Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-12-21

| N[<JwRW less. But now the
- ~ little old fellow is
| y compelled to rely to
| a great extent upon others for the Christ
| mas trees and wreaths and the other ever
| green's which so delight and make merry
| the hearts of all. Not that he would not,
| If it were possible, gather them all him
| self. but there are so many more children to
| be looked out for now than years ago, and
| there are so many more toys to be made and
! packed up. OF course Santa Claus does mis-
share in gathering them, and always will,
hut he knows that every father. mother.
brother. sister, and. indeed. every one else,
will be only too glad to assist him. So he has
asked all who can to help him out. and. of
course. no one refuses the little old man.
| Not everybody can, of course, go right
| out and get the trees and evergreens, be-
| cause not every one knows just where 20
| find them, but the country people know just
| where they are to be found, and so it was.
| tCGay that the markets were filled with
| trees of all sizes and shapes. and with
| wreaths of evergreen and with mistletoe.
| and holly, and spice berries. and moss. For
the country people knew that the city folks
| could never begin to get hundredth part Of
| what would be needed to help old Santa out
| of his difficulty, and in the goodness of their
| hearts they have filled our markets with
| trees and evergreenS. OF course, they
| charged few pennies to cover the expense
| of bringing them into town, but no one
| grumbled at that, for every one was only
| sisting the jolly little old fellow. who was
| so good to them when they We're boys and
| girls, and who will never forget the little
| ones so long as the coming of the Master
| Is remembered by man.
Indeed, SO many were the trees brought
| to market today, and many will be
| those brought to town next week. that a
| Star reporter was detailed to inquire into
n in WaShi pOfn
| indeed, within hundreds of miles of the
| city, should be longer at a loss to know
| just where the trees and evergreens are
found or how they are brought to town.
| The first person. questioned by The Star
| man was an old Coiored woman, so old
| fashioned in ner speech and ways that the
| reporters thoughts went back years and
| years ago, when one Of the dearest and
| best of beings in all the world to him
| was the old black NANNY who cared for
him. i
An Old CoIored Aunty Talks.
The old woman was surrounded by
| cvergl eens of all kinds, and assisting her
in the disposal Of them were her three
grandchildren, two young women and a
young man. So she had ample time in
| which to reply to The Stars representa-
| tive. r.
! 50 you wants to know whar all dis stuff
| comes from, does you? An you Is goin' to
!
| kin say right off, sab, dat you'd look
| mighty long time round hyar befo' you'd
| git much of de stuff in dis neghborhood.
| Course, you'd find pine an cedar fur dc
| trees, but you'd lind mighty leete mistletoe,
| an holly, an SIGH a. dat. Not dat dey all
! don't grow round hyar-dat is eff dey let
| EN- lone long nuff-but dey done grabbed
| up so dat dey amt to be found no mo right
| round hyar, sab.
Course, you don't have to go fur for desc
l. hyar Chris mus trees. as l was a-tellin'
you, sah but when you comes to
mistletoe an SIGH stuff as dat holly an
| all dat. why, you is got to travel a mighty
| long way to git 'em. Dey tells me dat dis
| hyar mistletoe dat all de gals is pertick-
| Ter bout don't grow 'cept down south, an
| dat plains de- reason why We can't git nuff of
| 1t to satisfy de folks, l s'pose. Now, dis IS
| what dey calls mistletoe. an bout de onliest
| place you find dat is at de top of ole gum
| tree. Some time dat is nigh onto hun
dred feet high. sab, an you kin see frum
| dat dat 1t amt no easy matter, sab, to get
| ii down. Down in de swamps an wet places
Is whar you find de most of it. De way we
| gifts 1t Is to elm de ole gum mostly, but
| sometimes de ole gum amt to be clum, an
| den de onllest ay to git It is to cut Mr.
! Gum down. An l done known folks dat
| he'd to shoot de stuff down befo' dey git 1t
| tall
Where the Holly is Found.
| But how dat mistletoe do sell when you
g.ts it. Why, sab. folks done tell me when
an out in de west whar folks amt seen 1t
tall. An dar's dat holly. dey does de
same wild dat, dey tells me- OATS easy
| nuff to git when you finds It, fur 1t grows
| on a tree jes' bout as high as a peach
| tree. But you don't find much anywhar
near hyar, fur folks keeps it down mighty
| small, san. SO, as in de case of dis hyar
mistletoe, we country folks hev to go way
| back in de country fur 1t, an you don't find
SO pertickler much Of 1T den, sab. Now.
| most all of dis you see me wild, an all desc
| folks round me, done come frum way down
| In ole .Virginny, sab, most a hundred miles
| frum hyarabouts. Course we folks don't
| go down dar fur it, but We sends word down
! dar dat we wants 1t, an our people down
| dar gifts it, puts 1t on de kyars an sends IT
| on to us hyar. Course, dar is lot of trees
| an moss, an de like Of dat you kin git to
hand bout hyar, pine an cedar bein' right
| plentiful In dis neighborhood an box an
| ground Ivy, an runnin' cedar, too, but, as
| say, mistletoe an holly rs got to travel
| right smart way fur. Den dis hyar moss
| Is easy huff to git but dat mistletoe roos'
| high, sah."
The cid woman was one of hundred or
more who were engaged today and will be
| next Monday and Tuesday at least, in SELL
| ing Christmas trees and holiday evergreens
| on the outskirts Of the city markets. But
not only colored women. but also men and
| boys stood in the midst of these delightful
| accomplishments of the season. Trees of
| all sizes, wreathS, of evergreen, green and
| white moss. mistletoe and holly added not
only beauty, but fragrance as well, to the
scene, one of the most picturesque to be found
In the washington markets No combine con-
trolled prices, and each man, woman or boy
asked the prices most likely to meet the
approval Of the purchaser. Mistietoe and
| molly were most sought after, probably be-
| cause, as the old woman explained, the
| least abundant, and, therefore. the most
| difficult to secure. From small twig it ran
| to great branches, and prices ran from
| cents to dollars Trees sold from a nickel
| to fifty cents more, the average price be-
ing about twenty Or twenty-five cents. Moss
was sold in great qualities. being designed
mostly to decorate TIE trees; Mreaths OF
greens were piled high on the rude stands