Vagabond Editorials

Bv JacL Dionne

I pray the prayer the easterners do, "May the peace of Allah abide with you. ltlherever you stay, wherever you go, May the beautiful palms of Allah grow. Through the days of pleasure, and nights of rest, May the love of Allah make you blest." So I touch my heart, as the easterners do, "May the love of Allah abide with you."

*rkt(

I like that for a Christmas wish to my friends. I've used it before, and will probably do so again. I love the spirit in it. Unlike much of our Christmas cheer this contains spirit rather than spirits.

A happy, peaceful, .ru-;";";d christmas to you, men and women of the lumber industry !

**1.

I especially specify it that way to distinguish it from the sort of Christmas that millions of our modern-day Americans seem to enjoy, a sort of unholy cross between the Big Apple and a case of delirium tremens; just gorging, and sousing; maudlin wit and monkey humor. ***

We're funny folks, we humans. About two thousand years ago there lived for a brief space of time on this earth a Man who called Himself Jesus, and who is now called Christ. He was a perfectly astounding character; when He spoke meri never forgot His words nor His manner; and He taught a philosophy that so burned itself into the souls of men that His name grows mightier with the passing of the centuries.

Early in the era that was named Christian after Him, men began observing His birthday. Soon it came to be a holy day. All over the world people gathered together on that day to speak of Him, and to manifest the deep, deep peace His teachings had brought to their hearts. It was a beautiful observance of a blessed occasion. And so its early founders intended it should be. And they called it Christmas-Christ's day.

But the lazz Age""*J ;"; and even christmas fell under its spell. They soon changed a holy day into a holiday. There IS a mighty difrerence. It became a time for roistering, for feasting, for drunken drinking and for ribald revelry. And thus it is today to many millions of our peoPle.

Now, the point I'm fixing to make is this: I have no objection whatever to any sane man drinking just as much as he doggone pleases, provided I don't have to be bothered with him while he's doing it,' and his ribald revelry is also O.K. with me so long as I don't have to listen to it. What I DO object to is having Christmas (Christ's Day) transmogrified into a general brawl. Of course there's nothing I can do about it except kick. And this is my protest, which, like the flowers that bloom in the spring, tra la, will change the situation not in the least. ***

The fellow who gets "stlff" to celebrate Christmas is something of the same mental equipment as the Hebrew scenario writer in Hollywood who proudly announced to his friends that he was busily engaged in writing his mas-

Edwin

Catherine

Eleanor terpiece. "And what," they asked, "is that?" "A life of Christ," he said, "with a happy ending."

Ed Howe, the so-calleu lr*" l, "o,"ao Hill," once said: "Instead of trying to love your enemies, why not treat your friends a little better?" If I were hunting a good text for a Christmas sermon, I'd grab that one.

To be a better friend a" ,*, ]ri"na, is one of the finest character building activities I know of, and one that brings returns on the investment that could never possibly be measured in terms of figures or percentages. I like a little stanza by Esther Clark, that saYs: ***

Give me one friend, for Peace or war' And I shall hold myself well-blessed, And richly compensated for The cussedness of all the rest. One who, when I am sick and glum, Can lay convention on the shelf, And, just for my dear sake become, A blooming heathen, like mYself. tr<**

Or this one, by an author whose identity is unknown to me:-

A song to sing and a crust to share, With a friend or two.

A smile to give and a grief to share, With a friend or two.

A vale to cross, a hill to climbA mock at age and a jeer at timeThe prose of life takes the time of rhymeWith a friend or two.

And., so long as trri" n.] o:t:" a treatise on friendship and kindliness, .and thoughtfulness (which is the REAL Christnias spirit), how about this rhyme by Francis Harris Smith?

I love to see a little path, Half-trodden through the grass, It makes me think of friendlY folk

Who, unassuming, pass;

Intent upon some little act Of simple kindliness;

I love to see a Path

Half-trodden through the grass.

And if perchance, fri";, ,t., ,ro" myself have, within the past year seen one or more of your dearest friends walk into the Dark Valley alone, these words of Robert Louis Stevenson may prove some comfort:

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He is not dead, this friend; not dead, But in the path we mortals tread, Got some few, trifling steps ahead, And. nearer to the end.

