Norwich Bulletin Newspaper, December 25, 1915, Page 4

Glorwich Bulletin and Qoudied 119 YEARS OLD bscription price 12¢ & week; 50¢ a month; $6.00 a year. Entered at the Postotfice at Norwlch, Conn., as second-class matter. Telephone Calls: | Bulletin Business Otfice 480. Bulletin Editorial Rooms 35-3, Bulletin Job Office 35-2. Willlmantic Office, Room 2, Murray ! Building. Telephone 210. Norwich, Saturday, Dec. 25, 1915 H - e t ;The Circulation of | The Bulletin The Bulletin has the largest circulation of any paper in Eastern Connecticut and from three to four times larger than that of any in Norwich. It is dellvered to over 3,000 of the 4,063 houses in Nor- wich and read by ninety-three per cent. of the people. In Windham it 1s delivered to_over 900 houses, fin Putmam and Danielson to over 1,100, and in all of these places it 2is considered the local daily. § mastern Connecticut has forty- nine towns, one hundred and sixty- five postoffice districts, and sixty rural frce delivery routes. The Bulletin is sold in every town and on all of he R. F. D. routes in Eastern Connecticut. CIRCULATION average......... 1901, 4412 5,920 1905, average... CHRISTMAS HERE AND ABROAD. It is'a great contrast which is shown this year in the conditions which are existing at Christmastide in this country and in the war-stricken coun- tries of Europe. Across the water every energy is being bent towards the gathering of funds, forces and munitions for the continuation of the world's greatest struggle which, thoush a vear and a half old, is being pushed with as great vigor as at any time since it started. The terrific losses which have occurred and those which are yet to come, to say nothing of the great amount of misery and suffering which have followed as a natural re- sult of the bloody strife get little con- sideration while the goal of victory is still so far in the distant future. Christmas day may be noted in the trenches and camps, but it will be punctuated by non and the other d the booming of can taking of life like any tmas finds this country equal- 1y a different r Though the industrial activity w exists throughout this nation has been brought about as the result of the conditions abroad, peace prevails here and while deep consideration is being given to precautionary steps which will increase the defenses of this country, it is not for the purpose of plunging into war, but for the prefer- able reason of maintaining peace. The situation is one in which this country has, on the anniversary of the birth of the great Peace Maker, greater reason than ever to be thank- ful that it has not been led to de- viate from its path and that it is at peace With the entire world. SUNK WITHOUT WARNING. Disturbing the announcement which is made concerning the torpedo- ing of the Japanese steamship Yasaka Maru at the eastern end of the Med- fterranean, not so much because the sinking of that big ship valued with its cargo in the carly despatches at $5,000,000, but because the information is given at the same time that no warning whatever was given to the vessel, which was a merchantman 2, women and children is in addition to the crew. That there was no loss of life was due to the fact that it was three-quarters of an hour after the vessel was struck that it went down, which time it was possible for all to escape, but the fact that there was no loss of life was in no way due to any protection ex tended by the attacking submarine. That such a 1 was legizimate prey of the warships of the enemy cannot be questioned. It was subject to visit and search and it w subject to seizure or destruction, but it was nevertheiess entitled to treatment in accordance with the pro ns of in- ternational law which requires that the passengers and crew shall be put in places of safety and this, through the failure to give any warning, the commander of the submarine made Jo_effort to observe. The Japanese liner was treated ex- tly as was the Lusitania, if the first Jeports are true. There was no re- gard for the rights of humanity. The human carzo was treated as if it was Lreight, despitc the international promises to the contrary, and the fact that lives were not lost reflects no credit upon the underwater boat or the government it represents, whether it was German or Austrian. It is an- other instance twhere international law became a “scrap of paper.” INCREASE THE EXPORTS. By the report of the department of commerce for the twelve months end- ing with November the interesting showing is made that the United States broke all previous records for export trade. The same situation was shown for the month. The amount of goods sent out of the country rose to the new level of over three and a third billion dollars against a trifle over two billion for the previous year