Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1909-12-04
YULE SEASON HAS
DARK SIDE SAYS
MRS BOOTH
OF HOMES That
LACK CHRISTMAS CHEER
How Great Salvation Army
Worker Plays Partner 10
Santa Claus Where Santa
Claus Is Almost a Stranger


f~spesfal Correspondence, to ysurng Jegrnsl
Chicago. Dee Now. ~ ! "a
Christmas and the old season. Q
salen & % the beginning. Z almos
huader % realize hev mBch that &
sd and bleak ana dreary the ange
stsitants must behold. declares Maus
%FaiHngton Booth.. who mas told This
shadow side Of Christmas" in the De,
eemDer Womans worid." relating
her experiences during years Of worl
among the rify poor 10 whom Christ
mas only makes more bleak ana grue.
some their poverty and hardship.
There , still thank God. the
lovely. happy homes where Christ
mas Hnl be merry a. the chimlna
BELLS and where happy. guarded Little
ones know nothing ri cold. hunger ~
eheeriess poverty. she adds. But
have lived many years with my eyes
gTsen 10 the other side. II surely Is
the side that would make the angels
o. my child picture turn away with
dropping wings and tear dimmed eyer.
For several a now. on behalf
u the men whom / have learned 10
know within prison walls, / have come
Ia touch with the sad, desoiate homes
~here their wives and children are
0earing the heavier end 81 the burden.
The story ! could toll IF many ~ them
is he~art-breaking in the extreme
Yesterday I went shopping for a
mother who has seven little ones. She
lives on the third floor OF a squalid
tenement house in New York city. I
buying the tiny garments that VIII
be needed this month for yet another
zee scrap 81 humanity. and. oh. the
misery Of u. the husband and father
has just been gem away TO prison for
thifty-eiFht years Tor burglary Not
much Christmas gIadness In that
home. and ! "A hardly picture my
RtitterinE angels Of the white. snow
covered gardens. crowding up those
l~oatbsome. dirty stairs or floating out
>idc the fire escape and looking in al
those uncurtained windows. Yet in
reality ~ not hat just the place that
angels and divine pity would seek out
TO which they would speed the
most swiftly
There Is another poor little woman
who 20 mind when ! think Of
what Christmas h. going to mean She
Is so brave and accomplishing. always
speaking with such gratitude Of those
who have been kind 10 her. and smil-
Ing chcerily whenever W. have seen
her. and yet her sad heart and frail
shoulders carry "a burden All too
heavy She has -four little children TO
care FOR. the eidest Of whom Is only
six and the youngest "a babe Of three
months She has a father dying OF
cancer TO care for and her husband Va
in prison Tor two years. She gets her
rent free, as caretaker OF a house. and
they have lived this summe on three
and one-half dollars a week. Does
she speak bitterly OF the husband p
Far from a. She tells what "a good
father he was. how kind and thought
ful 10 her when he had work. how
fond of his home ana his little ones.
Then AN this home-biighting disaster
happened through his being out az
work, encouragement followed by des-
pair. sympathizing friends OF the
~ ms W. g NAt NtAftAl NANIh ~ ANNiA
he WAS wandering the streets. and
hungry. then arrest through being In
the wrong company, and prison fol-
lowed.
Down In North Carolina. twelve
miles from the nearest own or rail-
road. is another little family where
the mother Is struggling to provide
her lttic ones with food and shelter.
The father IL In a western prison.
"a three years sentence for
perjury. he II 50 ignorant that when
be- writes mo nc has Ia do it through
tho pen of another. signing it with
\ his mark To my mind II is very
doubtful 10 he was able Ia realize tho
nature OF his crime when ne com
d. as hc Is evidently an utterly
iIitrratc and ignorant man. But for
au that he WIS "a hard worker and
The only support ~ his family In a
hat lies ou my desk the mother
1 work on q farm to support
nysrif n children. crops are very
poor in this community this year and
So are having a hard time. I am
compelled - work iu ~ field in the
cold weather to get mo children
something To eat NJ husband has
gone about eighteen months our
.luthes hat we had when he let are |
worn out. We are almost naked and
,%arefooted, too have four children.
girls and one boy I ann irving
"a bring them up right the best I can
tell them u their father has done
We cannot help that. We must
~ 20 do tho best We can and ash
hat tho good Lord viii help us loo our
1nrly hours
II b. IN such families as these that
have had the JOY OF playing santa
'laus' partner. n you could see the
'olunteer Prison League department
q headquarters In Twcnty-eighth
treet. New York. during the whole 81
december. YOU would realize what
'hrlstmas meant 10 as. Last year
10 paid out about s5.ooo for clothing
nd groceries our friends supplied
is with TOYS and We packed several
undred boxes hat were not only de-
In these poor homes In and
round New York. but were sent By ]