The Washington herald., 1917-12-23

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ne - = graduate. he mas accepbeo
the ofsr 80 expects to 60 to France
almost any time now. When he sails
his wife, who was Miss Blossom
Reed, Of this city, will stay here
with her mother, Mrs. Walter Reed,
widow Of the late DR.. Reed, U. s. A.,
after whom the army hospital was
named. DR.. Cook Is the son Of DR..
and Mrs. G. wythe Cook. Of Thomas
Circle.
It's the soldiers Christmas this
year. Even the children will take
second place.
Christmas is going to come not only
to every soldier in an encampment or
cantonment In the United States, and
to every sailor on shipboard or In
port, but also to every man In a
prison-camp, and to every man IN
uniform. somewhere IN France, or
anywhere else In the service. They
Will all celebrate Christmas, through
the efforts Of the Y. NJ. c. A., In CO.
operation with other organizations.
Not one will be left out on Christ
mas.
There will be Christmas trees, not
only In every Y. NJ. C. A. building In
the United States where men In uni
form come, but In the base camps in
the training zone In France, and even
behind the trenches, where the impro-
Vtsed angels on the top boughs shake
with the reverbera tons Of the Ger
man guns, and carols are sung to the
accompaniment OF exploding shells.
There will be gifts, wrapped as dain-
THY as IL they were intended for some
bodyis best girl, for many Of the men
who haven't gotten any from home,
when they come into the Y. N. c. A.
huts on Christmas day. And men
coming wet and cold from the trenches
will warm themselves around the
fuletide logs in the fireplaces in the
Red Triangle huts.
Scrubby Christmas trees with care
fully saved bits of tallow candles as
their only decorations will bring the
holiday spirit for a time even to the
prison-camps in Siberia, where the
Bethlehem story will be read in Y.
III. c. A huts. and an orchestra made
up Of the prisoners Of war will play
Holy Night" on instruments Of their
own making. Secretaries will greet
men who speak no English with
Merry Christmas" and they will un-
deTstand. No children in the United
States are more excited over their
Christmas preparations than the pris-
oners OF war over theirs
Thousands OF packages addressed
merely to Some Soldier, Somewhere
in France" left the Atlantic ports on
the early November boats. The move
ments of the troops over there make
It unlikely that some Of the person.
ally addressed presents will get to the
men by Christmas Day, but as far as
possible the Y. NJ. c. A. will see that
none of them are without a gift. The
soldiers and sailors who are still in
the United States will be equally well
looked after by the holiday spiritS
Not more than approximately one
third OF them will be allowed to leave
camp on December Is but those who
can't go to Christmas will have
Christmas brought to them by the
7. NJ. C. A.
The peoples Of Maryland will act as
st. Nick for the Maryland men at
Camp Meade. Nd, and Camp McCIeI-
Ian. Ala. They have raised a fund
which makes It possible to spend
about $50 for the Christmas present
Of every Maryland man in uniform.
Two thousand soldiers at Camp
Meade would be real Christmas out
casts IL 1t were not for the holiday
kindness Of their comrades. There
will be no trees for them."no ceIsbra-l
tion in the Y. VI. c. A. buildings, or
visits from the home-folk, for they
are the victims of something as old a.
Christmas. itself-they have all been
quarantined with the measles. They
will not lose the holiday, entirely.
however, for a choir organized under
The anSnicaa ~ he
march through camp singing Christ
mas carols. pausing in front Of the
barracks where these men are isolated
to cheer them with all the Christmas
hymns in their repertoire.
In Camp Jackson, South Carolina,
each soldier who comes to the cele-
oration will bring with him a gift
for some other soldier, not to ex-
coed 10 cents in value, which will
be collected at the door. and redis-
trtbuted afterwards. Home folks,
the real home folks who make De-
cember IS Christmas, can't be there,
of course, but the Y. NJ. c. A. has
done its best to fill the gap left by
their absence, by gettin gthe home
folks who live around the camp to
make candy and cake for the
Christmas party.
Camp Dix, New Jersey, will have
a community Christmas tree of its
own. with a tree in the Y. NJ. C. A.
building. and a Christmas box for
every man. Camp Grant, in Illinois,
VIII wake on Christmas morning
TO the singing carols, for which glee
cfuos have already been organized
In the camp. In Atlanta, Ga, each
church will mother one unit of
Camp Gordon, and will look out for
It's Christmas presents at the Y. NJ
c. A. tree. A Christmas pageant
will also be put on for the soldiers,
with more than 900 men and women
in the cast. And in all the other
camps throughout the United States
1t will be the same.
Christmas is made UP as much of
giving as of getting. and the vari-
Gus Y. NJ. c. A. buildings at the en-
campments lately have been the
scenes of feverishly busy bundle
wrapping. Paper and Irvine have
been furnished by the association,
and the men have been encoura Red
in every way possible to remember
the folks at home.
The Greenbrier at White Sulphur
Springs, W. Va, Is busy with pre-
parations for the happy holiday
time, when many parties pour in to
enjoy Christmas where Southern
hospitality and the Christmas spirit
reign supreme. Great logs burning
merrily in the huge freplaces and
wreaths OF holly and rhododendron