Evening journal., 1894-12-24
GAY CHRISTMAS TIMES.
Busy Times in Wilmington's
Main Streets and Stores.
DOE'rLOOK LIKE VERY HARD TIMES


Turkeys and Cssh.
10 the one who chanced to be down
town on Saturday evening the claims,
made By the calamity howler, that times
are harder than they ever were, that
money Is scarcer, and business duller
Than in preceding years seemed q fallacy.
pure aud simple. The streets were flled
with people and the stores crowded with
would-be purchasers. From z until
10 o'clock Market street from the coast
TO Tenth street was alive with voupS
and old, intent on securing presents for
friends, or contributions to the stock OF
good old Santa Claus
The workingman and hlg 60. d wife, with
the savings from their hard earned wages
touched elbows with the rich man. whose
well filled purse told Of ease and luxury
The young man whose mind was puzzled
over the problem OF the most appropriate
gift for his lady fair; the mother en-.
gagged IN mental calculation as to how
she could make littls money 90 a long
ways; the fsther With arms loaded with
mysterious looking bundles and an air OF
tlredness; the boy happy In the possession
ofza trumpet-orl oontentedly munching
candy, ali were to be found in the mstleV
crowd. IL Was good natursd gathering.
and no one grumb bled at being iostled or
pushed about, or complained at their
slow progress
In the stores the crowd was simply
astonishing and the clerks were kent
busy answering questions and doing up
parcels. In some OF the places where
christmas goods are sold the lam was SO
great that an officer was founa necessary
to keep the wheels moving. On Fourth
street the dealers In trees and Christmas
decorations did a thriving business and
the huge stacks OF spruce ind pine
which had obstructed this thoroughfare
during the day, melted away like dew
before the Summers sun. Never before
has larger or finer lot of trees been
shown In this city, and bat few Of them
were left over.
It was gala night for the street
fakirs At Fourth and King streets five
OF these perlpatetic merchants had
established themselves and each COM
manded the attention Of good size d
audiences There was the grey-
whiskered man with shabby silk tile
With bis needle cases and non corrosive.
non writing pens; the
slick tongued seller Of water mlcros-
copss. which, IN his claims were true
would show up anything from the
animalculae in = drop OF the city water.
to the solution Of the senatorial puzzle
and whose broad trimmed hat had
many narrow escapes from catch
Ing FIRE from the sputtering
naptha lamp, which stood at his elbow;
the seller Of the patent pipe which
cleans itself and which was guaranteed
to be free from the smell Of tobacco; the
fellow with a Texas Jack beard and
Buffalo Bill hair, surnounted with
sombrero, and who offered to pull your
teeth without pain or paying; and the
descendant of Sciplo Africanus with his
phonograph, al were there. A block
higher up was the eeller Of harmonicAs.
his sales with solos on the
instruments, while beside him stood 4
brother fakir with an ear cracking tov
which simulated the barking OF a puppy.
The cement man, the potato parer msn
and the jewelry vender were also appli-
cants for public favor and so far as
could be seen, all did 3 rushing business.
The dealers In poultry had large stocks
during the afternoon and evening and
had no cause for complaint when closing
time came. Said one dealer TO An
EVENING JOURNAL reporter: II have
never seen Saturday preceding Christ
mas when poultry sold so well or at better
prices all round. 1t seems to me as
though every one will eat turkey this
year. Some Of the birds were cuckoos
too / had at least a dozen that would tin
the beam st over % pounds. and one fellow
that just turned 80 pounds Aud he
was beauty, too. What did get for
him2 Four City and be was cheap at
that. It used to ke that poultry dropped
way down on Saturday night, the deal
ers not caring to carry over till Monday,
but this year, 80 many held off buying
till night, In the hope that they could
secure bargains, that the market was
actually better than In the day time. IL
the weather holds cold as 1t has been.
poultry won't get very much cheaper, /
tell you
still larger crowd Is expected 10 be on
the streets this evening and Chief DolAn
has ordered all Of his men TO be on duty.
Tomorrow All the city Offices will be
closed and accordingly both the Street.
and Sewer Commissions and the Water
Board will meet this afternoon. The
banks and nearly all OF the manufactur-
Ing establishments Will close.
There will be special matinees at the
places Of amusement and the Warren and
Eddystone football teams will have
game. All the churches will have services
to the day.
As It Was To-day.
After s season Of unprecedented Christ
mas weather, buoyant to both shopper
and storekesper, the rush Of business
and present-buying viii end to night.
To-day was everything that could be
desired, except perhaps, the ground
lacked the characteristic white carpet
which makes Christmas tide doubly
and CHEEKY. But the air con-
tanned Its December ozone and there was
q snRppy, biting keenness in the wind
that certainly savored Of Winter.
This, as is all other Christmas eve and
ante holiday afternoon and evenings,
will be the merchants harvest. The
sight Is certainly an interesting one
about the centre of town, on Market,
King and Fourth streets There both
sides Of the streets are crowded with q
smiling holiday throng and fakirs. IN a
onslness-like and amusing way, exhibited
and cried their wares. They sold many
ornaments for the Christmas trees, and |
these are much cheaper this season
shietiy because there are increased
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