CHRISTMAS. 1907, was made happier 1
to thousands of children the country
over becauso a young woman's letter
to President Roosevelt turned every one
of Uncle Sam's letter-carriers Into a mes
senger hoy for Santa Claus.
Children are still hugging toys they
never would have had but for the success
of a plan devised and put through by
Hies Elizabeth Phillips, of Philadelphia.
She it was who persuaded the Postof
flce Department to deliver to charitable
organizations letters addressed to Santa
Claus by children of the poor, who knew
no other way to reach the jolly old
patron saint of the young.
In previous years no notice was paid
to letters of this kind. Uncle 8am, state
ly in his official dignity, refused to
bother with him. He did not know tho
address of Santa Claus; perhaps he was
one of the ignorant skeptics who do not
believe In the existence of such a person.
- It made no difference to him that little
ones, many not tall enough to reach his
letter boxes, indited in awkward childish
handwriting letters that told what they
desired for Christmas, but could not fair
ly expect from parents so poor as hardly
to be able to buy the necessities of life.
Many of these letters in their simple
expression contained a pathos whose
depths the greatest novelists never sound
ed. Nearly all of them, some written on
wrapping paper, most .of them without
stamps, all showing the signs of poverty.
Mad in them some word of sadness. The
most pitiable told of parents dead. The
most unselfish asked nothing for self,
but told of little baby brother or sister
who wouldn't have any Christmas unless
Santa came to the rescue.
After every Christmas in past years
thousands of such letters found their way
to the oblivion of the dead letter office,
and for nearly every one was somewhere
. child's pillow wet with the tears of dis
appointment that Santa Claus had paid
no attention to a letter on. which were
Built those fond hopes which the inno
cence and dreams of childhood can so
.swiftly build on the slightest foundation.
But this year no such missives wtjl go
to the bins of Uncle Sam's department of
unclaimed mail.
Kvery letter sent to Santa Claus has
had an answer. .
I The action of a tender-hearted wom
an, aided by the help of two devoted
fathers. President Roosevelt and Post-niaster-General
Meyer, worked a re
form that perhaps spread more Joy
throughout the land than any action of
President Roosevelt's administration.
Miss Phillips has In past years found
her keenest Christmas pleasure In car
ing for the children of the poor. Her
quiet acts of charity found willing
help from other friends, nd only the
difficulty of ascertaining the children
'who were deserving kept the project
to its original limited bounds.
Then came her plan of having the
fcirita Claus letters sent to herself and
others charitably inclined.
First she wrote to President Roose
velt a simple letter, in which she point
Pd out the possibilities of bringing Joy
to children If the names of all who
wrote to Santa could only be brought
to the attention of those able and will
ing to give.
President Roosevelt, perhaps with an
tye on his little Kermlt and Quentin,
replied to Miss Phillips that he would
do what he could.
t" i - .yi ,h, white TTnune to the
Postoffice Department went a letter por
trntlous in its possibilities to Toung
America.
In it the President of the United
states asked the Postmaster-General if
there was anything to prevent the exe
cution of the plan. Mr. Meyer, him
nclf a father and a family man of the
Uocvelt type, at once responded Joy
ously that nothing could interfere. It
was a simple matter that would In
..Ain. iftti vtm work, perhaps, but
that If Miss Phillips would acquaint
me aeparimem - ti l n.it: ucaucu
In the matter of such mail it would be
ent wherever she wished.
Then' throughout the length and
breadth of the land to every Postm
trr In every state in the Union, from
New York down to the smallest cross
roads posofflce, was sent the fateful
communication, known officially as
"No. S3i" that first of its kind in
this country. It reads as follows:
"Ordered, that hereafter and until
the close of the first day of January,
190S. Postmasters are directed to de
liver all letters arriving at their re
spective postoffices addressed plainly
and unmistakably to 'Santa Claus,"
without any tcrnw or expressions iden
tifying the person for whom such let
ter's are Intended, to any regularly or
" t
;'.s.B?-?;.s;&g:
ganized charitable society In the city
or town of address, to be used ex.
clusively for philanthropic purposes. In
the event that claim should be made
by more than one such society for let
ters so addressed, such letters will be
equally divided according to number
between or among the societies mak
ing such claim. '
"G. vU METER,
. "Postmaster-General."
This much achieved, - Miss Phillips ad
dressed herself to completing her organ
ization !
Years of work for charity made this
no difficult task. There were friends
In many big cities and points all over
the Union only too eager to assist. It
takes little capital to please the child.