So that you, too, once past the bend, Shall meet again as face to face, this friend You fancy dead.

And it was Chadwick who wrote along this same strain: It singeth low in every heart, We hear it each and all, A song of those who answer not However we may call. They throng the silence of the breast, \[fe see them as of yore, The kind, the brave, the sweet, the strong, Who walk with us no more.

Visits Main Office

John Klass, of the Palco Wool Division of The Pacific Lumber Company, who makes his headquarters at the Chicago office, is paying a visit to California. He is accompanied by Mrs. Klass. They will attend the Rose Bowl game at Pasadena, January 1.

Yes sir ! Ed Howe had the right thought for Christmas. "Treat your friends a little better." And tell 'em you like 'em. Let's close this with a stanza from Eddie Guest that reads:

If with pleasure you af,e viewing, Anything that I am doing, If you like me or you love me, Tell me NOW. Don't with-hold your approbation 'Til the preacher makes oration, And you see the lilies shining on my brow. For no matter how you shout it, I won't know a ttring about it, I won't care how many tear drops you may shed; If you know a thought that's due me, NOW'S the time to slip it to meFor I cannot read my tombstone when I'm dead.

Making Good Recovery

Henry M. Buckley, sales manager of Certain-teed Products Corporation, San Francisco, recently spent two weeks in a hospital as a result of an automobile accident. He is now recovering nicely at his home and expects to be back at the office shortly.

The well Lnown WOCO crnd LAMINEX liae ol doors cnd the 10-10 Sqler Plqn qre helpfurg bundrede ol denlerr, cll over ihe counbl', iacrecse their strlcs qrd their profits. The "Country'r Most Conplete Line" gives then c door lo neet every requirenent. trnd Wbeeler Orgood Construction csaures complete cuetomer satirlqction- Write lor conplete inlornction"

AOne-Man Sawmill

On old Silvermine Road north of Norwalk, Conn., is a sawmill run by water power which Fred Buttery, owner, says is the oldest in the country. It dates back to 1688, three years before the establishment of the first post office in what is now the United States.

Mr. Buttery has worked at the mill all of his more than 60 years and before him his father owned it. He has a big overshot water wheel and a turbine which are used alternately.

He saws his own timber-mostly oak and other hardwood-and also saws foi customers who haul their own logs to him. Guide rails for the contractors who are constructing the Merritt Highway through Connecticut constitute a large part of his business. He also saws much timber for pleasure boats.

Mr. Buttery does all the work himself, from maneuvering the logs into position to operating the saw and piling the lumber. He says it's much simpler that way. No watching employees to keep them away from the big whirling buzz saws, ,no compensation insurance, no pay roll taxes, no union demands, no Labor Department inspectors, no government questionnaires. He just saws wood.

"I don't have to go ottrt looking for business, either," Mr. Buttery remarked. "I can handle cuts that the big mills with all their machinery wouldn't fool with. I work slowly and carefully and so I don't waste much timber."-Nation's Business.

East Bay Club Christmas Party

East Bay Hoo Hoo Club expects a large 'crowd at the annual Christmas party to be held at the Alameda Hotel, Alameda, 6zD p,m., December 15.

There will be extra music and entertainment, a raffle of tickets to the Rose Bowl game, a $15.00 door prize and a Christmas tree. Jack Ferri is chairman of the Christmas party committee.

Subscriptions for shares in the Good Fellowship Christmas Fund should be sent to Jas. B. Overcast, Strable Hardwood Co., 537 First Street, Oakland, Calif.

New Sawmill Near Santa Cruz

Independent Mill & Lumber Co. has started operation of a sawmill 23 miles northwest of Santa Cruz.

Officers of the company are: C. R. Hanson, president; John G. Weir, secretary, and George S. Beadle, manager. Offices are in the Trust Building, Santa Cruz.

Remodeling Office

Graves Company, Los Angeles, is remodeling and making some changes at its main office. The paint department has been moved to the hardware store, and the mill office will now be located in the main office.

Meeting that kind of cl demqnd is whcrt eqrns the cement dealer lcrsting good will You ccrn do it by crlwcrys hcrvingf in stock-

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