Show off C THE TAX j HOLI IRIT TO THE POO T IS a question tion whether tl tho 0 families helped or tho the work IV A era helping them got get most moat joy out of tho the christmas dla dis trib ution A real settlement worker one imbued with the 1 j right spirit will tell you that only one who has visited the homes of tho the poor and tho the suffering on christmas ovo eve can realize tho the pleasure plea auro of bringing lappin bap happiness pin and sunshine into these homes many settlement fl a altora it ora who havo have given up tip the work ter for somo some reason or another but who 13 return to assist with tho the christmas give generously from their own purses that the baskets may 0 WIY be larger and moro more families aided wealthy women who have never d done 0 a a settlement Bott loment 10 work enter int into 0 tho 0 0 ti 1 santa claus s spirit 1 t and visit the alley Z I 1 and tenement districts of the tha largo large atties on the tha night b before 0 f 0 r e christmas t h 0 I 1 r automobiles 4 1 jtb heavily laden with 3 toya turkeys and good things to eat they employ investigators ti to canvass the section in which they are interested IL a week before the holidays and the A RIAZ MAL is made according to their reports re porta oftentimes small trees are sent to the homes with glasa balls trimmings and candy toys toy and tho the donors with the aid of their chauffeurs and the tha parents of the children fix the tree while the little tots tola aro are asleep though little known santa claus clau a work in the slums of the tha big cities la Is carried on along systematic lines to overcome any overlapping of the multitude of good intents intentions uns in days gone by charitably inclined women would leave a largo large basket of provisions in a house in ignorance of mother basket hidden in the closet and it was not unusual for or two or three workers to meet in the same kitchen at the one time each burdened with good things for the one family this Is an error of the past for now the christmas giving has been systematized settlement workers of tho the various societies and representatives of the wealthy private givers compile a list of those they will As assist and all go over their lists carefully aether although the christmas giving Is all cut and dried a few days before the time santa clous claus secret is not given away half of pleasure would be gone it if the families knew that the visitors were coming with food and toys in abunda abundance it Is true that those who are visited and quizzed by the private workers have a shrewd suspicion after they havo have told their tale of woe and received the sympathy of tho the visitor vi Ettor that something substantial Is to follow the regular settlement workers know their ground pretty well they know which families have had a hard road to travel and are putting up c r good battle against the tide of misfortune the settlement workers have little investigating to do before the holi boll days their entrance into a home or tenement Is always greeted wit surprise tor for they generally make it a point to go where they are least expected the poor are always with us Is doubly true at christmas time families who can barely exist who do not know where the next jays days bread Is 13 coming from can certainly not afford any extras tor for the holiday season they consider themselves es fortunate if they have a loaf or two of bread and a small piece of meat for the tha Christ christmas maj dinner and coal tor for the kitchen fire no one appreciates this seamy side of the bright christmas story more than tho the charity worker she knows that tribulations exist jit at christmas time as during any other part of the year years of experience have shown her how bow to use tact and good judgment on her travels and where she cannot leave good cheer she can at least make the tha sorrows and troubles easier to bear the angel ot of the tha settlement known kiowa moro more than any one else that there are am many cases when the word merry christmas would sound like a 06 mockery where the hand of death for instance has been heavily felt when it tokea hakea away the chief provider of a large family sho she knows also that the christmas spirit la is cherished by the poor as well as the wealthy while they cannot spend the day in feasting and merrymaking they can at least forget old grudges and let bygones be bygones bygone shake hands bands with their enemies and wish ono one another good luck how many reunions and take place then la Is known only to these good women the hearts of many men who have been separated from their wives and families become softened as the holidays draw near and it uncommon for the settlement worker to find them together when she comes with the christmas basket many prodigal sons return on christmas eve A striking case ot of this kind that occurred two years ago was run across by a settlement worker in philadelphia she said bald that she had never witnessed a scene on any stage that could equal it it was a real case of chera the christmas prayer of a brokenhearted broken hearted mother was answered by the return of her boy the son ran away from home seven years earlier when a youth of sixteen years ile he had a good home and the family consisted of his parents an older brother and a sister his father was a hardworking hard working man and used all his earnings for his home the younger boy being the baby of the family was the pet of all but lie he had a wild disposition and he wanted to see something of life lie he decided to run I 1 away from homo home and go west 0 when he be reached the ranches of arizona he found that the cowboy life as bright as it was painted ile he longed for home many a time but vowed that he would not return a failure he persevered