Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-12-23

| In town until tomorrow night, but all thfi
morning in the public school buildings Of the
District his agents. the school children, and
their papas, mammAs and friends we're busily
engaged In assisting the old gentleman by
bringing TO the schools the clothing
food and playthings, some of which
The EVENING STAR Santa Claus Club.
acting under the authority conferred upon
II by the dear little old man, will distribute
among the poor Of the District 1t was a great
| pity that Santa Claus could not have been here
today to behold the great store Of goods which
bis dear little friends brought to the various
school buildings, for the sight would have
caused 4 suspicious moisture to gather in the
eyes OF even so jolly an old chan
as he IL known TO be. But the old fellow could
not suspend his preparations for his annual
visit the good little children scattered through
out the world even long enough to make
n living visit to Washington, and of course not
one Of his little friends would have wished him
TO neglect his labors. Yet the little old gen.
tleman was kept fully informed Of the work being
done here In his name. for The STAR through
one Of its long-distance telephones, called him
mp In his homo away up in Zero Land and told
him all about the great work completed today
by the school children Of the District. The
jolly old fellow Is, as the children well know, q
man OF very few words, as all such good souls
invariably are. so he merely replied.
Good for the children, God bless their dear
little souls. and good for rHE STAR and its noble
work Then he cried Goodbye" hung up the
phone and went back to his work But the
children NAV rest assured that when they awake
Christmas morning such a sight of well-flled
stsckings and innumerabe presents will meet
their eXpectant ewes will convince them that
their work in behalf of the little unfortunate
ones touched Santa Claus heart as it never was
touched before. and that he has remembered
his little friends far beyond their expectations.
GENEROUS SUPPLY.
Never before we're such a store OF things
needed by the poor contributed in the District
was brought to the school buildings during
the past day OF and this morning by the
children. 1t seemed as If not thing miss
ing. There were at every school building
bundles Of clothing. packages of sugar, -four
meal, tea, coffee, bags of potatoes, piles
Of wood, great stacks of canned goods
boxes of cakes, candies and fruit and
books and TOYS and gowns innumerabe. And
not only did the children bring such good
things. but in many instances parents and
friends brought or sent them. Most of the
packages were marked with the name of their
contents, and they were brought in they
were stacked in order and later sent to the
points In the different divisions from which
they collected by wagons The
contributions in the first division
were sent either to the Franklin or to
the Dennison School building. in the second
division To- the Seaton building, in the third
division To the Wallach building in the fourth
division 20 the Jefferson building in the fifth
division TO the Curtis building, in the sixth A
TO the Dennison building. in the sixth to the
Anacostia building, in the seventh division to
the Sumner building. in eighth A to the John
r. Cook building and in eighth b to the Lin
coin building
First Division.
DIR. kimball was in charge of the contribu-
tions received at the Franklin School, and
under his directions several boys were busly
engaged in sorting and arranging in different
piles tee things received. No other matter ever
aroused greater enthusiasm among the children
and Superintendent Powell remarked to a STAR
reporter TODAY that the work inaugurated BY
lHE STAR and 80 successfully carried out was
one of the grandest he had ever known, not
only because of the good it would accomplish
among the poor but also because it had taught
the children contributing a lesson of charity,
good will and selfdsnial for the good Of Others
which he believed would never be forgotten by
them, and the good effect Of which would attend
them throughout life.
At the Franklin building as. indeed. was the
case In all the other buildings, studies were for
the most part forgotten and the spirit of Christ
mas filled teachers and scholars alike. In many
OF the rooms exercises appropriate to the
son were held aud recitations were made, holi-
day music sung and the time generally given
blessed little children and said Of them such
was the kingdom OF heaven" Here and
there were groups Of children full of schemes
/ to surprise their teachers and favorite school,
mates with childish gifts. And in some of the
schools Santa Claus was impersonated, to the
delight OF the children, who enjoyed his antics
and remarks. Everywhere happiness and good
will reigned supreme, and when the schools
cloced at l O'Clock never before did so happy
and contented lot of children bid short adieu
20 studies did the school children of the Dis
/ trict schools this afternoon. A portion OF the
| contributions will be distributed through the
Grand Army committee.
DESIsoS AND FORCE SCHOOLS
Thepupils Of the Denison School building, on
s street, between 18th and 14th streets, re-
sponded literally to the call for contributions.
/ This morning the donations were sta -ked I'D in
an ante-room and Miss Rawlings and q staff Of
| teachers were busily engaged in asserting and
wrapping them. Food, clothing and TOYS were
the donations Of the children and their parents.
Many otherwise cheerless table will be re-
plenished on Christmas day from the generous
stores gathered by this school. The articles of
| food comprised -four, sugar, tea, coffee, oat-
/ meal. canned goods veritable grocery
store, IN fact-and in. the lot was great big
| plum cake from some family that wanted to
| share the luxuries rs well as the necessaries of
/ life with the poor. The clothing donated was
| Of good quality a rule. and will be a welcome
| addition To the wardrobe of many q poor man 8
| family. Wooden hoods, stockings and children's
| wraps predominsted, while dresses and bows
suits were not rare. The donations from this
building and the Force School Will be distrib-
uted by the Grand Army relief associations
| The children Of the first four grades of the
| Denison School. under Miss E. " Brown, in
charge of the Denison section of the Normal
| Training School, had a Christmas tree and cele-
| bration at the school today. program Of
exercises rendered by the little ones, and
each child received something from the tree.
Second Division A.
| The children came TO the Seaton building
this morning loaded down with things for the
poor children who dependent upon the
kindness of their neighbors for Christmas
| Some carried clothing. some TOYS, some gro
I ceries and some the sweet things that are CRATE
/ full to the taste on Christmas When the ar
ticles were all taken in the room in the
basement of the building, where they were
stored, the place looked like an immense
/ Santa Claus store room. An immense number
| OF STAR Santa Claus Club badges have been
sold in this school. and all the children who
have Joined the club are deeply inter
ested in the good work. Among the things
l donated were two or three hundred
| pounds of various sorts Of groceries, a big
/ pile Of shoes. coats and other clothing two
barrels of potatoes one-half q barrel Of apples.
A good many things were donated to be dis
tributed privately in particular cases by Miss
Gales, the principal.