tl19491221-000 "TOWER LIGHT December 21, 1949 STATE TEACHERS COLLEGE, TOWSON, MD. Vol. 3, No. 8 The Story Behind � 'The Night Before Christmas' by Bill Miller ""I'm afraid your son will not survive, as a matter of fact, he is not only suffering from severe shock and loss of blood, but he has no desire to live. Perhaps if you can think of something to cheer him up, he may rally and live."" The boy was seven. Earlier that day he was galloping his pony along a narrow path. The pony slipped and fell, throwing the small lad heavily to � the ground. When the boy was The 25th Nig ht"" found he was lying in a pool of blood with his semi-conscious pony beside him. The animal was shot immediately and the child taken to his father. This was the horrible problem that faced Professor Clement C. Moore one dark evening a few days before the Christmas of 1822. But what did a professor who had devoted his life to biblical learning know about cheering up a little boy? Professor Moore had just writ-ten an essay expressing his ill-feeling toward people who spent leisure hours at amusements instead of at useful learning. Now he must devise some means of amusement to keep his son alive. So the father turned away and went to his desk in his private study. For several hours his quill pen raced over sheet after sheet of paper. Then several hours later he en-tered his son's bedroom. The boy's face was white and streaked with tears. Mr. Moore started to read, in a gay and rollicking voice, what he had just written ""Twas the night beitre Christmas, And all through the house Not a creature was stirring Not even a mouse"" That poem, unlike anything the professor had ever written or ever did write, has enchanted millions of children for generations on end; and the one child it was written for liked it so well that he kept on living for that Christmas and sixty years thereafter. (D'a9i/2 (Of gfiE efitiltmal 13TEE According to an ancient legend, when Christ was born, three trees, an olive tree, a date palm and a Pine tree, stood above the manger. To honor the new-born King the olive tree gave its fruit and the palm tree its dates as an offering, but the pine tree had nothing to give. Some stap3, seeing this from above, gently descended from the heavens and rested themselves up-on its boughs as an offering. This pleased the Christ Child greatly� and was the origin of the first Christmas tree. by Jackson Hull Every noise had faded by night's compel All small creeping things asleep in the dell; The immortal chimney sweep was about to alight And lighten his load this 'cold, still night. There were five boys, adept in crime On the upper floor, sleeping sub-lime� The receiver of gifts now, if Santa inclined To overlook a few matters which might change his mind. However, he was a man of much consideration And remembered himself long past in such a generation So he relented in his heart and curbed his temptation To leave stout stick fibers that would spoil a vacation. He unloaded his sack by the list he had; Clothes for Gerry and Maggie to suit every fad. There was a 14nd-carved briar for old grand-dad Plus weapons for the boys to drive ma mad. The white-bearded philanthropist was about to depart When he decided to remain in sec-ret part. He scraped out cement in the chimney wall To make a hole where he could well view all. Soon the day over the snowhills appeared And S. C. was set to spy on this family endeared. It was six when the quintet appear-ed without eggings In enough clothes for a bluejay's leggings. Their frenzied happiness completed his own, Now he was ready to glide off to his home. He tossed from the roof a bone to the dog Who was just coming in from a long night's jog. (Continued on Page 2) EDITORIAL Why Not ? ""Christmas time is a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleas-ant time; the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts 'freely, and to think of peo-ple below themselves as if they really were fellow-passangers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys."" Charles Dickens wrote those words a long time ago in his im-mortal ""Christmas Carol."" How many people who read this story stop to think what Dickens meant? Hardly have the holly wreathes been discarded than it seems that we sprinkle our yule-tide feelings with camphor and lock them away in the closets of our beings, com-pletely forgetting them until ""Jingle Bells"" is Number One on the Hit Parade again. What happens to our Christmas spirit? A psychologist would prob-ably say that we use the calendar year to build