Evening star., 1940-01-23

plished by the Navy Relief Society
has been given by Navy officials in
permitting the annual Navy Relief
Society benefit ball on February 6
to be held in the sail loft at the
Navy Yard.
All navy yards have been closed
to the public since the existence of
the present national emergency and
even on Navy Day, last October q,
the gates of the Washington Navy
Yard were closed. The ball, how
ever, is the most important activity
by which funds are raised to sup
port the District chapter of the
Navy Relief Society. It's success
has been so great since it has been
held in the sail loft at the Navy
Yard, that special permission has
been given by Admiral Harold R.
Stark, chief of naval operations, and
Rear Admiral George T. Pettingill,
commandant of the yard, for the
ball to carry on" this year as usual
In the sail loft.
Special guards, however, will be
placed at the entrance of the yard
and will form Gordon to the build
ing in which the dance will be held.
Marine guards also will supervise
the parking of every car which
enters, and no car will be permitted
entrance without the necessary
ticket.
One Place to Buy Tickets.
Due to restrictions also, tickets
this year will only be sold at room
1925 A, Navy Department. A care
full record will be kept of each ticket
sold and the name of the purchaser.
The Navy relief ball has been ira
ditional in Washington for years
and over a period of time was held
each Thanksgiving in the ballroom
of the Willard Hotel. Three years
ago, however, Mrs. Pettingill, who,
as wife of the commandant of the
Navy Yard, is also president of the
Auxiliary of the Navy Relief Society,
suggested that the ball, being a
Navy affair, be held in the sail loft
at the Navy Yard, which provides
the largest dance floor in Washing
ton. The music. is provided by the
Navy Band under direction of 1t.
Charles Benter, and the Marine
Band Orchestra, under the leader
ship of Capt. Taylor j. Branson.
Since transferring the scene of the
ball from hotel to sail loft, ladies of
the auxiliary have used as a deco
rative motif some port familiar to
the Navy. Last year, the French
Riviera, where the Navy" based at
Villefranche in years gone by, was
the theme of the decorations.
This year, Charleston will be the
inspiration for the setting. Guests
will step from the elevator, which
carries them to the sail loft, upon
the grounds" of a white -porticoed
Southern mansion which stands in
the background. Spanish moss, spe-
cially imported for the occasion from
the South, will festoon the porticoes,
and laurel, gardenia plants and
evergreens will be profusely used in
carrying out the atmosphere of the
famous old Southern port. A bar
for refreshments is built behind a
window of the "old mansion" An
innovation this year is the kitchen
which has been equipped for the
service of hot food.
Funds realized will be used for
welfare work among families of men
of the Navy and Marine Corps.
1T has always been the great
pride of the Navy" Mrs. Pettingill
explained, mot to ask local charities
to help in time of emergency or need
Our men don't wish to ask for char
ity from outside the Navy. In re-
ceiving help from the Navy Relief
Society, it is a matter of the Navy
helping the Navy"
Mrs. Pettingill told of the assist
ance given to families Of men on the
Squalus, some of whom were lost
in the submarine disaster last year
A number of wives and children OF
the submarines crew were living in
Washington at the time, she said,
and would have been in great dis
tress had it not been for assistance
given by the Navy Relief Society.
First efforts made to raise funds
to alleviate distress among depend
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