Evening capital and Maryland gazette. (Annapolis, Md.) 1910-1922, 1916-01-07
ON BOARD OSCAR Il
LETTERS FROM {. I. FELL
President Feli,of St. Johns College
Hears From His Son.
ON THE FORD PEACE SHIP.
Interesting Account Of Happenings Of
the Peace Commission Christ
mas Decorations On Ship
Board.

LETTER III.
Hotel Westminster. christiana. Nor
way Dec d 1aIE

last letter just before we arrived al
| Christiana Then, to continue, we
| sailed down the wonderful coast Of
Norway and at o'clock turned into
| towards the land We had arrived be-
| fore Christiansand. and we could not
| see q sign of the city. The boat kept on
| the land being quite near at hand on
| either side of US, and all at once the
| temperature began to fall. causing US
| TO rush for extra sweaters, gloves. etc
The thermemometer dropped twenty
| degrees in the winking OF an eve
| Everything now around us was freez-
| ing Immediately the water on the
decks was turned to ice.
The steamer crept slowly up the
harbor, which is not a ford in the true
| sense, but rather a wide protected bay
| up past the foot of a great. snow and
| pine-coyered promonotory, on the crest
| of which we could see hidden the ram
/ parts of modern fort, in some in
| stances the guns even heing visible
/ All around the base of the fortified
/ tions were long criss-crossed lines OF
/ barbed wire defenses. The water was
| perfectly calm. but illed with great
blocks of floating ice. Suddenly we
came around a bend, and there to the
| right of us lay the quaint little city.
The sun had just gone down "a little
/ after three). and the nearly full moon
i was well up in the eastern sky. q
| suppose that ii was east, but when the
| sun sets. as it does in the south. or
| thereabouts.I never just know the right
| points of the compass) BY half pas
| three or a quarter to four, we had the
/ most beautiful midnight scene imagin-
/ able. 1t was perfect Christmas card,
| There on the coast of Norway. on De
| cember is. the snow and the pines, the
/ great hills on all sides. the moon with
its sparkling light upon the waves
1 and ripples of the harbor, made the
| setting for the centre of beauty, which
| was the city itself, with its myriads OF
| bright lights blinking in the clear,
| crisp air, and over all the wonderful
| soft, still hush of the Northern winter.
| This was a scene never TO be forgotten.
| We took on a few passengers and
i discharged the mail and at o'clock
/ puIled UP the anchor and headed out
/ again into the North Sea on the last
i lap of our remarkable trip to Christi
ana We all went to bed fairly early
| so as to be ready for the strenuous
| day ahead. ] think that the steamer
| locked at Christiana at three in the
morning. However, Immediately after
| breakfast. which we had at the regular
| time. all got ready for the long work
| of unloading I went ashore with some
/ others: we were all warmly wrapped
| as it was Z degrees below, and Ger
| tainly quite cold for us. ! felt as if
were in Petrograd Russia. Every
| thing was covered with snow and ice
and heavy damp mist filled the air.
| There were endless lines of sleighs Of
| all shapes and designs, usually fiat
| rude affair, driven by a man sitting
| behind, clothed in a great coat with
long fur collar, and a great bearskin
| cap. which gave him the appearance
| of a bear himself Nothing could be
| seen of the city itself, because of the
| mist, which ] spoke Of before, After
1 taking a short walk with Schulz, a fra
| ternity brother of mine. who has been
/ abroad a great number of times. / de-
| cided that it was too cold for me, so
| we decided to go back to the ship and
wait until the sun got up. OF course
| on the ship all was in commotion and
| hustle. but we helped out as best we
| could. 1 must say that the manage
| ment of the whole party has been re-
| markable Everything has been won
| derfully smooth Mr.. Ford will not
allow us to pay for a single thing
unless it is something entirely per-
| sonal. Their were no tips on board.
Our laundry was collected before we
got to Christiana, and whole laundry
in Christiana was hired by Mr. Ford for
our special use, by wireless. so that ali
was in readiness when we arrived
When the time came to so ashore
we had absolutely nothing to attend to
in the way of baggage Each and
every one was taken to his respective
hotel in a taxicab The party is split
up for sleeping purposes between five
or six hotels, but we all get together
at the Grand Hotel for luncheon and
dinner. where the large red dining
room is reserved for our party. All the
students are in the Westminster Hotel
ana most COAniOALdbi9 A. 1Ss AhdSCh'
some of the rooms are quite palatial.
When we left the ship at 10 o'clock
we were told to be at our hotels at
1890, when taxis would call to take us
to the electric railway station, where
we would find special cars for Holmen-
kollen, the little place up in the noun
tains. where all the winter sports take
place. This was Sunday afternoon and
of course. the people We're focking to
the skiing in the mountains BY the
thousands. 1t was. indeed a wonder
full sight when we got TO the car line.
We had to wait for our special, and, in
the meantime,we could enjoy the sights
which were strange to us Every
where were skis and sleds. The crowd
was composed of all kinds, men, wo
men and children and of all ages
young and old.
L have never seen a group OF people
so physically perfect All were rudy |
complexioned. sturdy and good looking
We stood and walked and then board
ed the cars as they came up in success /
sion. There is a great scramble at
first. as every one rushes to the side
of the cars to strap on sleds and skis
"