Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1915-12-21
MAILS T0FRONT LOADED
WITH CHRISTMAS cheer
Soldiers In Trenches VIII Gel
ebrate Peace On Earth"
During Holidays
BY Philip Kerby.
(United Press staff correspondent. J

Omitted Press staff correspondent
With the French Army at the Front,
via Paris, Dec. 2l.--The shrill whistle
of bullets overhead and the roar of
artillery in the distance effectually dis.
, sipate all the Christmas spirit in the
first lie trenches OF the western bat.
tie front.
1t is easy to understand why men do
not wish to observe the festival of
peace on earth, good will to men,"
"It would only make them more
homesick, an officer told mo today.
''This is a war to the death. We are
not like the armies of old which pro-
claimed an arInistics- for Christmas. 1t
is necessary to forget the home festival
and reserve the celebration until vic.
tory comes to us.
Yet, there'H be Christmas in the
trenches, for the mails for months. have
been iammed with presents for the men,
These have been piled in bomb proofs,
and will not be opened, by common con.
sent, until Christmas morning. Then an
officer in each section will play Santa
CLAUS and distribute them.
Back of the lines, though. it seems
like Christmas back home though its
Christmas season with q tug at the
heart strings. Many churches behind
the trenches, though partly in ruins,
are decorating with flags, evergreen,
holly and mistletoe.
At midnight on Christmas eve, the
solitary figure of Cardinal Lucon will
enter the Rheims cathedral and pray
for the success of the French arms and
for the rest of the souls of the men who
have falley in the defense of their
country. Regularly twice a week, he
prays in hole in the untouched wing of
the ruined church; but he cannot ceie.
brate mass inside the cathedral so com
/ pletely wrecked is it.
4 Solemn high mass will be sung Christ
mas eve and several ether services will
be held Christmns DAY in the sacristy of
the Scissors cathedral. There tiny
light rs burning continuously before the
small altar.
Although the enemy, for no reason,
destroyed the outer shell of the House
of God, this light, typifying eternal
faith in the heart, burns forever. -
said the priest in charge.
At Epeuay and Cateau Thierry, close
to the front, Christmas shopping goes
on as in peace times-only there are
many crepe clad women, with perhaps
less money than before, who buy the
gifts.
In addition to appropriate gifts for
the mon in the trenches, the shops dis
play things suitable for the home folks.
There are toys, sweet meats, sewing
bags, toilet sets, and inexpensive Jew
clry.
i Back in, the trenches, the men are not
depressed. They are remarkably com
Portable in their new war dugouts and
bomb proofs despite cold and snow.
Rats and vermin have been largely
eliminated.
The civilian is surprised at the seem.
ing emptiness of the first lines. It is
impossible to believe that the enemy is
only few yards distant Of course,
men are there, but they are out of sight
in the dugouts, The only visible sign
of alertness is that sentinels are con-
cealed- in advance posts ready to give
the alarm.
The men are in fine physical condi.
ton and the sickness rate is less than
in peace times. Seventeen months of
war seemingly has been only so much
physical training
The Christmas spirit ism It what Am
erica would know as Christmas spirit
but in its place is a confidence in vic
tory, a firm belief that when the time
of peace on earth, good will to mem
, again rolls around, the Germans will be
broken, and French families will be re
unitadl