Evening star., 1927-12-25
SANTA CLAUS AIDED
BY MRS. COOLIDGE.
Elizabeth MuI|igan, 5 Years
Old, Caressed as Photog-
raphers' Cameras Snap.

Little Elizabeth Muliisan. 5 years
cld, of S240 NJ street. is one Of Wash.
:nEton's happiest Youngsters today
Singled ont among the hundreds Of
children that packed keith's Theater
yesterday morning at the annual
Christmas party OF the Central Union
Mission. she was patted fondly on her
curly head hy Mrs Coo1idSe as Santa
Claus held her in his arms and movie
cameras clicked.
Then she was eiVen her Christmas
has by The hearty Santa, along with
the 1900 other children made happy
in the same way,
The distribution OF the bags came at
the end Of an hour and quarter pro-
gram Of entertainment. during which
The First Lady Of the Land had SGT.
unno'iced by most of the audience, IN
the first row Of the balcony. near the
box reserved for her.
Leads Merry Christmas" Chorus.
John s. Bennett. who played Santa.
introduced Mrs. Coolidge as the most
gracious First Lady OF the Land"
She came smiling from behind a cur
tain. radiaIirc Christmas cheer in a
bricht red silk dress.
Il Just want % say hello" Mrs.
Coolidge said. and let's all say Merry
Christmas when l count three" This
was done ard then Santa let a sim.
liar cheer" Of Thank you, Mrs. Cool
i6Ge."
The First Lady then posed with Santa
and some Of the children for the
camera men. after which she was
forced to leave, and the gift distribu
tion continued under the direction OF
Santa, assisted by Mrs. John s. Ben
nett and others from the mission.
The program was scheduled TO start
AZ 1880. by which time the theater
was completely filed. Mrs. Coolidge
arrived about 1850 without attracting
The attention OF the assembly. The
first feature OF the bill was an Aesop
Fable film. which the youngsters
thoroughly enjoyed
Dr.. A. y. Engel then put on a
clown-ras sician act, startling his audi
ence by pulling flags out OF empty"
boxes and similar feats.
Mickey" and Peggy" OF Our
Gang" comedy fame made a hit with
ot movie stars,
Then Seen i'm Movie.
The two juvenile stars were then
seen on the screen in Dog DAYS" a
two-reel comic film. which was fol-
lowed by a violin solo by Miss Jean
Westbrook.
Jiugling bells were next heard in
the distance, and a spontaneous shout
went up as old Kris kringle himself
rushed on the stage. In few words
he told of his hard journey from the
North Pole, and drew appreciative
applause from his enthusiastic audi.
ence when he told Of the generosity
Of Rol,in Robbins, manager of keith's,
and OF the entire theater personnel
in looking after the details OF the
party.
Sauta's advent was followed by the
raising OF the curtain revealing a
giant Christmas tree with twinkling
lights in the center OF the stage. with
piles OF brightIy-colored gift bags
banked on either side, and a white.
vested chorus of about 90 children
from the mission just in front. II was
a beautiful setting for the singing Of
= few Christmas carols by the chill.
dren. AS they were finished Santa
pIfES8SA v AN 31ES- +OOEIUkEs
The bags were filed in many In
stances by individual Washingtonians
IN their homes, churches and Offices TO
meet the specific needs OF the child for
whom they were intended and whose
name and are were marked on the out
side. Articles OF clothing. toys. games,
candy. puzzles and books were cram
med into the bags 20 gladden. the
youngsters on This day Of days.
The needs OF the children are often
brought 20 the attention OF the mis-
sion through letters from the young
sters themselves, mostly addressed 10
Mother Bennett Mrs. John 8. Ben
nett, who is IN charge of the Ener-
gency Home for Children at s24
Louisiana avenue.
The mission has used this system or
distributing Christmas presents for
some years. and finds that IL works
quite satisfactorily and in large
measure eliminates un"iss giving.