Evening capital and Maryland gazette. (Annapolis, Md.) 1910-1922, 1918-12-23
SOLDIERS CHRISTMAS
OLD FASHIONED KIND
Every Soldier Camp In The Coun-
try To Have Homelike Christ
mas Festivities
WILL BE GIFTS FOR ALL

Christmas celebrations, the good
old-fashioned kind of which the moth
ers and daddies of the present genera
tion delight in telling, but which sell
dom take place now-a-days. will con-
stitute the holiday program at all of
the camps and cantonments in the
eastern portion of the country this
year; and representatives of the Y.
NJ. c. A.. will, as substitutes for Santa
Claus, act as masters OF ceremony and
see that everything is staged accord
ing to schedule
In keeping with the spirit of the
season, every hut and other buildings
under the jurisdiction of the Y. M. G.
A., will be decorated with evergreens,
bells and flags. There will be gaily
decked and brilliantly Illuminated
Christmas trees in abundance. suffi-
cient music and entertainment to graf
ify even the demands of the men who
have just returned from the battle
fields of France and Belgium. where
mirth and melody played anything but
a conspicuous part; not to overlook
an abundance of Smokes" candy.
apples and other goodies" plenty.
Gifts Are Numerous
In addition to the gifts that will
come out of the Y M. c. A. Christmas
pack, will be those sent into the "Y"
as a distributing agency from rela-
I = frsn A. ~, Ia fx.
terested in the soldiers Christmas.
These will be given out by the Y M.
c. A. secretaries, as nearly according
to directions as possible, though usual
ly the request is to distribute them
from the trees At many camps these
Christmas packages are already In.
Christmas eve will launch the great
celebration for most of the camps,
when around the fireplaces In the
huts the boys will sing, tell stories,
eat apples and nuts, and do all the
other honey things that Christmas
and log fire call for. Just before
midnight. the Christmas carolers-all
men in uniform with brief training
for the event, will start out to sing
in the day of all days with old-fash-
ioned Christmas songs. One of their
most important missions will be to
sing under the windows of the camp
hospitals and barracks. where those
soldiers who are i'll or under observa-
tion, will have to celebrate their hoI-
iday.
Soldiers Decorate Huts
| The huts and buildings are now be-
/ ing dressed up" for December 25th
| by the soldiers themselves, who, after
months of army life, are enjoying this
turn at interior decorating quite as
much as the prospect of Christmas it
self The American doughboy is no
miser when it comes to decorations, IL
seems; the little huts are overflow
ing with greens gathered by the sol
diers, home made wreaths and impro-
vised Christmas bells, all laid out with
the lavish hands of the American
boys who want to do their Christmas
up brown"
At Camp Lee, Virginia, plans are
now completed for Christmas on a big
scale in the twenty-three Y. M. c. A.
huts there
/ Over three hundred pounds of pop
corn have been ordered for the occa-
sion. as corn popping over the open
fires has been found to be one of the
most popular forms of indoor sports
at Lee Five dozen corn peppers viii
be in constant use, with the line form
ing to the right for the next pop"
There will be holiday checker tourn-
aments at Camp Lee with the finals
played on the hut platform, huge
checkerboard being set on the edge,
while red and black checker men are
moved from pin to pin by operators
at the dictation of two contesting
players armed with pointers. Hun
dreds of men sit quietly and watch
such contests with interest Darts"
is also going to be great holiday
game. The supply department is Sc
curing hundreds of feathered darts;
4 these are thrown on the wall for COM
petitive scores.
Christmas trees, gifts, and enter
tainment will also be amply provided
for the men in the hospital according
to plans just completed by the Rev.
G. w. Sydnor, of Richmond, Va, sec
retary in charge of the hut in the base
/ hospital area.
| Wounded and returned soldiers
from France will constitute large
part of the soldiers who will spend
| Christmas in Camp Meade MARYLAND.
and the ~" has planned to make their
Christmas "extra-merry." Many Of
these men are members Of the 10th
division, which was trained at Meade
and saw such hard service under
Major-General Joseph E. Kuhn.