The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-12-26
Eight Hundred Poor Chi|dren
 Were Made Very Happy
OLD SANTA CLAUS APPEARS
Every Child Receives Either Doll or Wagon and Basket of Fruit, Nuts and Candy-The Orphans
 Are Remembered.

Amid love, laughter and song, about 500 childish hearts were gladdened by the benevolence of the Benevolent and Pro- tective Order of Elks lodge No 79 of Bir- mingham.
 The annual Christmas tree of that popu- lar fraternity was stripped of its burden and every child was given present The handsome home of the order was con- verted into a veritable fairy land and sur rendered for two hours to the poor chill dren of Birmingham. Holly, smlax and evergreens constituted the decorations and were used in profusion.
 The Children's Hour. 1 It was truly the "children's hour" and long before ? o'clock in the afternoon hundreds of children were assembled on the second floor of the building, eagerly yet patiently awaiting the arrival of San- ta Claus. Promptly at o'clock a fiutter of excitement ran through the hall
 There he is" simultaneously calculated hundred voices, and with long, white flowing hair and beard benign smile upon his face and costumed in red with white fur trimmings, old Santa" made his appearance. The old gentleman was introduced to the children by Rufus N Rhodes and was received with round after round of applause It was then announce ed that Santa Claus had unloaded his sleigh down stairs and that he would per- sonally conduct fifty children at time down to the assembly hall and see that | an1 aa .r;Ft The Distribution. In groups of fifty the old gentleman es- corted sixteen crowds of the eager, ex- pectant poor children of the city down stairs, where the grand total of 800 re- ceived the bounty of the Elks. Every girl received a beautiful doll and l every boy an express wagon. Independ- ent of this every child received a basket which contained fruit, nuts and candy and last but not least a bright new silver quarter was placed into their outstretched hands to pay their street car fare or to be spent as they deemed ht
 For exactly two hours the Elks were kept busy bestowing their gifts Every thing went like clock work and at D. m.  the tree and tables in the centre of the hall which at o'clock were laden to over flowing were practically bare Hundreds of little ones who otherwise might have had giftless Christmas had gone on their way rejoicing.
 A Beautiful Sight. It was a beautiful sight and one that | ..,iII t,,t ,f,,1, 70 witnessed it. The Elks were warmly con- graduated on their happy idea which is now an annual occurrence.
 Members of this worthy order say they had no difficulty in raising the immense sum it took to carry out its project and the only difficulty it experienced was the distribution of the tickets for admission to the right people. Every available chan nel was utilized to reach the poor chill dren and if any single child was overlook ed it was not the fault of the committee who had the matter In hand. The prime object of this Christmas treat is to reach, metaphorically speaking the stocking of the little one who through no fault of its own was neglected by Santa Claus in his annual trip.
 The Little Orphans. The children of the Mercy Home and of the Orphan Asylum at East Lake were recipients of the Elk's bounty and the eyes of the elder ones were dimmed with tears as these little ones filed by the tree and were given their presents. The Christmas tree committee was com posed of the following: Rufus N. Rhodes, chairman; Exalted Ruler J. Simmons, P. l.. Hoppert N. Lazarus, J. c. Kimball, Dr. D. E. Drennen, w. M Walker, W. J. Leedy, w. J. Rushton and Dr. c. W. Shropshire.
 Exalted Ruler Talks. Exalted Ruler Simmons was seen after the distribution was over and he said:
 "The affair passed off with eclat Every member of our order deserves equal share of any praise which may be bestowed. All we thought about was the children whom through adverse circum- stances would not have had their little lives frightened by the bestowal of some gift synonymous of the season.
 "If a child in Birmingham has been neglected we do not know of it, as every means have been used to reach all the poor children in the town. believe I speak for every Elk of lodge No. 79 when I say that the bright and happy faces which has just left our hall repays us a thousand fold for the trouble and ex- pense which this annual treat necessarily entuils"