Coulee City dispatch. [volume] (Coulee City, Wash.) 19??-19??, 1929-12-20


appeared in the editorial
columns of that paper the following
We take pleasure in answering al
pnce and thus prominently the com.
nunication below. expressing at the
lame time our great qualification that
It's faithful author Is numbered among
The friends of the Sun:
Dear Editor am years old
Some of my little friends say there
Is no Santa Claus.
Papa says: 'if you see 1t in the
Sun it's So"
Please tell me the truth: "is
there a Santa CLAUSE"
Virginia OHanlon.
Virginia. your little friends are
wrong. They have been afrected by
The skepticism Of skeptical age. They
10 not believe except they see. They
hink that nothing can be which is not
comprehensive by their little minds.
All minds. Virginia, whether they be
mems or little children's are little. In
mere insect, an ant, in his intellect, as
compared with the boundless world
tbout him, as measured by the intelli-
sence capable of grasping the whole
II truth and knowledge.
Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus
He exists as certainly as love and gen.
,rosity and devotion exist, and you
know that they abound and give to
FOUR life its highest beauty and joy.
Alas! how dreary would be the world
there were no Santa Claus. 1t would
be as drear as II there were no Vir-
ginias. There would be no child-like
!aith then, no poetry, no romance to
make tolerable this existence. We
,hould have no enjoyment, except in
tense and sight. The eternal light
with which childhood fills the world
would be extinguished.
Not believe in Santa Claus? You
might as well not believe in fairies!
You might get your papa to hire men
10 watch in all the chimneys on Christ
Eve to catch Santa Claus, but even II
they did not see Santa Claus coming
Town, what would that prove? No.
body sees Santa Claus but that Is no
sign that there is no Santa Claus. The
most real things in the world are those
that neither children nor men can see
Did you ever see fairies dancing on the
avn? OF course not, but that's no
proof that they are not there. Nobody
.an conceive or imagine all the won
aers there are unseen and unseeab BILE in
The world.
You may tear apart the baby's rat.
tie and see what makes the noise In
Bide, but there is veil covering the
Unseen world which not the strongest
man, nor even the united strength Of
Ill the strongest men that ever lived
could tear apart Only faith, fancy.
poetry love, oma nee, can push aside
that curtain and view and picture the
supernal beauty and glory beyond Is
It all real? All, Virginia. in all this
world there IS nothing else real and
abiding.
No Santa Claus? Thank God! h..
lives forever. A thousand years froir
now, Virginia, nay, ten times ten
thousand years from now ne will con-
tinue to make glad the heart of child.
hood.
1t is doubtful Ii Church realized.
when he wrote that editorial, that he
had penned classic, Yet, such was
the case, fol in the years that have
followed 1t has been reprinted, both
voluntarily and by request, In thou.
sands of newspapers thousands OF
times. 1t has been translated into
many foreign languages (even the
ChineseD and every year around
Christmas time you will see II in print
somewhere.
Not only has Eyes, There Is a Santa
Claus" become part of the American
Christmas tradition, but the little
eight-year-old Virginia O'Hanlon. who
once wanted her faith in Santa Claus
reaffirmed, has become legend, and
as such, some have doubted that there
ever was such q girl. For the reas
surance of those 1t may be said tina,
there not only was such girl but
that she still Is living. The little vir
ginia O'Hanlon of 1897 is Mrs. vir
ginia O'Hanlon Douglas of today, 6
school teacher in New York, widow
and the mother Of daughter. Laura
Virginia, who, 1t is needless to say
also believes that there is SAINTS
Claus.
Since Virginia O'Hanlon's letter wa.
first printed letters have come to hel
every Christmas. from lonely peopl,
whose faith in all things is shaken
She has become symbol Of trust ant
Of everlasting childhood. for many O