Abstract

Christmas in Madras: Christmas week in Madras was busier this year than usual. There were people who were pouring in from the mofussil to enjoy the season, which means, spending the frugal savings of a year in purchasing articles of little or no value, artisti- cally displayed in all kinds of shops from the China Bazaar upwards, in attending dramas and concerts not understood and in patronising the Park Fair and Madras coffee hotels, apart from getting crushed, both to and fro, in the Railway 3rd class carriages on concession tickets!! There were also those who came to Madras, not only from the mofussil districts of the Presidency but from other parts of India as well, to attend and take part in one or other of the Conferences and meetings held in Madras. The Indian National Congress was the centre of attraction for the non-official population, but the Indian Industrial Conference, the Indian National Social Conference, the All India Temperance Conference, the Theistic Conference, the Theosophical Convention, the Provin- cial Co-operative Conference, the Christian College Day, the Indian fficers' Association, not to speak of others, each had its own votaries that the Christmas activities in Madras were at a high pitch for over a week.

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