The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1903-12-26
MORE THAN 200 POOR
WE'RE SERVED CHRISTMAS DINNER
BY SALVATION ARMY.
HALL PRETTILY DECORATED
WITH HOLLY AND TABLES WE'RE
ADORNED WITH PLANTS.

! Guests of the Army Sat at Two Long
Tables Where Dinner Was Served.
Doors Were Opened at IL O'clock
and Were Not Closed Until Nearly
O'cIOck-GOOd Things Remain
ing Were Packed in Baskets and
Taken to Homes of Those Who
Had Been Unable to Attend the
Dinner.
One of the most interesting places
in Savannah yesterday was the Saliva
ton Army headquarters on West
Broad street, where a Christmas din
ner was served to more than 200 of
the city poor. All sorts of people We're
served and the hearty thanks of those
who left the hall were a rich reward
to the members of the army corps for
their efforts.
Capt. McSheehan had announced
that dinner would be served from II
o'clock in the morning until o'clock
in the afternoon. Long before the hour
announced for opening, however, those
who We're to be the guests Of the army
at dinner began assembling and when
the doors were opened, the tables were
filed almost Immediately.
The dinner was served in the meet
ing han at No. III West Broad street
which had been prettily decorated for
the occasion. The lassies had
hung the walls and ceilings thickly
with holly and other greenery and the
effect was decidedly pretty Two long
tables, extending through the entire
length of the hall had been arranged,
and about these the guests of the army
were seated. Here and there along the
tables potted plants had been placed
and these aided greatly in completing
the holiday appearance of the rooms.
The guests who had first arrived were
soon seated, after which grace was
said by Capt. McSheehan. The lassies
then began serving the dinners, and
the best evidence of the diners APP
probation of the spread which had been
set before them was the hearty way
in which they ate. Though many of
those present at the table had prob
ably never seen each other before they
met at the table, yet all entered into
the spirit of the occasion, and from
the merry laughs of the children, the
jokes and stories of the older people,
and the general atmosphere of abso-
Lutte content, one might well have
thought that it was a large family
gathering.
AS soon as one guest had finished his
dinner he left the table and some of
those who were waiting took his place.
The lassies who were washing dishes
and experimenting the cooking were
kept constantly busy as the numbr
of guests kept constantly growing. All
kinds of people were gathered together
about the common table, and a study
of the different faces assembled there
was very interesting. The children
were very much in evidence, and in
fact, added greatly to the merriment
and fun which reigned at the hall dur
ing the entire daV.
Though it had been announced that
the army would not serve dinner after
2 O'Clock, there were many still to be
| served at that hour, and it was near
ly o'clock before the doors of the
hall were closed. The menu was an
elaborate one, and was as follows:
Turkey, beef, pork, ham, bread, sweet
| potatoes, Irish potatoes, coffee, milk,
celery, cakes, pies candies, and nuts
| Following the closing of the doors
which was not done until no more ap-
plicants for dinner appeared, the men,
bers of the Army Corps began stow
| ing away the good things that were re-
naming into baskets and sending them
out to parties who had been unable to
get to the hall. A large number of
baskets were thus prepared and many
who would otherwise have gone with
cut their Christmas dinner are tonight
thanking the army for the joys which
they experienced yesterday.
Capt. McSheehan, in speaking of the
day said: "It has been a great sue
cess in every sense of the word, and
the contented faces and the hearty
thanks have been indeed a rich reward
to us for all our labors. We have fed
more than 200 persons at the hall alone
| and the baskets have brought a Christ
mas dinner into many more homes.
Il wish that you would thank the
Savannah public, on my behalf and the
behalf of the members of this CORPS of
the Salvation Army, for their gener-
osity in giving to the cause. With
out their support we should have been
unable to serve the dinners to-day and
the thanks we have received belong
equally to them"