The Washington times., 1928-12-04
GLEANINGSI
SCR RE;E:NINGS
By ANDREW Il. KELLEY

with this department TO take
a peek at the other fellows
hard luck. I am one of those
who prefer to take the opposite
side when / see Old Man Trouble
headed in my direction, but too
often he catches up. In this
great little world of ours it
seems almost impossible to es-
cape the certain amount of
hard knocks which come to blunt
the edge Of such happiness as
creeps into our daily lives.
So, ais the Yuletide season APP
proaches and the Washington
Times Good Fellow campaign
opens, the opportunity arrives
to get closeup Of what real
hard luck means. always
emerge from the inspection
satisfied that After all, I'm q
lucky fellow"
AS one who sold the Good
Fellow idea to AL Jolson, the
lamented Norah Bayes, Poodles
Hanneford, Constance Binney,
Blackstone the magician and
others Of big heart in the thea
tricaI world, it is pleasant to
look back upon the happiness
they brought into drab Wash
ington lives and more satisfying
to feel I had even q small part
in it.
Long after al Jolson and
"Bombo' had departed from the
Belasco Theater, eight little
children I'M one family were pro-
tected from the mid-winter cold
bv warm flannels and stout
shoes. bought with the nanny
singers check. This in addition
to giving them 4 gala Christ
mas.
'sPoodleso Hanneford, great
est Of circus bareback riders,
had just become q proud daddy
when The Washington Times
Good Fellow campaign came to
his attention. BY gosh" said
Poodles. every kid ought to
have d great Christmas. You
just let me know the family
that needs little help and
we'll take care Of them plenty"
What d Christmas that family
had. "A crippled father. An
invalid mother. Four children,
none of working age. Not
cent III the house. Living on
til meager dole Of charity and
the few dollars q week q more
fortunate relation provided.
Through the Hanneford gener-
osity and the contributions Of
other vaudevillans, who insisted
on helping, old ST. Nicholas ar
rived with supply Of grocer
les, clothing and everything to
make it d real holiday. Two
months rent completed the job.
Constance Binney, who was
the musical comedy star in
"Sweet Little Devil, and is
now married to a Boston multi
millionaire, made d fascinating
Kris Kringle. Indeed, after she
had bought the turkey, pres
ents. clothing, candy, fruit and
all the essentials for December
rs happiness, the Lady Bounti-
full topped it off with two tons.
Of coal. The anthracite was q
white elephant to q family with
out any cellar or convenient
place to store it and so Miss.
Binney arranged to have it
delivered d barrel at time.
q wouIdn't take a million TO.
the kick / got out Of it," said
Mi ney. And / think she
meant every word of it.
You can't appreciate what
happi ess is unless you can Wis
ualize Harry Blackstone. the
famous magician, in a tenement
pulling live rabbits from behind
the clock, C:gging up boxes OF
ca~' from the coal nod and
other tricks of the sorcerer,
while bunch of raggedy kids
looked on in glorious amaze
ment. The room filled with
presents. A dingy home turned
for the moment into a yuletide
paradise.
Florenz ZiegfeId's gift of 25
pairs of $11 boots for the Wash
ington needy; Walter Brown
ley's 400 boxes of candy which
ne down Christmas morn
ing to wrap up in holly for a
Times Good Fellow orphans
party; the larented Gus Buch-
hollis boxes of oranges and
barrels Of apples; the spending
Of $S6 thrown into the Good
Fellow pot by the Shlbert
vaudeville actors for one des-
perately po,r family; the tender
love and affection which Norah
Bayes ut into the task of bring
ing cheer to a household
weighed down with sorrow.
These are a few of the mem
cries that the Good Fellow cam
paign revives. It isn't possible
to investigate cases of hard
luck, ill health and misfortune
and not become fmbued with the
idea of giving to the limits OF
the pocketbook. There are more
folks in Washington who see
Christmas approach with dread
than you realize. Children look
ing forward to a visit from
Santa Claus and no possibility
of having their childish longings
realized unless you dig down.