The Abilene Reporter-News (Abilene, Tex.), Vol. 71, No. 184, Ed. 2 Monday, December 24, 1951 Page: 35 of 48
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Old $5
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December Travelers Offered
Variety of Christmas Events
Holiday time, traditionally, is
stay-at-home time. But no other
month in the year schedules so
many events that It should be fun
for the traveler to drop in on.
In this country from Seattle to
Savannah the lights of Christmas
trees are twinkling, from the mod-
eat 12-foot evergreens in town
squares to the 90-foot giant in
Rockefeller Plaza. They are the
focal point for community
pageants, carol staging and other
Christmas events If you happen
I to be traveling over the country
| during the holiday season.
| In Wilmington, N. C. there is a
90-foot live oak with a spread of
11« feet, draped with 5.000 mul-
ticolored lights and six tons of
Spanish moss. Wilmington claims
accompanied by different movie
stars.
The boulevard is lined with metal
Christmas trees.
Wilshire Boulevard la lined with
Christmas trees and there la a
Christmas Tree Lans in Exposition
Park. Altadena has a mile of dec
orated Christmas trees.
Throughout December, Los An-
geles' Griffith Planetarium repro-
duces the sky of 1951 years ago,
featuring the Star of Bethlehem,
which led the wise men to the
manger.
CHURCH PARADE
in the San Fernando Valley,
PONY IRRITATE GOOD ONES
High Cost of Chasing Ghosts Real
Concern in Haunted Singapore
By MILTON MARMOR
THE ABILENE REPORTER-NEWS 11 c
Abilene, Texas, Monday Evening, Dec. 24, 1951 -
it is the world's largest living
Christmas tree. ,__.
- ruenchurches compete in the Van Nuys
In California, cities vie te elab- Star Bethlehem parade with
orate Christmas decorations in Star Bethlehem parade
Hollywood, Santa rides down Hol-
lywood boulevard every night dur-
ing December in a wheeled sleigh.
floats illustrating New Testament
stories.
In Los Angeles, from Dee. It to
Christmas there is Olvera Street's
SINGAPORE, Dec. 24. 0
Ghost-chasing charges have sky-
rocketed several hundred per cent
of late. This is nothing to make
light of in Singapore where there's
hardly a home without a haunt.
food or lodging — Just a dusty
— closet for the daylight siesta and
a few pieces of fruit (banana pre-
ferably) or some brown rice on
certain religious days. •
SOME CYNICS
Some ghosts watch benignly over
their homes with downright dili-
gence and not a little warmth of
feeling. It's only the clammy kind,
the evil ones, the trouble-makers
who must be exorcised
BURGLARY
OR HOMI OFFICE OR STORE
WE HAVE INSURANCI FOR
YOUR PROTECTION
HAPPY NEW YEAR
Motz & Curtis
Call on us for advice any time
Citizens Bank Bldg. Dial 4-5244
Petes to an
os TES
VBP . si
MERRY CHRISTMAS
HAPPY NEW YEAR
ALTMAN’S
273 Pine
Phone 4-5723
famous ’Las Posadas.”
This to a candle-bearing proces-
sion, in which visitors join, re-
enacting the journey of Joseph and
Mary in search of lodging. The
procession goes from door to door
each night and on Christmas Eve
to finally admitted.
In Newport, the Christmas tree
to floated on a barge in the harbor.
In the canals at Long Beach
there's a water parade of decorat-
ed cruisers and motor boats every
night at 3. beginning Dec. 22.
Christmas carol singing by various
groups is an almost nightly feature
in all of these communities.
FESTIVE YULE LOG
In Williamsburg. Va., on Christ-
mas Eve s team of horses drags a
festively trimmed log through the
streets. Then, according to old Eng-
lish tradition, the log is tossed on
a bonfire, symbolizing the burning
away of one's sins of the past year.
Throughout December, carolers
stroll through the streets of this
restored 18th Century town.
In Santa Fe, N. M., householders
light small wood fires before hun-
dreds of homes - a custom brought
to New Mexico more than 330 years
ago by Spanish colonists.
According to Spanish legend
these bright little fires light the
Santa Nino (Holy Infant) on the
way to Bethlehem.
In Taos on Christmas Eve an old
miracle play, ‘Los Pastores,” to
presented and at Taso Pueblo the
Indians dress up in ceremonial re-
galia and dance around the Plaza
in the light of pitch-pine bon fires.
Dec. 16 to Christmas Eve to po-
sadas time in Mexico, with hun-
dreds of processions parading and
chanting through the village streets
carrying effigies of Many and
Joseph from door to door.
In Bermuda groups of boys,
dressed' as shepherds, tour the
islands singing English carols.
CHRISTMAS MASS
In Les Baux, France, there is the
world famous mass at Christmas
Eve. In the 13th Century Alpine
village of Luceram the pictureaqua
Christmas service to held on
Christmas Eve.