until he had made good though it took seven years for him to do it ills hia fearlessness and daring attracted the attention of the owne of the ranch and he placed hir charge of another place when tl i j 5 tran man had a goodly wad of bil cumulated he decided to return turn in time for christmas ile he reached the old house to find that another family was living there and he learned from neighbors that his father was dead that his sister elster had grieved so over his disappearance that she died shortly after he had left and that his brother had been killed in an accident the mother doubly aged with grief had been left alone and was subsisting as best beat she could in a third story room the son lost no time and arrived in the room just after the settlement worker had reached there with her basket of provisions the mother had just finished telling her story to the sympathetic listener when this latest prodigal returned no ono one can really appreciate said a settlement worker in another city how happy one feels ater fter visiting the homes of the poor on christmas eve the gratitude of one woman alone last year was enough to recompense me tor for the work I 1 did this womans comans husband was in the penitentiary serving an 18 year term for murder it appears that he and a companion were working in the cranberry bogs they quarreled and in a acut this man stabbed hla his opponent he made his wife promise ebe abe would ne never ve r a allow 11 OW t the he family famil Y of six to be separated she not only kept them together by taking in washing and working until all hours of the night but she refused to accept outside aid ln in any shape or form there would have been no christmas celebration pit J WW in this home and it was a delicate un der taking to bring a woman like this any ally provisions hut but I 1 explained to tier her that it was a present and tier her joy was only equaled by that of tier her children who were more than delighted with their now new toys 1 I have been in homes where the children never had toys and I 1 have lave brought them their first playthings in ili one caso case there were two children C lill dren a boy and a girl and their fa father ther died when they wore were babies and the m other mother supported I 1 them she had come to this country a bride and vas not well versed with the american way of doing thing ngi she aho did wit nt even know how to make a rag doll dol tor for the children we brought those children a small tree decorated it and gave them plenty ol of toys words cou tell tho the happiness of those little ones there la is more pleasure in ili the work than you would imagine we see many sad ead scenes sorrow and joy mingled together but we wa also find much to amuse us last year we took a basket to an old colored woman H her or husband was a paralytic and she had bad two orphaned grandchildren to keep christmas to tier her was to be the as any other day until we arrived with the provisions and ana toys she glanced at us as aa we entered the room and when we put the basket on the table she stared at it and pointed to lo herself as much as to say for me I 1 said eald yes liza for you you could see nothing but the whites whiles of her eyes and she raised both ot of her hands above her head clasped them together and said bald do de 1 lord ord be praised that was all she said but she repeated it time and again one time her eyes would be as large as dollars and she would joyously bing the do de lord be praised and again she would be sad and mournful and moan de lord be praised finally her husband who was unable to leave his chair lost ills his patience and he shouted liza good i lord woman has you done lost los t your head altogether why dont you thank the ladles then as a sort of apology to us he said corll have to excuse her ladles ladies for she ehe has surely done lost her head altogether As we left the room and glanced back poor liza was still standing there looking at us with her hands bands clasped before her and slowly nodding her head saying do de lord be praised we concluded liza knew better than her husband she was thanking the right one 1 I 1 have witnessed many eions of families of foreigners on Christ christmas mat eve the afternoon that I 1 spent at the immigration station last year was one of the pleasant est of my lite life it was interesting to note the expression pre aslon of gladness on the faces caces of bf the children in the costumes of their various herlands fatherlands fat they speak a word of english but they could show you that wey they were grateful 0 for the playthings 1 I will never forget my first christmas visitation it was my initial experience per peri tence ence with social service work one of the first farst places we visited was in a court a poor german family when we arrived at the house the mother was telling the three children christmas legends she had glided gilded apples and that was their only other I 1 reminder that the morrow was a great festival she had no meat nor vegetables in the house for the next days I 1 meals and there was no coal in the bin but the place was as clean and neat as a now pin the mother was an educated worn woman and you could tell at a glance that she had seen better days she had married against the wishes of her family and she was too proud to let them know of her poverty lier her husband ba nd had bad gone west to try to better his condition but was unable to get work there and became stranded the wife kept the wolf away from the door as best slie she could by sewing we brought her a turkey vegetables I 1 fruits and cranberries then went out and got a treo tree and a doll for the tha children and left an order to have coal I 1 sent there immediately it la is impossible to tell how grateful that poor woman was |