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TRENCH SID CfflP
CAMP HANCOCK, Augusta, Ga,
EDITION,”11,000.
GEO. D. LANDISanrI J. EDGAR
PROBYN, Editors.
Publshed.with the co-operaton of THE
HERALD PUBLISHING CO,
Augusta, Ga.
ISSUED EVERY V IDNESDAY.
Vol. I—Dec.~24~ni7 No. 12.
Application has been mado for
TRENCH and CAMP for entry as 17 11
Matter of the Second Class at the Au
gusta, Ga., Postoffice.
SUBSCRIPTION RATES.
Trench and Camp will be mailed to
any address in the United States
at the following rates:
Three months 15c
Six months 25c
One year ,50c
NOTICE.
This edition of Trench and Camp
is limited to 11,000 copies. An
effort will be made to place one or
more copies in every tent.
If parties are desirous of other
copies, application should be made
to the nearest Y. M. C. A. building,
where they will be gladly furnished
as long ai they last.
Ac tho edition is limited to 11,000
copies, please do not throw your
copy away, when you are through
with it. Pass it on to some other
fellow.
News items, personals, programs,
meetings, announcements, etc.,
from all the units in the camp will
be welcomed by Trench and Camp
and printed as far as space per
mits. These communications can
be left with secretaries at any of
the Y. M. C. A. buildings and will
be turned over to the editors. All
copy should be turned in as early
as possible. No copy can be hand
led later than Monday noon, pre
ceding date of issue. Trench and
Camp will be issued every Wed
nesday by
CAMP HANCOCK ARMY
Y. M. C. A.
From the Office of The Augusta
Herald.
The Christmas message from- Secretary
of War Baker on the first page is sent to
all American soldiers and their families
through TRENCH and CAMP because he
•realizes that this paper is the direct me
dium for reaching the soldiers, being, as
President Wilson put it, “in a very spe
cial sense a soldiers’ newspaper.”
A MERRY CHRISTMAS.
So many stupendous things have oc
curred since the great world war be
gan, that it takes an event of gigan
tic proportions to arouse more than
passing interest. The great Halifax
disaster is fast passing into memory,
although it occurred but a few days
ago—and so it goes. One event suc
ceeds another with surprising rapidity
and we believe we are correct in say
ing that the fall of erusalem has ceased
to excite the thrill that was occasioned
throughout the Christian world when
Andrew Bonai- Law announced to the
House of Commons that General Al
lenby’s victorious troops were in pos
session of the most sacred city on
earth.
To the heart of every devout Chris
tian, the celebration of Christmas this
year will be fraught with deeper sig
nificance than ever because Christian
soldiers stand guard at all the tradi
tional places where Jesus Christ lived i
and died. The story of the Birth of
Christ will become more precious to
boys and girls, men and women, be
cause of the knowledge that never
more will the places so intimately as
sociated with His life be in possession
of men hostile and tyrannical to Chris
tian believers.
The blood of the Crusaders was not
shed in vain, for these brave knights
of old, in their defeat, gave to the
world an example of idealism, of devo
tion to the Christ, that has been an
inspiration to millions of people
throughout the passing centuries.
believe that the composite troops en
gaged in the military operations in the
Holy Land, in which the Welsh were
especially prominent, were moved to
prodigies of valor by the religious fer
vor which must have sustained them
as they drew within sight of the holy
places. We believe that every man
who died on the hot Syrian sands gave
his life gladly. We believe that every
man who was wounded will suffer and
bear his scars proudly.
It seems paradoxical to wish one a
“Merry Christmas” when the air is so
surcharged with all that is serious and
awful—when millions of men are fight-
FRENCH AND CAMP
Ing the fight of death and millions of
others are preparing themselves for the
fray. And yet the wish is quite proper.
Christmas dawns upon us in the year
1917 with all the gladness of previous
years, despite the bloodshed and mis
ery. The spirit of Christmas —the re
joicing over the birth of the world’s
Redeemer—is more warranted than
ever. It is not the Christ spirit that
has plunged the nations into war. It
is not the spirit of Christ that has
aroused the demon of hate among men.
In fact, it is the spirit of Christ that
is the sweet-smelling savour that shall
bring light of darkness, order ov.t of
chaos and happiness out of misery.
When the issues of this war shall
have been settled, it will be the spirit
of the Christ-filled men that shall be
triumphant. What is the spirit of fair
play animating the British and Amer
ican soldier but the spirit of “Do unto
others as you would that men should
do unto you?” What is the spirit of
the men w’ho murder women and chil
dren; who send defenseless people to
a watery grave without warning; - who
violate all established principles of
warfare and ethical teaching—but the
lack of the Christ spirit and the sub
stitution of the spirit of “might makes
right.”
And so, in the light of all these great
issues, there is ample occasion for re
joicing over the annivei .ary of the
birth of the Babe of Bethlehem. And
we wish the men of the Twenty-eighth
Division a Merry Christmas. May the
spirit and of the day have
new meaning for us!
Everlasting Peace
A Christmas Song
________________
BY J. EDGAR PROBYN.