end- ing at the same time. This is a business which this coun- try may not be able to maintain, but it is the goal for which it should con- tinually aim for the need of the na- tion now as it has always been Is a steady increase in that direction. It was Alexander Hamilton, tho father of the protective tarlff, who, in one of his public documents, declared “the principal thing to Be considered for the advancement of commerce is to promote exports.” Albert Gallatin, the father of the revenue theory of the tariff, recognized in the same de- gree the importance of foreign mar- %ots. Holland was long the richest nation of Europe because-it was the leader in shipping and foreign trade and not until Great Britain realized it did it take the leadership. Ger- many built up its great foreign trade for the same reason and Japan is now branching out for its share of business in foreign markets in a man- ner which indicates that it does not intend to let opportunity slip through its grasp. Our export trade-at the present time is the result of conditions which are not under our control, but the chance is presented this country to mot omly temporarily benefit therefrom, but to retain this increased business per- manently if it will but respond to the demands of foreign markets and give encouragement to the shipping which will make it possible. SERIOUS BLOWS TO THRIFT. Much Interest has been awakened throughout the country in the sys- tems of saving which have been in- stituted in a large number of schools. It teaches a lesson that is of lasting value through the encouragement of thrift for the formation of such a habit at that time in life is a highly desirable thing. It proves the old saying, “Take care of the pennies and the dollars will take care of them- selves” and the idea cannot be too firmly planted in the minds of chil- dren. Most unfortunate in connection with this school saving plan is the occasional failure of institutions where such savings are deposited. It does more than anything else to nul- lify the good effects of the idea and creates an impression of distrust which will be as difficult to overcome as it has been to teach the lesson of systematic saving. Happlly the instances are few where banks which solicit such deposits are forced to close their doors, but the placing of the Pittsburg bank in the hands of a receiver where 40,000 chil- dren had their accounts is likely to leave a memory which will be hard to efface especially when it is de- clared that certain depositors were carefully protected in that same in- stitution but the children's account was not. In view of the lesson which this is sure to teach it would appear that if there are any depositors whose in- terests are more carefully guarded than others, though there should be no disposition to take unwarranted chances with anyone's money, they should be those of the school children who are being taught one of the most valuable lessons in self protection through saving. Otherwise the preach- ing of thrift is apt to fall on deaf ears. INADEQUATE PROTECTION. With conditions as they are today in this country it is impossible to overlook the meaning of the state- ment which is made to the effect that hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of the country’s military property and equipment is insufficlently guarded. That $50,000,000 worth of guns are without trained forces to man them} is in keeping with the situation in the navy, where vessels are placed on the reserve list and tied up because there are not enough men to keep them in active service. It is in keeping with the condition at forts where there is little or no protection for the large outlays which have been made in the way of equipment, but where arsenals, navy yards or military property of any character are given only one- quarter of the guards that safety re- quires, the situation is one which ought to receive more than passing attention. Plotters have been active country for months with industries which are engaged in turning out zoods for the belligerent nations as the objects of their attack, but there are instances such as the attempt to destroy an _international bridge and the Welland canal which indicate that the nation's property cannot be too carefully guarded against the opera- tions of those who are willing to so to any length to attain their pur- pose. ~ Protection should be main- tained in accordance with the exlst- ing conditions and the time to do it is before something happens to in- dicate that laxity is to be charged with a certain part of the blame. Preparedness in the provision of means of defense will amount to lit- tle unless the precaution is taken to properly guard that which is already possessed. EDITORIAL NOTES. A Merrv Christmas to each and every one. in this