The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1926-12-23
SANTA DESCENDS
SHIPS TUNNELS
LIKE CHIMNERS
Persons on Board Vessels
Z Far Out at Sea Never
Miss Christmas.

BIZ United Press
NEW YORK. Dec. 23.--Spare pity
for the sailor on the wintry sea on
Christmas eve. He doesn't need it.
He may be in foreign ports, with a
dutiful lump or so doing its sentt~
mental duty in his throat, when he
thinks of home and mother, but he
is having his mince pie, his Christ
mas carols and his tree-and prob
ably having as good a time as any
fireside group in the old home town.
For Christmas at sea has a charm
all its own. And the real, seasoned
sailor actually, looks forward to
having his Christmas celebration on
his boat.
Chief Steward William Ballyn of
the Berengaria, is one of the officers
who has spent his Christmases at
sea or in, foreign ports for the past
quarter Of century.
Rushing Season
"But no matter where | have been.
l have always had an English Christ
mas" says he. And because .Aame
habit of years is so strong upon &#
I'm going to have a Christmas party
on the ship the night before we land
even if it is rushing things a BIT"
Possibly there is a forgivable ele-
ment of vanity in this, for Ballyns
Christmas parties are famous. No
woman ever worked out the details of
her Christmas parties more carefully
than he does for the very large fam
lily OF strangers that are always ON
ship board.
Il always have Christmas trees,
even in the tropics, he asserted
with pride. And English plum pud-
ping, mince pie, and roast goose, re-
CARELESS Of latitude. / look ahead
and see that the materials for an
English Christmas are on board be.
fore we leave England.
Nor do / forget the Christmas
carols. l have a choir Of forty-hve
voices In my crew. Besides the sea
songs and jazz tunes they love. they
can sing Christmas carols as beauti.
fully as any other church choir.
ION Christmas eve they begin at
the captains room and march about
the ship caroling the same mes
sages Of peace on earth and good
will to men that have been sung
for centuries.
81 see to it that the Christmas
spirit, which is the real essence of
the Christmas celebration is given
full expression"
In the past quarter Of a century
Chief Steward Ballyn has collected
many unusual ChristHnases.
MY favorlte was one of the Iarg.
est, noisiest, and most riotous ones,
back in 1915, when we we're anchored
at Port Said. There were 721 worn-
EN- and 1,4S2 children on board.
were returning to England fromWzX.
dia. Never did I see such enthus.
iasm and such spirit.
We had presents for every child.
several trees and a feast second to
none. That always stands out in
my mind as a particularly British
Christmas"
First at Home
In Southampton, where he VIII
spend his Christmas this year, Bal
lyn will celebrate his first Christmas
with his wife and his FIVE children.
They are even more excited about ii
than he Is.
"a Christmas at sea gives you
an excellent opportunity to see how
human and how akin the world is"
he concludedS Your passenger list
includes many nationalities and
oreeds. But on Christmas they for.
get their differences and clannish-
ness and become one big family for
the day.
"And the sailors at sea, as wen
as the passengers who are crossing
on the 25th Of December, don't need
any ones pity. They have less
chance to be neglected or MISSED by