The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1909-12-21
fRv charlotte Reeve ConoVer.)

This Christmas cas- OF 1919 sees
the twentieth anniversary OF a re-
individual effort toward
h~elnfnlness and happiness. On the
~av after Christmas, 1889. Miss Sal
lie Stutsman. of Dayton. ONO. mao nsF
attention called through personal IN
v~estigation to the b~arrenness OF some
hon,es during tn s season. Resolving
that in the future no child OF poverty
!, her n~eighborhOod or In the city at
large should be left unwarmed by the
Christmas spirit, she has bent her en-
ergies all these years to playing santa
Claus w tn such effect that her work
a become n or the perfnanet
,"encies for happiness in the commun-
ity.
Miss Stutsman's plan has two things
TO recommend 1t, secrecy and simp1ic-
ity. Of the hundreds Of CHI liren
nom she a made happy. not one
ever suspected the name Of the glver.
She began by sending not only useful
but distinctly attractive presents to
q few children i'm her neighborhood.
using her own not unlimited means.
Their the demands grew as she found
the unspea'ab1e happiness produced
ty so lit outlay. and she longed
to do more. Seeing how carelessly
rich children treat their toys and how
frequently they r replaced by new
ones, it occurred to her to beg for
these %playthings AMI make them do
duty a econd time. To ask was to
have. and offerings poured in from
all Sides. Dolls with no heads. heads
with no bodies. ago on three
= heels, tables which had lost a leg,
fire engines with h paint nicked off.
odd balls and ba~ttledores. tennis rae
quets unstrung, roller skates with a
wheel gone, toy pianos with broken
strings-everything was grist to M IS
Stutman's mill. She enlisted the will
ing services of a school boy with me-
urdays. and together they glued and
painted. VIII tiled and tackled by the
hours, supplying the lack of everything
from missing legs Gables or dOlls) to
n issing wheels (watches or autoIno-
biles). Thev erased markings in books.
su-nlied lost parts to games, and
painted faces for rag dolls. In the
course Of t me the one boy became a
dozen and the rOOms in Miss SUITS
house where they worked looked
like a Nuremberg kinder-spiele7 ia
brik. One room held the doll dressers
With their lay pieces. who worked
steadi'~ kept up by their hostess en-
and her hot lunch served at
noon.
Everyone who saw wanted to help,
and offers n increasing numbers
poured in as the years grew; offers OF
money. of me~hanica' skill. Of TOYS
new and Did. Miss Stutsman accepted
all. but never once aske1. Her frie1 1s
carriages were kept busy Christmas
Eve from 4 o'clock until II delivering
ages.
Care is taken to find out who the
children are. vhat the aces and what
they want. Miss Stutsman's aiders and
a bettors are the school teachers, h
nurses. the policemen and the
XIJor,on,c Chricfioo ASCnoiofinn RI
workers. They know the children, even
the poor. who w II have some kind Of
Christmas celebration. n they Know
the children who will nave noe. And
thase are the ones Miss Stutsman is
In 1S91 fifty children were given a
treat at an outlay of SIC. Each child
had half a pound OF nure ca~dy. an
orange, a bag of peanuts and some
appropriate to his age. If a boy
to read, he got a book; # he
was crazy for roller skates" he found
them in his stocking; if a girl had
never had a doll, there it was with
a doll which became in itself a lesson |
in tdiness. since hands must be kept
clean to handle so gorgeous a being.
In 1892 Miss Stutsman had s27 in
cash and enouch toys to make CHRIST
mas for 127 children. Although done
SO quietly, news Of her work spread
among her friends, who began to put
her claim as among the first.
when the spirit began the work. One
a check. another offered a ca
for delivering. some came to do
duty for weeks dressing dolls in the
Worf-rOoms, and others spent long,
laborious evenings helping verify lists
and tie packages. Many OF these were
high school bows and girls who came
out OF school hours, putting in their
leisure under her direction. One |
girl II years old dressed a dozen. dolls.
the holidays heads of depart
stores offered her toys at cost
price. which we're put away until the
ext season. n merchant regularly
hts clerks to lay aside al
remnants of sash ribbon and lace for