Evening star., 1947-12-28
Fifty Years Ago

The Star of December "a, 1897 announced the
arrest OF "a young woman, richly dressed, who
was wearing several hundred
Coueht With dollars worth Of diamonds on
The Goods her fingers and in her ears"
'for alleged shoplfting at the
Palais Royal. Stopped on the street and taken
back to the store, "she confessed her guilt" and
told the inspector that she came here from
Boston several weeks ago and had taken the
goods because she wanted to give pres
ents to number of friends" but "she did not
seem to be agitated" Search of her clothing
revealed two slver-back brushes and comb to
match some silk hosiery box Of fancy note
paper and pair of suspender garters. Detec-
tives had watched her helping herself" the day
before land were fully satisfied there could be
no mistake"
Heading its editorial page on December IS,
1897, The Stars Christmas comment ran in
part as follows: "Once more
Yuletide the Christian world celebrates
Sentiment its chief religious festival. = =,
The spirit of the day is one of
gladstone rejoicing, an uplifting of the soul in
gratitude for the beneficent influences of ren-
gion in shaping the destinies of people. From
this spirit has grown the more material sense
Of donation, in itself intended as an expression
of the fervent feeling Of thankfulness and hap
piness that characterizes the season. The man
ifestations of this spirit are manifold They
are marked by charity and generosity. Charity
calls for sacrifices. 1t should become part Of
the Christmas demonstration Of every person
who truly feels the significance of the day. The
generosity that suggests the exchange of pres
ents may have lost through excessive develop
ment on commercial lines the most worthy
motives of the occasion, but the institution OF
gift-making that forms such prominent feature
of the day is in itself worthy of perpetuatlon.
With every Christmas present there should be
experienced a sense of happiness in the mere
act of bestowal"
On December 27, 1897, The Star let its readers
know that its Almanac for 1898 was now on
sale" and that the book was
e.,r Annual "a condensed encyclopedia OF
puhI;.hed the events Of the year past
and manual Of information
IN subjects statistical official, historical polltl-
cal. municipal educational, agricultural ana
general" Nearly 500 pages OF text were IN
cltlded in the volume and the material tnus
nroyided made it ready reference upon all
topics that come up for everyday dlscusslon
The book also was q political register thae
one NAV safely consult 1OT dcCul ave AiAoA1Al0
ton"
X X
William Washington Browne OF Rlcnmoho
died in Washington on December 2l, 1897 ana
The Star on the next day car
c-.,+ Neoro rted an obituary article con-
Leader cerning nm w. VIZ a.,, ....s a,,a -
the remarkable men OF his race" Negro OF
pure. African descent, born slave. Trained as
a Jockey by his master at Memphis, he enlisted
in the United States Navy at the outbreak OF
the Civil War and served as gunner on the
gunboat National. Later, he Joined the Army
and at the end of hostilities was mustered out
as a sergeant major. His subsequent career in
cluded ordination as Methodist minister and
election as grand worthy master OF the Grand
Fountain of United True Reformers. In con-
nection with the fraternal work in which he
was engaged, he established a savings bank and
proved to be natural fnancier." The Star
summed up his achievement in these words:
Had he been close and unscrupulous man, he
might have left very large estate. As 1t was,
he left between $4,000 and 10000"