Waterbury Democrat., 1902-12-24
IDEAL |. CHRISTMAS WEATHER
Hundreds of People Take Ad- vantage of It To-Day.

Shoppers Are Out in Full Force from
 the Asmall Boy With a Penny to the
 Man Who is Buying Diamond
 Ring-Storekeepers Are Happy and
 Trying to Serve Every One That
 Calls.
 This is an ideal Christmas eve Tor shopping and people are taking ad- vantage of it. The streets are crowd ed with people rushing from one store to another and everything indicates a brisk trade. The rush will be kept up until late tonight and by that time it is thought that the different dealers will be able to show results which will compare favorably with those of pre- vious Christmas eve sales. The street department has been very active the past few days and in consequence the sidewalks have been cleared of ob- structions as far as possible under the conditions and the heaps of snow and ice has been carted away so that in case the walks should not be able to accommodate the army of shoppers to- night they can step onto the streets without fear of tlmbling down
 Tomorrow will be a big day. All the factories, stores, banking houses, the public library, the offices in the city hall building and other places will be closed and people who have been accustomed to turn to their places of business will wend their way to the churches where special Services will be held, some of them commencing as early as o'clock in the morning.
 The postofice will be open until noon and it is understood tMat the car riers will be occupied during the great CT portion Of the day in an cffcrt to deliver the various messages dire cte,! to people in different parts of the town. Things are rushing there and the clerks and carriers ne making 2 sT- pren,e effort to see that everything gets out on schedule lime. ' Superintendent Doran of the board of charities stated that the usual Christmas dinner will be served at the Brooksidc home. but he was not aware of any plan for tho officials to visit the institution, as the selectmen used to. MT Doran said that if there are any parties who have articles of wearing apparel which they would like to give to needy families he would be pleased to have them report at tho office. for he is aware of many families whore children's clothing would be q very &C., ceptaBM offering.
 The Salvation Army will feed ss many as their funds will warrant. They have not met with as much sue cess as they expected i'll raising money for this purpose, but the management is of the opinion that the pots about town will 3e filled tonight, and if so they will be in a position to do things as they planned when they set out to arrange for the Christmas dinner.
 Large numbers of people left town to-day to spend the Christmas with friends in other towns. and many who belong here, but work elsewhere. dropped in and spent a portion of the day handshaking with old acquaint- ances. This is one of the things which shows that Christmas is the greatest holiday in the year. No matter where one happens to find himself, he thinks of the old home. and if the distance is not too far he makes it point to be one of the family circle when the Christmas bells ring in the annivervsrv of the birth of the Savior of man. It oGClAo PCOPlC VI dll SlCSoS are UGSlu- ming to observe the day more general ly than ever before so that a few years hence every denomination that be- lieves in the existence of God and ac- |cepts the teachings of Christ in any form will have learned to look upon Christmas as the greatest feast day in the calendar.
 Santa Claus must be preparing to do great things tonight. Toys of ev- Iery description are in big demand and there is every reason to believe that he will be able to leave some reminder of the day within reach of every little lone who is looking for him before sum xise to-morrow.