AT DINNER IN GAMBLER-ALLEY HALL.

Southland Times, Issue 1231, 1 April 1870, Page 3

AT DINNER IN GAMBLER-ALLEY HALL.

(Daily Telegraph.) ■ On Christmas Day five hundred poor chUdren,together with a few lame women, sat down to v dinner in Gfambler-aUey Hall, and were regaled with roast mutton and plum-pudding, out of • money subscribed in '" reply to an appeal in the columns ofthe Daily Telegraph. Thia dinner may be taken as a sample of many given through s thesame means on that day. Twelve o'clock was the hour fixed for the dinner, and long before the cooks were ready, the entrance to the- hall waa more than fiUed by the invited guests, the rear of the force lingering in the alley. Bvch was expected to bring "fork, knife, and plate." When aU had taken their seats it was curious to observe the cutlery, and the doubts which the owners, seemed to have as to their capabilities. Amongst the five hundred sets there was not one bright knife : aU were deeply rusted, scores were wornout shoemakers' knives, and a majority appeared to have been picked out of dust-heaps' in anticipation of the feast. The forks were equallyvaried in appearance ; proaga wera turned in w . many ways as to make it impossible to raise maat upon them ; one-fourth was ha-idless, anl scores - were mere skewers. There were several notable Uttle sufferers at the tables. Olara, eleven- years . of age, hobbled in upon crutches. Seven years ago she was run over in the street, ani had not grown an inch since. Maria had a cat, extending across her forehead, given her by a drunken father. Many ofthe boys had bruised faces, but ' they would not tell how they were thus marked. ; Phoebe was asked what she had for dinner onY. Friday, and she repUed, " Two ha'penny pieces o' fried fish, and 'twas 'afcweea my big brother, ',' and my littlo brother, and my father, and my ' mother, and me." Hundreds of the children represented famiUes that, are chiefly sustained on bread and tea. In only a single instance was difficulty _ experienced about the guests. There were twojiisters, Elizabeth and Sara 1 !, and they had only*one pair of boots ani one shawl between them ; but it was ultimately arrangedlso that the one who stopped at home had her * dinner sent. Tn another case, three Uttle opes, the children , of „ a widow, could not be found until Christmas EveThen the Bible- woman discovered them about tan" t at night, shivering ou the door Btep of their lodgings, waiting for their mother* return. - When they were told about the feast, they appeared to forget their sufferings, and shouted in the exuberance of their joy. Amongst the women there was a young widow whose case was one of special hardship. She had lost her husband, and, faUing into iU-healfch, became lame. They hai occupied a respectable position, but, to . maintain - herself and her Uttle girl, she ia obUged to sit in a . . public street all day offering iron-holders for sale, by "which she realises 2d per diem. To that in- . come the parish adds Is 61 a week. She walked up one of the aisles proceeded by her little ; Y daughter, who appeared very proud of her pro ; « . tectress, and the ohUd gave her mother's hair: several furtive touches with her hand, a*} though to make the most of her appearance. When aU were seated, several minutes elapsed before the meat appeared, arid the time was dihgently occu- * pied in straightening the. prongs of forks, brightening the knives, ani drawing patterns on the table cloths. Grace was at length sung ; and then a conflict of no ordinary kind com menced. The knives would not cut ; the forks were useless. Some of the boy 9 changed the usual mode of handling the dinner weapons, and hacked away . with the knife iv the left hand. Others gave their knives a lick to put an edge on j a few applied the knife with rapid motion to their boot. One little feUow, to get the better purchase, rested bis elbows on the shoulders of his neighbors, and this led to a short row. At length, by common asseut, the majority of the knives and forks wera laid down, and nimble fingers quickly effected a . clearance ofthe plates. Then" followed a pause,' during which all the waiters mysteriously disappeared. A hum was raised as of partial satis. : faction: but many an anxious look was directed _ towards a certain door. At length it opened, and a waiter appeared, holding in each hand a planapudding. A second waiter foUowed the first, a third the second; uotU it seemed as though the line would never end j and it was only whea the fortieth waiter with the eightieth pudding had appeared that the magic door closed. ■ The meat . and potatoes had been received in suenee ; but this was too much for discipline. Not brie of the five hundred had tasted plum-pudding since the previous Christmas, and these pudduiga were the realisation of a year's dream. In vain the superintendent gave the signal for silence. The first couple of puddings were greeted with a cheer, arid ' every succeeding couple provoked an addition to* the volume of sound. They shouted until people - ran in from the neighborhood to know what had- -. occurred ; they shouted until the very last pudding . had been cut up, and was under course of distribution. Plum-pudding was monarch of. the.. day. The second course was more quickly disposed of than the first, and many a little girl was aUowed to " take a bit 'ome for mother."