A good ghost will stay as long
as fellow occupants mind their own
business and don’t irritate the
haunt. -And — what’s important in
these days of cost of living and
shortage of housing — the ethe-
real guests don’t take much in
Wedding Halted
To Revive Groom
SINGAPORE, Dec. 24. (——There
was a alight interruption at the
wedding of Miss Joan Dora Wood
and Frank David Glover at Wesley
Church here.
The bridegroom fainted.
He did recover though and the
wedding went on according to plan.
The bridegroom is a chief officer
lathe merchant navy.
Stock Market
Hit by War,
Inflation
. By RADER WINGET
NEW YORK —The twin terrors
of War and Inflation haunted Wall
Street in 1951, but the Stock Mar-
ket surmounted all fears and gave
an excellent account of itself.
There were four notable peaks
m prices, each followed by reac-
tions. December found the market
recovering from a drop that start-
ed in October with prices around
the highest average level to more
than 21 years.
But despite the buffeting the
market took during the year, the
prevailing December sentiment in
Wall Street was bullish which
means optimistic, for the long pull.
WAR IS CRUCIAL
The Stock Market from first to
last had the war in Korea on its
mind. It exhibited strange behav-
ior at times, falling all over it-
self when there was a prospect of
peace and a little later falling
again when it looked as though the
war would become more intense.
And it also advanced on the pros-
pects of war and peace.
Market analysts rationalised
these antics this way, and you
can take your choice:
War means more government
spending and all prices pushed
higher by inflationary pressures
(bullish), but war also means
heavier Federal taxation both on
personal and corporate incomes
and tighter controls to combat in-
flation (bearish).
Peace means a change in pace
in rearmament spending and pos-
sible deflation (bearish), but peace
also means lighter taxation and
an end of controls (bullish).
TAX TAKES BITE
Taxation to run the war in Ko-
rea and finance, rearmament in
There are some cynics who don't
believe in ghosts Other people
suggest that Moscow and Pelping
steamed up the recent rash of
haunted houses on this equatorial
; British colonial isle
Don't you believe it! Ghosts were
here long before there were Com-
munists. The polyglot millions of
Singapore had their ghost prob-
lems long before Karl Marx got
his beard tangled up in a dialectic
labyrinth.
“You misunderstand ua." these
scoffers will say. "What we mean
to say is that the Reds have raised
the evil ghosts in recent months
to harass Europeans."
POLITICAL GHOSTS
gest mass exorcisms! hi recent
Singapore haunt history. Every re-
ligious group took part
A prankish ghost that threw
stones and gave its attention main-
ly to a pretty 14-year-old girl when
she was alone in the house.
The ghost who hangs around gate '
No. 3 and never answers challeng-
es of Singapore harbor police. This
is an Indian ghost.
Ghosts, It is clear, are very com-
mon in Singapore
They must be treated with con-
sideration. Treating them with dis-
dain. or as if they don't exist la
a fruitless, foolish attitude. They
are part of one’s daily life
in Singapore.
Our sincere ap-
prediction end
thanks for your
tronage in the
past year. A
chime.
Century Cleaners
1027 Walnut Phone 4-7174
MERRY CHRISTMAS
Europe and at home took its big-
gest bite out of corporate profile
in the third quarter. The New York
Stock Exchange reported a 30 per
cent drop in the third quarter from
a year ago in the profits of 325
listed companies. But for the first
nine months profits of these com-
panies were down less than 9 per
cent.
Tie simple good win of friends
and neighbors
* the finest
.a hopple wok " X
May this message
that we are thinking
mind you thot "
* you of the
holiday-time.
For the year as a whole, the
best guess was that profits would
be down slightly under 1950 If it
works out that way, the drop to
corporate profits would be the first
since 1942
The general opinion to that the
year’s profits are fat enough to
assure a- continuation of high div-
idend payments.
The 1950 - 51 year - end rally
carried well into February, when
it ran into unfounded Korean peace
rumors together with Washington
administration calls for higher
taxes and tighter controls.
DEPRESSED PRICES
Prices were somewhat depressed
to March but advanced through
April to the second peak in May
As the market advanced, bearish-
ness grew until things toppled ov-
er in the midst of optimistic state-
ments from Korea that the tide
against the Communists may have
turned. The fall also was in the
nature of a technical reaction, cus-
tomary after a rise.
In due course there was a re-
covery in May that ran smack
into the Russian proposal late in
June for a Korean cease-fire. The
market break was sharp as traders
reacted In fright over the possi-
bility of a sudden change in Ameri-
can rearmament plants.
But the recovery was just as
dramatic when the realization
spread that peace would be de-
sirable. and that to any event Am-
erica would have to maintain its
armed might for years to come.
SLIPPING AGAIN
The market kept right on going
abend with a slight reaction to
August when some felt that the
summer rally ought to have a
breather. The boom continued un-
til mid - October when The As-
sociated Press average of 60 stocks
reached 310150. the highest point
since Sept. 17, 1930.
