Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1908-12-24
TONY PASTOR AS SANTA.
veteran Actor Was the Friend of the
 Stage Children.

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 hefe are al present engaged ill diff AeFent capacities on the stage end in .ne theaters about 400 children to "honl tho holidays usually are days VI to,l, and many of these little folks are pfeadWinners for younger broth CTS and sisters Il was fer then, tbat the late Tony Pastor and his wife mrs. F. l.. Feruandez. and Aunt, ASuisa Etdridge, now dead. inaugu ."'eo the Christmas festival which mas becopie I perennial affair.
 Ahe 'lttic ones, ail less than twelve years old, provide the stage entertain. Meht on these occasions. and ,hnr. never is any interference by tue au. thori'ies. Christmas, 1907, was Tony fastor's last appearance as tl,c cbil orens santa Claus. and this year ;hey VIII miss his genial face and kindly at. tehtions. Last year he was master of ceremonies and introduced his tiny
 top liners" At the end of the act he presented to each of the girls q beau tifnliy dressed doll and to the boys oo1es of candy or appropriate toys.
 Admission was by invitation only, ana when the programme began the house was crowded to the doors. the balcony being given up largely tc poor children of the east side. Some or tue actors were mere babies but toes went through the business like veterans, and the gravity of most of them when singing their comic songs was immensely amusing.
 One of the players was presented az Baby Esmond, perfect cherub, who psped love ditty and danced with one foot held in the air. MT. Pastor sald she was of "this years crop" anI When she had ended the performance ne asked her to tell the audience her age. Without shrinking from the cues tion, as ker fellow actresses do. she lisped, "I'li be four next January"
 Another of the same mature years was Miss Miriam Jackson" if you please. She came out with a Teddy pear Ill her arms, sang song and did such clever cnpering that every wo. man in t'e audience wanted to hug her. / .HH# !
 Liilio Tobin, herself no bigger than doll baby, sang Poor John" and in- vited the audience to join her in the chorus, which it did with a will. At the end of the programme MT. Pastor announced that banquet was await ing the children in the basement of Tammany hall.
 After the little ones had been satis- fled in that respect they were sent up to the main hall of the building, and there the really big feature of the evening took place. On the stage stood three Christmas trees. bending over from the weight of pretty things. while the stage itself was heaped with toys. A# ?
 After that there was a second dis uibution> for stage children only in tie committee room of Tammany hail Most of the children had written re- quests for certain articles, and as they appeared one by one and gave a 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 purchas ased with money donated to the casisc. Mrs. Fernandez said the children of the stage nowadays ask for useful things rather than for .playthings. Since these events were inaugurated 1t is estimated that more than $5O,0O0 has been spent, for gifts.-New York Herald