The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-11-25
SEVENTH CORPS GALA DAY.
SAVANNAH LADIES SERVED TUR-
KEYS TO 10000 SOLDIERS.

The Vast Undertaking Successfully
Carried Out-Evcry Regiment But
One Well Looked After, and the
Colonel of That Did Not Want
Anything DOne-The Hospitality OF
the Savannah Ladies' Highly
Praised Thanksgiving Day GEN
orally Observed.
The ladies of Savannah managed TO feed
about 1900 soldiers yesterday, but they
had more than loaves and fishes with
which to do il.
The work of the ladies among the SOL
diers of the Seventh Army Corps was the
great feature of Thanksgiving day. When
they went into the work many thought
the undertaking one that could never be
carried out The idea of their attempting
10 feed whole army corps seemed a mat
ter of impossiblity.
But there is no question that the ladies'
accomplished the object which they set
themselves to work at, that is to add
something to the Thanksgiving dinner and
enjoyment of each man in the corps. This
they did, not only by providing them with
delicacies such as are not usually seen
upon soldiers tables cakes. turkeys, pies
salads, fruits aud other eatables, but by
their personal presence among the men
and attending to their wants at the com
pany tables.
With the exception of a single regiment,
the One Hundred and Sixty-first Indiana
IA l., f,c
plan, there was not company table in
any regiment of the corps which was not
served by Savannah ladies', and they took
good care in every case TO see that every
man had all he wanted.
committee of nearly 100 ladies went
10 each regiment and this committee was
divided around among the different COM
pany tables. In some instances there We're
more than 100 and the work was well
attended to. The ladies enjoyed 1t as
much as the soldiers did the feast that was
prepared.
long line of army wagons came into
the city early in the morning to carry
out the eatables which the ladies had pro
Vided. For several hours the Y. M. c. A.
building was surrounded by these wagons,
some of them coming for the provisions
and others for the ladies themselves. The
army wagons were rugged up with seats
and made as comfortable as possible TO
serve as a means of carrying the ladies'
10 the camps This was not the least
among the enjoyable features of the day,
and all the afternoon and into the night
these wagons filled with ladies might be
seen going back and forth along the roads
TO the camps.
Mrs S. l.. Beckwlth, chairman of the
central committee, which had this vast
undertaking in charge, looked after its
every feature during the shipment Of the
eatables 10 the camps. In the afternoon
she went to the camp of the Third Ne
braska Regiment and aided in the work
there. The other ladies of the central
committee who contributed their untiring
efforts to the works were Miss Florence
Colding, Mrs. A. S. Bacon, Miss Garden,
Miss Julia Myddeton, Mrs. j. A. Bell,
Mrs. Murphy, Miss Mamie McEvoy,
Misses Prendergast, Mrs. Mendes, Mrs.
schaeffer. Mrs. Scherff, Mrs. Scruggs,
Mrs williams Mrs. o. S. Cook, Mrs.
c. d. Baldwin, Mrs. Walter Wilson.
Many were the expressions of gratitude
that were heaped upon the ladies for their
noble work OF hospitality, and many we're
the cheers given them at every company
mess.
The soldiers, as a rule. had a day of
freedom only the police and guard de-
tails were kept up, and even the men
on these duties were not so closely watch
ed as they are on ordinary days. Many
of the men came into the city, having ac-
cepted invitations to dine at private
homes, while others took it easy, enjoying
themselves as they felt inclined
The day was beautiful one. full of
sunshine on every hand. with just snap
enough about the temperature to sharpen
an appetite. and make a dinner taste as
1t does when the eater is in the right
mood.
There were services in many of the
churches, and the pleasant day brought
out large Thanksgiving congregation In
fact, the day was more generally observed
than has been the case in Savannah in
some years. There was a more general
closing up OF business houses throughout
the city, and the afternoon downtown
had somewhat the appearance of a Sun
day. The city exchange, court house, GUS
tom house, Board of Trade, Cotton Elk
change. the banks and all public buildings
were, as usual closed for the day