For the next two weeks the
market was on a one - way street
— down. It steadied then and start-
ed to swing higher.
That’s something else again, it
must be conceded. The studied
opinion of experts who have wrest-
led with the ghost situation for
years is that there's nothing polit-
ical behind the haunt. It could be
that servants are more prone to
detect ghosts when they want more
wages. But, then again, most will
leave if they learn it's an evil
ghost.
The charges for chasing bad
ghosts from their unwanted haunts
now range from about 53 for the
mere cost of materials and expens-
es, to 5160 for a real ceremony
involving a half dozen or more
priests and professional noisemak-
ers. The job rarely cost more than
$8 before the war.
Let's look into a typical ghost
problem in Singapore where
there's been an upsurge of bad
ghosts bothering houses where Eu-
ropeans reside.
AMERICAN HAUNTED
This to the case of an American
and his wife and three children who
lived in a hotel for months before
they found a spectacular house on
a knoll that rambled for several
hundred feet through a maze of
spider webs, dust and accumulated
waste of years. They spent a great
deal of money to renovate it.
Their ghost situation started
when the No. 1 boy reported his
room was haunted. There were
scraping noises and other move-
ments. A few days later the No. 1
boy's 12-year-old daughter saw a
disembodied hand and heard a hol-
low voice.
Now we have a ghost problem
for sure. The first thing to be done
is to identify the ghost. Who’s the
haunt? What’s bothering him, or
her or it?
The information was unearthed
that a European had been slain in
a room of the house by the‘Jap-
anese. The No. 1 boy was able to
locate the time because it was just
after his mother (who died in China
19 years ago) had spoken to him.
HOUSE JUMPING
The house now was jumping.
Furniture began moving. The
chauffeur boasted be had seen a
ghost, too. His ghost would sneak
into his room and put a finger up
the chauffeur's nose while the
chauffeur alept.
The ghost, or ghosts, were def-
initely the unwanted variety. They
had to be cleaned out.
Since the No. 1 boy was a Chi-
nese it was decided to get Chinese
priests for the task. The Buddhist
ghost-breakers said it would require
24 hours of ceremony and seven
or eight men and a lorry for the
job. The cost would be *130.
The American figured it could
just as well be done by Taoist
priests, who said they could get
rid of the haunts for 322. That
might be embarrassingly cheap,
but the No. 1 boy was quitting
anyway.
So two Taoist priests rushed
through their duties — scattering
coins, yenow papers with Chinese
characters, spreading incense and
carrying proper noisemakers
through every room of the house.
HAUNT OUSTED 7
The haunt now was exorcised,
they reported.
Other cases aren't always as
easy. There are reports of ghost-
chasers falling and giving up.
There are stories of heroic ghost-
breakers who fell dead at their
tasks.
Among other recent examples
here of troublemakers in the spirit
world are:
The child ghost named "Char-
lie" who haunted the police mess.
He was given three days' notice
to vacate. He obliged.
The multiple ghosts who did ev-
erything they could to make Radio
Malaya's new broadcasting studio
a difficult place In which to work.
They were cleaned out in the big-
SPRUCE UP
for
CHRISTMAS
and the
NEW YEAR
Call us for Reliable Painters &
Paperhangers "Park as Long
as You Lika.”
The Lehrer Co.
Pratt & Lambert Paint
Distributors
2425 s. 7th st
Ph. 4-7033
MRS. ALPHA ALLEN
GARLAND BOLES
PAT LYONS
DOROTHY CARLSON
BLONDIE STEVENS
MARIE HUMPHREY ■
ADELLE BARRETT
Blondies Beauty Salon
364 Cypress
Ph. 4-7116
MERRY CHRISTMAS
Joy . . . love . . : peace . ..
these are the words that guide
us in our celebration of the
Christmas and New Year Sea
son. Our wish — that we all
keep Christmas with us in
spirit, the whole year through.
A Happy Holiday to you all!
LEWIS’
FOOT HEALTH SHOP
1052 N. 2nd ...... Phone 4-4032
HR I STMAS
Christmas reminds us of friends.
good times, and oll that’s brightest
and good in life.
it makes us think of those we know.
or wish to know. It strengthens
all the bonds of fooling and friend-
ship that link us all, one to the
other. MERRY CHRISTMAS!-
That is why it makes us think
of you with our best wishes
for your continued happi-
ness on Christmas and all
through the coming year.
Let the bells
ring out and the
carolers shout
—a joyous holi-
day season be
yours, from us.
to you.
ABILENE
SAVINGS ASSOCIATION
A Savings Institution
May's Wholesale Floral
1025 Walnut Phone:4-9195
190 Cypress
Phone 4-4309
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The Abilene Reporter-News (Abilene, Tex.), Vol. 71, No. 184, Ed. 2 Monday, December 24, 1951, newspaper, December 24, 1951; Abilene, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1648763/m1/35/?rotate=90: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Abilene Public Library.