Evening star., 1901-12-25
CHRISTMAS OVERCoATS
ANNUAL DISTRIBUTION MADE BY
sAKs & COMPANY.
One Hundred Poor Boys Made Warm
and Glad - Some Pathetic
Incidents.

| was today added to the annals of mill
anthropic Washington. For the tenth con-
secutive Christmas morning one hundred
| small boys, poverty stricken and wretched
| were fitted out with warm and substantial
overcoats as the Christmas Offering of the
| firm of Saks G. Company. Each year a diff
ferent method of investigation intended to
search out the truly needy children is
adopted. This year the cards calling for
overcoats were turned over to the AS
| sociated Charities. 1t is believed that that
| organization. which is daily in touch with
the poor people Of the District, was in a
eetter position, perhaps than any other
organization to reach those il-clad little
youngsters for whose benefit the custom
OF annual oxercoat giving was begun. Mr..
CHARLES f. Weller, secretary of the Asso-
clated Charities, took personal interest in
the matter and through the various agen-
oies or the associated organizations sue
ceeoed in placing the gift cards.
The Crowd in waiting
How well the work was done how care
| fully the absolutely destitute were sought
out and how well designed is the charity
| Of the giving, Were all strikingly evidenced
this morning at O'Clock, when the crowd
| OF ticket holders gathered at one of the
| Ith street doors of the firms establish
nent to await the time of distribution. 1t
was typical crowd of the city's poor.
The boys, ranging from four to twelve
| years of age, were accompanied in most
cases by their mothers or nearest relations.
| Thus 1t was that not only the children of
poverty were gathered there, but one might
| also look into the hunger-drawn counte-
nances of men and women who have known
! the rough side of life greater portion of
| their term of years. The crowd had gath
| cred from the byways and hedges Of the
! capital, where want is constant visitor
and Christmas cheer a wild dream of the
| imagination.
Beginning the Distribution.
| Mr.. 1sadore Saks arrived at the store
| shortly after o'clock, and the awaiting
throng of youngsters were admitted two
and three at a time. Each face told new
version of the old story of suffering and
need. The little boys were led in by their
parents. Some were white and some were
| colored. Each little shaver was fitted
! out with warm overcoat, and in many
instances the tiny shivering frame was
| warmly clad for the first time of it's short
existence on earth. When the last child
had been fixed up Mr.. Saks expressed the
belief that the mission of the overcoats
had carried better this year than ever be-
| fore. The children We're certainly taken
direct from the most poverty stricken lanes
Of humanity, and 1t is safe to assume that
the coats went where they might do the
most good.
To list of the names of the boys who
were entitled to overcoats was appended
brief history Of each case. so that the
HlSHl ltSl sure the TlSHt pOyS were
receiving the charitable offering. The
cards which had been distributed read
thus: "Saks & Company's Christmas Offer
ing. The boy whose name has been regis
tered under No. will be given an over
coat with our compliments upon presenta-
tion of this card at our store between 9 aGd
10 o'clock Christmas morning Not trans
ferable'
Some Pathetic Cases.
| The giving was confined to boys between
| the ages of four and twelve years, as they
are not in position to assist themselves.
| Many Of the cases were most pathetic. In
one instance a boy eleven years of age has
a mother, who supports him and three
other children by the meager earnings of
| her ability to wash and iron. Two of her
| children are Ill in bed. Another white
| boy, aged eleven. was the representative of
a family Of six children, whose father is
] unemployed, and at whose shanty the wolf
| Is knocking at the door. In another in
stance the father of the family was dead,
| the mother a washerwoman at small
| wages. In another boy Of seven years
| was recently deserted by his father, the
| mother being dead, and the boy, with three
| other children, under the care Of a grand
mother, who herself is receiving aid from
| the charities. In the case Of white boy
| twelve years of age his father was recent
] ly In the photograph business and was
| burned out. Since the fire he has been un-
able to resume. In the case of a white
boy six years Of age his mother was di-
vorced from husband who treated her
| with shameful cruelty. The woman now
| supports her own aged mother and several
children by sewing. In several cases there
| were widows with from seven to nine chill
| dren to support. There was one very sad
case. A tiny white boy came with his