There can be little question but what Santa Claus spent a busy night before. From now on there will be a wild scramble to exchange tho misfits, the duplicates and the triplicates. _ This is one of the holidays when it is well to remember that temperance applies to much more than drink. Those who have put up their autos for the winter are not worrying just now over the high price of gasoline. Though the Christmas bells are in evidence today they will be quickly followed by an avalanche of Christ- mas bills. While the kalser is reported to be suffering from zellgewebentsuendung it is to be hoped the disease is no worse than the name. The man on the corner says: If you know anything about psychology you can give some sort of mysterlous answer to all fool questions. A good resolution that might be adopted with excellent results would of Christmas alive throughout the new year. Colonel Roosevelt is reported as hating Wilson, but then that is a way he has of disposing of men who stand in his way after putting them in office. —_— Now that New York is going to per- mit the sale of horseflesh for food it is only reasonable to expect that an age limit will be placed upon it, and that it will be correctly labeled. The allies’ casualties are figured at two and a half million. The other side must have suffered as much and the loss of five million taxpayers is going te be felt when it comes to make up the deficiencies after the war. In sending Col. House s special representative to Europe, President Wilson is reverting to methods which e adopted in the Mexican situation. That. should mean that Europe will stop fighting when it zets readv. bo a determination to keep the spirit| THE MAN WHO TALKS The world always talks as though unhappiness was the poor man’s lot ard happiness the fruit of material wealth. The fact is that happiness is not wholly to the rich or to the poor. The environment of common Lfe is true friendship and that of the rich largely false pretence. Happi- pess doesn't find stability in _large possessions, but in the mind Mumi- nated with love and inspired by hope and faith. It is not material treas- ures which lift up the soul, but the treasures which rust or moth cannot corrupt. There is the largest share of joy among the common people be- cause there lies the true bond of sym- pathy; and since they cannot rely vpon themselves they have faith in the everlasting arms of God. Happiness cannot be cornered by the monopolists or speculators for its source is epir- itual not material. How we neglect those we love and who love us. Old fathers and moth- ers who wonder where their darl- ing boy or girl is tonight, old chums who used to be so near and dear, and fond memories of whom we cherish in our hearts. Love has not died, but the spirit of neglect has veilea it. To these old friends a pleasant letter from you and I would be of more lasting value than a nug- get of gold. We think of them in idle moments, we think of them in the silences of the night; and they wonder if_we are in the land of the living and if life is dealing kindly with us. Love has drifted apart—why should it keep drifting? Now that we are approaching the retrospective days—days when we look back as well as forward—why would it not be well to send the glad tidings that we are alive and have loving and kind- ly_memories of them. Since the an- Zel's sang the anthem of joy for us why should not we write the absent ores of ever abiding interest in and love for them? Do not think you may do as you please and keep well, for you can- not. The edict for life in this world is law and order, and If it is not rec- ognized we have to abide the con- sequences. We cannot eat what we like and do as we like and retain health and strength. We must con- form to our physical capacity and requirements. If we decline to notice the physical remonstrances against our conduct we shall have to pay the price of our disobedience. Nature ie not giving something for nothing any- where on earth. The price of long ife on th s earth is the observance of of our being—temperance in all things. The good do not die youns, but the young die from their lack of knowledge and their excesses. There is too much overtaxing of endurance | and indulgence in_disorderly practices People become diseased because of their lack of knowledge and of their laziness. “Know thyself” is one of the greatest commandments given to man—obedience to it brings satisfac- tory results. Some people take pride in their cuses just as other people do in their eccentricities; and they appear to be totally ignorant of the fact that “an excuse nearly always goes lame on the home stretch.” Excuses are the children of faults which are unpraise- worthy. Excuses flutter like butter- flies in the realm of politeness, and there