Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1904-12-24

therefore withdrew our gift and sent it
| to the city hospital. hoping for better
luck. AS il has not been returned. We
trust it has found more cordial well
come there. Evidently my taste in
| literature is not above suspicion.
! You are Near supposed 70 do any
: t;.ig% 50 mental as to carry home 4
are, in Washington. Al! the stores
have i delivery system and the teams
ar Oh iui; ,ia,y and night IT the pres
cit time. True. yon sometimes nave
t 10 wit awhile before receiving your
| pu. ch;.s"s. and >nt1eti.ncs things will
AtG@H away. but Il Is really quite mar
| NoiotiS tht thee ere not more in
stan. -. considering the great amount
or ~; icles handie1.
| lave been quite Interested in not
inc the Wy in when my name has
been spelled on The. bundles delivered
to M. one is rot surprised at being
cni.c,t Mrs" ii. fret il makes one feel
| quite pie, sci. Hu; when your pack
| ages cone t" y"l N ,rkcd "Showrey,'
-s:hnarey. "Shoora,' ~ "Sl,urey," you
! hecin 10 realize nc possibilities of the
| name.
] presume many people will receive
Christmas gifts. not from Santa Claus
! Pack ~ from tn. city stores. but from
! the DEED Letter Office. Passing by an
| auctiOnecr's the other day, ami seeing
the c'owd. ! opened the door and bold
| iy entered. / found the occasion was
| the sale of articles which h ID accunu-
| lated at the Dead Letter Office with no
| means Of Identification. The articles
were done up in packages and num-
bered. Each person was furnished Il
catalogue but was not allowed to In
spect the goods. You bought by title
| only as it We're. For instance, accord
ing to the list iii package Al was:
Mans heavy leather gloves. (S) dam
aged trousers. violin strings
SPONGE" or number so contained &c.
pairs barber shears. woman's damaged
rubbers 6 F., hair switches. fine
comb cheap apron" If the combina-
ton of barber shears. switches, fine
tooth comb did not appeal to YOU how
would you like number 504; Gold plat
! ed brooch. womans lawn shirt waist.
false bangs, cheap towel. small pocket
knife. cheap pocket book" OF course
| there might be some doubt as to the
color OF the false bangs matching bu,
we all have to run some risks in this
world.
No. 524 contained a whole outfit con-
siSting of pair mans cotton trousers
(w. IS !. $50 damaged cloth vest. 4 col
lars G4%), 2 prs. cuffs, 9 pairs cheap
hose" We couldn't help wondering il
this "35x35" gentleman had not been
slightly Inconvenience at having 50
| much of his wearing apparel delayed
| at the Dead Letter Office by the W
kind U. S. officials!
The sale is still going merrily on.
and if any of my friends wish me to
bid for them I shall be only too glad
| to enter the arena. The list contains
621S numbers. besides 1859 books ana
| 4S7 pieces Of jewelry. In the latter
| schedule are diamond rings. necklaces
and various other notwithstanding
| articles.
While I am writing. the melolious
| sound of negrO's voice comes to me,
in a deep. cultural and nasal tone COM
bined. shouting. ''r-ai-s es, bottles" He
drawls out the "r-ai-ges' and ends with
a quick bottle" as though even the
name Of the latter was cheerful. 1t re-
calls that beautiful and touching song
so popular a year Or so ago
ANY rags any bones. airy hotties today
Same old story in the same old way,
| Speaking of the oolored race reminds
m" of the eight year old boy, Johnnie.
who is a sort Of portege Of the good
lady with whom I make my home while
in the city. His mother is one of the
maids here. Johnny firmly believes in
Santa Claus and his black eyes will roll
and his little face will be as intent as
rln he when talking about the chii-
dren's saint. who comes to dwell in tho
hearts Of black and white alike The
other night he wrote Santa a letter
Johnnie's mother, by the way, as well
as several Of the other servants in the
house. can neither read nor write and
| the yorug lad reads the daily paper to
the assembled domestics in the kitchen.
This is the boys letter. written in a
clear. distinct hand. the wording and
spelling just as 1t came from his pen
Gil:
Washington. d. c.. December Is. 1904
Dear Santa Claus: want you to bring
me n express wagon. chest of tools.
Christmas tree. saw. little step ladder.
horn. gloves, story book, ball, drum,
cain ingine and sled.
| GOOdby
To Santa Claus
must close from
! Johnnie Lucas
1416 .20th st. N. W.
| Johnnie believes in ordering a variety
Of articles in case anything mentioned
should be ..all served" According to
the evidences I have seen his faith in
Santa will remain unbroken this year,
at least.
At the close OF the. great and never to
be forgotten dinner in that bright little
story Of Hopkinson Smiths Colonel
Carter's Christmas" those Of you who
have read it will remember that Chad"
the faithful old servant. who had such
a, contempt for these."free. no count
niggers' brings forth a beautiful fir
tree and places it on the table Amid
it's branches are candles Of various
sizes and hues. and az the lovable old
Colonel. his face all aglow with peace
on earth. good will TO men," touches
them off in honor Of the guests. and
some Of the absent ones. we cannot help
thinking that We too. would like to
light Christmas taper for each of onr
"kith and kim" our friends and those
for whom we have A warm place in DIR