(Dedicated to Mr. and Mrs. Isaac Read)
Ho. minstrels! bring your music.
Come, pipers, tune your lay;
Let’s dance beneath the mistletoe,
For this is Christmas Day!
Come, bring the blood-red holly
With leaves of vivid green,
And deck the hall with tinsel,
To beautify the scene.
Ho. walstrels! make ye merry!
Come, gather ’round the tree
And sing until the welkin ring
Os the Nativity.
Come, bring your gifts, ye Wise Men,
From desert lands afar;
And follow on o’er the hill and plain,
The Bright and Shining Star.
Ho! ; ngels of the heavenly choir,
Again your anthem sing,
Os peace on- earth, good will to men—
The message of our King.
O blessed Babe of Bethlehem,
Thou infant so divine,
Thy manger hath become a throne
Of-David’s royal line.
And though the guns about us roar,
Thy kingdom shall increase,
And Love shall bless the hearts of men
With Everlasting Peace.
Camp Hancock Y. M. C. A.
December 22, 1917.
MISTLETOE MYTHS EXPLAINED
The good old custom of hanging the
mistletoe from the ceiling at the
Christmas festivities is said to have
its origin in the idea that since the
plant did not hav its roots in the
ground no part of it should ever be
permitted to touch the earth.
Among the Saxons the fact that -.is
tietoe was suspended from the roof of
a dwelling intimated to the wayfarer
that the hospitality of the house was
at his disposal, and beneath its
branches friend and stranger, vassal
and lord, gathered together in com
radeship and good cheer. The religious
aspect of the mistletoe tradition, which
had its origin in the Druidical rites,
and the gathering of it by the Arch-
Druid with his golden sickle, merged
later into a purely social srrrybol, and
the idea of simple hospitality developed
into one of merrymaking and a some
what riotous entertainment.
The kiss of the Scandinavian goddess
expanded into the custom of a kiss giv
en for every berry that grew on the
bough. Small wonder that, in spite
of the mistletoe having originally ex
isted in the odor of sanctity, the church
came to regard it as an entirely pa
gan symbol and refused to allow it to
participate with the holly and the ever
green in the Yuletide derocations.
There is an ancient belief that the
mistletoe was the tree from which the
holy cross was hewn and that after
this was made the plant withered, and
ever afterward became a mere para
site growth, clinging for support to
other and sturdier trees. Other stories,
however, credit it with divine gifts in
the healing of disease and the expul
sion of evil spirits.—Good Stories.
It is a small matter to the brewers that
they are responsible for a coal shortage
in the country. Their idea is, “You can
all go to hell to get warm.”
A WAR CHRISTMAS
By T. A. WIGGINTON
Camp Religious Work Director
For the first time in more than half
a century, America faces a war-Christ
mas. There are two reasons why this
situation comes to us with more of a
shock than ever before: First, because
we had come- to believe that we had
passed the danger of any great war; and
Second, because this is the greatest and
most devastating war which the world
has ever known. Many believed that
Christianity had gained such an ascend
ancy in the world as to prevent any gen
eral war. Others thought that the de
structiveness of modern war would cause
the vast business interests of the worid
to put a final check on war-like ambitions.
It is with quite a shock, therefore, that
we find ourselves in the midst of the
most stupendous war in all history, in
this year of our Lord, 1917.
The situation is such as to cause many
to question whether we can consistently
celebrate Christmas in the midst of war.
The true Christmas spirit, they say, is
the spirit of peace and good-will. Con
siderations like this have caused the un
thinking to leap to the conclusions that
this world war is against everything for
which Christmas stands, and effectually
discrediting to Christianity. Two possible
answers might be given to such a charge.
First, if Christianity is discredited by this
war, so is everything else which has en
tered into our civilization, such as edu
cation, applied science, statesmanship,
and many other things which might be
proposed as a substitute for Christianity.
The best answer, perhaps is, that this war
does not discredit Christianity because
Christianity has never had a fair trial.
This war grew out of those human re
lationships in which, it was generally sup
posed, Christian principles had no place.
Let us look a little more closely at the
Christmas message and see if a part of
our difficulty does not come from a mis
apprehension of its real meaning. The
chorus of the angels is usually taken as
epitomizing that message: “Glory to God
in the highest, and on earth peace, good
will toward men,” That is the way it is
fixed in our thinking; but a truer reading I
CHRIST IN FLANDERS
We had forgotten You, or very nearly—
You did not seem to touch us very
nearly—
Os course we thought about You
now and then;
Especially in any time of trouble—
We knew that You were good in time of
trouble —
But we are very ordinary men.
And there were always other things to
think of—
There’s lots of things a man has got
to think of—
His Work, his home, his pleasures,
and his wife;
And so we only thought of You on
Sunday—
Sometimes, perhaps, not even on a
Sunday—
Because there’s always lots to fill
one’s life.
And, all the while, in street or lane or
by-way—
In country lane, in city street or by
way—
You walked among us, and we did not
see.
Your feet were bleeding as You walked
our pavements—
How did we miss Your footprints on
our pavements?—
Can there be other folks as blind as
we?