An expenditure that would satisfy one
adult Is enough to bring Joy to a dozen
kids, and the obligation of making child
ren happy .is one that all share on what
ought to toe the greatest day In the
year.
iMiss Phillips was surprised at the.
heartiness of the response. Even grumpy
old bachelors got busy. The Rev. Her
man I Duhrlng. of Philadelphia, pastor
of an aristocratic congregation, organ
ized the men of his church to help. He
expected the married ones to aid gladly,
but was surprised to see how willingly
the bachelors, those who might have
been expected to be out of sympathy with
children's wants, got into line.
Many who did not personally have
time to receive letters and make pur
chases of presents gave of their means
to Miss Phillips to -help her make her
purchases.
Merchants made contributions of dolls
and toys, children of the rich gave old
toys that had lost their charm but which
were still good enough to be hailed as
treasures by children many of whom had
never known what it was to be In pos
session of anything meant for pleasure.
As In all cases addresses had to be
given by the writers so as to tell the
destination of the presents. It was not
difficult to investigate and find out who
deserved and who did not. In cases
where it was found that the tparents had
ample means to buy gifts, naturally the
FROM SILVER INTO GOLD
Philadelphia!! Says "Merely a Question of ,Fiising Western Ores.
CONFIDENTLY asserting his dlscov
yer of a process to transmute sil
ver into pure gold, J. ' Emory Blram,
selected Councilman from the Twenty
Third Ward and master of ceremonies
at bathhouse openings, has given ad
ditional information of ' the ' scientific
theory on which he says his process is
based. "' -.':-'
"We Just duplicate the forces of na
ture," he says, "and really complete the
process to which silver was being sub
jected in geologio times.
"Now, let me illustrate. Take a. glass
of beer, for Instance. You know when
It is drawn there is always a 'collar on
It."
In spite of the spread of local option
and the temperance idea, this premise
seemed to be based upon a fact of vir
tually -universal knowledge, and was al
lowed accordingly.- ;"
"Well." proceeded the alchemiet of
Frankford, "that collar Is merely beer
mixed with air. Just let the air escape,
and the froth will settle down into ordi
nary beer. Now. it . is Just the same
with silver and gol(C When all these
metals were being formed, way back in
prehistoric times, the whole mass was
cooking, so to. speak, and the eilver is
the froth which was on top when the
natural forces desisted. The specific
gravity of the metals, and the fact that
gold and silver .are always found to
gether, with the" silver on top, proves
my theory. That silver froth, if the
natural process Is duplicated, can be
converted into gold, and that Is what we
will do in Cheter. -
"This . little book explains all." - he
added, and pointed out a page in Truth,
his pamphlet advertising stock for sale
in a Gold Manufacturing Company. The
extract explains the Byram theory of
. matter in these words:
I A 11 minerals are made np of atoms.
THE SUNDAY OREGOXIAX,', PORTLAND, JANUARY 12, 1908.
The Young Woman
Deliver Letters
-TV
charity was withheld, but perhaps in
many of these cases close-fisted mothers
and fathers were shamed into gifts that
might never have come had not some
pleading letter exposed to them the
tragedy of childhood, the pleasures of
other children denied . by a policy of
over-stringent economy.
In these plaintive missives to Santa,
the mother instinct of . the American
All matter, animate and Inanimate,
obeys the atomic law. The action of
that law on silver, and gold I have dis
covered. The study of astronomy, chem
istry, the higher mathematics and phys
ics taught me that matter had a fourth
dimension, ether or the ethereal state
the others being gaseous, - liquid and
solid; that there was a cause for the
variance in the weight of atoms and the
specific gravity of matter, and that
under certain conditions some substance
existed that would' free the- atom and
allow It to regroup at will."
Philadelphia politicians, noted for the
distance at . which they can see a good
thing, the avidity with which they seize
It and the tightness with which they
hold it, are fighting hy of the Byram
gold plant, though the modern exploiter
of the philosopher's stone offered to pass
out stock' to numerous public officials
on the easiest of terms:
"I'll let you in on the ground floor." he
Is reported to have eaid to enterprising
organization office holders who are mak
ing gold out of other things than silver.
"We may get in on the ground floor,
but what'e to prevent some one else
from being In the sub-cellar?" is quoted
as the tenor of their responses in de
clining. Byram's glittering proffers. .
"Why do you want to sell stock at all
if you have such a good thing?" was
asked of Byram.
"Well, we're only, selling enough to re
imburse me for my 'expense in fitting up
the laboratory and installing the ma
chinery in the Chester plant," he ex
plained. - '
"Will you patent your process?"
"Not much," was the prompt reply.
Anybody can get a copy of a patent for
10 cents. ,
"All metals look alike to your process,
do they? Can you make gold out of any
metal?".. " .