is no questioning the usefulness of them in small quantities. Excuses made too frequently are a dependable sign of inefficiency. Accuracy and promptness, attention and responsive- ness, need no excuses. Nobody can ever become skillful enough to make them anything more than plausible— the best excuse seldom seems to be quite sufficient. The habit is a bad one. Some one has said: “Uncalled for excuses are practical confessions. Excuses, like cayenne pepper, are never safe except in very limited doses. All_the world loves a child; and it has been said “the hand that rocks the cradle rules the world.”” Disagree as we may upon this, we are com- pelled to acknowledge that “the in- terests of childhood and youth are the interests of mankin The hild represents dependence, innocence and beauty, and age recognizes that it seems 'to he the one thing nearest to God and the one thing worthiest of its care and guldance. The hand of love leads the little child, and the hand of love is showering gifts upon it today, because through a child in the man- ger laid, God revealed His gifts to man. It is well to be good to them one day in the year, but why should we not be good to all of them every day in the vear. So long as love has them by the hand they are never led astray, but when mortal man takes them they soon become initiated into the wiles and wickedness of life. Lowe!l told us “Children are God's apostles, sent forth day by day to preach of love and hope and peace.” One greater than He taught that * such are the kingdom of Heaven". careful and take the cue right. 4 Be The whole world is bathed in beauty and there is no reason why man should not enjoy it. This is a won- derful world, subject to divine law and every day expressing divine goodness. The wreck and wrack men are making of life results from selfish ambitions not service of love; and service of love we have been assured is the solid foundation of permanent peace. The great glacial plows in the far north are polisning the mountain cliffs and fashioning new valleys; old rivers are dying and new rivers are being born. The gardens of God there abound in fruit and flowers and the waters have an abundance of edible fish. This old world has not yet taken on all the shapeliness and beauty of God's de- sign. The days are full of sunshine and the nights glow with stars and the radiance of both are beyond human comprehension. Man sings because the world itself seems like a divine cherus. Don’t murmur for it It is a bad habit if you only murmur to yourself. It is establishing wear- ing, negative thoughts which always form a solid foundation for worrying. Look out for the first causes of com- plaint or they will become legion. Imaginary troubles have worried more people to death than real ones; and imaginary afflictions bite and imag- inary burdens become heavier than real ones. When you cannot bear your trials in silence it is time to strike for freedom. Never let a stinger know you have been stung, never let a nagger know your sereni- ty has been disturbed. There is no basis for glee if there is no evidence of success. Just keep an even keel and run before the wind, it is weary- ing to be tacking most of the time. doesn’t pay. That is a queer newspaper fad of having a “what-happened-fifty-years- ago” column. Its value is question- able and its offences are many. They are being run in all parts of the country, and if one knows which by- gones should be kept by-gones, he is qualifieé to run revelations of the past for the entertainment of those who haven’t any knowledge of them. It is not so very long ago that the mayor of a western city remarked to the editor-in-chief of the leading daily paper: “If you are not mighty careful with that 50-years-ago col- umn of yours, you may unwittingly hit some of our first familles hard hlaws one of these davs! There are CATCHING THE christmas spirit (Written Specially for The Bulletin.) It has been worth studying, during the past two or three weeks, how the Christmas idea has been taken up by individuals in various lines of thought and employment. Nothing ~can be more simple than the gospel narration of the wondrous happenings at Bethlehem, during that quiet night which has had such a marked and marvelous impression on all later existence. The youngest child oan understand the story of what transpired in that rude stable, the mean and lowly cave under the hill, which was selected of ali the world as the first earthly abid- ing place of the Infant King, for Whom the crowded inn held no room. Yet this idea has been utilized in art and irdustry and literature in the most| surprising ways. | picked up a paper yesterday. One of its features was a pictured group of kappy children, busied with zest about their winter sports. Snow flecked the fir