Evening star., 1917-10-25

Rsstton from The Star that the homes
of Washington should be thrown opeE
wide in hospitality to one or more sol
't,ers for q hearty Thanksgiving din.
,uer. the finest kind Of letters are being
received in large numbers on every
mail They all ask to be enrolled for
the privilege of having q soldier CUES,
or that day.
The question has been raised as tc
whether cooperation in this hospitablt
effort eliminates marines or sailors. lr
fact. one marine wrote a letter to the
Soldier Guest Editor today. asking II
something cannot be done for the poor
marines
Marines Included, of Course.
Why, Of course there can It never
iwaS intended to discriminate against
shs marines. or the sailors either. They
are all welcome The purpose of the
entire effort Is TO make the men who
ere serving the country in the military
forces a much at home as possible on
tlr great day of feasting and thanks
giving. II is a day when Washington
81 going TO pay tribute at the dinner
table to the United States uniform.
Il Is TO be great uniform Thanks
giving day celebration The invitation
70 men in service to dine In the home
% meant to include soldiers and sailors
and the marines VINO are both soldiers
and sailors
And the way the Washington people
nrs coming forward indicates that there
are going to be plenty of dinner in
vitattons for all service men The
United States uniform is to be the
letter OF Introduction, the dinner card,
the signal for very warm welcome.
Now that this has been made clear.
.t Is interesting to give the letter from
O marine which has reminded the
soldier guest editor TO make this ex-
planation- Here 1t is:
II wish TO make statement on your
soldiers Thanksgiving dinner Why is
Il that all you can hear now is soldiers2
You never hear anything about the real
fighting. all the dirty work. and gets little
credit. but a lot OF knocks. / have seen
i've years of soldering in the marines
for h.e- I was httsen when I enlisted as
a buglsr in the marines. I was in Vera
Cruz Mexico; Nicaragua, San Domingo
Haiti. Cuba China-all over the world
lowed TO go free. Do I get fair deal?
Hoping something can be done for the
poor marines.
Letters Show True Spirit.
How much Of feeling is expressed in
the letters to The Star asking that
soldier, or a soldier and his buddy"
or four soldiers. be assigned to some
particular home on Thanksgiving day.
cannot be told in cold type Practical
" every letter shows that the heart
of the writer Is warm with respect.
honor and welcome for the man who
wears the uniform Of his country. and
that every home will glow with a more
intense feeling OF thanksgiving and
ths real spirit of the day this year
than for many years, Each housewife
will be happier because Of the Joy OF
service.
Many Of these letters are real heart
throbs'' from life. and the man in uni
form 10 whom they are -Dassed az an
tnyttation should treasure them as war
One woman who had previously In
throush today with another letter.
suggesting that she intended to have
some more on Christmas day and
hoped all the other hostesses on this
Thanksgiving day would do likewise.
= wife OF a prominent physician sent
IN this letter. which shows that the
women who preside over the dinner
tables are looking forward to doing a
whole lot more entertaining for the
men N service:
have sent in my application for a
soldier for Thanksgiving dinner. This
IL 70 tell you what fine work you are
doing IN bringing this before the pub
lie. and to beg you # you have 1t not
already II mind to start the same
campaign es soon as this is over for
the Sarne thing Christmas, for boy
IN . camp on Christmas Is the sad
dest thing one can think of in connec-
ton with soldiers In my opinion it is
even more urgent that we make them
feel xhe home influence and cheer then
than at Thanksgiving.-
Children Want to Help.
Children are going to play. the hosts
and hostesses in many homes. and sew
eral very original letters have been re-
ceived., at least one of which is print
ed below It shows that the children
In the homes of Washington are get
ting early training IN lessons Of pa
ton to the uniform of the United
States
As an illustration of how the spirit
ts working as leaveu, group of
women In the auditors Office for the
Interior Department have dubbed to-
gsther and are going to meet AT the
home Of one of their number and cook
q real banquet, to which twelve men
IN uniform are to be guests
Apprecta tive of the good spreads being
prepared for them is shown by the
fact that one man who notified The
etar that he would like two soldier
state. today teIephoned in that two fne
young men in the 9th Company of En-
Sineers, stationed at the Washington
oaTacAs, have already written thank
ing him for the invitation and saying
mat they will be delighted to be his
guests They are both from New York
state and both IN the same company
Dinners Outside Homes.
While 1t is the intention to have .he
homes thrown open wide and make
this a home dinner day for the serv-
tce-soldters, sailors and marines
there a-s number of club associa
their bit" IN hospitality To these
places will be assigned men from the
camps who may be dfNadent about
meeting the women IN the homes, who
may feel too lonesome to get into &
.srnt,y gathering, who would be nor,
at sass in a gathering of men
The Washington ElEs, ever noted fol
thet- Hospitality. have come forward
promptly TO throw open their clubhous,
70 soldier welcome and good eats" OF
tset cay. Washington Lodge. No. IS
9. ? O. e, is going to serve a dinner
Sor ~ least l25 men in uniform, and tn,
21ncs are already provided At reg
Giar nesting Of the lodge last nigh
the subject was brought up and o,
Motton OF F y. Whitehead enthusia q
TIC tncorsement was given of The star
plan 20 have dinners away from cam
providso toC al service men in thl
dsighborhood Of Washington
By voluntary Subscriptions r,a6a ~
those present within a few minute.
enough money was raised to provide
stnners for at least 125 men. THE
work OF arranging for this dinner viii
De underrasen by a committee unde,
the leadership of Exalted Ruler r. ]
M9rSneiNer GfhhrS