The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-12-18
ONE SANTA CLAUS
 WHO WEARS SKIRTS Woman Does Christmas Shop
 ping for the Navy OFFICERS SEEK HER AID She Buys Presents for Wives and
She Buys Presents for Wives and SWeethearts and Brother Officers. Leads Busy Life During
 Christmas Season.
From the Washington Post.

From the Washington Post.
 You don't know. l suppose" said man at the navy yard, that the officers of the navy have a Santa Claus of their own.
 srher Santa Claus isn't the orthodox, rolypoly, white-whiskered old chap, with cheeks like roses and nose like cherry Neither does this Santa Claus drive out to the ships in his reindeer rig and sneak down the smoke stack when all hands are sound asleep.
 '"rhe nayy's Santa Claus Is lady Santa Claus. Maybe a lady Santa Claus will appear to some as odd as the Episcopal Cathedrals lady angels. but just the same
 the Santa Claus Pm telling you of wears skirts.
 She's been doing the Santa Claus stunt
 for the naval officers for some time, and
 thls year she's buster than ever before.
 You see, it's this way with the officers of the navy:
 Lots of them are scattered all over the world at Christmas time Like other folks they want to make presents to their
 relatives and friends. But. for one thing, they aren't within reach of the shopping district, and for another thing, they re not expert shoppers.
 "Of course, many of the officers have ] women folks of their own ashore who can do their shopping for them. But at Christmas time they want to surprise l these women folks Here's where the lady Santa Claus comes in handy.
 '"rhey write to her. telling her to whom I they want presents sent and how much l they care to spend on this one and that l one and they leave the rest to her. Maybe | you'd call this lady Santa Claus just a
 plain professional shopper But that's 1 too commonplace a description for one who does the Santa Claus act so well as this young woman.
 Presents Bought and Sent. "She buys things for wives and sweet | hearts, mothers and sisters, cousins and aunts. She picks out lots of presents, too ] that are to go to brother officers. 'All these she selects in good season | and she forwards them with the donor s | greetings to their various destinations. It's surprising how far she can make a ten-dollar bill go. But of course, that s what may be expected of a woman. Does she make the scheme pay? Well, you bet she does. The officers pay her for her trouble and like every other | such shopper she gets commission from
 the stores where she buys. Besides, Christmas time isn't the only period when she's busy. The fact is, | she's buying all the year round for naval officers She's regular little mother to
 many of them.
 Whenever they need anything of the kind that women ordinarily buy for men l they send word to her, and she executes | the orders.H To be sure, lot of the off cers who are married have their wives dc | such buying for them. But not few are bachelors, without women relatives so located as to do this kind of a job | thoroughly. These are the fellows who are her regular patrons al the year round"
 Shopping for the officers is only a small , part of this young woman's business. She controls practically all the printing done for the officers of the navy. That alone is big item.
 Every officer must have visiting cards. l These she has engraved in the latest ap- proved style The card bears the officer s | name and his rank. Whenever he is pro-
 noted he must have new set of cards.
 In the Printing Business Also. Another commission of hers in the print | ing line Is to supply the menus for ban quets given by naval officers. When Prince Louis of Battenberg was dined al the navy yard, during his recent visit to New York she furnished the menus and
  officers get stationery.
 When the picture postal card craze first. broke out this young woman had
 cards printed with pictures of the vari-
 ous ships of the navy on them. With
 these she went aboard every war vessel l that came into port and did land office
 business selling postals to the officers
 and men. Thousands of these picture
 postals were disposed of in the navy like
 hot cross buns on Good Friday. Another profitable side line of this en- terprisng young woman Is the sale of
 candy to the navy She acts as the agent
 of one of the largest candy manufacturers in New York. As told Tn the Post a few Sundays ago, the blue jackets consume candy by the ton every month. con siderable proportion of what is sold to the navy is ordered through this young woman.
 'ln the interest of her various lines of
 business she visits the different navy yards along the Atlantic coast. Wherever
 Uncle Sams ships find berths she is on
 hand at some period of the year. Her
 business Is growing steadily. and many a
 professional man cannot boast of an in- come equal to hers.