Now we remember; over here in Flan
ders —
(It isn’t strange to think of You in
Flandersi —
This hideous warfare seems to make
things clear.
The Spirit of Christmas
By HENRY VAN- DYKE.
(In the Presbyterian Advance.)
Are you willing to forget what you
have done for other people and re
member what other people have done
for you; to ignore what the world owes
you, and to think what you owe the
world; to pu tyour rights in the back
ground, and your duties in the mid
dle distance, and your chances to do
a little more than your duty in the
foreground; to see that your fellow
men are just as real as you are, and
try to look behind their faces to their
hearts, hungry for joy; to own that
probably the only good reason 'or your
existence is not what you are going
to get out of life, but what you are
going to give to life; to close your
book of complaints against the uni
verse, and look around you for a place
where you can sow a few seeds of
happiness—are you willing to do these
things even for a day? Then you can
keep Christmas.
Are you willing to stoop down and
consider the needs and the desires of
little children; to remember the weak
ness and loneliness of people who are
growing old; to stop asking whether
your friends love you, and ask your
self whether you love them enough
to bear in mind the things that other
people have to bear on their hearts;
Dec. 24, 1917.
of that second clause would be, “on earth
peace among men who please Him.” This
being true, it should not be difficult to
see that there may be war without the
Christmas message being discredited.
Until men learn to put the doing of God’s
will before every other consideration it is
very probable that they shall have war.
Jesus made it very plain that he did not
come to bring peace without retard to
righteousness. He says plainly: “Do not
suppose that I came to bring peace to the
earth: I did not come to bring peace but
a sword.” This is not inconsistent with
the real meaning of the Angels’ Chorus.
Righteousness must be established before
peace can be guaranteed. This saying of
Jesus cannot be taken as a proof text by
those who maintain that war must always
be necessary. Jesus did not mean to jus
tify war, but he certainly shows that it
was not only possible, but probable, so
long as sin is entrenched in the worid.
What he meant was, that there is an ir
reconcilable conflict between righteous
ness and unrighteousness, and that this
conflict must manifest itself in one form
or .another, until righteousness prevails.
This war-time Christmas may well
challenge us to a reconsideration of the
real significance of Christmas. To us, not
inappropriately, it has come to be a fes
tival of good cheer and good will. This
has undoubtedly caused us to lose some
thing of its deeper and sterner signifi
cances. We are reminded anew, this
Christmas, that the real Christmas spirit
is the spirit of sacrifice as well as of good
cheer and good will. God’s great gift to
the worid has been for centuries the
source of the deepest and purest joy;
but it was at the cost of infinite sacrifice.
The blessings which Christ brought to
the world are beyond measure; but he
brought them at the cost of the bitterest
suffering. When he gladly sacrificed all,
shall we complain that the sacrifices de
manded of us are too bitter? When he
"hath purchased with his own blood” our
redemption, shall we say that our blood
is too precious to be shed for the redemp
tion of the world from the power of a god
-1 :ss materialism which recognizes no Bight
but might?
We never thought about You much in
England—
But now that we are far away from
England—
We have no doubts, we know Yon
are here.
You helped us pass the jet along tin
trenches
Where, in cold blood, we waited in tha
trenches—
You touched its ribaldry and made it
fine.
You stood beside us in our pain and
weakness—
Somehow it seems to help us not t«
whine.
We think about You kneeling in th«
Garden—
Ah, God! the agony of that dread
Garden —
We know You prayed for us upon th«
Cross.
If anything could make us glad»to beat
it—
'Twould be the knowledge that You
willed to bear it —
Pain—death —the uttermost of hu
man loss.
Though we forgot You—You will not
forget us—
We feel so sure that You will not for
get us —
But stay with us until this dream if
past.
And so we ask for courage, strength
and pardon—
Especially, I think, we ask ’or par
don —•
And that You’ll stand beside us t«
the last.
—L. W., in the London Spectator.
to try to understand what those who
live in the same house with you really
want, without waiting for them to tell
you; to trim your lamp so that it will
give more light and less smoke, and
to carry it in front so that your shad
ow will fall behind you; to make a
grave for your ugly thoughts and a
garden for your kindly feelings, with
the gate open—are you willing to do
these things even for a day? Then
you can keep Christmas.
Are you willing to belie*' • that love
is the strongest thing in the world
stronger than hate, stronger than evil,
stronger than death—and that the
blessed Life which began in Bethle
hem nineteen hundred years ago is the
image and brightness of the Eternal
Love? Then you can keep Christmas.
And if you can keep it for a day,
why not always? But you can never
keep it alone.
P HIL A D ELPHiA M!N iSTER HERE. '
Rev. William Russell Cwei;, pastor
of the Memorial Baptist church, Phil
adelphia, arrived in Camp Hancock on
Saturday, to assume the position of
religous work director at one of the
buildings—probably the new No. 80.
Mr. Owen was for some years pastor
of the Captiol Avenue Baptist church,
Atlanta, and prior to his Philadelphia
pastorate was in ’■ ge of a promi
nent Brooklyn church