and holly branches which framed them. The background was of juniper trees, with other flecks of snow. Some of these were gift trees. In the dis- tance was a plain little house, with a big chimney, and by the poetic license of art one was given a glimpse of the interior of the house, its cosy living room, the big fireplace, and the imag- ination did the rest, suggesting the in- viting way, all in snug preparedness, for Santa Claus, when he should come with his fabled reindeer on Christmas eve. Another ture in the same paper, and timely lines went with this, one, described the joys of a shopping_ day in the big city street, where everybody was intent on buying gifts to make somebody happy, and where Kris Krin- gle went about, extending a fat hand to each new comer, with the jolliest of the season’s greetings. Simple ideas enough, the cross- grained mortal will think! But it is true, as Napoleon maintained, that it is imagination which rules the world. And even these materialistic, prosaic beings who sniff at Christmas as fuss and folly, a time only fit to furnish a few pleasant moments for chiidren, cannot get away from the practical ar- : gUment of the merchants and_others, | who are purveyors to this Yuletide idea, that, were it not for such festi- is which come to break up the dead level of trade, to set people buying things out of the ordinary lines, many a man would have to close his doors. Everybody knows what the Christ- rias idea has done for art. The most obtuse must grow sensible of this, nroting the pictures, the statues, the rare bronzes and other metals brought forward for public notice during the holiday time. Every line and branch of industry feels the influence. Hundreds of thou- | sands of women in this and other lands—in peaceful times, that is—make a lihood with their needles, their brushes, in_preparing for the Christ- mas demands of trade. Whosoever can create, originate, deslgn, elaborate, or- nament, at this season is overwheimed with orders, commissions, by wholesal- ers and others. The sum of a hundred dollars for a novel lamp-shade, as much more for something new in the shape of a dresser ornament, an ele- gant bag, a screen, a panel, a chair de- things of 50-years-ago which would be better forgotten than repeated.” A word to the wise ought to be suffici- ent. Sunday Morning Talk THE SEASON OF GIFTS. hen the three Wise Men rode out of the East to Bethlehem, they car- ried on their saddle bows caskets con- taining gold, frankincense, and myrrh —their gifts to the Babe in the manger. Beginning with this old journey, the spirit of giving has slowly crept into the world’s heart till, at Christmastide at least, almost everyone is touched by it. We appreciate, as not ordinarily, the words of the Founder of Christian- ity: “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” Very fittingly, the birthday of Him who represents God's supreme gift to men made a season of gifts the wide world around. It is pleasant to feel that multitudes of people are able now to get the better of seifisiness, to lay aside,' for the time being, their mer- cantile habits of mind, and to do something to give pleasure to others. They may reflect, oo, that the “oth- ers” are making ‘similar kindly in- quiries regarding them. The atmos- phere of good will surely brings us all a little nearer to Him who is the bountiful giver of all good, who opens His hand to satisfy the desire of ev- ery living thing. Christmas emphasizes our position as beneficiaries of God: it calls to mind our constant dependence on His divine giving. For light, heat, air, wa- ter, food, for the very breath of his body, man is indebted to the Power above him, who maketh his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sendeth the free gifts that come from above. To confess oneself dependent on anvthing_or anybody Is not in line with our modern temper. Most of us are quite self-sufficient, expecting to work for what we get, and to earn it. People take the attitude that they are able to pay for value received. A gentleman relates an experiment he tried in a poor quarter of London, buying out the stock of a fish pedler and then hiring the astonished coster- monger to push his cart through the district crying, “Good, red herrings given away! The philanthropist was interested to see that his fish remained unclaimed He could not give them away, becau: the crowd suspected some trick. Never before had they seen something given for nothing. After some such notion, men try to reduce their relations with God to a purely commercial footing. They as- sume to pay as they go. They refuse to be objects even of heavenly char- ity. ‘A moment’s thought reveals the im- possibility of such an attitude. Morn- ing, noon and night are we the re- cipients of the Heavenly Fathers bounty, the objects of His universal care. 