The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1905-12-31

Well, it's ovet-theS Christmas week ana
NIL Its merrlment and Its ha11pinoss ah *
Its sorrows and Its Joys, I noted as the
days were passing hat here and there
gone playful sfellow lost en-. eye Or an
arm OF lliis llife, ftpoling With
and dynamite, but as this is done every
year and every year the the 4 lnesys.
parents warn tho boys and the
rcys seem not TO heed the advice, but
want to invite den!.n their way am
about forced TO thu conclusion that
warnings poendurlnEs the holidays amount
Etc but little. Z. But there IL always some
one thing TINT ~ upperr1ost IN these
Christmas times Which oomp but once
ii g md tho principal thing this year
that caused discussion was the fact that
tho presents of thakricli did not seem TO
satisfy the general public. or course,
tho general public swas not the reclplene
OF tfies gifts but tho general PUBIC gen;
orally assumes the privilege OF critlcisine
things that do not suit It, and y notiee
comment IN a sarcastic manner uponsthe
offerings OF the very rich.
sFo,r an Instance 1 noticed that Mr.
Tohn I,6ckefeller, ,reputed to bes the
|IicheAt man III the world, the man who
|haa more rendy coin than all others,
tia MN wi,osis said to be receiving an
income of forty MILLIONS OF dollars q year.
from his Standard OIL and other Invest
mcnts, gave the telegraph and telephone
operators at sTarrytowr, his home place,
five dollars each, while his brother, VIE
liam, u do not think thcy Gull him Bill
gave tho same persons ten dollars each.
Now the average man naturally thought
4 tAlsr.t.~N+ aE s1.o,,IJ u ~ ,,nT Haor "a - &hnftSS.S
stiful@as Bill, but that, IL seems to me,
e + 9. matter matte 10 for John mr.. +. alone lone q to3 de- T.
eide.
II I had an income OF forty millions OF
dollars q year and i lknew%a telegraph
operator who had done me some service,
and I suspect that an operator near mo
with that amount or money would have
performed several stunts TO rne, I GER
5tainly should have given him seven dol
lars and d half. But I would not have
consulted my brother Bill or the gem
eralS public MS to the amount should
give. or course::4if my brother Bill had
undertaken to say that he was going to.
give more than I II might be II the egg
snog was working In the right direction.
would have made Bill feel like
thirty cents and the operator feel like
a finnncier-but ordinarily Z would not
thank the general public to comment
on my charities unless It could give me.
"a wholesome boost.
It seemed, also, that Mrs. IIetty Green,
rcplutcd to- be Americas richest woman,
recklessly blew, herself and bought
canes. a woody toy cor and
a. penny bank for child she loved In
sHoboken.3 THIS seeming extravagancs
on thu part OF Mrs. Hetty caused several
fEp~aragraphers to say things pnngent, but
let us look at It In the other; light. Sup
pose ONE fellow working for q dollar ~
day had gone down town and from his
sspo ks scant t4eaaYre pulled out his
dollar William and blown 1t In fora
couple Eof candy canes and a woody toy
COW and q penny bank. and given It to
the .,''poor boy who lives down the lane
in% Hoboken, or elsewhere, wouldn't the
candy cane and%the woody stoy5cow and
the penny bank have filled his 5heartfwithE
Sglndnesss and with&joy, and would he not
have blessed the man who t~houghta5of5
him and who sent him the prevents.
Surely the boySScoulds haye com
iplained, and there should nave been no
bitterness lnahis soul. because, gndzooks!s
did he' not have the candy 9canes-a pair
yofsS'em--and nstoy, woody COW and a penny
bank-and how many other boys did not
receive Zone tenth as much1Ss How many
boys In Hoboken. bless your soul, re-
iiceeiYeds nothing at5s all. VIII
but TO pursue this subject further.
htSEAarSMt Et@ke@Es 5E.GsE q tvt2EpE FMHt