The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1915-03-25
RAIDER Tells of Coming of 1915
With Sky Rockets, Much
Noise and a Big Chick
en- Dinner.
BERLIN AND PARIS TIME
Germans Celebrated an Hour sSs-ad
Of the French, Owing to 2
ence In Time Of the 8
Capitals.

[By Phil RAIDER, VT for the
United Pres
[Copyrieht 1915 by the United Press.]
LONDON, March New York S
New Years eve celebration was prob
ably as wild and noisy as eevr.
But 1t couldn't have been a marker
to ours in the trenches. / only Won
der that New York didn't hear us.
We spent the entire day of Decem-
ber 81 in getting ready for our mid
night celebration. We intended to
give the Germans fusi!lade that
they wouldn't forget During the
Christmas day truce we had met most
of the Germans in the trenches across
the way from us and they had hold
us that even then they were getting
ready for their New Years eve cele-
bration. Victor Chapman, the Har-
ward man from New York; Eugene
Jacobs, the Pawtucket butcher, and
myself, talked about the rackets that
would usher in the new year in New
York, San Francisco, my home town,
and Pawtucket, and we did every.
thing we could to ginger up the mel
of a dozen nationalities who were
members of the foreign legion.
But in fact they didn't need much
gingering up There were men who
remembers New Years eve celebra.
tions in Athens, Lisbon, Madrid. and
in fact every capital of the world, SC
our preparations were carried out
without any stiat Of labor or expense
4 in our "sunken'' city.
/ BY evening we had huge piles ot
white night lights, ready to fire. They
were American-made, just ordinary
skyrockets Each man had 100 extra
cartridges and there were piles OF
cartridges ready beside our -four ma.
chine guns. Our artillery far behind
our lines was also prepared, though
we didn't know it until later. And
all along the French trench, that
stretched the ESQ miles from the
North sea almost to Switzerland,
everything that could shoot was
ready. France was going to show the
Germans how to usher in the new
wear. But before the racket. We IN
our trench were to have big holi-
day dinner. We had planned to have
the entire machine squad Of sixteen
men at the dinner, but there were
only twelve, because four had been
killed during the week after Christ
mas.
The first surprise Of dinner came
when Sikorsky. Polish revolutionist
who belonged to our legion, entered
sI1e dur-out. carrying the beautiful
metal helmet of a German lieutenant
colonel filed with champagne punch.
We drank to the defeat of the Ger
mans from this odd punch bowl and
then began at the chicken Sikorsky
was lust getting up to recite poem
which he had written about the allies
when the second surprise OF the even
ine came. | think it was a surprise
that ran along the whole 250 miles 10
trenches. First we heard blast OF
husles from the German trenches
Then there broke the most terrific
cannonade we had heard in the en-
ire war. Everything that the Ger.
MANS had that could shoot was shoot
ING Horns were blowing; men were
ya1iing and whistling: bombs were
broaking In the air; the sky was white
with the German white lights; 1t was
brighter than Broadway. Far away
cannon were booming; their shells
were breaking behind our INES. i
never exDect to hear such a tumnlt
gain. 1t was 'eXhilirating. we ran
ser orr Guns. thinking 1t was all In
preparation for charse; but ns
rbarqe came: no bullets flew around
us: the artillery shells fell at sale
distance from us.
After ten minutes the morse oieu
down and we could hear the Germans
shouting to US:
Happy New Year,!
well celebrate In Paris next
year" o,aor
"How was that for noise!
"But you're wrong" we yeiled oacA'