The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-12-24
CHRISTMAS MEANS BUSY DAYS.
MERCHANTS DIFFER AS To THE
VOLUME OF TRADE.

on Account of the Soldiers Having
Then Been Here-Mr. B. III. Levy n
Dissenter From the General View
Season of Noise of All Sorts Is Upon
the City-GeneraI Outlook for En-
tertainment Rather DuII-Horse
Races at the Driving Park the
Only Thing AnnOunced-Christ
Trees VIII Be in Their Usual Num-
Der.
This is Christmas Eve. The heart of
the small boy will be made inestlmably
happy tomorrow and for days to come by
the wild fanfare of tin horns, the boom
ing roar of the cannon cracker, the milder
detonation of the smaller fry that come in
packs, the sis-boom-ah Of the skyrocket
and the fascinating whlrl of the roman
candle as it sends skyward Its complement
! of balls. BY all Of this the average man
! will be made commensuately miserable
and the passage of the holidays will by
many, be gladly welcomed
Yesterday was practically Christmas
| Eve. That is, it was Saturday. The in
PREVENTION of Sunday forced Saturday to
! fill the role Of the eve of Christmas as II
IS on Christmas Eve that the great
masses purchases their Christmas gifts
| for friends and dear ones. Saturday Of
, fered the last chance. and it was on ac-
count of the wonderfully busy nature of
| the day that 1t was likened to Christmas
( Eve.
The merchants were very busy all day
Christmas shoppers We're plentiful That
| too, despite the rain as the downpour did
not serve to keep them away. The shop
| pers, men and women, simply prepared
| themselves for the weather, DOMINIC gar
ments about which so much is not cared
and venturing out TO look over the assert
ment Of goods that still remained after the
run of weeks to which they had been sub
| jected.
| Varying opinions were entertained by the
merchants as to the way in which tie
| trade OF this Christmas would compare
with that of last Christmas and the Christ
mas before. One has difficulty In remem-
| Dering from one season to the next lust
what shade of difference there may be in
the crowds on the streets and the ap-
parent extent of their purchases. But
the merchants have very good means of
ascertaining, for most of them keen dailv
/
to tell how any day of one year would
compare with that of a corresponding day
| the year before.
The general cry was that business was
| not so good as it should have been. Ex-
! ceptions We're found, however there hav-
ing been some who had absolutely no rea.
| son to complain One of these was Mr.
b. H. Levy, who had the best report to
| make OF three merchants who Were inter-
viewed.
Mr.. Levy said that, notwithstanding
| the fact that there We're many soldiers i'm
| savannah last season, his Christmas trade
! TINS year mas been larger. He was rather
surprised at this, as he had heard other
| merchants complaining that they had not
! done so well. b. H. Levy & Bros ca sh
| receipts day before yesterday, the senior
member of the firm said, were about 500
more than the correspondingly day of the
| year before.
Mr.. Leopold Adler said his business was
not so good as that of last year With
mat OF the year before, however. II would
! compare very favorably. At the time he
was speaking, Mr.. Adlers store was
thronged with shoppers and it was diff
| cult TO imagine that business could have
been much better with him unless the
| capacity of his large store were greatly
| increased. He said, however that IL was
The trade OF the soldiers last year that had
caused the record to surpass that of this
year together with the fact that the con-
| tlnuence Of warm weather had interfered
with the purchase of heavy furs and gar
ments, line in which the most money is
spent.
Mr.. S. f. Theus, of Theus Bros. sold
great deal of jewelry. With them how
| ever, it was as 1t was with Mr. Adler. the
| trade of the soldiers having helped them
out last year, and run their receipts up TO
a figure that an ordinary Christmas would
| scarcely touch. Yet the business of the
| jewelers. was better than that Of the
Christmas in 1897.
/ The shopping is all over now. The mer-
| chants viii spend the rest of the HOLIDAYS
an hguring out profits. as it is unlikely
that there will be very much doing with
! them this week. 1t is usually the case
| that the feverish activity of the week be-
| fore Christmas is followed by one of cor
responding depression the week after. All
presents have been bought and the pur-
chase of presents forms the principal fea-
| ture of the Christmas shopping Best
! girls, admired young men. fathers. moth
! ers, children, uncles, aUnts, cousins and
| friends are all remembered. and a man
! scarcely knows how many relatives he has
| until he begins figuring up on his pres
! ents
Christmas trees will continue to be the
| order of the day for some time Already
! there have been number of the deIigh
| entertainments, but various young folks
and old ones as WELL are looking forward
! to those that are yet to come. Many
| private families will adhere to the custom
| of having Christmas trees for their chill
! dren, while the usual number will be
| given by Sunday schools and charitable
organizations.
This Christmas bids fair to be rather
! dull. But one form of public entertain
ment has been announced that of horse
| races at the Thunderbolt Driving Park
| II is pXDppfpl that ,,+ffI
| be pulled off there, as some good horse
| flesh has come to the city. The new
corners viii give those that have already
| proven themselves here a stiff struggle to
| maintain their regulations in the eyes OF
! their admirers There will doubtless be
| a considerable crowd at the track, as the
races are pretty much the one entry in the
entertainment line.
Holiday win be given by all the public
! Institutions. the railroads, merchants and
/ others that are accustomed to recognize
| the day I'm this way. That will be celebra-