'The Almighty sells nothing: it is only the enemy of men that sells. At the Devi's booth are all things 8ol Fach ounce of dross costs its ounce of gold; For a cap and bells our lives we pay: Bubbles we buy with a whole soul's tas] g, *Tis heaven alone that is given away, "Tis only God may be had for the In the Incarnation, God poured the fulness of His own divine life into the worid. “He that spared not his own Son, but freely delivered him up for CATCHING THE CHRISTMAS SPIRIT sign, a cushion top, not to mention hundreds of other articles, give im- petus and encouragement to skilled workers whose ideas might and must otherwise go unimproved and unre- ‘warded. Millions of Christmas cards are bought these times; yet few take the trouble to wonder where the neve: ending supply comes from. ‘These, too, are in the works fong months 'before Christmas time nears. The artists are employed thinking up some new twist to give an appealing touch to the eame old Christmas idea. Verse-writers are busy working out noveltles in rhyme which shail say in a new form what people have been saying for centuries. The shopper during Christmas week, who pays a more or less, for a card which tak his or her fancy, does not stop to look far back of the little bit of paste- board, to the unknown minds which have spent time and thought and skill and anxiety, toward getting up some- thing which shall combine the beauti- ful with the timely and the suitable, for so simple a thing as a Christmas card. Nor is the commercial side alone the one on which we might' ponder, with each recurring holiday time. Even now, we have said nothing of the millions employed in the manu- facture of toys for children—some of these we have heard a great deal of, during the period since the awful war began; there has been no reference to the great increase of good things brought from distant points, to add to the appetizing Christmas feasts; noth- Ing has been sald of the yards and yards of ground pine, the milllons of Christmas trees, gathered and cut in pastures and forests in New England and elsewhere; of the branciaes of laurel, the holly, mistletoe, Southern smilax, the sprizs of barberries and bayberries, and the infinite number of red berries collected to be shipped to city markets. All along the line, there is new in- dustry, new thoughtfulness, a new im- pulse to invent or design noveities, practical, fanciful, frivolous: no mat- ter, so that only they can be truthfully dubbeqa ew”, for the holiday trade. But, as we began to say, even those who deprecate the commercial side of Christmas time are beginning to ad- mit that they have up to now looked orly on this one side; that there is another, far more important, more lasting, farther-reaching. Year by year, the real nificance of Christm. is becoming _better known. In seeking for ideas for the truly commercial side of the season, more and more are men coming to emphasize the real meaning of that strange and wonderous occurrence which left the shepheards dazed and which later awed the Magi. Even those who, the day after Christmas, forget its hallowing lessons, go back, one to his farm, another to his mer- chandise, are touched while the day lasts, in some strange, unaccount- able way by the helplessness of child- hood, of which one Child was the per- fect type. The most frivolous is mov ed by a desire to give to somebod in need; to make somebody happy. Tears start to eyes grown hard and steely, as the simple story of Bethle- hem'is re-told. There is the great and sudden impulse to erect trees and to trim and load them with gifts, in children’s homes, in hospitals, in other-times forgotten institutions, where the aged and the needy and the wretched are dragging out uninvit- ing and uneventful days, until they shall reach the happy hour when life’s worn-out machinery stops, and the poor wasted frame is hurried away to some potter's field, perhaps. It is for such comes the great these that there pulse to do, at the holiday time. Younger and more for- tunate, though habitually careless mortals sing them Christmas carols, and surprise them with gifts and good- ies, and maybe overfeed them; but no matter! They would be 'most willing to die with joy, having had this unwonted taste ‘of the Christmas spirit, which takes its rise in the old but ever-new tale of the poverty, albeit the glory, of Bethlehem's stable, on that first Christmas, when, before even the lowly shepherds came to wonder and adore, while the dumb beasts lent their ‘breath to warm the frosty air. the little group consisted of the hum- ble and reverent Joseph and the Mother who bent over the Babe upon his manger-bed, while without the celestial choirs sang the song which ried world longs to hear once