Waterbury Democrat., 1902-12-05
MAKING OUT MONEY ORDERS
People Beginning to Send Christmas Donations
Across the Water.


Across the Water.
This is the season when people who
have relatives in other parts OF the
country or in distant lands are giving
practical evidence of the saying that
no matter where one finds himself at
the Christmas time his thoughts revert
to the scenes that first greeted MS
youth and to the friends and associates
whom he knew about the old homeT
stead. The money order office at the
postoffice and the different foreign eX-
change offices about town are the best
places one could visit to get an idea
of the interest taken in these matters
by all classes and particularly those
who were born outside the United
States. but who have relatives in the
old world and want to reach them by
letter on time to wish them the COM
pliments of the season and put them
in possession of few dollars so that
they may be enabled to spend the day
in happy manner
The factory girls send a good deal
Of money across the water during the
Christmas time. but it is a question If
they are as. generous in the amounts
forwarded as the homework girls,
ludIly I'll 6WlOIl
ing the sum $40 or $50, while the 9TH
ers seldom exceed SO. and some of
them don't go beyond $3.50, ten shil-
lings in British money. The offering
is very modest, but as woman who
has a large family here and her father
on the other side remarked the other
day, as she licked a postage stamp and
stuck it on the letter and then took a
good look at the order to make sure
that it was all there it is better than
nothing at all. 1t appears that the
average homework girl saves more
than her sister who works in a store
or factory, so that when the time comes
to make donation she has the ready
cash and can afford to do things in fine
shape.
Private institutions who make this
a part of their business have callers al
most every hour in the day from now
on.and they will keep crowding in upon
them until the middle Of the present
month. People whose relatives live
long distances from Waterbury send
their Christmas gifts much earlier than
this time, but it is from now until De-
cember Is that the bulk Of the orders
are made out. The sums forwarded
range from S. to 500, and there are
cases where the amounts run to sew
eral hundred dollars, but these are
very rare and are confined almost en-
tirely to married men who have fam
lilies in the old country and have been
saving up for the occasion the year
round. NE
Tt may be a reflection upon the men
folks to say that the girls are more
thoughtful in this respect than their
hIn Il1If i11o To-, fYs5J0
there is no reason why it should
Some years ago English speaking
people predominated among the crowds
that f1ocked to the money order offices
during the Christmas-tide, but things
have changed and now by far the
greater number noticed counting green
backs in the lobby of the postoffice
speak another tongue. The Italian is
easily in the lead and despite all his
faults it must be admitted that he has
a warm spot in his heart for the old
folks at home and manages to lay by
enough from his scant earnings to re-
member them handsomely at the ma
tivity of the Prince Of Peace. Habitues
of the postoffice fell startling tales of
the queer manners of the italian and
! his peculiar hiding places for his spare
cash. cit is Marvellous" said one of
| Uncle Sans employees to a represen-
/ tative of the Democrat this morning,
chow the Italian manages to accumu-
late money and how willingly he parts
with it. Why, I've seen men of that
nationality come here and pull wads
of money out of the strangest hiding
places one could imagine! They think
nothing of rolling up their trousers and
| taking from $500 to $1,000 from under
patch and sending it to their families
How they get it and why they carry
it about them has always been a mys
terry to me-" ~ '%:@..-
Other incorporating people, notably
E,Lithuanians, Swedes and Hebrews
send snug sums to their friends, but {
great number of the last mentioned
deal with private agencies instead O.
the postoffice, though, to be sure, tht
Hebrew can be found at the office il
the postoffice building now and then
too. Many French Canadians sent
money regularly to Canada, so that a.
a rule their remittances at this season
are not so large as those of people Wht
rarely remember their friends in tina
way over once or twice year. Fo
some reason which does not appear oil
the surface. the American born doe
not always inclose money nor an orde
for few dollars in his Christmas let
ter Probably this is due to the fac
that he comes of stock that need no as
sistance from their children and car
for nothing beyond the assurance tina
they are in the enjoyment Of goo,
health. If he lives near the old folk
and is a decent sort of fellow, and usu
ally he is, he invariably has a chat
with them at dinner in the old home
stead on Christmas day and on TIL
! Fourth Of July; but if they happen t
be separated by long stretches the
content themselves by dropping then
line or two.
FRIEND TO NEWSPAPER MEN