The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-12-26
A QUIET CHRISTMAS
WAS LIKE OTHER SUNDAYS IN
 MONTGOMERY.
Is Generally Agreed that the Day was the Quietest Montgomery has
 Spent in Years.

T do not see that today is different from any other Sunday in Montgom- cry" said an observant citizen yester- day standing on a Dexter Avenue cor ner and looking up and down the de- serted avenue.
 The man who was in the business part of Montgomery yesterday and who took note of the things about him must feel the truth of that observa- ton. The day was indeed like any other Sunday in Montgomery So far as outward appearances went there was only one difference, the occasional explosition of a fire cracker or the fir ing of a roman candle. There were no horns, no marching crowds and no dis orders.
 Police Captain W. H. Taylor who has for nearly twenty years been a member of the police force of Montgomery de- clared that 1t was the quietest Christ mas he had ever seen in Montgomery.
 There was but little for the police department to do and even less for the fire department. The fire department got call out to South Lawrence Street early last night. It grew out of the fact that an illuminated balloon had fallen on the roof of a residence and the alarm out of an excess of caution had been sent in by telephone as soon as the balloon fell and before it did any damage. This was the only sum mons the fire laddies received during the day.
 The police had a nice quiet day. There were of course few drunks, but little else to call for the service of the police.
 In fact 1t was said that there was less business done in Montgomery than on any previous Sunday because those who were accustomed to do more or less business transactions on Sunday gave themselves and their employees the holiday of Christmas.
 The day was none the less enjoyed in Montgomery for all that. It was a day for housekeeping and home en- joyment. There were more homes decorated for Christmas in Montgomery yesterday than ever before and there were served perhaps more specially prepared Christmas dinners than ever before in the city. The town was filled with visitors who came from a distance to spend the day with rela- lives or who returned to Montgomery to spend the day with friends or with others they knew in happy days spent in Montgomery. It was a quiet day that these people wanted and 1t was a quiet day that they spent.
 It is worthy of note that the congre- gations of the city were large. Special services were held in a number or churches on that Christmas Sunday. but whether there were special services or not the congregations were large
 Early in the night the day was made different from other Sundays by the setting off of fireworks in various parts of the city Still the fireworks display of tonight Is expected to be larger.
 Up to about midnight last night the police had arrested only twenty persons for violating the quiet of the Sabbath Day Christmas. The majority of pris- oners were negroes and the onenses were all of a minor nature. No shoot ing, cutting or other scrapes occurred to mar the unusual day of pleasure and rest Police Captain w. H. Taylor said last night that the Department had passed through the quietest Christmas he remembered. The rain Saturday night, Christmas falling on Sunday, and today being fixed as the holiday by banks and business houses, were the causes ascribed to dullness of the day from a police standpoint.
 The bar rooms were closed yesterday and few drunken people were seen on the streets. The patrolmen walked their beats and kept their eyes and ears open for any disturbances, but they took into consideration the day of good cheer and were extremely lenient in dealing with offenders. Children had pleasure with their flrecrackers and other ear-splitting explosives, but there were no accidents of a serious nature due to explosives. No deaths occurred to sadden any Montgomery home and good feeling seemed to exist in every crowd that gathered on the streets to exchange Christmas greet ings. The accident that terminated the life of John Floyd was the only cas- ualty of the day. The proprietors and clerks in many Montgomery banks and business houses will take today for their holiday and it Is not expected that 1.