The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-12-17
Christmas dt nc. $,
 1cbf1 Street
BY RICHARD WHIPPING.


 neighborhood and the size of the building, you may find signs I Christmas altogether decent and cheer- Ing IL will be one of the homes ot the decent poor--ever an incIeas,ng number. bearing hopeful and heip'u. witness of results for all the years or ameitorative effort No doubt or ,S such effort has told. and is teiiing. n many of the poorest homes you now find all the gentle amenities of the season, the modest decorations. the decency. the propriety. the pleasant meetings of families and friends. Thts happily. is now far Tn excess oi tne mere drunken riot The typical Chr'st- mas scene of the poor quarter IS scene of decency and comfort. and rational enjoyment.
 One thing that has told very much in favor of it is the general. extension of club life among the poor. and es- pecialIy among the girls and boys. In the work such as Miss Maude Stan ley has undertaken. and the Duchess of Bedford. and countless others. you have recreation taught as a sort of line art. Most of the classes are really classes for rational amusement. Miss Honor Morton has devoted years to teaching the school children how to play. and supplying them with the plant and the rules for all sorts of game. The girls clubs. for instance. issue formal invitations to their Christmas parties. All who can go ought to go: the sight is more cheer ing than thousand statistical re- ports.
 But the old state of things dies hard; and 1t takes a long time to ring Its knell. The industries in course of transformation leave many a derelict at the door of the public house.
 The Christmas of the mere jobbing law scribes-I say nothing of the oth- CTS. happily an ever-increasing rtm- ber-is about the most depressing Of state of things which has been super seded by order and method. Most of the law.writing is now done by regu- larly-constituted firms employing en- gagged clerks of steady habits. But they cannot always cope with sudden rushes of work. and this gives the odd jobbers their chance. The extra work comes in in great quantities during the busy legal seasons after the Judges have risen for the day. It has to be completed by the time the courts open on the following morning. in order that 1t may be ready for judges and counsel. The work Is given out to d small sort of master man. on the strict understanding that it must be brought nome III LImS., TIC DdFcGiS out to men of the irregular stamp. who are at his beck and call. seats them in his little den of an office--where, for a small consideration. they are provid- ed with desks and ink-hands them their paper or parchment. and turns the key upon them. first having seen that they are provided with the ncces- sary quantity of ale and spirits to last them during the night. He keeps an pV m them during the InnO ff. regulate their potations, and in the morning puts the result of their la tors in proper order and takes it home. Payment for 1t is made to him at once. and he immediately satisfies his men. sr-
 It Is the irregular scribe who most detests the enforced holidays of the of these slack times runs from about August 18th to October 24th--teu weeks nearly, to him, of fearful pover- ty, during which he will not have an opportunity of earning a penny. This is bad season for all the law writ CTS. and of course the little work there is doing Is all snapped up by the regular offices and by the steadier men, Still. 1t is in the summertime. and the adventurous outsider may find his chance in the hop fields of Kent. His worst trial comes with the Christmas vacation, say from December 24th to about January 9th or 10th, which to him. as even to the other class of writers, is nearly as objectionable as the Long =.~J
 For this holiday maker by compul- sion one cannot help feeling some pity. Not that he desires it, for he is very Independent individual and disdains to beg thought he does not object to loaf. His home all the year round is sometimes but common lodging house. and you may look for his club in the dingiest tavern in the neighbor- hood of Cursitor street, for he seeks the shade. Seek him there at Christ mas time. and feel as sorry as you can for the poor social derelict with all his faults. He is a man of intelli- gence. quick and good at his work. and able to earn 2Os. or sos. at an all- night sitting when the work comes in. But when 1t does not, The fitfulness, the uncertainty of it is demoralizing; and when, as it sometimes happens, he has lost all hope, he is d piteous sight. His dram ito steady his hand" would choke an ordinary man. With this and huge pinches of snuff to clear his brain. and abundant tobacco to cauter- ise 1t into energy. he worries through his task.
 It is usually a short life. though not does its office. and Nature makes a be in her schemes of improvement if we all lived for ever!
 Richard Whiteing.