FOR A CHRISTIMAS

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 7, Issue 35, 21 December 1943, Page 3

FOR A CHRISTIMAS

THE CURIOUS KEY Suspend a key by a piece of string held by finger and thumb of right hand. It will swing to and fro. Then place your left hand below the key. The key will then change its movements mysteriously by going round in a circle. After this get chum to place his hand on your shoulder. Another strange thing will' happen, for the key Avill stop dead. FIND THE INGREDIENTS Concealed in the following rhyme arc the names of seven ingredients of a Christmas pudding. Flo. Ursula, Elaine and. I Pursue the art of fishing by A stream where, salmon dart all day: A hospice stands across the bi'ae, Our camera is-in demand; T hope Elaine Avill understand When I ask Peggy (her great friend) Toi send it back for this week-end, A TRICK TO PULL This is called, "Where Is it?" You must show all your friends a thimble, and then you say, "I am going to put this where all of you except Tom, can see it." Of course Tom says, l< lf they can see it so can P." But. you will assert that yon willi do this and yet not take it out of the room. You then place it on Tom's head, and alhough everyone else can see it, Tom cannot. FIVE FOINTS Sheets of paper are placed on the table in front of each guest. A small bowl of rice is alsio placed on the table. Each guest is asked to take five grains of rice., hold them about six inches above his paper and drop them. With a pencil he makes a dot where each grain has fallen. The players are then asked to draw the figure of a man, using five points,, one for the head, two for the feet, and two for the hands. J/t will; be necessary to have a judge, and the prize is given for the best drawing. I'D RATHER BE Fd rather be a little boy At Christmas than a king, 'Cause he can't hang his stocking up Or see what Santa'll bring.

A SMILE OR TWO Bill had been to a party the day before and his school chum asked him if lie had had a good time. "I should say so/' replied Bill. "I should say so, why, I'm not hungry yet." ORIGIN OF THE CUSTOM The custom of giving presents was a feature of the Romans during the Winter festival, the Saturnalia. Tho. early Christians made presents to thair children on Christmas morning, under the pretence that they were the gift of the. Christ-Child. There is no country in the civilised world that has not in some form or another the custom of giving presents cither at Christmas or around the. Christmas season, and this ageold custom can be traced to the dawn of history. MAN IN THE MOON A pretty German legend in connection with Christmas giving is the following: One Christmas "Eve, long, long ago,, a peasant set out to' steal some cabbage from a neighbour's garden. As he fillei his bas-. fcet, the Christ-Chikl appeared on a white horse, and said to him: ''Because thou hast stolen on the holy night instead of giving, thou sha'ti sit in the moon with thy basket of cabbage," which the peasant did immediately and is doing to this day. VARIOUS NAMES FOR XMAS The French call the holiday Noel, or Nowel. The Scotch use the name Yule, and the Scandinavians Juletide. The Welsh call Christmas Nadolig, and the Italians call it II Natale, while the Germans call it Weihnachten. lin Polish the term Boze Narodzeriie is used, meaning "God's Nativity." The Bohemians and the Croatians say Bozic, and the Slovaks, Vianoce. In Spanish, the word Navidad, meaning "Native ity" is used. CHRISTMAS CAROLS The practice of singirrg Christmas carols appears to be almost as old as the celebration of the day itself. In the first days of the. Church, the bishops sang carols on Christmas Day. They recall the songs sung by the angel at the birth of. Christ. QUARRELS There is an old saying that if you quarrel or are cross on Christmas Day, things will go' wrong the whole coming year.