Peace on earth, good will to THE DICTAGRAPH. LETTERS TG THE EDITCR One Christmas Morning. Mr. Editor: Remembrance is a fac- ulty, ‘provided by one's nativity, that shines out brighter today within our- selves t the iridescent moonbeams of the electric light at midnight, there- fore the writer of this story takes in- finite pleasure in giving one of his Christmas experiences in western life, although as a boy he came from Norwich. At 4 o'clock on the cold, crispy af- ternoon of Dec. 21, 1912, in a western hamlet of not over 200 inhabitants, the cry of fire arose. It was the Widow Gregory's home. A little, neatly painted habitation, con- sisting of three rooms, scrupuiously clean in every particular. It had been her home for over a half century. Her children, three in number, had been scattered—all married, and farmers, sabe one, who was a farmer's wife. To a man, the inhabitants of the hamlet arose and In masterful manner, without aid of fire department, for there was none there, saved the front portion of the house. The next morning, the daughter, hearing of her mother's calamity, ar- rived upon the scene and prepared to take the dear old lady home with her. Friends, neighbors and folks were assembled In the yard which for over fifty years had been an entourage to her home to bid her farewell The writer was present. Hair white as the driven snow, the The War a Year Ago Today Dec. 25, 1914, ial Christmas along much orn front, the allies and instanc ex- hanging gifts and visits. R ench Sheiled the outer forts of Motz. Civilians of East Prussia began movement toward interior of Prov- i . " Russo-Turkish operations were stopped by intense cold. wo German aviators flew up the Thames. 4 ting in Flanders was halted se fog. jans ~made gains in the French attacked Austrian naval base at Pola in the Adriatic. ormany notified neutral nations us all, how shall he not also with him freely give us all things.” THE PARSON. their consuls in Belgium would not be recognized further. R o give a8 e atford to vay. “Used Externally for adway‘s eady Relet rugged furrows of life's homest living showing only too definitely upom her face with tears coursing down her cheeks, Mrs. Gregory turned to us, privilcged to be assembled, and said in broken tones these words: “My friends, m¥ home, my habita- tion, has gone. I thank you for your kindness. May we meet in heaven.” and crying as though her heart would break, she was led away by her daughter to the conveyance brought to take her to her new home. Ly request I lingered. No sooner had’ the aged lady and her daughter left than a veritable transformation took piace. Mr. Lumber Merchant poured his lumber into the yard; ev- ery able bodied man in town put his had to either hammer or saw, and wher the sun rose on that prairie hamict on Christmas morn that Greg- ory home was renewed within and withcut. You ehould have been there when that dear old lady was brought back about 10 a. m. To see the radiant look on her face, the children vieing with one another to make “grandma’s” new home-coming more fitting than ever, makes me glad that Christmas day Is Lere once again. C. A. 8. 2 the . at's price 25¢ 50c 233 P———tata Stories of the War Camp of Mediterranean Expedi ary Force. The camp of the Dritish Mediter- ranean Expeditionary Force lies to the west _of Saioniki—or Thesaloniki as the Greeks have it—among the rolling foothills of Mount Kortchou. Al- thoush a very considerable force has already left for Doiran, on the Serbo- Bulgarian frontier, there are still some 11,000 men gathered in the camp. The first lot of British troops land- ed in Greece were Irish, as the com- manding officer, General Sir Bryan Mahan, is Irish. They were what was left of the Irish division sent out to Gallipoli, whence they came on to Saloniki. But, as the General told The Associated Press: hey are not as Irish as they were. Not.” he added, “‘that they are any less Irish— only there are fewer of them.” For a_ great many were killed, wounded and taken prisoner in Gallipoli, and have been replaced by what material was at hand. Whatever they are, they are beyond any doubt content fo leave Gallipoli. The climate of Saloniki is nothing to boast of at this season. It rains ev- ery day. The rough, badly paved streets are muddy and full of chuck holes. The roads—such as they are— are knee-deep in mud. Flour is scarce and the food is bad and dear. The price of everything his gone up three times since the arrival of the foreign troops. A British sovereign, for the first time in its life in a bankrupt country like Greece, is worth less than its face value in local money. While French is fairly current as a language, English is not spoken at all. _ Yet despite all_of these material draw- backs, the British Tommy in his camp outside Saloniki