Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1910-11-24
The Night of the Children

i ne Night @
3 Christmas WIS In the air. The frosty,
starry night turned golden in the city
avenues. UP ana down the pavement
tho crowds swept. laughing, talking,
jostirg-chceks rudy with the wealth
or, eyes sparkling With tho lights. AS
they moved there nnroled beside
them the endless illm of brilliant shop
windows, crammed with riches and
through the swinging doors cddtcs OF
people were sucked In and elected. AZ
the curb the toy-pedlers shouted, the
chestnut stands sent up their smoke. IL
seemed as IL the millions of the city
had poured out To mingle in Il street
festival of JOY ana brotherhood. People
laughed at one another wine of good
humor drcrchcd the air. 1t was as If
on this night hate and strife and greed
had been sloughcd off; as II the race
said, Come, let us be happy with one
another. We arc all here together Let
us meet and minSlc III JOY ana good
Will and peacn!'
1t was the night OF the children. Far
through the sleeping city the million
children were in their beds and II was
for them that these people met. For
their children they were sweeping the
shops, tina. Christmas morning might
dawn with the candles of the pine. and
hanging bulEy stockings and the mys-
teriolis new toys. And it was the
thought OF the children. possibly. that
made these men and women so light
footed. SO bubblingly joyous. SO inno-
Gently happy, It made children OF
them and they mingled with each
nt bnr lya ,pl, rnllttrls inr hpvs and
girls
There was one vast department
store. nearly block square and SIX
stories high. which sucked IN vast
masses of the crowd. Pendant from its
ceilings hung white moons OF slight,
slowly swirled about the sparkling
laden counters, The air was over
warm with breathing and tinglcd with
the excitement of shuffting shoes. rattle
of packages, and a hive hum of talk
and ordinations. Tie place WIS elcc-
trio with tho push of many wills. the
clash of desires, the in,pedcd hurry
the drawing near of closing time, The
hour Of 1890 had come and gone. and
yet the crowd was unsatshed; 1t hun
gcred and strained and clamorod and
struggled to get It's I'LL.
LITTLE MAMIE RIGGS.
ono counter especially WIS DtSltStu.
At this was sold little 5-cent packages
OF SNOW" for Christmas trees. Be
hInd this counter stood Mamie RIGGS.
Il years old. thin, emlciated. bloodless.
her face pale and drawn and wlinklcd,
her eyes bcodshot. her lips trembling.
AS she made out checks. and received
and made change. and handled the en-
velcpes her hands visibly shook. Faces
crowded near her. leaned close. arms
lifted. fingers ierked near her eyes.
"'Chis snow"
Yes. ma'um.
"Iow much?"
Five cents"
only one FOR flye?"
"Only one
How much in q PACKAGE
II don't know, ma'am.
Don't know"
Al least five voices interrurted:
See here. want u half dozen OF
these" Where's my change" Il can't
wait all night" isn't there any one
to wait on me- say II speak to the
noorwalker if | don't get proper attcn
tion."
Mamie answered MS best she could.
Just minute. You said five? SIX
Change hasn't come. | can't help II.
ma'am! Yes, it's five PACKAGE Snow,
yes!--I'll wait on you in a minute!"
She spoke evenly In n monotone But
she was doing her work mechanically
In fact, Mamie wasn't "all there" Her
fingers, her lps kept working, but the
real Mamie seemed in a trance. Sun
burst after sun-burst of faces shot
tho air before her loud sea-noise Of
voices swept her brain, and she felt
denthly sick. Every bone in her body
ached. It seemed as II her feet had
broken and were bleeding. She was
horribly nauscated and dizzy. She felt
II, cDtv IS,p
sheer force of grit she chung to the
counter. she kept upright, she moved.
talked. worked. On and on it went,
minute by minute. and still the faces
crowded. the voices rang out. the pack
ages had to be delivered. the change
made, the checks written out.
Afterwards it. seemed to her that
her whole year had been rushing to-
ward this Christmas climax. Most of
that year. she had worked in a cheaper
storo-worked nine and Il half hours
a day for S262Ia n week. AS this was
not enough to live on. she had boarded
with an aunt IN Hoboken. paying her
| Sl.l5 n week. But 1t took her an hour
| and a quarter TO get to work and she
rose carly before dawn to get to her
| counter at sharp. Car fare cost her
| SIPS which, with the board, left her
| 20 cents n week. No recreation. no
| fresh air. And every few nights she
was up till midnight laundering her
clothes. that she might be neat ap-
| pearIng. This work. she felt was kill
Ing her--so she left 1t and took a
position in the larger store for 81 Il
| week.
WHERE HEE. WAGES WENT.
But she had to figure close. She
slept nearby in a charity dormitory
| for cents n night. She went with,
| out breakfast. lunch and supper con
| sisted of coffee and rolls for 10 cent;
each. laundry was q cents Il week
| Clothes and extra came close to 81. II
this way she spent all her wages
toilcd from s am. to 6:15 pm, and o:
| Saturdays till $3.50. Strength does not
come on coffee and rolls, nor on nine
| and II half hours of standing indoors
nor on lack of pleasure and menta
growth. Mamie grew slckly. wrnkled
| weaker day by day: she was afflicted
with violent headaches, ana ut II sh,
J! was already Slapped and aged woman
unfit for marriage and collaborating
| and Homework, with no future but in
cessant toll, and no savings agains
sickness or old age.
This was bad enough. But then thu
] holiday rush began. The store WA.
| kept open until 1890 at night. Mani,
grew feversh. had dizzy spells was TOT
sick to eat. Her condition grew worse
each day and now on this last day sh,
| had come to work at s in the morning
| feeling that she could not endure !,