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A Merry Christmas.

The hearty wish for “A Merry Christmas” is an older and sturdier expression of the Christmas spirit than the colourless “seasonal greetings” and “compliments of the season” so frequently exchanged nowadays. Happiness may be placid but merriment cannot be. So when you wish people a Merry Christmas you are expressing a hope that they will be able to devote some personal activity to produce the pool of goodwill from which the Christmastide draws its dividends of joy and gladness.

Part of the merriment of Christmas arises from the surprises of gifts. And this goes all the way from the penny tooter to the tourist ticket to Paradise.

Speaking of surprises calls to mind one of O. Henry's most charming stories. It deals with a Christmas Eve when neither the young husband nor his wife had enough in cash to buy a worthy present for the other. But Della had a wealth of crowning glory in her hair, and Jim owned a much-prized gold watch. When Jim came home with some wonderful combs for Della, he found that she had sold her hair to buy him a watch-chain; but he had already parted with his watch to buy the combs. In this, of course, they differed from the two wise sisters who wanted new gloves and by pre-consultation bought similar presents for each other so that each had new gloves that were Christmas presents.

Concluding his story of the husband and wife, O. Henry makes the following typical comment—so helpful to the understanding of the spirit of Christmas that it should be known and understood by all: “The magi, as you know, were wise men—wonderfully wise men—who brought gifts to the Babe in the manger. They invented the art of giving Christmas presents. Being wise, their gifts were no doubt wise ones, possibly bearing the privilege of exchange in case of duplication.” And then comes the final trumpet about “these two children in a flat who most unwisely sacrificed for each other the greatest treasures of their house.” In “a last word” to the wise of these days he remarks: “Let it be said that of all who give gifts these two were the wisest. Of all who give and receive gifts, such as they are wisest … … They are the magi.”

A Merry Christmas means good fellowship and “joy upon earth.” It is the climax of the annual round—the good time that is looked forward to for six months with pleasurable anticipation, and back upon for another six months with reminiscent satisfaction—and, in New Zealand, it is the greatest travel period of the year. The weather is at its best, the call of the open spaces is heard throughout the land, and the homing instinct brings relatives together from all quarters of the compass for the annual family festival.

The more recent improvements in the means of transport aid greatly in the movements of population associated with the Christmas period, and all present indications point to a record use of the Railways this year in effecting these mass movements. May one and all throughout the Dominion have at least as merry a Christmas as they deserve, and a merrier if possible.