Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1899-12-24
TIDE or CHRISTMAS TRAVEL.
The Trains Crowded and All Late
Zig Postal and Express business

Zig Postal and Express business.
The tide of Christmas travel reached its
height yesterday. The trains were all
more or less late. and those from the
North were running four hours behind
time.
Every train as it arrived in Richmond
was crowded with passengers travelling
| TO their homes i'm different parts OF the
country. The number of persons VINO
made Richmond their stopping-place IS
said by old station hands TO have been
phenomenal and far in advance OF former
| years
The mails were. Of course delayed, and
! being unusually large, great olilcully
was experienced in the proper dlsiIlDu-
ton Great effort has been made 10 meet
the situation, and number or extra men
have been employed.
There has been a continual rush az the
office for the past two weeks, and there
is no prospect of any relief until aIter
the New Year The amount OF man re-
ceivcd and sent out each day mas Deeh
enormous. Thousands of dollars nave
passed through the mOney-order DIVISION
/ and the sale Of stamps has been phe-
nomenal.
Small packages from two TO sixteen
ounces have been very numerous, ana the
I receiving D1lkNkf DUN AlNtf' NN'At AA'
/ filled TO overlooking.
rive sub-carriers were employed yes
tarday 90 assist i'm the delivery of pack
ages alone
HEAVY EXPRESS BUSINESS.
At the express offices the rush has been
| simply tremendous. a very large force
has been employed. but IL has been inn
ro-sible 10 meet the requirements one
man complained yesterday that he had
/ been kept waiting for two hours, but ms
affection was silenced by another who
Said he had been there just twice as
long.
The weary clerks will not even nave a
rest to-day or tomorrow, for Christmas
will be- the busiest day of all. The great
plut of parcels must De removed and tAa
WAGONS will bee kept rushing them out as
long as possible
BEAUTIFUL CHRISTMAS FLOW El'S.
The wonderful displays made by the
Richmond florists have disappeared Ihe
demand has exceeded the supply, and last
night there was hardly a hover 10 DO
had for love or money
American Beauties, which have been
selling as high as 50 a dozen, have been
i'm great demand. Thousands Of carna-
lions have been sold at 80 cents dozen.
ard hundreds of lunches Of violets at g
a hundred. Chrysanthemums, roses of all
kinds. hyacinths. hehOropes, and lilies
of the valley have been i'm steady de-
mand and the trade in potted plants has
| been very large.
The Christmas trade has even eXcelled
the Easter trade. florists say they made
what they believed to be extraordinary
preparati0ns. but they could have sold
more than twice the quantity. Their
regular trade has to be provided for, but
the resources of their greenhouses have
been drained IN an effort 10 meet The al
together extraordinary demand OF the
last week
FIREWORKS NOT FORBIDDEN.
Mayor TAYLOR did not issue q prOclama-
ton against the use of fireworks ON the
streets, as some said he should, but inc
stead. ne stated that boys and girls
mieht shoot as many tirecrackers as they
wished. The young people took every adj
vantage of the license. and 10 is no eNag-
eeration to say that hundreds Of dollars
went up in smoke and noise last night.
The school children-those who attend
nrivate as we'll as those who attend pub
lie schools-began their Christmas hOli-
DAYS on Friday, and VIII not return 10
work before January ID. II is the chill
dren's feast time and they viii be given
every opportunity 10 enjoy IL.
AMONG THE POOR.
While Joy reigns supreme on all sides
during this merry Christmas, theae is also
novartv 20 be found. and this the Cll-
zens' Relief Association is undertaking
IN relieve as far as in their power lies.
Jov and brightness have been brought To-
mann, desolate homes by this association.
one case that was investigated proved
10 be- most distressing. The father is iil
I'm bed with pneumonia, the mother has
both knee-cags broken, and there are
eve small children 10 be cared for. The
fsroil,, have now been relieved and made
as comfortable as the circumstances
would allow. ~.
MI. sbriners followed their usual
christmas custom and gave away 20
haskets to the needy poor OF the city.
zach basket contained a bag Of hour ,
:, l,,,arter mound of tea and a pound OF
rice 20 many they went i'm the nature
of o. godsend and were gratefully received.