SOLDIERS FIRST
THIS CHRISTMAS
Even Children Take Second
Place in This Year's
Yuletide
It's the soldiers' Christmas this
year. Even the children will take
second place.
Christmas is going to come not
only to every soldier in an encamp
ment or cantonment in the United
States, and to every sailor on ship-'
board or in port, but also to every
man in a prison camp, and to every
man in uniform, somewhere in;
Krance, or anywhere else in the ser
vice. They will all celebrate Christ-:
mas, through the efforts of the Y. M. i
C. A., in co-operation with other
organizations. Not one will be left j
out on Christmas.
There will be Christmas trees, not
only in every Y. M. C. A. building 1
in the United States where men in
uniform come, but in the base camps >
in the training zone in France, and i
even behind the trenches, where the:
improvised angels on the top boughs!
shake with the reverberations of the!
German guns, and carols are sung |
to the accompaniment of exploding j
shells. There will be gifts, wrapped
as daintily as if they were intended
for somebody's best girl, for many
of the men who haveg't gotten any
from home, when they come into
the Y. M. C. A. huts on Christmas
Day. And men coming wet and cold
from the trenches will warm them
selves around real Yuletide logs in
the fireplaces in the Red Triangle
huts.
Scrubby Christmas trees with
carefully saved bits of tallow candles
as their only decoration will bring
the holiday spirit for a time even
to the prison camps in Siberia, where
the Bethlehem story will be read in
Y. M. C. A. huts, and an orchestra
made up of the prisoners of war will
play "Holy Night" on instruments of
their own making. Secretaries will
greet men who speak no English
with "Merjy Christmas!" and they
will understand. No children, in the
United States are more excited over
their Christmas preparations than
the prisoners of war over theirs.
Thousands of packages addressed
merely to "Some Soldier, Somewhere
in France," left the Atlantic porta
on the early November boats. The
movements of the troops over there
make it unlikely that some of the
personally-addressed presents will
get to the men by Christmas Pay,
but as far as possible the Y. M. C.
A. will see that none of them are
without a gift. The soldiers and
sailors who are still In the United
States will be equally well looked
after by the holiday spirits. Not
more than approximately one-third
of them will be allowed to leave
camp on December 25, but those who
can't go to Christmas will lave
Christmas brought to them, hy the
Y. M. C. A.
The people of Maryland will act
as St. Nick for the Maryland men at
Camp Meade, Md„ and Camp Mc-
Clellan, Ala. They have raised a
fund which makes it possible to
spend about a dollar and a half I'or
the Christmas present of every Mary
land man in uniform.
Two thousand soldiers at Camp
Meade would be real Christmas out
casts if it were not for the holiday
kindness of their comrades. There
will be no trees for them, no celebra
tion in the Y. M. C. A. buildings, or
visits from the home folk, for they
are the victims of something as old
as Christmas, itself—they have all|
been quarantined with the meifeles.
They will not lose the holiday, en-1
tirely. however, for a choir organiz-l
ed under the auspices of the Y. M. I
C. A. will march through camp sing-1
Ing Christmas carols, pausing in;
front of the barracks where these |
men are isolated to cheer them with
all the Christmas hymns in their rep
ertoire.
Large Increase in
Marriages Result of War
London, Dec. 20.—"Crudely stated
the war has resulted in 200,000 peo
ple in the United Kingdom being!
ma tried between August, 1914, and j
June, 1917, who in the ordinary j
course would not have married,"
says Bernard Mallet, president of
the Statistical Society.
The loss of potential liv#: to the
belligerent countries by the decrease
in number of children born, was per
haps the most important effect upon
vital statistics produced by the war,
he said. In births the Unfted King
dom had suffered far less than Ger
many and Hungary, the United King- |
dom having lost 10,000 per each mil- I
lion of the population. Germany 40,-
000 and Hungary 70,000 per mil
lion.
The infant mortality in the sum
mer of 1917 appeared to have been
very high in several German cities,
and the all through re
mained at some 50 per cent, higher
than in England.
An alteration in the sex ratio of
birth appeared to be established by
the figures of the United Kingdom,
the. proportion of males having no
ticeably increased. Contrary to ex-1
pectations the war had produced no
effect on the figures of illegitimate
births.
