Evening star., 1933-12-17

~ girls can hang up their STOCK
IA ings this Christmas eve, happy
1 \ in the knowledge that Santa
Claus isn't going to overlook
them.
"It's going to be a merry Christmas,
after ALL" Santa announced, after sur
veying the mountain of gifts taken IN
at the third annual TOY matlnees' Oh
The Star and Warner Bros. yesterday
morning.
And the jolly old fellow had every
reason to be optimistic, as members OF
the Christmas Planning Committee OF
the Council of Social Agencies readily
agreed when the offerings were hauled
to their toy shop, at 1909 l. street.
The committee, headed by Mrs. E.
H. Griffith and Mrs. Frank T. Parsons,
worked until midnight sorting the toys
and clothing; and, after they had tab
ulated the receipts, they Joined Santa
in issuing the following statement:
The toy matinees' were even more
successful than last year or the year
before, despite the fact that the de-
preston is older now than it was then
$4,000 Gifts Last Year.
1--WE took in approximately $4,000
gifts last year. and that was substan-
tial increase over the previous years
receipts. This years offerings total
at least 20,000-and that Is a conserva-
tive figure. AS a matter Of fact. gifts
are still coming in from the various
theaters, and we would not be at all
surprised If the gifts still undelivered
should bring the final total to $4,000
or more"
A. For Co,to y, u-o~ h, I,ie av.-y,
admission. "just about tickled silly"
Look at EN-" he said, taking in the
toy shop with a sweep Of his chubby
hand. Just look at 'em-that's all
I ask!"
There was huge pile OF packages
in the center Of the shop. and other
stacks, of varying sizes, were scattered
from one end Of the large room to
the other
why, there's hardly room to walk,
he added.
Mrs. Grifith, Mrs. Parsons. Mrs. c.
C. Mullady, Mrs. T. ]. Winery, Miss
Anne Heron and other members of
the committee dug into the mountain
and the hills surrounding it. unwrap-
ping packages and asserting their con-
tents, making their count as they went
along.
There were dolls, wagons mechanical
toys, clothes-just about everything, in
fact. that is calculated to bring joy to
the hearts of youngsters. Many pack
ages contained two or three offerings,
and some contained dozen or more.
Although the Earle. the Metropolitan,
and the Central Theaters were adver-
tised to open at $50 am, and the nine
neighborhood movie houses were sched-
uled to follow. suit half an hour later.
the gift-bearers began arriving consio-
erably in advance of those times.
Deluge Is Continued.
They continued to pour in after the
shows had started, and, even after the
programs had been run off, there was
no let-up. Men and women, boys and
girls, still were carrying their offerings
to the theaters last night. and there
was one telephone call after another
from persons who wanted to know II
it would be all right to deposit their
gifts in Santas hampers today or to-
morrow.
To all nquirers, Santa gave the same
answer:
"Of course, it's all right. Bring 'em
in anytime-but, of course, the sooner
the better. The more the merrier-
that's my motto!"
Managers of virtually all the theaters
reported better business" than last
year. Only the Earle reported de-
crease, but that was attributed to the
fact that the neighborhood houses were
receiving the bulk of the increased
patronage.
Here's brief summary of the mana
gers reports:
Ambassador, Eighteenth street and
Columbia road, as good as last year;
Apollo, 624 H street northeast, better
than last year; Avalon. 56l2 Con-
neeticut avenue, better; Avenue Grand,
645 Pennsylvania avenue southeast,
better: Central, Ninth street. between
D and e streets. better; Colony, Georgia
avenue and Farragut street, better;
Earle, Thirteenth and E streets, not
quite SO good; Home, 1880 c street