Evening Star Newspaper, December 21, 1930, Page 89

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THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, DECEMBER 21, 1930. “ Washington’s Birthplace Destroyed b OnChristmasDay,178 Family of William Augustine Washington Was Living at Wakefield—Christmas Celebrations of the Old Days—Ancient Customs. BY ISABELLE FLORENCE STORY. HRISTMAS, 1930, is another sesqui- oen anniversary in American history, and one connected with our first President. For on Christmas day in 1780 the old Washington home- present time the rehabilitation of the house and grounds is in progress, to have them ready for the celebration of the George Washing- bon Bicentennial in 1932, many years ago, and whether the devastating firve came- before or after dinner. No doubt great many of which had detached guest houses take care of the overflow. Few of stayed for just one meal. House guests, rather than guests, were the rule. Somxwmmmh&hm kitchens, big enough co‘mstt'whole* and sometimes even a steer.’ For many days before Christmas the regular kitchen force At Wakefield, on that long-ago Christmas day, great table almost groaning from the weight things piled upon it. ‘It must 1780 was before the days calories were counted B A¥ % § TR M eleafisiiiifiefigtizir ‘ i el 1 which hearted colonists, particularly in Vi the Old South, brought with them fi land. The use of greens in holiday : 1 : 4 were wreathed In green boughs. The very name holly is derived from “holy” tree, testi- fying to the use of this particular green in decorating the houses of worship during the Yuletide period. Mistletoe at one time not allowed in the church trimmings. Because lhndb&n‘finohneq"thmgbmebythe Architect’s drawing of house to be built on the birthsite of George Washington at Wakefield. The foundation of the house is already in place. Druids in their mystic rites, the ancient church- men considered it an unholy plant. But that in no way affected its popularity in the manor houses. Both in the great hall of the master and in the servants’ hall, it hung over doorways. In those days when a man kissed a girl who inadvertently, or advertently, wandered under it he had to pick a berry from the spray and when all the berries were gone the mistletoe lost its power of conferring special privileges. Tal Christmas celebrations of Old England are inextricably interwoven with the earlier Yuletide observances of the Celts, and many of them have a pagan origin. It was in feudal times, however, that the observance of Christ- mas, still called the Yule feast, reached its greatest magnificence. Old records tell that King Richard II, gave a Christmas feast at Litchfield in the fourteenth century at which 2,000 oxen and 200 tuns of wine were consumed. But this monarch was accustomed to enter- taining on a grand scale, for every day 10,000 persons dined at his expense, and It is said that he employed 2,000 cooks. Those surely were the good old days! One of the quaint old practices dating back to ancient times was the passing of the wassail bowl. At the end of the hearty feast, when the cloth had been removed from the table, an immense vessel, often of silver, was brought in A Generous Santa Claus Continued from Seventh Page He took a few, the result was satisfactory, and s0 my work began.” From that time on Williams has beem busy wvouching for ex-prisoners. “I have made two fortunes,” he reminisced, “but I've given them both away. Once upon a time I could have written a check on my bank for $44,000 and I owned 47 acres of fertile land and raised standard-bred horses and colts, which were worth a large sum. But I couldn’t take it with me when I died. And men needed it, so I gave it.” Back in 1891.when he moved to Chicago and entered the Pacific Garden Mission, on Van Buren street, there was a lodging house known as the Vestibule Lodging House. “It followed a unique system,” the man ex- plained. “The first time you went there you paid 30 cents for your bed. If you didn’t have that much you went out on the street and got it. The longer you stayed and the dirtier the bed became the cheaper it was, until the rate reached 10 cents. If you ever wanted a clean bed you had to start with the 30-cent arrange- ment again. “I went into the house one day and found a numbar of ex-prisoners who had been paying 10 cents for their beds for months. They couldn’t get work because everywhere they went they had to fill out a blank telling where they had been for the last two or three years.” UT when Williams got busy a new system was inaugurated and honest toil was re- warded with enough money to let & man live the mein in Federhl prisons. “And of the whole tiary,” he will proudiy ‘expiain. Girl after girl has come to him for sympathy #s she waited for the man she was going to marry to come back 0 her. Woman after woman has brought her children to him, be- cause her husband had sent word that “Daddy Williams will see that you have something to eat until I come home again.” Mothers who are so sure that Johnny and Jimmie and Peter are “good boys” who just got in wrong make daily pilgrimages to his door. “In fact, women are usually the ones who get in touch with me. They have o act as messengers.” Williams keeps the thousands of little human interest stories folded away in his mind, and also keeps a whole chest of letters and memen- tos as visible reminders, There is the tale of a man from down in Florida, for instance, who was sent to the Fed- eral prison at Atlanta, Ga., for a term of from and placed before the lord of the manor. Its heady contents could ¢laim no relationship to prohibition cocktails, for into its composi- had of the five and twentieth day of December, commonly Christmas day; nor any so- lemnity used or exercised in churches upon Continued from Third Page was & familiar Baltimore Sants Grant, and hastened home when Mfllfles to enjoy the rest of his days with Upon the death of the elder Gluck in 1874, IN the idea of the Santa Claus Association Mr. Gluck sees a dual happiness. He says: success of the idea is universally acknowledged. It stands alone by virtue of the fact that is is the only charity in all Greater New York which places the donor in direct N many of the old manor houses, guests, shortly before the dinner hour, would hear a o distant whacking sound. It was the result of an old kitchen custom, the cook summening the servants to carry in the meats by striking the rolling pin on the kitchen dresser. Then, wcmmwmm During the rest of the year John Duval Gluck - is a newspaper man, but when Ch:istmas looms in sight he is, first and foremost, self-appointed head of Santa Claus’ postal system. He gives lavishly of his time and funds and is every day that he lives that his birthday comes on Christmas. AST Christmas Eve the 8. C. A. headquarters were thronged with people from every walg of life—donors, receivers, workers. They were Christmas giving has slowly but surely crept into the heart of the world. . EHL i o g i

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