New Britain herald., 1917-11-26
WAR THANKSGIVING
 FIRST SINCE 1898
Vacant Chairs at Dinner Tables
 Grim Reminders Of Situation POLISH LEGION TO LEAVE


 Union Service at First Baptist Church Sports and Thcaters to Divide Administrations in the Markets -Sunshine Society to Help. l On Thursday of this week New l Britain will observe its first wartime Thanksgiving since the spanish-Ame | ican war in 1898, and a Thanksgiving deserving of more serious thought 1 than any since the tumultous days of the Civil War 52 years ago. Where | a year ago the people of this city were interested in the world war in 1 today they are vitally interested. l Their sons, their brothers, their hus- l bands, and even their sisters and 1 daughters in some cases, have gone out to do their part in this great bat tie, and the vacant chairs at hundreds of Thanksgiving dinner tables about I the city will bear mute testimony to ] the gravity of the situation.
 ss Thanksgiving Day Plans.
 | Otherwise, however, Thanksgiving l the same as every other, except pos. sibly, there may not be as many 1 Thanksgiving turkeys gracing the festive boards. Business will be practically suspended all day. the various factories will remain idle and so will most of the stores and offices. The Herald will not publish on this day. Barbershops will also be closed, but in order to accommodate patrons, all such establishments will remain open until 10 o'clock Wednesday evening. The library will likewise be closed on Thursday
 In the various churches the usual ] Thanksgiving morning services will take place, and at the First Baptist church, at the corner of West Main and High streets, there will be a spe- cial union service. Rev. Dr. Earle B. Cross will preach the sermon. At St. Mary's church there will be a special mass in the morning for the soldiers and sailors who are to be home on furloughs. ..-
 The day will not be without its sporting events either for at 10 o'clock there will be an interesting football game af St. MarV's field when the RodWoods clash with d football team composed of former High school players. Included in the lineup of the alumni eleven will be several former local stars now enrolled in the various colleges and universities. At the Lyceum theater, at Foxs theater and also at Keeneys theater the man. agements have secured special attrac- tions for the holiday patrons and they expect full houses at both afternoon and evening performances. It is also likely that the management of the trolley company may provide extra trolley service on the Plainville and Hartford lines to accommodate those travelling in these directions. Making the day more significant for those families who have relatives in the service comes the announcement that majority of the soldiers at Camp Devens will be given furloughs and permitted to return to their homes. Many of the boys in the navy and in the Naval Reserve. who are located not too far away, have also applied for furloughs and it is sure that New Britain's streets on Thursday will , present a galaxy of soldiers and sail l orS. . Polish Legion Leaves.
 Probably the most important event of the entire day, however, will be ! the departure of a contingent of about | l the Polish Legion for service in France. All over the United States Poles have been enlisted in this for eign legion and they will be part of l a vast army of Poles who are going at once to- France for active service. New Britains quota is about 100 and they will entrain from the local pas } Senger station at o'clock. These men, who will shortly don the uni form of service and take up the rifles in place of the tools of their usual 1 peaceful pursuits, will assemble at the Sacred Heart church for a last
 mass at 9:3O o'clock Thursday morn ing. They will then go to the Sacred Heart school where Rev. Lucyan Boj- nowski and other invited speakers will
 address the soldiers and wish them Godspeed. following which there will
 be street parade and the final march
 to the train. The New Britain City
 Guard will act as an honorary escort and the members will report at the
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