§' ""giveH
EYE
GLASSES
If you wish to make your father,
mother, sister or brother a Christ
mas gift that will give real pleasure
and enjoyment, a pair or our Eve
glasses are just the thing. We will
make a careful examination and <
guarantee satisfaction.
Eyesight Specialist
S# KOHTH THIHL) STREET
Nchlelaaer Building
Hot Water Bottles
Encased For Traveling
GORGAS
16 N. 3rd St. Penna. Station, j
RESORTS
LAUREL HOUSE
LAKEWOOD, N. J.
First class American Plan Hotel.
A short motor run from Camp Dlx,
at Wrlghtstown, N. J.
A. J. Murphy, MKT.
C. V. Murphy, AMI. Sl* I
THURSDAY EVENING,
"The Live Store . Always Reliable"
Old Santa Is "Almost" Ready lip
And Indeed there's not so much time to get ready anymore—tomorrow • \w
lam going to spend the whole day at DOUTRICHS buying "Shirts "Neckwear," "Hosiery," "Un-
M ajamaß " " Sweaters " "Gloves," "Handkerchiefs," and other "useful" gifts that are to be had at this
"The Real Christmas Store" |M|
COa u X " 01d awayfromDoutrichs this year, someone asked \|S|^M
ME why I didn t divide my buying more—Well you see, I can't find a very good excuse for not buying at that M'- 1 )
"Live Store" because they have everything I want in such enormous quantities and larger assortments that even if I wanted to illi'' i/JHS
go elsewhere I couldn t find a reasonable excuse for doing so, then too, I have a friend in there who told me that if I would ! J| 111
spend most of my money at DOUTRICHS this Christmas they could boast of having the largest Men's Furnishing Goods De- JII I
partment in Pennsylvania outside of Philadelphia and Pittsburgh and "you bet" lam glad to see "it so " for everybody is
talking about the Square-dealing and good treatment they get at DOUTRICHS and they well deserve this recognition.
They are always busy at DOUTRICHS No matter when you go in or
/Hi In 1 heard a man say on Saturday that he could start a small store if he only got the overflow $ 111 IIP' JB
rwtttTlT from DOUTRICHS—No, No, You're Wrong! They all come back later —that's what keeps J'*sL S lf!L Jflfifi
Um Ij| t"* B "Live Store" in the limelight as Harrisburg's Most Progressive Store. if III''! '' ISIIWIS
11 i '~i I l>- —Q ueß ti° n >* How near ready are YOU? Have you completed rfl all i iff HI
I\ k Christmas Shopping? Probably "HE" will appreciate a nice | Pj M
I Bath Robe; or House Coat J|j |
Bath Robes in shades of Blue, Gray, Tan, Green and Brown, House Coats that are unquestionably good, neat trimmed ; VI |
suitably trimmed with girdle cord, collar, P oc^e^s and cuffs on rich shades of Green, Wine, Blue f jMI?
• and Gray, \.o\
$3.98 to $15.00 . $5.00 to $12.00
"Interwoven" and "Monito Hosiery. Neckwear
Hosiery may be the last thing you would think of ou t" c^B make up your Christmas package
for a gift but surely it's very important to have M : ll ' i "iMwuSSm °f, neckwea 1 r - No matter how many neckwear *tf
nlpntv of crnorl j i k* *My\ A g1 " 8 you Be^ect here, they will all be boxed free.
plenty of good hose. Try the good ones we have, lf 5™ have friends by the thousands you'll be able
31'L* w |AA to c^oose a different tie for each one from the iSSBBf
lor JpAUU VT mammoth assortments.
Better Cirades6oc and $1.15 <i . 50c to $2.50
Handkerchiefs of Linen and Cambric I - "Adler Gloves" '
Every initial from Ato Z put up in attractive boxes of half , u . - • , , iy * jW j
dozen or sold in any quantity. WIU HlB fin gers warm and give a neat appearance to His
Initial Cambric Handkerchiefs 15c hands the "Gray Mocha" Gloves we have this season are f
Initial Lmen Handkerchiefs .... .. . .25c extra heavy weight and they will wear better than the ordinary ' . sSh
xra me Qua lty Handkerchiefs 3 for SI.OO kinds—We have every other kind of a glove you can think of.
"Manhattan Shirts'' "Munsing Underwear" "Stetson Hats" nImHP
/ II
HXRJRISBURG TELEGRAPH
DECEMBER 20, 1917.
13