Evening star., 1945-05-23

poeC4C VI SlldliliJdSIle OlI llcI plON
waved to the workers who had had
rode into the waters with her.
Il christen thee Maritime Vic
in a proud, clear voice as she sma
she was given the honor to christer
was a veteran in christening ships
She, however, is not. Yesterdays
was her first; in fact it was the first
time she had ever been present at
one. When she swung the cham
pagne bottle encased in red, white
and blue satin ribbon she truly put
much more force in it than one
would expect of such a dainty and
petite lady. She stepped back quickly
after striking the proW-completely
missed the spray of champagne
which fell partly on the boat, but
mostly on Mr.. j. M. Willis. vice
president and general manager of
the shipyard.
Mrs. Snyder was presented with a
bouquet of American Beauty roses
upon her arrival on the official
platform with her husband, Repre-
sentative Snyder of Pennsylvania,
who was the principal speaker at
the launching. Later she received
a handsome pin in the shape of a
V, bearing the maritime service
emblem, a gift of officials of the
Shipyard.
The ladies on the official platform
We're divided in the selection OF
attire appropriate for lunchlng.
Those who wore suits were envious
Of those who had favored summery
dresses worn with fur scrafS and
light wraps. The sun was bright
il decidedly was quite warm. Yet
the wind was high and so, regard
less of whose choice of clothes was
the more sensible. the ladies all
rame in for a bit OF discomfort as
The wind whipped under their hats
and beautifully arranged hair-do'S
became diSheveled Every one on
the platform seemed to be holding
on 10 q hat, even the gentlemen
were doing their share of this.
Mrs. Snyder wore a smartly tai
lored two-piece dress of black crepe
patterned in white in a French
poodle design Her hat was a small
cartwheel style of black straw edged
with white feathers. Her scarf was
mink.
Perhaps the most excited members
of the Snyder party that accom-
panied them by motor from Wash
ington were the Misses Anne and
Alice Prescott, lovely blond nieces
Of Mrs Snyder The pretty school
girls are the daughters Of Mr. and
Mrs, Harvey Prescott and were
granted a day from school in Phila-!
delphia to attend the event.
Mai. Gen. C. P. Gross and Maj. Gen.
George j. Richards of Gen. Mar
shau's staff. with their respective
wives, were in the official group at
tending the affair.
In earlier years the christening
ceremonies took place at midday in
stead of the afternoon, as did yes
terdayS event Then a large and
elaborate luncheon and reception
would follow, with sometimes over
500 guests attending. Since the
war the parties given in connection
with launchings have been curtailed
The party marking the christening
Yesterday was luncheon at the
Relvedere. with the guests limited
10 so The launching ceremonies
yesterday. however, were witnessed
by thousands of persons, including
the many thousand workers of the
Shipyard, who for the most part
were just taking time out from
their tasks. Many of the workers
had been joined by their families,
and when l glanced down into the
sea of faces from the speakers
platform I saw hundreds of little
children.
The luncheon yesterday was held
in the ballroom of the hotel, with
guests enjoying mint juleps before
being seated at the horseshoe |
shaped table. Tall vases of white |
peonieS. calla lilies and baby POM
ponS alternated with white tapers
III NllNti EdIluItSGlChS dIouIiu Illt
table The luncheon opened with /
;he playing of The Star Spangled
Banner" and then. the musicians
entertained with the time-honored
songs of the services and then wound
up with some of the latest popular
hit tunes Guests joined the soloist
in singing and there was general
informal atmosphere at the party.
The repaSt began with fruit cock
tail, then beef consomme. with lob
stPr thermidor served with aSpara-
GIIs and potatoes. There was butter
and rolls, celery and ripe olives and
frappe was served with small cakes
and coffee. Cigarettes were plenti-
full and there were cigars for the
gentlemen. /
One of the inspiring features of
the christening, other than the &C
tual releasing of the ship, was the
playing of The Star Spangled Ban
ner," when thousands Of voices,
young and old, in clear voice, some
out of tune, could be heard singing
CI,r