Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1908-12-17

Veteran Astsr Was tks Frssas - tA~
stage childrsa-

Veteran Asssr Was ths Frssas - 60
Stage childrsa-
There are at present engaged IN dif-
fsrent capacities on the stage ana IN
the theatsrs about 600 ehildrsn Do
whom the holidays usually are days
Of toll. and many Or these little folks
are brea1winners foe younger broth
sfs and sisters. II was for than that
the late Tony Pastor and his wife.
Mrs. u. L Fernandez. and -Aunt
Louisa" E1dr1dee. now dead. inaugu-
rated the Cnfistmns festival which
has becomes perennial affair.
The iitfie cnsnI I'll les than twelve
pears old. provits che stage entertain
menf On these eccasions, and thsre
never n any interference By ths au-
thorities. Christmas. 1907. wzs Tony
Pastors lnse appsarance - fhs chil-
dren's Santa Claus. and this year thsy
win miss his genial face and kindly at-
tentions. Last year he was master Of
ceremonies and introduced his tiny
'-top iiners." At the end Of the act he
presented to each Of the girls beau
tifully dressed doh and 10 the boys
boxes OF candy or appropriate toys.
Admission was by invitation only.
and when the programms began ths
house was crowded 20 the doors, the
balcony being given up largely %
poor children Of the east sads. Some
Of the actors were mere babies, but
they went through the business liks
veterans. and the gravity Of most Of
them when singing their eomie songs
was immensely amusing.
One Of the players was presented as
Baby Esmond. q perfect cherub, who
piped Q love ditty and danced with
one foot held In the air. Mr.. Pastor
said she was OF ''this years crop" and
when she had ended the performance
he asked her to tell the audience her
age. Without shrinking from the ques-
ton, AZ her fellow actresses do. she
iisped. "rli be four next January"
Another Of the same mature years
was "Miss Miriam Jackson" IL you
please. She came out with a Teddy
bear In her arms, sang song and did
such clever capering that every wo-
man In the audience wanted 30 hug
her.
Lillian Tobin, herself no bigger than
Q doll baby. sang "Poor John" and In
vited the audience to Join her In the
chorus. which Il did with q VIII. AZ
the end OF the programme Mr.. Pastor
announced that a banquet was await
ing the children In the basement of
Tammany hall
After the little ones had been satis-
fed In that respect they were sent up
70 the main hail OF the building, and
there the really big feature o. the
evening took place. On ths stage
stood three Christmas trees, bending
over from the weight Of pretty things,
while the stage itself was heapsd with
toys.
After that there was q second dis
trfbutiOn for stage children only In the
committee room Of Tammany han.
Most Of the children had written 70
quests for certain articles, and an they
appeared one by one and gave q name
corresponding with that On Mrs. Fer
nandez's list the present asked for was
delivered. Some Of these were Of
costly quality, having been purchased
with money donated TO the cause.
Mrs. Fernandes said the children OF
the stage nowadays ask for useful
things rather than for playthings
Since these events were inauguratsd
II IL estimated that more than $50, coo
has been spent for gifts.-Nsw York
Herald.