Newspaper Page Text
Dec. 24, 191/.
I Jim Wishes Al “Mary Crismus” I
| BY OUR OWN RING W. LARDNER I
well al hear it is geting dost to the day witch
Sy \\ last yere was wen we got our bonenusses you re
i member al miyun was ten dolars moar that what yrs
/ p | was i mene crismus al but their wont be no bone
rsnusses this yere al & perapps it is just as well that
X. ' their wont be no bonenusses. miyun last yere was
yU \ ) \\n) S all S° ne ennyweigh by new yeres & what did it get
H.'/.y If me hay al only a better drag with Aggie you know
/ m 0 al ‘
■Vv ’ n yr e^ter y° u are lading to th .ik i will be
•A. ) hear in this traneing camp sitting on my thum &
•77(\ / VX\ wishing i was wear i aint witch wood be home wile
a \ j\. you are & haveing a big time with the girls &
r JU » everything, probly i will be wishing i was home ai
but i know there aint mutch chants of my geting
* S W'’ZP / . t&S” tbeir ts the ust of laying around & wishing.
jp'/ ~'-TT?_jTg imc he p'uest it wont be so bad after all.
I I & Wi:e * won t be geting no bonenuss of munny
P U-V'bZz/A I ile be satistfide to know their are other bonenusses
s// V/1 beside what are munny sutch as sealing better than
| VB iof ever felt befoar. witch is sum bonenuss beleev
'PRIVATE JIM* % me al wen your in S ood helth & geting 3 good meels
per day even if ime not home if i know everybody &
Aggie at home is o. k. & not sick with newmonyou
; or pendisidus ile be satisfide beside knowing that ime doing the rite thing
| by beeing down hear as a soldger in the stead of loafing around all day &
hateing to think of having to go back to the ofiis the next day.
from what is beeing ced hear we wont have sutch a poor crismus
ennyweigh as the mest sargint is planning sum feed & we are haveing little
sawdoff trees out of the woods in the bareux wear we. can lite them up &
i put on a dubbel fire garde so they wont burn down the bareux witch will
j maik it pretty mutch like home only nothing is like home wear your mother
■ aint or the old man dont sit around & cuss out the neckties & bum seegars.
I out side of haveing your soaks a round tho what is crismus al but showing
peepil that your thinking sumthing other about them be sides trying to
! sell them sumthing or maik your boss think your worth 20 dolars moar than
you are worth, it shood be a grate time then for us soldgers al becaus as
far as i can maik out no one is beeing thought moar about than the soldgers
this crismus & that ought to maik us feel pretty good al because when i
was a kid the most successful crismus was when i got the largest am’t of
junk from sandy claus. after a wile they maid me see that it wasent the
pile i got so much as the pile i gave.
wall al by both those piles the soldger has got no kick, take the pile
lies geting ala lady rushes out of a limazene the other day in a big fur
coat & i beeing next to the car witch had come into the traneing camp from
sum city she throws her arms about my neck al like i wish Aggie wood only
shes not that kind & ced you dear soldger we are thinking a bout you so
much & wandering what we can do to maik crismus nice for you. well al
it was sum fur coat she had on i cood feel the dolars in the seelskin allmost
& i ced that is very nice but we have never met befoar have we. she ced of
course not but you are defending our homes arent you & i ced so far i have
did vary little defending only offending the sarjint. she laffed & ced enny
weigh we ladies are making up boxes for you boys out hear & what wood
you like best, well al it sounded just like the old man when he wood ask
my littel sister millie when i was a kid to find out what wood i rather have
a tool chest or a pare of donahow skates, well i ced yourself lady it
is up to you we of got so we taik everything, only dont maik the sox so big
we are libel to wear them as underdose, she ced you are a nobel young
man & i lit a eigaret haveing no comeback you know me al.
their is dozens of wimmen like that al rushing a round & beleev me
th eyre a grate buntch al they sertainly are bighearted & i beleev after nes
tulling in that fur coat for a cuppel of seconds that the guy was rite hear
the other nite who ced the wimmen will win this here war.
we will know al on the twenty fifth of this month that their are
thousands & millions of peepul who are with us &. even if we can get home
the soaks can get stuff to us & we can get stuff to them & ennyweigh i hope
ime not detaled on dubbel fire duty to watch that tree outen the woods
with the candels on it. crismus comes but onct a year, hay al.
