Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-12-20
in SANTA CLAUS MAIL
Little Folks Write Him of
Their'Hearts' Desires.
LETTERS WITH TEARS IN
About the Brown Paper Boy and His
Mamma Dear and a Man.
CHIMNEY NO POST OFFICE NOW
They Make Them Too Small These
Days - Communication With
North Pole Via The Star.
LETTERS WITH TEARS IN
CHIMNEY NO POST OFFICE NOW

| And again we come with gladness, most
of us-all of us who are worth a little
pinch of salt-to the time Of year when
the little folks are happiest and the mail
| addressed to Santa Claus is heaviest.
Indeed, except for these few weeks be-
fore the yuletide season, that dear old
gentleman, whose memory Is q benedic-
ton, whose smile is a caress. who lives
| away up yonder near the north pole In a
snug little corner Of the toy shop of the
world, is very much neglected.
| But don't you believe he minds. He
| doesn't; not even a little bit. First on,
| he's very, very busy, even In the summer
time. And really, if he weren't terribly
| industrious old gentleman he never in thu
world would have everything ready to
| start out promptly at shutdown on Christ
| mas eve, as he has for hundreds and
hundreds of years, behind his prancing
| reindeer team, in his great big sleigh,
! with his fat and bulging packs JUST
crammed with toys and candies ana
| goodies and such.
| Promises to Be Good.
| And so for days all the little folks have
been writing letters to Santa Claus. tell
ing him how good they've been, how good
they're going to be, and mentioning some
things they would SO much like to have.
! OF course, all these letters didn't go to
| Santa Claus direct. Years and years ago
little boys and girls didn't have nearly SO
much trouble with their letters. Ihey
| lust wrote them off-and II they were very
little mamma or papa helped-and put
| them up the chimney.
| And of course that very night santa
Claus, or one Of the clever little elfs that
work for him, came around. II must sa
have been that way. for next day the
letters were always gone.
| But, nowadays, chimneys, except In the
most delightful of old-fashioned houses,
are really dreadfully small, and any one
of his little elfs, let alone big fat old
Santa Claus, would have q most mussy
| time getting down. Then, too, these four
and five room flats sometimes don't have
any chimneyS at all.
but there are lots and lots OF good little
boys and girls that live in horrid dark
| rooms that sometimes haven't so much
| as window to let in the fresh air.
| And so, some letters written to the pa
| tron saint Of this Christmas time by the
little people he loves are long time on
| the way, and few-a very few, let us
hope-never get to him at all.
| Many little Ones-thOSe who do not live
IN delightful old-fashioned houses with
! chimneys-send their letters to Santa
| Claus I'm care OF The Star. And these
reach their destination, for The Star
the letters straight to him.
One Letter on Brown Paper.
Once upon a time, though it wasn't so
very long ago, the man who reads the
Santa Claus letters before he sends them
along to Santa himself came across one
that was different from the rest. The en-
velope was torn and scratched and most
outrageously dirty. And inside was a
4 0f ha h
ers wrap up things in. And written on
the brown paper-the writer staggered up
and down and crosswise-was note. most
dreadfuliy missp Isll that SAID: or,,s -
hard and cries and her clothes Is tore and
we don't have much to eat and won't you
bring her everything she wants because
love her and it makes me cry too. and If
you have any left l would like piece of
candy"
Well, the man who reads the Santa
Claus letters looked at the piece OF
brown paper for long time. And then
he blew his nose out loud and read the
brown paper letter again. After awhile
he put it in his pocket.
Then he thought about his own little
|sunny-haired boy at home. tucked away
Santa Claus had trimmed and the toys
that Santa Slaus had brought, waiting
right there for him to see when he open
ed his eyes. For this was Christmas
eve.
And then the man who reads the Santa
Claus letters blew his nose again. And
then he put on his coat and went out.
You see, it was SO late that there
wasn't time to tell Santa Claus about
the brown paper letter and the little boy
whose mamma worked so hard and cried.
But the man knew Santa Claus wouldn't
care II he attended to things himself.
land SO he did.
Most Of the stores were closed up. He
found some nice things to eat, however.
and some candy and some toys. And he
put some money In a letter. And then
he went to the place where the brown
tpaper letter came from.
That Nose Needed Blowing Again.
And the man who reads the Santa
Claus letters had to blow his nose again,
lawful loud when he stepped inside the
idoor. You see, he wasn't q real Santa
Claus, and didn't know how to come
down the chimney.
For the room was damp and cold And
the little boys mamma was sitting by a
little table, on which there was a tiny
piece Of candle. tying a bit of ribbon
around really. truly peppermint cane.
From the back of chair hung the lit
tie boys neutrality-suspicious. the pep
permint cane all sticky from tears.
The man who reads the Santa Claus
! letters felt a big lump come up in his
Throat, and the candle looked to him sort