For from his
experience he could say to us:
You have served God only as you have served
men,"
The Christian citizen should be serving God
IN relation to his home, his community and his
nation. There are those who are serving God by
trying to improve the conditions under which their
less privileged fellows live and work, by trying to
bring more of justice, beauty, peace and love into
the. life of the world. 1t Is to be feared that most
OF us fall far short here. But he is a poor Chris
flan and a poor citizen indeed who, having. can
pass Christmas without doing something in keep
Ing with the day for those who have not.
Everywhere in our modern Twentieth century
life we meet the very people whom Jesus painted
In living words 1000 years ago-the prodipal q
who came to himself; the elder brother. who
was angry and would not go I'M; the priest and
the Levite, who "Iassed by on the other side": the
good samaritan, who was moved with COMPASS.
SION; the Pharisee, who thanked God that he was
not as other men are; the publican, who cried
God be merciful unto me, a sinnerl"
AT Christmas time, If at no other, 1t Is well for
us to be the publican and the good Samaritan.
Without Christmas tree, holly and mistIetoe
Christmas would seem strange indeed to most
Americans. The balsam fir Is most used for
Christmas trees, but doubtless almost anv kind
of evergreen can be used in an emergency. And
some of the municipal and community center
Christmas trees nowadays are of great size. esne.
cially when they are set up outdoors.
The photograph of the Christmas tree renro-
duced herewith is worth studying as something
quite out of the ordinary In several respects. In
the first place, In the original photograph three
separate exposures of the plate were made-the
first for the building and Its lights; the second for
the Christmas tree and its lights, and the third
for the moon. Each exposure varied in length to
suit the different degrees of brllliance.
And where do you suppose this unusual photo
graph was taken? Why, at the annual Christmas
celebration in Yosemite valley, Yosemite National
park, California. Most people think that all the
national parks are closed In the winter time. Well,
they are not. Rocky Mountain National park in
Colorado has a carnival of winter sports In Febru-
airy. Mount Rainier National park In Washington
has winter sports and a ski tournament as late as
July. And Yosemite is open the year round. And
Yosemite's Christmas celebration includes O fat,
jolly, fur-clad Santa Claus who drives up in the
old-fashioned way in his sleigh and distributes his
gifts to the village children.
But that Isn't all about this unusual picture.
What kind of a tree do you suppose the Christmas
tree is? You could not guess If your Christmas
gift depended upon your guess. That's because 1t
is the only one of Its kind in the whole world.
This Christmas tree is nothing less than a living
SeQuoia tree. The Sequoia (Sequoia gigantea) is
the Oldest and biggest living thing in the world.