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- I L-lgss — t Uli ! feSd { * ~? 11? I' 1 ' 33 * * 5 pctf F?yj ffijyy i - 1 { Page 4 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