The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1903-12-13
BY GUY T. VISKNISKKI.
Copyright, 1908, by Guy #. Visllniskli.

man with twinkling eyes, and long
beard and fur cap. At it's top
waved banner of red and white and
blue, and from every twig that could
bear a burden hung something to bring
JOY to every heart.
For an instant the leaders paused;
then, as the realization burst in upon
them was Christmas tree, Merry
Christmas! Merry Christmas" they
shouted gleefully and rushed eagerly
forward. Merry Christmas!"
The column was all in in less than a
minute. Bang! and the doors closed
on 800 of the biggest eyed women and
children that ever lived. And Merry
Christmas! Merry Christmas!" they
kept repeating over and over again,
as they Toasted their eyes on the great
tree in the corner.
Then into their midst there burst a
live replica on the merry little old
gentleman beaming on them from the
trees center. "Oh, oh, OH" sprang
from 500 thrdats and the little chan
from Italy, whose heart was almost
bursting from sheer joy, clasped his
hands in excited unison with the lit
tie girl from Germany, who was dane
ing in her delight, and all the other
boys and girls from the four corners
OF the world. And all the while tears
VI ivy oNLCdilltu QOWH HldnY an Old
World mothers face, as she realized
/ that Santa Claus had not forgotten her
! own.
! Followed by every one, Santa walk
ed up to the tree. He looked it over
Tor moment, then reached up, and
the next instant was holding a doll
, the gift of Some little American
mother. in his hands He pressed on
the dolls chest Mammal" it cried.
Mamma! Papai"
"Oh, oh, OH" shouted the OPEN
| mouthed children. ooh, OH"
One little girl-a child from Holland,
by the shoes upon her feet-cried.
OH longer than the rest, and Santa
heard and motioned to her. She was
timid and chung to her mothers skirt.
Then the jolly old gentleman held out
the doll. One joyful cry and she had
scrambled to his side and gathered the
toy to her breast
"Oh, oh, OH" cried the other chill
dren. "Oh, oh, oh!'
The ice broken, Santa Claus began
his work in earnest. Rag dolls, china
dolls, wax dolls, black dolls, and dolls
of all descriptions and sizes, he handed
to the girls. Jack knives, marbles,
knitted gloves, toy soldiers, drums and
| what not were distributed to the boys,
and stick and broken candy and or
ranges were divided among the chill
dren and mothers, each of the latter
receiving some trinket dear to the
heart of woman the world over.
At last the tree was stripped of
| gifts. Santa turned as If to CO. stop
| ped as If recalling something, plunged
his'hand into capacious pack at his
] side and drew forth a handful of tiny
| Eags-the Stars and Stripes. He
| flung them and other handfuls in the
| air, and instantly the we'll ordered
| crowd became a scrambling mass.
Confetti, confettin cried the children
| from Southern Europe; but above the
| noise of contest rose the keepers voice,
in half dozen different tongues:
"Deutscher! Francois! Polack! Sla-
| vok! Italiano! The flag of American!
| The flag of your new home!"
Santa watched the scramble and
| laughed until, as the poem says, his
| little round belly shook like a bowlfuI
| of jelly" After a while he turned to
| go, and then strange thing happen
ed. AS if it We're preconcerted, eY-
| cry chick and child made rush for
their patron saint. A little girl leap
| ed up into his arms and gave him a
resounding kiss. A boy pulled at his
coat tails and thanked him in strange
tongue between yanks. Other children
hung from his arms and legs and well
nigh pulled him to the floor. And Santa
laughed and Rugged and kissed all
who got at him-no matter whether
their faces were clean or still had the
dirt of the Old World upon them.
A quarter of an hour later Santa
Claus managed to escape. The closing
of the door on his portly figure was a
signal for all to examine their Christ
mas gifts more fully, many little girl
was nursing a doll and rocking it to
sleep, and many a boy tasting the Joys
of his first orange, and finding the
boundless delight contained in a hand
full of common chalk marbles.
Thus the morning quickly passed;
then for an hour after the midday
meal the husbands and fathers were
led into the room, and they had to be
told time and again of the visit of
st. Nicholas and shown the dolls that
cried Mammal" and those that
wouldn't cry at all, and told about the
great yellow oranges and the sticks
of colored candy that could not be ex-
hibited because they'd been eaten long
ago. But the fathers knew, for ST.
Nicholas had not failed to have an as
sistant distribute bag of oranges and
tobacco in the mems quarters. He had
tried not to overlook a single one of
Uncle Sans future citizens.
II was Christmas night Far away
from the room OF the twinkling
Christmas tree, tired but happy moth
ers and boys and girls were settling
down for the night in their sleeping
quarters. Softly, TO the keepers In
the corridor. there came, as on the
night before, the music Of polygl0t
chorus, singing the Old World folk