The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1880-01-03

pier on Christian festival. The
streets have been thronged all the
week, and, from the number Of camel's
hair shawls and seal-skin sacques that
fellow meets all along the route, it
is very evident that, up to the pres
ent date, we have not yet touched the
zero of hard times. Where do they
all come from, and who foots the bills
I give it up. If anybody in your
neighborhood should happen to guess
it, send me the answer, and I'll give
the public the benefit of it in the next
Of the Broadbrim Letters. Never was
there greater abundance the mar
kets have been loaded with every
thing that flies in the air, or swims in
the sea, or moves, or Crews on the
ground. At all times the world pays
tribute to this grand ANA imperial
city, but in this holiday season, viii,
snow and ice reminding US that sum
mer is yet far off, we revel in the
choicest fruits of the tropics, and the
rarest vegetables of the miltltr aud
more temperate zones: golden pine
apples from the Indies, bananas from
the Isthmus, luscious white grapes
from Malaga and Madeira, fresh figs
from Smyrna, dates from Damascus
and the grand oasis that stretches
away from the banks of the upper
Nile, and monster pears from the
golden orchards of California, with
tributes from all the earth besides.
Everybody seems to have little
money, and he must be poor indeed
whose Christmas table, this year, has
not been garnished with tarkey. It
is lucky for the poor and friendless,
in this holiday season, that there are
some blessed souls in the world who
have time to think of something else
and somebody else besides themselves,
and it is indeed benediction to know
that even the criminals, deeply Scared
with crime and sin, whose massive
walls and iron bars separate them
from the rest of society, are not for
gotten while the hOsaEnahs and halle
lnjahs are ascending from the temples
of the saints, and that the bountiful
overflow from the general abundance,
which finds its way, on this Christmas
day, into the homes of the miserable
and the poor, may we'll call down a
blessing on the name of Him whose
faint cry awakened the echoes in the
stable of Bethlehem almost nineteen
bundled years ago.
just as the Christmas bells were
ringing, the spirit of a good man left
us. Alexander Stuart is dead This
simple announcement carries more
dismay and grief to hundreds of
wretched homes in this great city to-
day, than il the town had been strick-
en- with plague, or Sherman had been
struck down in the midst of his tri-
umphal march from sea to sea. He
was only sugar refiner and yet,
when the roll shall be called from the
Lambs Book of Life, in all that shin
ing throng will be found DO brighter
name than that of this unostentatious
Christian gentleman. He lived and
died in the house where he was born
almost three-quarters of century
ago, and from which the unceasing
roar of busy market-life nor the allure
ments of fashion could ever drive him.
When the demands Of business drove
the inhabitants of the lower wards
into the Fifth Avenue and Madison
Square, Alexander refused to follow
his brother Robert, but still clung
affectionately to the old homestead, j,
where his happy childhood had been
passed. In all his long and useful
life, his unblemished honor was never
questioned by any man, while by his
hundreds of employees he was regarded
more as father than a master. His
weakness was, that he wished to be
regarded as sternly just in dealing
with his business relations; but his
kind heart and generous soul always
turned the scale on the side of mercy,
and fragrant offenders often escaped
with a gentle rebuke the penalty OF
offences worthy of a more serious pun
isl,ment. His benefactions while liv
ing exceeded a million of dollars, and
it was his chief delight, in holiday
times like the present, to make the
hearts of his workmen glad bounti-
full presents reached even the hum
blest of their homes, while the Older
employees always received a princely
qualification. In times of the Creates
labor disturbance and discomfort, n.
murmur was ever heard among the
workmen of Alexander Stuart. H,
ever held himself as Gods almoner o
his bounty to the poor, and now tha
he has passed from among US, Will
tha tears of Thousands uhnsa Erns l.,