The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1906-01-03
HUNGRY THOUSANDS FEAST
RETwEEN 100000 AND 100000
ARE FED ON FAT TURKEY.
sumptuous Christmas Dinners were
Served TO the Poor Of New YORK
One Man Filled Two Thousand
Empty StOmachs.

| EIhpAJ
There is no reason why any one IN
New York should have gone hungry
Christmas day.
Tt is cOnservatively estimated that
between $50, 900 and 100000 were fur
nished with Christmas dinners by a
host of religious, benevolent and po-
litical organizations. The Salvation
Army and the Volunteers eclipsed all
nrevious records in the holding OF
Christmas feasts and the giving away
of basket dinners to poor families.
At the Salvation Army dinner alone
the menu called for 5000 pounds of
turkey. chicken, beef and pork, 1000
loaves of bread, 1000 gallons of cot
fee, 200 bushels of potatoes. 100
pounds of butter and other articles in
proportion.
The work of the Salvation Army
was only a small portion of the great
work of Christmas charity in New
York. but it was typical of the whole.
| All religious denominations did their
share in steering Santa Claus to the
| homes of the poor and friendless. Nor
did the politicians lag far behind.
Their motives, of course, may not have
been so pure and unselfsh, but at the
same time the gloves and shoes dis
tributed to the Bowery derelicts were
none the less warm nor the turkey din
ners passed out the less welcome be-
cause they were paid for by the Tim"
| SulliVans and their class.
eve are expected to take care of
our people Christmas, as at all other
| times. - said a "bOss" as he watched
the turkey and cranberry sauce van
ish before the hungry horde. "But
| I'm telling YOU the truth when say
it isn't ONLY that we think of. A dis
| trict leader sees poverty as other peo-
nile never see it. He is brought up
against terrible cases every day. He
must have heart of stone if he is only
thinking of his own selfish interest
when he gives his big Christmas feasts.
| Most of the politicians | know don't
worry whether their guests are demo-
Gratis or republicans, whether they
| have votes or not. They draw no
party lines on such occasions.
"A
erOus Christmas dinner given by poll
ticians was that given by big Inn
| Sullivan, the Tammany leader OF the
east side. More than 1000 people
| fed. and the feast went on until every
one was satisfied. The menu included
all that a man need want to eat and
drink, even on Christmas day. Pipes
and bags of tobacco and other pres
ents were given to each guest.
| Among other trihes distributed by
Mr.. Sullivan to the poorer brethren
were several thousand pairs OF shoes,
for he shares Mrs. Booths view that
to give a man good pair OF boots
makes him feel twice the man he was
before.
BY Mr.. Sullivan and East Side
politicians hundreds of suits of
clothing were given away, together
with tons of coal and other necessa-
ries. Nor did the charity stop there,
for many of them went deep into their
pockets and paid the arrears OF fam
lilies who were threatened with dlspOs-
session for non-payment OF rent.
Nor were toys for the children Tor
gotten. Dolls, NOah's arks, wagons
and other things that make the hearts
OF cnlIQf6n DGdU Will plCdoutC WI
distributed in thousands. Some of
the charity organizations had giant
Christmas trees to which the poor
children of the neighborhoOd were in
vited. In other cases the toys We're
given away with the Christmas dim
nerS.
Even the latest additions to Uncle
Sans family tasted of America S
Christmas hospitality, for big din
ner was served at the United States
immigration station at Ellis Island.
The usual turkey dinners were given
to the prisoners in the toombs, the
Ludlow street jail and on Blackwell S
Island. Similar feasts were provided
for the inmates of the numerous char
liable and correctional institutions of
| Greater New York.
SO great was the volume of Christmas
charity in New York that there should
not been a single family without its
| Christmas dinner. There probably
were many, however, for poverty, as
a rule, crawls into its hole and hides
There were undoubtedly numerous
families, the jmost of whom had
seen better days, who chose to remain
cold and hungry rather than to give a
! blow to their pride by asking or ac-