The San Francisco call., 1898-01-02
But There Were Also Some Most SOrrowful Scenes
 During Yuletide.
WOMAN FROZEN TO DEATH
Heroic Act of a Fireman Who Perished in Saving the Life of
 a Little Girl.
Correspondence of The Call.

NEW YORK, Dec. 26.-Santa Claus has been a very busy fellow this year. He has not only had to fulfill his. usual mission of bringing joy to the hearts of the little ones, but he has had the task of acting. as the commissary general of. the very wealthy in their unprece- dented distribution of gifts to their. humble fellows: He has also been pressed into the service of the fame seeking in their show of philanthropy. Altogether he has been overworked. He had a bright, slrnshiny day for his labors. To-day, for his. well-earned rest, the light is dfmy the sky.is eb- scured and snow is falling .thfekly in big flakes, :: :..:. =. :...,
 This mornings papers are almost en- :tirely given up: to tales of Christmas joys and sorrows: There ar, but a few of the latter. but. they are: poignant. A poor old woIifan,. thin and gaunt from starvation, clad in: rags, was found frozen to death in a gutter. A bereaved mother-a lone .widow-is, weeping in the agony of a. broken heart for her daughter, a wayward thing, has cruelty chos en. the day Of peace and good will to desert the humble home and to join the; great. army Of the fallen.
 In one little household a bier stands in the shadow of the Christmas tree and the waxen candles are those that were to serve as the festal lights of the happy family's gathering. A grief stricken woman weepS over. the bier, while four little tots huddle in 8 cor. [ her and ask plainJively when papa and the toys are coming. The father died a hero's death. He was firernan, a bTaye fellow who drove a team of three big, powerful horses attached to one Of the city's, ponderous fire engines.
 He was a popular man among ais comrades Strong, alert, ;ceo1 headed. He had obtained the freedom of the ! afternoon to. spehd.'it with. his oHGn. It was within a few minutes of the hour when his tour of duty would end. An alarm was sounded in the engine house. The horses sprang- to their places, their haihess Was ,strapped' around them; and with a firm hand l Jim Calnan drove .:thenl out of the house.: The engine tore Up. the street. | it's bell changing tQ:Yarn the passeEs-, by. A little girl clutchihg a. doll was lcrossing the street. Her. thoughts were en her toy, .Whfch had rQused in: her the instincts of her sex. Cafnan~ saw | her danger. He must have thought of | ms own Httlc. -SlTlS- Id e: STfOuIeu' III l vain Then with asmighty jerk he pull | ed his team toward the curb. The child was. saved, but the big niachine i toppled,: turned over and crushed his | life out with its mass: of hietal,. .;
 | There are .Aong stories of the: .festivi- ties at Woodstock; Isngland, and at Shelburne. in OUT own ,VerInont ';moun-
 tains. The American Duchess: enter: 1 tained her tenantS ifi a truly feudat style: There were .barens: of beef and huge plum puddingsf turkeys and game l pies For the farmers households: there were blankets and cloaks,' .woolens and scarfs for the. old women; ribbons. and gay kerchefs for tke lass es.. sMarlbdr- i ough and his American wife and their guests-earls. and esses-drove- in gala to the Woodstock Church between Hines of admiring yeomen and peas ants, who bowed hum ply and :cheered lustilye The tale seems like a page from a Sonthwerth novel: The truth fnl chronicfer' adds that the Duke
 looked bered, but that the Duchess pretty ConsueIa -'yanderbiltZwas~ all I ferryman must haEe. turned. With pride i in his grave. .: =: -. -
 At Shelburne, up in Vermont; the i Seward Webbs were the hosts and the good -xillagers of the Green. Mountain T. State.we the guests. They. came iii T Cne1r DIE, StraW=nlled tarn wagons, their -buggies, buckboards and Concord .E coaches. the men in volfskin caps. and
 coats. the women bundled up in Woolep
 comforters. The boys were noisy, the
 rosy-cheeked girls were gigglingi the
 old men strcked their punches of whfs:
 kers-every one was happy They were
 ushered into the big barn of the Sew
 ard Webb farm where their. eyes were
 dazzled with the sight of a veritable
 forest of Christmas trees glittering
 with hundreds of electric lights. There
 were presents for everybody. music
 carols in which every one joined, sports
 for the children, dancing for the beaux l and belles, and then a tremendous SUD- | per with everything to eat, but only
 coffee and lemonade to drink-for Yer
 mont is a prohibition State, and Sew
 ard Webb is d law-maker and a law
 abiding citizen as we'll
 Here in the city, every one had a
 chance at a. Christmas dinner be he
 pauper, tramp, prisoner or patient The
 prison and hospitals, the asylums and | refuges were all provided for. The big | newspapers all opened their coffers and | did good. One fed all the newsboys | fairly gorged them with turkey and
 duff, and then got Chauncey Depew to
 talk to them.
 1 Another enlisted the services of a |