New-York tribune., 1896-12-26
CHRISTMAS SPIRIT ABROAD
TT RR1NGs GLADNEss TO POOR HOMES
THROUGHOUT THE CITY.
r,,,- LITTLE FOLKS CARED FOR IN GENEROUS
FASHION At VARIOUS LODGING-Ho's-S-
MANY PEOPLE SPEND THE DAY
THE COUNTRY

,,,,,o tho animal yrumble that goes up about
the bore Of Christmas giving. there Is no ieao" ~
doubt that Christmas. Merry 'hris'"aS' ""'
ou,te as merry this year ever before TO many
pcople i, does not look merry in advance nan"
,,,,os sometimes emhitcr II; personal ana private
criefs sometimes obscure II. but wheh 'he u''
comes itself IL is at least welcome even 10 'i''S'
uho have found most fault with It's approach l"eio
are probably more Scrooges nowadays 10 o0c:"'e
that Christmas is humbuf than there were
when Dickens knew them, ana even "Viooe' "'
sorry for his surness afterward =, ,,,
Externally everything was proNldeu ~ "
dav 4 most ideal one. Nobody likes r"'N
mas or q green Christmas and yesterday was
neither The air keen ana lnViEo'dN'e w
in the parks and some of the avenues ,"'ie ,a
sleirhinc There was skating. too, LOT tAose WI"
enjoy that sport and those VINO prei''''" 'o"''
sit indoors by open hes an" u"
each other. Only those who love To croah y. '
good old Christmases were disappointed. rive"
,hoir willing memories could summon up no ghosts
of other Christmases superior to the day gwen
for the festival this year.
The streets were quiet all day and the town pre-
sented "A Sabbath appearance gehefah!' }" '"0
morning nearly all the churches heid appiopi"'o
services and they were well latiended. hu'' 'N'ep'
4, the marks the city did not look at al gay AS
= matter of fact many the fashionable people or
the city were of town. preferrh9 10 sp'iu
the day in the country. either AT some one Vi '"e
c,uhs or ot their own country houses. This Gus
in popularity here of late. until In society i
we'll nigh universal But there is Il small minority
of wealthy and fashionable people VINO sun retain
The old-fashoned love for spending the hoh"aY "o.
wholly in search of pleasure for themselves anu
who stay in town 10 give some Of The Guys poor
AT least one happy day In the course OF the "hoie
round wear With all that has been said OF the
decline OF the true Christmas spirit the I'D!
remains the holiday of the year IN whch
weIl-to-do people stili pay much attention 10 'he
happiness of others than themselves or their own
A QUIET DAY AT THE HOTELS.
At all of the big hotels efforts had been made 70
make the day as happy and cheerful Il one as pos
sble Special menus. souvenir cards ana speci'
music by the orchesras the order OF the Day
All of the hotels were handsomely decorated WIN
mistetoe evergreen and other Christmas greens
None of the hotels entertained an unusual number
of guests and in fact. the most OF the ho'eis ha"
a fewer number of guests than usual
1t has been the custom of the large hotels III the
past and the cafes in general to have elaborate
spreads in the bar on Christmas. and to entertain
patrons in this manner. Yesterday was an eNcep-
ton TO the rule, however. The WORKING Oh the
Raines law has made it impossible for the propri-
etor of n cafe to give away luncheon In the BAR
and so the spread had to De omitted. There was
noticed also a lack of inclination on the part OF
the presiding officials of the various bars TO give
away the usual Christmas gifts in the way OF DOT
ties and boxes of cigars TO regular patrons III was
on the whole quiet and siumberous uay aro"h"
the hotels and nearly every one that had home
seemed 10 have for the day deserted the pubic
hostleries
The Aqua rium at Battery Park. was open yester-
day 10 holiday sightseers. and many persons took
the opportunity TO see the fish. From the hour oi
opening, at 10 O'Clock in the morning TO the time
of closing at o clock In the afternoon. contnu-
Gus stream of men, women and children passed In
made the acquaintance OF the finny tribes ana hied
N
the Aquarium during the day.
The public institutions made the usual attempts
to brighten the lives Cf the inmates Everybody
who was in a condition to eat had good oid-fasl-
ioned Christmas dinner. with turkey and all the
''fxin's that tradonally proper. At the
'rombs the Harlem. jefferson Market. Yorkville
and Ludlow Street prisons the people who have
shown their rack of goodwill toward the world re-
ceived gifts calculated to remind item that 'he
world still has goodwill toward them The
800 immigrants Ellis Island dined at the pubic
expense upon dishes that were as strange TO mos;
of them as birds nest soup is to the average Amer
lean.
DINNERS AT THE MISSIONS.
The charges OF the various missions received the
dinners that they have become accustomed 10 ex-
pect at this season OF ;he year. At the Jerry Me-
Auey Mission some 20N unfortunates were Tor once
fortunate.
At the Young Mems Institute. No. 2l2 Bowery,
means of an enjoyable musical and literary enter
,anment The hall of the organization was nied
with an appreciative audience or young men ana
women President Charles {. Peters acted as master
Of ceremonies, and made an address OF weicome.
r,ere was a violin solo by Miss Schultz, soprano
solo by Miss Engle. recitatlons by MISS "hNeheao
and a tenor solo by Mr.. Wcrtis All OF the perform
srs were warmly encored The main feature OF the
programme was a debate between the Literary 30
clety of the Young Mems Institute and the lwehtS
,brd-st Young Mems Christian Association lat
.rarv Society on the subject: Resolved That United
go. senators he elected by popular vote. The
aea-mative was presented by Charles T. Peters anu
Maurice simmons. Of the former society. ana '"o
,aoa,iva bv David Lindsay and Francis VI. Appe-
,..fe of the Twenty-third-sI society Montague
lessler William b. McGuckin and Wliliam FOX "e'e
he i,lIges The debaters each spoke for '"eNo
,'.n,as during which they made forcibe arguments.
which elected much applause. The decision OF the
Judges unanimously In favor Oh the ann nss a
Rroadwav 10 homeless boys mad their annua' m
Christmas dinner last evening AZ WaS Has ONE of the
youngsters present who did not have plenty anu
Pr"mpty at $50 o'clock Superintendent George
Calder threw open the doors OF the og oiis ~ ona
and revealed to the hungry urchins heaps o ' soou
;hnes Most of the boys ye at the nome @ rts, rrsu-
ary and there We're no der Td r"Shs Sstrbuted lot
Of clothes and shoes among the boys
HOMELESS BOYS MAKE MERRY
Ninety homeless boys dned at the Tompkins
SQUARE Lodging House last night Joseph La
rocoue " Bavard Cutting and ID. III. McAlpin x
Co donated the funds for the feast. Superin'ehd-
ent Dupuy allowed the boys to eat as much as tney
wanted Every one rad his plate bountifully hned
twice and there ice cream Tor dessert Inc
superintendcnt took the boys TO the lecture room
af,er the feast where they sang patriotic songs.
Christmas carols and hymns. and listened 10
practical talk from Mr.. Dupuy: ,,,,.
Mr. and Mrs. Lewis cass Iedyard gave chris
mas tree at their home, No "a l.exingi gion.aNe :.
yesterday afternoon for the children OF me A'ehus
!, school OF In. Childrcns Aid Society. Each child
received besides present. some warm cio'hins
and a pair of nittens An entertainment was pro-
vided for them later which included cake ana ice
cream The Avenue School will soon move INTO
a large and commodious school building. the glit
OF William Waldorf Astor. in memory or ms wiie
xrho rad ALWAYS provided the Christmas entertain