Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1917-12-25
RED CROSS CANTEEN
A H0MEL|KE PLACE
Holly, Evergreen and Flags
Decorate Building at
Front for Christmas.
BY JUNIUs b. WOOD.

BY JUNIUS b. WOOD.
CabIegram to The Evening star and!
Chicago Daily News. Copyright. 1917.
AMERICAN AVIATION INsTRUC-
TON CENTER IN FRANCE. December
24.-Christmas holly, sprigs of ever
green, festoons of gay-colored tissue
paper cover the rough board wallis and
rafters; a tiny branch of mistletoe
hangs in the center Of the room. whose
windows are shaded by new chintz cur
tains with bright patterns. showing
French ''75's," French casques and the
French tricolor. Two big American
flags are crossed over the entrance.
This Is where several hundred young
American aviators will get the home
touch Of happy Christmas. and. as for
many the span of life as warriors OF
tire air will be short. 1t will be their
last Christmas period. This Christmas
they will make merry and be happy in
the present.
The building is Red Cross canteen
so far as / have been able to ascer-
tain. 1t is the only Red Cross canteen
OF the entire American Army. The
for the French soldiers, travelling clin-
les for French civilians and noted ply
sicians for inspecting American nos
pitfalls In which it is experimenting the
Regular Army supplies and workers anc
helping In the rebuilding OF devastated
are racing their own automobiles along
pleasant roads. looking for Frencr
wounded. A multitude of other worthy
activities in France and other countries
have been made possible by its millions
But out Of the hundreds OF bases ano
camps that have visited this is the
first where / have seen the Red Cross
catering to the comforts of healthy
Americans.
Fills Lonesome Hours.
This canteen is more to satisfy tht
craving of appetftes for entertainment
in the lonesome hours. 1t mas the AZ
mosphere OF home. This comes IRON
the personality Of a little brfght-eyet
English woman whose black hair II
streaked with gray and who at one
time was q New York social secretary
and who IL now in charge mere In, ~.
Christmas day she will be mere noe.
(Mother Christmas) to all the big ava
ton family, Just az she mothers sew.
eral thousand men in the camp ahe
calls them her boys every other GAY o.
the year. Christmas day has been pre-
pared for weeks in advance SO ina. IN,
stranger in this foreign land Will never
forget. ~.
finishing touches on the Christmas tree
in the center of the social room wner
we entered. A long nag from the par
racks was used to hang across the can
teen. a soldier was playing the plane
and three others were singing VIVA,
was the latest popular song tnre;
months ago. Others were scatterse
ing magazines and playing games. a
a high board counter, separating TN
social room from the combination once
dining room, storeroom ana kitcnen
where other Red Cross girls were pu us2
were standing, munching sandwiches
and drinking coffee.
Cooking by Girls Popular.
sour girls. cooking is 50 popular" ex.
nIained the manager. "that they can't
serve dinners toseverypudy--onty To
those who have doetorI orders and are
convaiescing In the hospital. Others
are Obliged to be satisfied with sand
witches. coffee, tea and chocolate. she
added, ducking under the counter into
the kitchen "Just slide over and make
room for me-" she continued to young
man seated at one end Of long bench
at the officers' table. And why didn't
YOU come yesterday to get hot coffes
after you were chilled from fying?'
This ofiicer happened to be the son OF
former New York mayor
One night, when 1900 young Amer
leans arrived at the camp after travel.
ing thirty hours without hot meal
and being obliged to sleep on the cold
bare ground in hangers. the little man
aeer and her girls stood up and worked
until everybody had been given sand
witches and hot coffee. They serve
1000 sandwiches and an equal num-
Der of cups of coffee daily. which gives
some idea of what the soldiers need
even with most abundant Army rations
Chow Gets Monotonous.
You see men coming down from flying
are always hungry" she said. '"rhen
the Army chow, though filing. gets
monotonous. They like to run In and get
a sandwich and coffee just like they
would at home. We also have Norwegian
flreless cookers, which we SEND out 70
flying fields. some several miles away. az
am, so that the men have a hot drink
to warm their insides before they start up
into the cold clouds. When the doctors
order we cook special dishes to tickle the
palates of men not tempted by nospitai
fare or our regular cooking.
we can mend the mems clothes. 1t is not
right that they are away OF here with
out anybody to sew buttons or patch rips
We are going to build bathhouse, where
they can get hot shower at any time and
have their clothes sterilized and dried
while taking.
THE men come in and play the music
box and the piano whenever they want
to, for this is home atmosphere for
them. We have all the latest maya
zines. When we first got magazines sent
from the United States they included
some fashion papers ten years old not
very interesting to the men, so ! went
to Paris and subscribed to the ones they
liked In fact. they liked them so well
that they take most OF them to their
own quarters I have to watch and
scold them like mischievous boys"
She stopped talking for minute to
slip into the storeroom and to reappear
with two packages of cigarettes. She