The Julesburg grit-advocate., 1914-12-17
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II this home. and It Was . delicate up-
dertaking to bring . woman like this
any provisions. But ! explained 10
her that Il was . present and her Joy
was only equaled by that of her chii-
dren. who were more than delighted
with their new toys.
Il have been in homes where the
children never had toys. and ! have
brought them their nrst playthings
In one case there were two children.
boy and q girl. Pepino and Mechaimo
Their father died when they were
babies. and the mother supported
them She had come to this country
bride and was not we'll versed with
the American way of doing things
She did not even know bow to make
rag doll for the children. We
brought those children a small tree.
decorated It. and gave them plenty OF
toys. Words couldn't tell the happi.
ness of those little ones.
There is more pleasure in the worh
than you would imagine. We see many
sad scenes. sorrow and Joy mingled
together. but we also hnd much 70
amuse US. Last year We took
basket TO an old colored woman. Her
husband was . paralytic and she had
two orphaned grandchildren to keep.
Christmas to her was to be the same
as any other day until We arrived
with the provisions and toys. She
glanced at US ss we entered the room.
and when we put the basket on the
table. she stared at It and pointed to
herself. as much as to say. For meF
] said, Yes, Liza, that's for YOU
You could sec nothing but the whites
of her eyes. and she raised both Of
her hands above her head. clasped
them together and said. De Lord b.
praised That was all she said: but
she repeated It time and again. One
time her eyes would be a. large Is
dollars and she would 3oyously sing
the De Lord be praised and again
| she would be sad and mOuFnful and
moan De Lord be praised
FINALLY her husband. who was un-
able to leave bic chair. lost his ps
tience and he shouted. Liza. good
Lord. woman. has you done lost your
head altogether? Why don't You
thank the ladiesr Then. a. a sort Of
apology to US. he said: 'Yor'l have
to excuse her. ladies. for she has sure
ly done lost her head altogether A.
We left the room and glanced back.
poor Liza was stin standing there.
looking at US with her hands claspsH
before her and slowly nodding her
head saying: De Lord BE- praised
We concluded Liza knew better than
her husband She was thanking the
right one.
Il have witnessed many reconsilia-
tions of families Of foreigners ON
Christmaa eve. The afternoon that
spent at the immigration station last
year was one Of the pleasantest Of my
! life 1t was interesting to note the ex.
preston of glsdness on the faces Of
the children in the costumes Of their
various fatherlands. They couldn't
| speak n word Of English. but they
could show you that they we're grate-
! ful for the playthinss.
Il will never forget my first Christ
mas visitation. II was my initial ez-
perience with social service work
One Of the first places We visited was
in q court, q poor German family.
When We arrived At the house tho
mother was telling the three children
Christmas legends. She had gilded
apples, and that was their only other
reminder that the morrow was great
festival. She had no meat nor vego
tables in the house for the next days
meals. and there was NO coal In the
bin. But the place was ~ clean and
neat as a new pin.
The mother was an educated WON.
an. and you could tell At . glance that
she had seen better days She had
married against tho wishes Of hes
family and she was too proud to let
them know Of her poverty. Her hus
band had gone West to try to better
his condition. but was unable to get
work there and became stranded.
The wife kept the wolf away from the
door as best she could BY sewing
We brought her . turkey. vegetable,
fruits and crsnberries. then went out
and got tree and doll for the chill
dren and left an order to have Goa,
sent there Immediately. II 10 impos
sibie to tell how grateful that boo,
woman was"