& the other pile that were giving isent so small either al but it isent
up to me to pull no sob stuff about what ime giving becaus its not mutch &
its not as much as lots of the poor ducks have had to give, wen i joind
into this here army al i give them myself & they are welcome to it sutch as
it is. well al mary crismus as we ust to say the nite befoar leaving the
ofiis. your friend, PRIVATE JIM.
HER CHRISTMAS
BY ROSCOE GILMORE STOTT
]\jO, DO not pity me nor call me sad,
* Indeed yon are in error —I am glad!
Glad that I bore and glad as well I gave;
Glad that my blood may help to free, to save,
“Somewhere in France?” E’en that Ido not know;
He heard a call; my lips close whispered: “Go!”
And now ’tis Christmas Day—and he is there —
And earth's most precious hour I’ve learned to share.
No, do not sympathise—your eyes are wet!
Indeed, you do not understand—-or you forget.
I gave him freely—as my cheerful gift—
And now no doleful song my voice shall lift.
No! Help me to be brave, deny my tears;
Think of the glory and allay my fears;
For this is Christmas Day in every land,
And over seas of space I touch his hand.
(Copyright Curtis Publishing Company)
INSIGNIA FCN SECOND LIEUTEN
ANTS
Second lieutenants now are au
thorized to wear a distinguishing in
signia. A gold bar, as distinct from
the silver bar of the first lieutenant,
will denote the lower rank. On the
overcoat sleeves the second lieuten
ants may wear single knots of braid
one-eighth of an inch wide. The dis
tinguishing feature will be its color,
brown.
TRENCH AND CAMP
GEN. PERSHING’S AID HERE
Lieut. Col. Nelson E. Margetts,
personal aid to General Pershing, has
returned to the United States with
six army o.fleers who also have been
at the front. They will map out and
conduct at the training camps here a
course of instruction in European
war methods.
Col. Margetts says the progress of
American soldiery has been unusual.
He says the men overseas are eager
for their mail from home
U. S. First To Organize
Morally Against Enemy
BY JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER, JR.
At Present Serving as a Y. M. C. A.
Secretary at Camp Dix, Weigh ts
/ town, N. J.
One of the most encouraging things
in connection with America’s en
trance into the war is the fact that,
through the Commission on Training
Camp Activities, established as a de
partment in the offices of the Secre
tary of War and the Secretary of the
Navy, with Mr. Raymond B. Fosdick
as its chairman, the period of mili
tary training of such large numbers
of our young men is to be used to
bring about the highest degree of de
velopment, both physical and moral,
of these splendid youths.
A highly important feature of this
work is being carried on, at the re
quest of the Commission on Training
Camp Activities, by the War Cam'
Community Service, whose partici ’
field of endeavor lies in the 126 c
munities adjacent to our great tr
ing camps, to finance which work .
effort is now on foot in five thousand
communities throughout the -country
to raise the sum of $4,000,000.
Fighting Loneliness
Experience has shown that when
enlisted men have free time many of
them want to get away from camp
routine and seek these nearby com
munities. Within the camps they
are under strict discipline. When
they are on leave they are free to do
as they choose. The War Camp Com
munity Service is seeing to it that the
recreation provided for them 'n these
communities adjacent to tb r .mps is
clean and wholesome. It m opening
up channels through which the sol
diers may find substitutes for the
normal relationships of life from
, which they have been suddenly cut
off. It is making it possible for them
to meet the townspeople and provid
ing antidotes for the depression of
social loneliness, which is so real a
menace to the moral strength of the
men.
This work should not be confused
with the splendid efforts of the
Young Women’s Christian Associa
tion, the Knights of Columbus and
other organizations under the direc
tion of the Fosdick Commission in
side the camps. The work of the
War Camp Community Service out
side the camp is supplementary to
0. S, SOLDIERS’ CHRISTMAS TODAY IN STRONG
CONTRAST WITH COLD, CHEERLESS YULETIDES
THEIR FOREFATHERS SPENT IN FIELD
Christmas in trench and camp will
be very different this year from the
Yule-tide known by our soldiers in
the war between the states and in the
Revolutionary War.
This year, greens, welcome pack
ages from home, entertainments, din
ners and cosy gatherings in recrea
tion ceni rs will mark the Christmas
festivit’es. Quick transportation, a
highly organized mail system and
telegraph and telephone communica
tion will bring substantial gifts and
tender messages.
Through the untiring efforts of the
Quartermaster’s Department, the
American soldier today is not only
well fed but warmly clad and com
fortably quartered.
Think of the contrast between the
Christmas of today and the Christ
mas of Civil War days. Foliowin
are a few facts from the “Reminis
cences” of General John B. Gor
don, C. S. A.
