Waterbury evening Democrat., 1908-12-24
CHRISTMAS DAY
General ObservsDce By Rich and
 P00r-CbuTch Services,

'hhu NieWeu lTOHl tue rOhu eNtIyDouy
 In Waterbury will have full and
 plenty for the occasion. To be sure
 things were rather dull during the
 year which Is drawing to close
 even so there were few cases of real
 want and these were prompt | ly attended to as soon as
 attention was called to them,
 so that on the whole citizens of this
 town have no good reason to com
 plain. It should be remembered,
 too, that there will always be needy
 people around, the Savior himself as
 sured us of this, and probably this is
 for. the best, for without the poor, well
 disposed folks who have means be- | yond their own needs would not | know what to do with themselves,
 especially at this season when even
 the miser is sometimes prompted to
 open his purse strings and give | something for sweet charity sake. After long spell of dull times 1t
 is not at all wonderful that many
 would be In need of assistance, and
 recognizing this the churches, socie
 ties and many private individuals
 are looking around and between the
 whole of them they may be depend
 ed upon to take care of every de- serving family. Superintendent Nor
 ris of the board of charities and his assistants are doing their work well, and while the number of applicants at this time Is considerably less than year ago enough have called to keep them busy. But nobody will
 be overlooked, and probably it might not be out of place to say right here that notwithstanding the period of depression We have passed through Mir Morris performed the duties of his office in a praiseworthy manner. so much so that even those who might be inclined to md fault have nothing but praise for the able and impartial management of that de- partment during the past year, which was by far the most trying since the panic of some years ago.
 Business of every kind twill be suspended tomorrow and 1t is safe to predict that the churches of all denominations will be crowded At the Cath ollie churches an early mass will be celebrated at 5:30 o'clock in the morning and services will be held at different hours later on during the forenoon. Special music will be rem dered, and vespers will be celebrat- ed in the evening. Some of the sa- looms will not open at all. others will close at noon and it is said that the number of such Naces that will ain will Lo, ever before. This is along the lines so frequently outlined by the late Monsignor Slocum, who often said that he hoped the day was not far off when all saloons would close their doors on Christmas of their own volition out of respect to Him to whose memory the day is especially |, dedicated. The banks, the schools, 1 the Bronson library and the offices 1 in the City hall will be closed all day and the postottice will suspend busi- ness at noon. Indeed things look so much like what all good citizens would wish to see that Superintend- ent Beach of the police department told representative of the Demo. crat that he was thinking of asking his honor, Mayor Thoms, for permis- sion to shut down for the day and give the men an opportunity to spent the day with their families, for he had presentment that there would not be enough doing in police circles to say so. Probably this view of the situation may be some what fanciful. but even at that, one may safely say that Christmas and US hallowed associations are making themselves felt more and more as the years roll onward, and this be- Ing so one cannot help wondering why you hear it said once in a while that Christmas and religion are on the wane and that in time they will be but memory.
 UT course there is no truth in this In fact 1t is only within the last half century that Christmas has had any observance in New England. Now if ranks with the Fourth of July in the matter of general observance and it will continue that way as long as human hearts look to Him who was born Ill Bethlehem two thousand years ago as the Savior of all man kind. There are associations con nected with Christmas, aside from the religious significance of the day, which bind families to one another so strongly that no matter how wide ! ly apart they may be at each recur- ring Christmas time they are togeth- ( er in spirit for the time being, even those who have been called away coming forward to make up the fam ( fly circle as it used to be in the old homes in the dear dead days that shall come no more. and for this reason people who have no homes of heir own ,or worse still, unhappy )nes, are able to extract some pleas ' Ire out of the great festival of Christmas. Such people are able to put themselves into reminiscent mood and excIaim in the language of he gifted Irish singer: II
 Let fate do her worst, |,
 There are relics of joy,
 Bright dreams of the past (
 Which she cannot destroy; I
 Which come in the night time i
 Of sorrow and care,
 Aud hrt,, 1o, ,I