Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1917-02-14
DOING EFFECTUAL WORK.

DOING EFFECTUAL sWOkA. 81
Mrs. Ralph G. Norton, VINO spent
several weeks in the States last fall,
has been busily engaged in Christian
work among the Belgian and French
soldiers. Mrs. Norton beLt every
energy to do something out Of the ord
mary for soldiers at Christmas time
Christmas boxes were sent out in
large numbers to the soldiers. These
I boxes contained useful articles and
y Testament, and were valued at
800 Since Christmas Mrs. Nor
ton is receiving hundreds Of let
ters daily from soldiers at the front,
Many Of these letters tell OF how
many men in the trenches have
not had word from their
loved ones since the beginning Of the
war. They tell In no unmiatakabls
way Of the Joy these boxes and their
contents brought at q time when Ill
the world ought to be joyful.
Mrs. Norton has been Obliged to Sc
cure the. assistance Of three young
women to assist her in her work.
These assistants do large part of the
clerical work. NJ, t-isss, ~. y. I. 1,
One letter. by Belgian soldier, and
translated into English, gives an.
idea Of the tangible results,of the work
which Mr.. and Mrs, Norton are doing.
The letter tells Of Christmas festival
which some OF the soldiers were priv
ileged to enjoy. We give the letter
as translated by Mrs, Norton:
The Letter.
/ am going to tell you the story Of
our nice little Christmas festival:
On Monday the 25th, December. the
Christmas festival was celebrated In
the Chateau d'Ambourville. at five
O'Clock in the evening. and Is members
were present. I must tell you that
this Chateau has existed since the 18th
century. There is really in 1t q most
beautiful hall, and at the bottom of this
hall Christmas tree was placed
which was splendidly decorated. Great
was the Joy Of all members. A table
was placed in the middle Of the hall,
and our Lieutenant, who commands
the Company, took part in sthe fete.
The festival was arranged in two
parts. the Religious and the Social.
q First came the religious part which
lasted three quarters of an hour.
l Hymn.
Thy Holy Presence now doth shed
\ A ray OF light upon my way.
with joyful heart the road tread,
I do not fear the coming day.
Reading, Texts.
To-day in the City of David is born
70 you a Saviour which is Christ the
Lord. He is come, he is come. It is
our Redeemer. raise thy voice to praise
thy Saviour. Jerusalem, City Of Con-
cord, tell Juda that she is thy hope.
Come to: the Holy Place
For here is Jesus, our God.
2. Hymn
Keep your lamps all brightly burning !
ChristiaH4 now prepare
For that hour for which you're yearn-
ing
The trumpets call to prayers.
HosannR, HOssnna., !
Priere..
Eternal Father, listen to our prayer
and let CIR cry rise to Thee, Who is
like untoaThee? believe in God the
Father Almighty. Creator Of the heav-
ems and the earth.
:. Hymn
Come to the Saviour who loves thee,
Come. He has broken thy chains,
He opens His arms to receive thee
And naught but His love remains.
After this was the Social part:
A fine fire was made and ten, litres
OF chocolate were cooked Each Of
the members received three cakes. Q
packets OF biscuits, oranges, 2 ciC-
ars, one packet OF. cigarettes, and 10l
francs we had spent to decorate
the tree SE
. 81 \ y 4 & u Il