"Yes; only the process Is harder.. I
AT
!. j.
r M ,
I B 1
met
Who Prevailed on
for Santa Claus to
girl was shown In the request for dolls.
Fifty per cent of the letters called for
babies. Those that were sent were not
the great big ones that cause wonderment
when displayed in the show windows, but
they were pretty enough to accomplish
their mission of giving Joy. -
The Teddy Bear was also a popular
form of request. The boys wanted sleds
and penknives, footballs, baseballs, toy
have made some gold from copper, but
silver is. nearer to gold In its nature.
Copper, silver and gold all go together" as
one group, with chemists, you know."
Down in Chester, where , the James
Emory Byram Gold Manufacturing Com--!
pany has obtained a big mill and is fit
ting it up -to convert silver into gold and
clear up 11200 or $1500 a day, according to
the Inventor, the people understand that
the factory is merely to reclaim gold by
a cheap 'and new process, from the
refuse of Western mines.
Byram Insists that this Is not the case,
but that he will actually transmute sil
ver, so that a pound of pure silver shall
become a pound of pure gold. It's not a
reclamation process, he says, but-an ac
tual realization of the medieval dream.
In this he was substantiated by Charles
D. "Crawford, late of the United States
Navy.
Heavy machinery is- being put into the
mills, and there will be two powerful
crushers, capable of exerting a pressure
of- 400 pounds to the square inch. The
acid vault ,1s said to be a real curiosity.
It is a brick-walled chamber. 12 feet
long. 8 feet wide ' and s feet deep. Its
top is even with the floor of the mam
factory room, and it will be. guarded day
and night against Intruders. A complete
police call system has been pat Into
place. .
According to the Chester account, the
mine refuse is to come from 'the West' in
steamships, and the cargo . will be sent
up Chester Creek in barges to unload at
a big wharf now being built. The fac
tory has a long water- frontage. Expert
workmen are to be kept loyal by sharing
in the profits of the concern, and it Is
said that 1500 hands will eventually . be
employed, though Mr. Crawford, whb
has charge of the mill, says that only 20
hands will be "put into service when the
mill is opened next February or' March.
"It's nothing new." says' Byram Indif
ferently. "As far back as 1897 I made
two bars of gold from silver, and they
were sold in the name of. Captain Craw
ford to the United States Mint in -; this
City. ' '
"Dr.- Stephen H., Emmens. inventor, of
smokeless powder. ' at the suggestion of
i 'r nil l; ;
S-- r : , Will
W I AY . ":-' , z&t thm I
the Postal Authorities
Charitable Concerns
7
guns, etc, Xext Christmas will see the
project tried oh a still larger scale. Miss
Phillips and her associates think-it suc
ceeded well enough to warrant the organ
ization, of branches all over the. United
States. ' " 4
"Some of our critics, argue" that we
may be imposed upon," iaid Miss Phillips,
"and I am not prepared to deny that a
minor percentage of our- gifts may not
Captain - Crawford, took up the idea of
making -gold,, and at Dr. Emmens' death,
In 1900, Captain Crowford consulted -'me.
My first results, which convinced me
that transmutation of minerals was pos
sible, were obtained while experimenting
in the Central High School Laboratory
in 1857. Philadelphia North American.
"- Fish In the Great Lakes. ;
" - v '-Chicago' Tribune.
The fish stories of the Great Lakes are'
both big and ' true. Practically every
variety of fresh water fish in common
use as food is found In the Great Lakes.
The principal yield Is trout, whitefish
and herring, but there are' dozens of other
kinds that are .' taken In considerable
quantities. Even the despised sucker rep
resents a alue of $121,576 in the latest
report by the National Bureau of Fish
eries. Sturgeons were caught- to the
value of $39,394, yellow perch amounted to
$139,670, pike, perch or walleyed pike to
$407,367. German carp to $1,2S5, turtles to
$2,372.
--Hie Punster 'Goes Buggy Biding." '
Eugene Field. .
"Suppose," he said, in accents soft,
""A fellow Just like me
Should axle a little girl to wed,
What would the. answer be?."
The maiden dropped her liquid eyes.
Her smiles with blushes mingle.
'Why seek the bridle halter when
. You may love on, sur, clng-le ?"' ,
And- then he 'spoke. "Oh be my bride,
I ask you once again:
You are the empress of my heart, '.
And there shall ever rein. '
"I'll never tire of kindly deeds .
;' To win your gentl heart. - .
And saddle be the ehafv that,rends .
.Our happy lives apart.'
Upon her cheeks the maiden - felt
The mantling- blushes glow,. f -
She -took him -for-her faithful hub.
