The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-12-25
A JOLLY CHRISTMAS EVE.
TINHORN NOISE AND FIREWORKS
LEADING FEATURES.

of the Day and the Week-Crowds
ThrOngcd Broughton Street All
Day and Many More Were There at
Night-The Markets Gay Appear
ance-One RegrettabIe Feature.
st. Johns Chimes Ring In the Day.
The jolliest, merriest most rollicking
Christmas eve that Savannah has known
in long time has passed and Christmas
day is here. It was a Christmas eve to
be long remembered; it was an evidence
of the fact that times are not so hard as
people have thought they were, or if they
have been, the day brought a brighter
prosperity with it.
All day long the streets in the section
occupied by the retail stores were throne-
ed with people, and the night but saw the
throng augmented with those whom Of
fees had detained during the day. The
crowd seemed to surge around Broughton
street from Bull, all the way TO Barnard.
and there the largest and most important
business was done
Had an inhabitant of the earth from anv
other part of it been landed suddenly on
Broughton street in the afternoon or at
would have come to the conclusion at once
that he was in one of the largest of cities.
1t is fact that navigation was difficult.
more so, perhaps, than is ordinarily the
case on New York's rialto.
In the evening and night up to 70 o'clock
the scene was somewhat changed The
crowd was larger, and it was a different
crowd Everybody was out just for fun,
which seemed to consist principally in
making noise. The tin horn dealers no
doubt did something of a land office bust
ness and the only reason they did not sell
any more horns was because everybody
had one. The length of the horns was all
the way from two inches to six feet, and
the volume of the sound was about double
that amount.
The retail trade everywhere was salts
fed with the day People bought and
bought and bought, and dollar after dollar
went into The till of the jeweier, the fur
niture man, the dry goods house, the can
dy merchant, the tobacconist, and all other
classes. The retail merchants, as a rule,
say that the weeks business has been bet
ter than that Of any Christmas week they
have known for a long time. There is no
doubt about their having sold more things,
and in many instances the sales were of
AAASAS NeAdaDAG al tlClcSs AL any rate the
net results are most satisfactory, and if
any of them are complaining they could
not be found last night.
The fire works man helped the tin horn
man do the land office business. Fire
works, as is We'll known, has been cheaper
this year than ever before and Christmas
eve night saw about as much, il not more,
of this class of illumination as is custom
airy on Christmas night There was lit
tie shooting of fire works north of Liberty
street last night, as it seems that the ord
nance will be pretty well enforced, but to
the south of that street there was plenty
of explosion. Altogether, 1t is probable
that less money will go up in smoke this
year than usual, and yet there willbe more
smoke.
The market presented a gay appearance
all day. Christmas decorations were pro-
fuse, and Christmas delicacies were there
in abundance. The market men did one
of the best days business they have had
in years, and if the amount of stuff carted
out is any criterion, few stomachs will
suffer to-day.
There was plenty of good cheer in last
nights crowd. The barrooms were freely
patronized, and the Christmas eve jag was
not wanting. One of the most regrettable
features was the appearance on the streets
of so many intoxicated youths boys of Is
to 20 years, whose condition was too APP
parent to pass unnoticed. Many of them
is said, boys of such youthful appearance
that it would be preposterous for those
who sold them liquor to make the claim
that they did not know their customers
were minors. To these boys most of the
noise and confusion is attributable
At midnight St Johns chimes pealee
forth a welcome to Christmas day AS
the clock struck the hour Chime Master
Roberts began ringing the opening carol,
"Hark, the Happy Bells Are Pealing.''
Following these were rung the carols,
Christmas Morning" what Mean Those
Shouts of Triumph" and the Hymn, Joy
to the World
There will be a general closing up of bus
mess houses and public buildings to-day.
The wholesale men, as a rule, will all
close, and the majority of the retail deal
ers will give their clerks half holiday.
The cotton exchange, board of trade, city
exchange, court house, and custom house
will observe the usual holiday customs
and as little business as possible will be
the order of the day. Practically all of
these institutions will be closed. Judge
Fallgant has a case in chambers, which
will be argued this morning, but outside
of that there viii be nothing done in the
court house. In the other institutions it
may be said that business will be entirely
suspended. The business office of the
Morning News will be open to-day from
$3.50 to II 80 o'clock a. m. and to IL O'Clock
D. m.