up a maelstrom of guilt-complexes and use Christmas as a means of assuaging our super-egos. But could it not be that our many problems so occupy and annoy us that we forget what Christmas means, and sometimes say things which hurt, or misuse a ""fellow passanger?"" Another Holiday Season is ap-proaching, so WHY NOT keep Christmas the year 'round? Let's echo Tiny Tim and say � ""God Bless Lis, Every One!"" Bill Ellis Did You Know? The practice of sending Christ-mas cards is not very old. It is said to have begun about the middle of the last century. It was customary at that period for poor scholars, who were dependent upon benefac-tions for their tutiott, to prepare carefully written letters at the ap-proach of the holidays. In these letters they exploited and extolled whatever progress they had made during the previous term. To make them even more impressive, they ornamented them with many flour-ishes of the pen and fancy designs. They then took the finished prod-uct and exhibited it at the homes of the various benefactors, thus delicately expressing their hopes for future assistance. In 1846 a card was designed by J. C. Horsley, which was perhaps the first Christmas card property so called. One thousand cards of Horsley's design were printed. At first they were of the same size as ordinary visiting cards, with a sim-ple inscription: ""Merry Christmas"" and a few flourishes of the pen. Gradually, more elaborate designs began to appear. iChristmas Message ""The Spirit Of Christmas"" by DR. HAWKINS CHRISTMAS! The word itself is a magic one. It brings thoughts of friends, the family fireside, carols, remem-brances, good cheer. It has come to imply cards and gifts, crowded stores, bulging mail sacks, holly, mistletoe, turkey, and plum pudding, lighted candles and Christmas trees, gaily decorated shopping districts and�Santa Claus. Almost beyond belief, isn't it? That the birth of a baby nearly two thousand years ago in an obscure stable in an obscure province of the Roman Empire should be respon-sible for the world's most celebrated observance. What is the real ""spirit of Christmas?"" It has been expressed so often and yet so often we forget that it is the spirit of giving�not receiving. For the real spirit of Christ-mas is the spirit of selflessness�of giving to others, sharing with others, remembering others. Think of how the warmth would be gone if Christmas were to be celebrated by each one going out and buying a Christmas gift for himself! At the close of Christmas Day when one by one the lights come on in homes and in villages and city squares, and the somewhat saddening thought creeps in that Christ-mas has come and gone, the spirit of Christmas will remain not in terms of the gifts you have received but in the warm realization of the pleasure you have brought to others�the smile on your Mother's face when she opened your gift, the realization of the cheer brought to some little child, the thought of some one made happier by your thoughtfulness. For truly, ""It is more blessed to give than to receive."" That is the ""spirit of Christmas."" Thirty-four Elected To FAC Returns of the have been asked to join the LEE SMITH WILLIAM HAMMERMAN CHARLES CHAPPLE ROBERT HOFMEISTER DANIEL SARDERSON FRANK CRAMBLITT CHAMPS CALARY JIM WALTERS EUGENE AMBERM AN JOHN ZVONAR HARRY HALLSTED ROBERT STEVENS LAWRENCE LYNG WILDA MILLER FLORENCE RULAND ANN MARIE WALLACE JANET DAVIS recent elections disclose that the following Freshmen Advisory Council: DUANE VIRTS BETTY LOU MARINER MARY SMART BETTY JANE HOLLOWAY MILLICENT PAGEL KATHRYN CHILDS NANCY SANDEL DOROTHY SCHAEFFER OLIVE DUNKER KATHRYN BAKER ANN WALLACE DORIS SOLOMAN JANE DAIL DEBORAH PLISKIN MARY FRANCIS RECHER CAROLYN SCHAEFFER BETTY ANN JACKSON people These people have been elected on the basis of what they have con-tributed toward the advancment of Towson, their capabilites, and their pleasing personalities. We wish you lots of luck in your new jobs of ""seeing tint the freshmen get off to a good start,"" to quote President Jo Briggs. The FAC is primarily a service organization. It functions throughout the year and its members are always ready to lend a helping hand or a sympahetic ear to the academic and adjustment problems of the fresh-men, the group sponsors various social functions, one of which was the Freshmen Parent's Day last November 18. Dr. Harold Moser is faculty adviser to the council. The next presidental election of the FAC will be held January 3d, when Jo Briggs will relinquish her office and begin preparations for commencement. "