To share his wheel of whoa! .
' More than 00.000.000 ties were. bought -br
railroads - in the United . States last year,
involving 3.00O.00O.O00 to 4,000,000.000 feet
of toil nd tintV.nr
to
r w
- - . .... i-. "'- ......
7? s7?szs
have reached entirely deserving hands.
"But the proportion ' is- bound . to be
small, for the baby mind has not enongh
guile to. cheat, and . our ' investigations
were of a : character - that- ' enabled us
to ascertain almost to a , certainty who
had a right and ;. who had not, to our
help. . - ' " ' ;
"To me It seems " that , it .. is far better
that some few should-get who did not
deserve rather than that any .child, should
unfeergo- the- tragedy of. facing, a Chrlst-
i n i s
513
LABOR UNION GROWTH
Began In 1 80S, When the New York Shipwrights Organized.
THE shipwrights formed a society in
. New York- City ;in 1803,-: and' the tail
ors and also he . carpenters did this . In
1808 - in the same. town. This, -says the
Gateway, may be said' to have ' been the
beginning of labor unionism " in the
United States. , ' - - . ; ,
In the next four or five decades organ-'
lzations were established In ' most of the
great industries,1 some of which -lasted
only a few years. . Many of these grad
ually became National. '..'.
The printers were the first craft of any
consequence to extend their organization
all over the country. They established
the National Typographical Union in 1852.
So as to take in Canada they established
the International Typegraphical Union in
1S62. being the leader also in this broader
field.
The formation "of " great " corporations
and the immense - expansion In industry
which began soon after the Civil War In
cited larger labor combinations than had
existed prior to that time. Some of these
formed the National Labor Union, estab
lished at a convention - in Baltimore in
1866, which entered - politics in 1872 by
nominating the Labor Reform ticket, put
ting Charles O'Connor-'pu for -President.
Its votes were few,- and It attracted no
general attention I the campaign. That
broke up the . oonralnation, and labor so
cieties, as societies., kept- out of politics
for 'the next few years. 'As societies their
most extensive , participation .in: politics
was in the Congressional , - campaign of
1906.' " ' "
Starting as a local '-. secret society in
Philadelphia ifl 1869 and holding its first
general assembly" in' 1878 . the Knights of
Labor was j the earliest society, which
aimed to gather i all the workers of all
trades into a single organization. It had
600.000 members -in' 1886,, with (Terence V.
Powderly as the' head, i '. '- ;
Then beg-nn1 it decline ) and fall."' Its'
'i
..J '. f ......3
7y:y .ryr& j&x
mas without any. of the Joys that make
it dear to other chlllren. Children feel
deeply. Adults do -not' often " enough
recall this-fact,' and -.mature years have
no more- poignant griefs than many of
the woes, of childhood that. we dismiss as
too trival -to need consolation. .
"In implicit faith these letters are sent
to Santa. We who have hearts that beat
In tenderness for babyhood : should exert
our utmost to see' that these hopes are
not -disappointed." - '
strike . on .the . Gould - system of railways
in St.- Louis and the Southwest in 1SS5
it won.- but the largest strike in 1886 on
the same roads 'it lost.
From that time onward it gradually
shrunk In importance. Today it is only
a shadow of- its former greatness. - "
. The American Federation of Labor rose
as the Knights of Labor fell. At a con
vention in. Columbus,. O.. in 1S86, . the
American . . Federation of - Labor was
formed, . and it has gradually absorbed
nine-tenths of all the labor organizations
of the United States. In it the several
crafts - retain their autonomy, but are
federal for purposes of co-operation.
In 1907 the American Federation of La
bor comprises 119 National and- Interna
tional unions and claims to have 2.O0O.004
members. The affiliated unions publish
245 weekly or monthly : papers devoted
to - the cause of labor. . .
-' The federation's head is Samuel Gomp
ers. and 'its organ, of which - he is the
editor. Is the American Federatlonist.
Outside of the American Federation are
about 15 labor organizations, the most
important of which are the Knights of
Labor,, the Stone Masons' International
Union, the Bricklayers' and Masons'
Union, and the various switchmen, train
men, conductors and others. ...
The societies not affiliated with the
American Federation of Labor have a
membership of about .500.000, making the
membership of all the labor societies of
the United - States, In the - aggregate,
about 2,500.000.
A" Rejection Slip. .
. "Sir," said -the "shivering ' beggar,
stopping the prosperous magazine edi
tor on the street, "I have a long, sad
story " ........
"Sorry," briskly" replied the magazine
editor, passing on, "but -we are only
open for short, funny stories. Just now.
Full of "tbe'other kind.