The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1896-12-25
BUYING THE GIFTS.
YESTERDAYS RAID ON THE STORES
BY THE SHOPPERS.
Thousands of People Take Adxan-
fage OF the Last Day of Grace and
chants by Playing santa Claus
Some Incidents OF the Day.

Shoppers possessed the business portion
OF Ene city again yesterday Not ordinary
shoppers who. IN the common acceptance
OF the word. are sssatsesrs- The shoppers
Oh The streets and In the stores yesterday
were buyers They did not confine shsir
purchases 10 useful things, nor even 10
pretty things They were broae-minded.
and any article, no matter how useless,
stood q chance Of charming forth their
shskeIs. Men there were as SeA as
women. Men who entered che stores. took
the clerks into their confidence and finally
hurried out with something they knew not
how 10 use. but sublImely relied upon the
belief that their wives or sweethearts did.
X was painful to see a man buy pair Of
ver-handied curling tongs and then look
sheepsshly in the diamond counter while
the clerk wrapped his purchase or help
iessiy try to calculate the size OF his
sweetheart's hand by MS own in order TO
tell the smiling CLERK what sized gloves
he wanted.
In general. observation on the day be-
fore Christmas led 10 the following pro-
found conclusion. Women enter store,
intimidate the clerks and buy what they
want at a bargain; men slide IN. trelnhle
before the clerks, and quickly buying what
they don't want. at premium, hurry 20
the open street. Women carry their bum
dies openly: men try 20 hide them IN coat
wiihstandng their plain inferiority IN
these respects, the men on the streets
looked happy, and so did the women. and
50 did the horses. the dogs and the-no,
not the street cars.
Every one was so good-natDred that
things out Of the common We're smiled at
rather than frowned upon. To this spirit
a certain small boy may give thanks for
a whole skin. This boy was joyful-ioo
joyful. Had X been man people would
say he had been drinking. This boy not
only possessed a superabundance OF JOY,
but he had a new red wagon Therein
lay the means Of crime For in the red
wagon this lad coasted down the sidewalk
OF Second avenue. He manipulated the
wagon tongue cleverly. winding in and
out OF the throngs OF men and women.
There were no accidents-one or two
women looked astonished and said. We'll.
did you ever" Some men looked as
though they would Ike TO swear. but they
didn't 1t was the day before Christmas,
so every one laughed and went on shop
ping They felt all the better when the
boy ran of the curb and spread mud over
himself. his joy and his red wagon.
Truly a great day il was. The weather
was fine, and the stores were nne, IN the
windows and on counters the goods shone
fine. and over all the great American
eagle. shining on discs of yellow and sill
some attempt az decoration had been
made Where there had not been, the dis
piay OF stock itself was a decoration.
There was caste among the shoppers as
there = in the nation. One class went 10
the grocers and meat markets. They
surged in and out of Cooper & Levy 5,
the Seattle Trading Company. Fulton
Market, Pacific Market, Yakima Market.
California Market, Conner Bros. and the
Great American Tea Company. These
people generally looked jovial, as bettted
seekers after substantial ed.bles.
Another class sought hardware IN such
stores as woodhouse & Longuet. u. G.
Niles Company, l>mas Drew and the
Wilton Hardware Company. All kinds or
people were doing the clothing and dry
goods houses and the shoe stores. They
were seen IN the Huh Clothing Company,
Schofowltch Bros, Sim.son Bros, c. F.
Eggcrt & Co. Japan Bazar. Furuya Jap
anese store, Coon Bros, the Rochester
Clothing Company, Seattle Quitting
Company, city of Paris. II. Petkov.tz.
A dainty lot were the customers or the
Palace OF Sweets. Henry's candy store and
Stewart & Holmes.
Sportsmen strolled along the cases of
the Dlngley- Company and
Hard-HaIl Arms Company. But the Four
Hundred-the high-up--were in search of
jewels Things Of utikty We're beneath
their station ornaments they NiShed,
and ornaments they found In Hough tons,
w H. Finck's, Fredr.ck " Co. and the
Empire Jewelry Company. class DIS
tinct.ve. TO which the fair sex chiefly be
longed. found things of interest in the
Ideal 4Ia.r Bazaar and the florists in the
same building
II has been a great Christmas week. the
weather has been perfect. the stores at
tractive, and While the people were not
so abundautly supplied with money as
they have been. perhaps. OF other Christ
mas occasions. st.l the merchants have
cause to feel thankful.