Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1896-01-11
Immense Quantities Of Supplies Col
lected for the Poor. y
SUCCESS OF TEE SANTA CLAUS CLUB
The Contributions viii Relieve
Want for Some Time.
INCIDENTS OF THE PARTY

It was a foregone conclusion that the
pound party of The Evening Star Santa
Claus Club would be a great success. but
the magnitude Of the results could scarcely
have been overestimated in advance. 1t
was not Until today, when the collections.
were made, that any idea could be had OF
the Immense quantities of groceries and
provisions which had been secured through
the efforts of the school children of the
District for the relief of suffering among
the poor.
In one room in every. school building in
the city there was a big pile Of contribu-s
tons, and when the wagons began their
work of collection this morning it soon be-
came evident what a big task it would be
to get all the stuff together. The work of
collection had not been fully completed up
to this afternoon, but 1t is safe to say that
tons and tons of the very best Of provisions
have been secured by the voluntary cUntri-
buttons Of the children of Washington. The
supervising principal of the third division,
which takes In part Of Capitol Hill, said
to a Star reporter this morning that it
would require at least eight or ten big " ag.
ons to carry all the stuff from his division
In his opinion. the contributions from the
entire city would run up into the carloads.
Last Year and This.
Last year when The Star pound party
was held all the contributions were re-
ceived at The Star office and at only one
or two other points about town. so that
the results could be ascertained at sin
gle glance. This year, however, a compare
lively small number of the contributions
were received at The Star office, while
every school room in the District was made
a depot for collections. the result being
that the pound party did not make as inn
posing a show. This accounts for the re-
mark Of one Washingtonian yesterday. n
man who did not understa and the situation
very well, to the effect thas the party was
rot as big success this year as it was
last January. When he was told that in
every one of the hundreds of school rooms
In the city there was Il pile of groceries
almost II not quite as large as the one at
The Star office, he admitted that pound
parties are a great way of raising the
Wnerewithal to feed the hungry.
Character of the Contributions.
The quality of the articles received this
year was every bit as high as it was last
Everything was Of the very best char
acter, just such groceries AS are carried at
the leading stores in Il Dig city. When a
man or child gives but pound to such
worthy charity he feels that he can af-
ford to get a pound of the very best But
many gave more than pound. still adj
herring to the rule Of giving the best
Among the most popular donations were
bags of -four eighth and quarter-barreIs:
cans cans OF vegetables, tomatoes. corn and the
enough other things to stock a f!rst-class
wholesale grocery store.
If the children Of Washington could but
realize the amount Of. food they have
brought together, and the tremendous helm
their contributions will be in the work of
relieving the distress among the poor of
their city. they would feel well repaid for
all they have done.
Bright and early the handsome new wa
CONS. which are ordinarily used for carry
ing papers to the different sections Of the
city for distribution among The Star de-
hvery boys, started out on their work of
gathering the pounds from the various
schools and bringing them together at GER
tain central points which had been desig-
mated for the purpose. The bulk of the
contributions from the schools in the CEN
trail part Of the city were taken to the
Franklin. Gales and Abbott buildings and
temporarily stored until they are needed
Tor distribution on requisition Of those
whose duty 1t Is to investigate and report
on cases where there is supposed to be
suffering and need.
The plan Of distributing the proceeds of
the pound party has already been outlined
In The Star. and involves the cooperation
OF the supervising principals of the public
schools with the officials of the Associated
Charltles. AS rule, the groceries will be
distributed on requistion Of the visitors
or the Associated Charities upon the SUPER
v;sing principals, but in some of the d.
visions the supervising principals have sig
nifed their willingness to take an even
larger share of the work upon their should
ers. and see to the investigation and distri-
button themselves.
VIII Afford Relief for Some Time.
Secretary Wilson OF the Associated Char
tiles said today that the proceeds of the
pound party would relieve the worst of the
suffering in this city for quite a while.
Last year 1t came just in the midst of the
bitterest cold weather Of the winter, when
hundreds of people were hungry and cold
There was an emergency need Of the very
worst on every side, and even with great
est care and discretion used in the distri-
button the pounds melted away very rapid
ly, so that in a comparatively short time
there was nothing left. This year, while
there is a deal Of suffering reported, it is
nothing like as severe as it was a year
ago. The weather has been rather mild,
and the result Of 1t all is that the calls
iron the Associated Charities and other
organizations for the relief of the poor
have not been anything like as urgent All
cases of real need have been assisted so
far without any great extra strain upon the
organizations, and the proceeds of the par
ty are to be used as sort of working
capital and given out In the most judicious
and careful maner. 1t is not the inten-
ton to dump everything out haphazard in
response to every appeal that may be made
for help, but those who are intrusted with
the work of distribution intend that not
ore single pound shall be wasted.
Quite a number Of poor people, among
them many of the regular beggars Of the
city, conceived the idea that they were to
be cared for indiscriminately out Of the
proceeds of the party, and that groceries
and provisions were to be given away to
any one who cared to ask for them. The
result was that the Associated Charities
and The Star Office were besieged this
morning by scores of women, mostly col
ored, who expressed their willingness to
assist II there was any trouble In getting
rid Of the pounds. They were given to un-
derstand politely as possible that that
was not the way it was being done.
Cash Contributions.
Heretofore acknowledged. $153. IS
F. OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES. 500
ID. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. 100
A friend. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. 100
Mrs. w. E. Chandler. 500
Cash ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. 100
Tw1ning School. ........................ LIT
E. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. 1.GO
w. M. D........ ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. LOO
cash OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES. .25
Ruth Harper Filling. 500
X. G. NJ, Central High School,. 800
Section u, Central High SCHOOL,. 80
Cash OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES. 500
II. 8. Co.. OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES. 100
Mrs. A. H. Brown. Observation-Disclosures. 500
3. OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES. 1.5O
e. e. B.. Observation-Disclosures, 100