The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-12-20

heart was almost bursting from sheer joy, eiepped his hands in excited unison with the little girl from Germany, who was dancing in her delight, and all the other boys and girls from the four cor ners of the world. And all the while tears or joy streamed down many an Old World mothers face, as she realized that santa Claus had not forgotten her own.
 Followed by every eye. Santa walked up to the tree. He looked it oyer for a moment, then reached up, and the next Instant was holding a doll, the aft of some little American mother, in his hands He pressed on the dolls chest. Mammal" it cried. Mammal Papap'
 Oh, oh. ohF shouted the open-SnOuthad children. "oh. oh!'' the shoes upon her feet-cried, ''Oh.'' longer than the rest, and Santa heard and motioned to her. She was timid and clung 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. ohg' cried the other children. "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
 
 girls. Jack knives, marbles, knitted gloves. toy soldiers. drums and what-not were distributed to the boys. and stick and broken candy and oranges were di- vided among the children and mothers, each of the latter also 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 go. stopped as if recalling something, plunged his hand into; capacious sack at his side and drew forth a handful of tiny fiags-the stars and Stripes. He flung them and other handfuls in the air, and instantly the well-ordered crowd became a scrambllng mass. Confetti, confetttm cried tie children from Southern Europe: but above the noise of contest rose the keepers voice. ina half dozen different tongues:
 "Deutscherl Francaisi Polaek! Slavokl Italianoi The flag of Americai The nag of your new homeP'
 Santa watched the scramble and laugh ed until, as the poem says, f'his little round belly shock like bowlfuI of jelly" After while he turned to go, and then a strange thing happened. As if 1t were preconcerted, every chick and. child made rush for their patron saint. A little girl leaped up Into his arms and gave him resounding kiss. 4. boy pulled at hlS coat tails and thanked him in strange tongue between yanlxs: Other children hung from his arms and legn and well nigh pulled him to the floor. And Santa laughed and hugged 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.
 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 Christmas gifts more 1 fully. and soon, for the first time in her l life. many little girl was nursing a doll and rocking 1t to sleep, and many a boy tasting the joys of his first orange and ! finding the boundless delight contained in { q handful of common chalk marbles. Thus the morning quickly passed: then | for an hour after the midday meal the husbands and fathers were let into the room. and they had to be told time and | again of the visit of St. Nicholas and | shown the dolls that cried ''Mamma!'' 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 exhibited because they'd been eat en long ago. But the fathers knew. for St. Nicholas had not failed to have an | assistant distribute a bag of oranges and tobacco in the men's quarters. He had tried not to overlook single one of 'Un' cle Sam's future citizens.
 It was Christmas night. Far away from
 the room of the twinkling Christmas tree
 tired but happy mothers and boys and girls were settling down for the night iT
 their sleeping quarters. Softly. to thu
 keepers in the corridor. there came. as or
 inc night before. the music of a polygIo chorus. singing the Old World folk songI . of Him who lay in a Bethlehem manager It sweIIed in volume. held it's own for while, inperceptibly grew fainter ant
 fainter, and every little while a childisl } treble told of little mother who wa