“A Melancholy Wreck”
“My men were winter-quartered in
the dense pine thickets on the rough
hills that border the Occoquan.
Christmas came, and was to be made
as joyous as our surroundings would
permit by a genuine Southern egg
nog with our friends. The country
was scoured far and near for eggs,
which were exceedingly scarce. Os
sugar we still had at that time a rea
sonable supply, but our small store
of eggs and tho other ingredients
could not be increased in all the
country round about. Mrs. Gordon
superintended the preparation of this
favorite Christmas beverage, and at
last the delicious potion was ready.
All stood anxiously waiting with
camp cups in hand. The servant start
ed toward the company with full and
foaming bowl, holding it out before
him with almost painful care. He
had taken but a few steps when he
struck his toe against the uneven
floor of the rude quarters and stum
bled. The scattered fragments of
crockery and the aroma of the wasted
nectar marked the melancholy wreck
of our Christmas cheer.
these efforts, and is done in order
that much Os the benefits derived
from them may not be lost.
We non-combatants cannot set up
moral standards for the fighting men
that we are not living up to our
selves. I believe that it is our pre
eminent duty to live cleaner lives, to
set a higher standard of morality for
ourselves, as one great means of
helping the fighting men. If the non
combatants will do this, it will be a
tremendous support to the soldiers in
France and will be a mighty factor
for military victory. For it has been
estimated that soldiers, physically
and morally clean, mean an active
army of at least twenty-five per cent
more men on duty.
Helping to Win the War
It is a splendid thing to be able to
say that the United States is the first
nation in the history of the world to
organize morally against the enemy.
That is the meaning of all this work
under the direction of the Fosdick
Commission, inside and outside the
amps. Its purpose is to help win the
war, to help win it in the shortest
possible time, and to win it with the
sacrifice of a minimum number of
lives. It is a work which will affect
directly the character and the spirit
of the men behind the guns, that will
keep them clean of mind and body,
that will prevent them from being in
capacitated through disease, and that
will bring them home an asset to the
nation and not a liability.
I want to emphasize the fact that
the work of the War Camp Commun
ity Service is entirely constructive
and in no way restrictive of the sol
dier’s liberty. At home he has his
friends, his clubs or associations, his
local dances, moving picture theatres,
books and outdoor sports. This or
ganization is supplying him with sub
stitutes to occupy his time when he
is on leave from camp. It is building
him club houses and recreation build
ings, comfort stations and swimming
pools. It is giving him books to read,
socials and receptions, smokers,
vaudeville, athletics, concerts and
motion picture shows. All these will
be at his disposal. He is free to
choose them or the unwholesomfe
some amusements which scar the
body and sear the soul. No one ques
tions what the choice of the average
wholesome, manly American boy will
be.
“The winter was a severe one and
the men suffered greatly—not only
for want of sufficient preparation,
but, beciuse those from farther south
were unaccustomed to so cold d cli
mate. There was much sickness in
camp. It was amazing to see the
large number of country boys who
had never had the measles. Indeed,
Ft seemed to me that they ran
through the whole catalogue of com
plaints to which boyhood and even
babyhood are subjected. They had
everything almost except teething,
nettle-rash, and whooping-cough. 1
rather think some of them were af
flicted with this latter disease.”
Barefooted in Snow
Fiske, in his history of the United
States, says, “The dreadful sufferings
if Washington’s army at Valley
orge have called forth the pity and
’Deration of historians, but the point
i the story is lost unless we realize
hat the misery resulted from gross
mismanagement rather than from the
poverty of tho country. As the poor
soldiers marched, their route could
be traced in the snow by the blood
that oozed from their bare, frost-bit
ten feet. On the 23rd of December,
Washington informed Congress that
he had in camp (2,898 men unfit for
duty'because they are barefoot and
otherwise naked). For want of blan
kets many were fain to sit up all
night by fires instead of taking com
fortable rest in a natural and com
mon way.
“Cold and hunger daily added
many to the sick list and in the
crowded hospitals, which were for the
most part mere log huts or frail wig
wams woven of twisted boughs, men
sometimes died for want of straw to
put between themselves and the
frozen ground on which they lay.”
Montgomery tells us, “While Howe
and his officers were living luxurious
ly in Philadelphia. Washington’s
men, naked and starving, were dying
of putrid fever on the frozen hill
sides of Valley Forge. They were
dying, too, before the good news,
could reach them that the French
king would certainly aid America.”
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