Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1895-12-01
OUR BOYS FOR XMAS.
What the Festival Means to THIN, ana
How They Spend II.
RISE EARLY IN THE MORNING.
.,.~ the Young American Aronses
His Parents, Grabs His stocka"s'
u,ov. His Horn, and Joins the
poys-rrcpsring for the Ho'id"sS'

c,,,s.mas IS coming! What JOY the
words bring TO the whole juvenile worid'
That authorizations OF a glorious holiday
NJ one whole week. Of stockings filled 10
o,,raoviug with good things; OF fre-
...o,o,s and baby walkers" burned
ongcrs. and singed hair. and the mon
.,er turkey that Will decorate the Christ
mas dinner-table. All these things now
-. nm before the vision Of the happy
.,ou,ostor: he talks of them by day
end dreams OF them by night He counts
the DAYS Intervening between now ana
the glorious day. and as each night
masses away he jumps up from MS pea
.n the morning with the knowledge tha'
Christmas is one day nearer than "heh'
sleepy and tired OH the yester eve
he Struggled" himself into the warm
he'd. 10 dream the night away with happy
visions OF the eventful day.
The reader will notice that l am CON-
fning my remarks to only one sex Vi
the Juvenile world" and am entire'y
s,pbting the girls. We'll. the truth TO
tel I don't believe the girls have nearly
So good a time on Christmas as DO the
bovs. And as I cannot speak from ex-
,erience as to the enjoyments when the
d.v brings TO the former sex, VIII
confine myself to the lads. The little TOT
of "a girl may look very sweet as she
lugs around on Christmas-Day the uoii
that is about as large as herseh' pu.
what are her delights when compared
with those of the "holy terror OF twelve
years. when he jumps out OF bed AT
A. III. on the 25th OF December. Win
hound that carries him half across the
room, and then returns ana proceeds ~
knock the "stufin out OF his younger
brother. in his efforts TO arouse hln'
and inform him that now. AT ias'' 'ne
day has come, and all the other boys on
the square are already making the early
morning hideous with their horns.
OUT WITH THE CRACKERS.
The boy OF this age doesn't stop long
20 fool with the stocking hanging by the
chimney. and full 10 the very top with
everything calculated TO put him In dire
distress before the day IL over. He Is
ehivering from head to foot, partly from
the cold and partly from suppressed ex-
element. With chattering teeth he gets
into his clothes and pulls on Ills shoes
and stockings. He then grabs his stock
ing. dumps the contents In bureau
drawer. fills his pockets with handIui
OF candy and nuts, and has gotten MS
"popcrackers" from The place OF SAFETY
he hid them on the night before. and Is
out In the street with his tin horn before
you can say Jack Robinson"
1t IN needless TO say. however That ne
does not make his exit to the street
quite az decorously as he might, but
nearly breaks his neck IN attempting 10
pet 10 the bottom of the stairs In two
iumps. then tests his lungs with the tin
horn in the hall. Jerks his cap from the
hat-rack. bangs the door. and Is out
with his comrades, ready TO blow the end
of his fingers off, burn his eyes out, set
the house on fire. or anything else that
might come handy
During all this time his younger bro
fher has only halfway dressed NM
self. and Is engaged In exploring with de-
light the contents Of his well-filled stock
ing. and wondering why Santa Claus
didn't bring him everything he asked Tor
in the letter which he tackled on the man.
telpiecs Just before he went TO bed last
night. 1t is true the old fellow brought
him the express-wagon. but where is the
safety bicycle. the foot ball. the air-gun.
and the box of paints that he also kindly
requested the genial saint TO leave be-
hind? lie doesn't bother about these
little discrepancies long, however, and
has soon Joined his brother in the street.
THE PARENTS UP. TOO.
or course the happy parents OF these
darling little dears," as their mother
calls them. have not been able to slum-
her peacefully through all this commo-
ton, and, knowing that II is Christmas.
with the memory OF former ones. years
ago, still fresh In their minds. say not
n word to the boys for their noisy con-
duct at the unseemly hours but get up,
anxious TO see the youngsters delight.
Perhaps many times during the day the
patient mother will have TO say. "Oh
well. Christmas comes bat once year;
let them enjoy themselves" in excuse for
some little fault on the part OF her hope
fuls, for she Is inclined to be very lenient
on this day.
1t is essentially day for children, and
belongs to them exclusively. The older
ones can only look OFT, and see, in their
children, themselves as they were on
former anniversaries of this glad day.
when they were as happy and free from
care as their offspring now are. The
crusty, old bachelor. perhaps, has the
saddest time of all on Christmas Day. To
him. indeed. are left memo1es. and
kind Of an old bachelor. and wants 10
make himself feel little less diseruntled
with the world. let him make some bright
faced boy nearly drop dead with sur
prise by offering him dollar with which
TO buy frccrackers. II he, himself should
survive the shock, let him try the same
experiment with a few other boys N
he has plenty OF money. and see the
effect It has upon him He has probably
invested much more many a time In medi-
cine 10 cure some imaginary dyspeptic
81. which did not do him nearly as much
good as wnl this small outlay.
CHRISTMAS Is COMING. SURE.
Yes. Christmas is certainly coming, and
though probably not quite as fast as the
eager children would have ii, 1t will be
here in good time. and too soon for many
OF their parents who have a hundred and
one things 10 dc in preparation for the
day.
Broad street Richmond's Broadway. as
Il is beginning to be called, will from now
on present a gay appearance. and daily
be thronged with thousands OF people.
many of whom VIII be busy shopping.
while others VIII be there who only wish
90 mix with the glad thronG TO once &c,
into this surging mass of humanity, and
be swept on by a. down the thorough.
fare. as though by the tide. Is a delight at
this season Of the year to many persons.
What a variety OF forms OF humanity car
be seen In this vast, restless crowd. where
the rich and the poor. the high and The
low. jostle each otht- as they hurry along
each intent upon their own errand, and
little caring whether that OF the other
be one OF sorrow or JOY.
The happy child. warmly wrapped N
furs. looks into the fairyland of toys IN
some windows with the knowledge thai
when he awakes on Christmas ToiD ns
will find many OF the coveted articles CT
the f,oor at the foot OF his bed, while
the shivering boy. only half clad. presses
his plnched face against the plate-slasi
OF the window and with eager ewes gaze.