“MISS SANTA CLAUS.”

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2622, 2 October 1909, Page 4 (Supplement)

“MISS SANTA CLAUS.”

LADY’S SAD SUICIDE

Miss Elizabeth Phillis, a Lady Bountiful of Philadelphia, lias committed suicide by inhaling gas. Miss Philips had a passion for charity, and her work on behalf of the poor shattered her health to such an extent that she died literally a martyr to charity. She was known throughout America as “Miss Santa Claus,” because to her, by special request, were handed all letters from children who simply wrote their requests the post office to plain “Santa Clans,” and omitted the' address of that philanthropist. So far as,is possible, she sent Christmas toys to all the needy, and for weeks before Christmas each year she collected funds for her Yuleti.de bounty, which was distributed through an organised bureau. Her features and benevolence by means of newspaper articles were familiar to Americans everywhere. It is declared that charitable work first broke down her health, and the clamax came recently, when a young man who had drifted to Philadelphia penniless, and for whom she secured employment, returned her kindness by forging her name to her cheques and cashing them amongst her tradespeople. He was a handsome, educated young fellow, and admittedly she had made a special effort to induce him. to turn over a new leaf. She was greatly overcome at the trial, when her protege, despite an eloquent plea for mercy, was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment. This man s ingratitude, she told her friends, was one of the most bitter disappointments of her lde.