is o delighted to escape the heat, the files, the unslated thirst and the stenches of Gallipoli that he finds Macedonia a sort of par- adise by comparison. The road from the harbor to his camp lies through the old Turkish quarter of the town, at a steep angle up narrow, winding streets. From al- most every house hangs a projecting second story in which the latticed windows of the haremlike do not al- ways conceal the eager, curious, un- veiled faces of Turkish women watching the passage to and fro of so many strange soldiers. Shops open their whole fronts direct onto the street. The shoemaker or tinsmith sits, cross-legged at his work in what would be the show-window. The camp-bound British Tommy, like ev- eryone else, is forced to bargain for his purchases from the sidewalk—a proceeding which does fiot improve the already badly jumbled trafiic ar- rangements. At the bakeries there is always a mob of clamoring humanity, strugsling for the chance to buy the round, flat loaves of biackbread, made with fourth grade flour—the only flour available—of which there is never enough to supply the current daily needs of the inhabitants of Saloniki. the refugees and the Greek army. The foreicners bring their own food with them, if they did not they would run serious risks of starvation. At every crossroad the returning Tommy loses himself in a dense crowd of Greek soldiers, so slight in com- parison with the stocky, deep-chested ¥rench, so diminutive in comparison with the tall, wiry British. The Greeks seem to be gathered just where the foreign soldiers must pass in going to and from camp. Wheth- er the purpose be to give the Greeks an object lesson in soldiery bearing or to impress the Allles with the num. ber of Greeks is not clear. Greek ar- my pack mules choke the way at every turn. The streets are scarcely passible. The noise, the confusion, the mixture of half a dozen strangers—all of this in contrast to the Gallipoli enchants the British Tommy. as one intoxicated with a revelation that there is still normal life in the world. Finally the way to the camp leaves the town, between the high walls of twin _burial grounds—one Jewish the other Greek. A little further om is the old Turkish cemetery. But the Turks are no longer masters of Mac- edonia. The headsiones of their graves are scattered and broken; the graves themselves no longer marked. The cemetery has become the corral of hundreds of Greek army mules—the dusty, unwatered cypresses shade the mule drivers rather than the tombs of the Mussulman dead, their faces to- wards the Bast. Close by, a long se- ries of barracks built of brick shel- ters tens of thousands of refugees from Macedonia and Thrace and from Serbia, the derelicts of war. The road in the open country be- comes an incredible succession of mud-holes along which swing columns broad-shauldered, bluc-clad [French- men making their way to their own camp lying to the south of the Brit- ish compound. Trains of supply wagons, officers’ automoblles, _motor trucks, or “lorries” as the ' English call them, force Tommies and “poilus” aliice into_the soggy fields. Two huge tractors draw each a gray-painted French 4-inch long-range gunm, on whose muzzles are Dainted thair To You All And a Happy and Prosperous New Year WE WILL BE CLOSED ALL DAY TODAY names. One is “Boche Chaser”, other is “Death Spister.” Along the road hundreds of itinerant vendors of everything portable set up improvised stands in the fields. Neck- ties, hot chestnuts, suspendors, writ- ing paper, raw shrimps, socks, sweet- meats, fortunes told, photographs tak- en—and bang goes Tommy's pay Enterprising semitic merchants have even installed barrels of beer in the flelds as stations of refuge for the thirsty soldier too long on the way. Beggars, of course,—cripples, littie girls in tattered, hollow-cheeked mis- ery, the old of every race and kind. Finally the tent city appears, seem- ing to cover unending acres of hill- tops. The road and a stream sepa- rate the French from the British. Along the stream the British Tom- mies kneel, washing their clothes against the rocks as any French wash- woman might. Where the stream trickles over a five-foot rock making a meagre waterfall, a number of men, stark in the chill air, are bathing. Halfway up & sloap, a squad of signal men are doing drill. The flapping of their flags in the sharp wind can be heard in the valley like a volley of far-away rifie shots. Below them. a company is lined up for inspection, each man’s roll spread out on the grass while the sergeant goes through the equipment to see that all is there. For the Greeks say that thirsty Tommy sometimes parts with his water bottle or his extra pair of shoes in return for refreshments. Against the sky on the hilitop a squad of men are going through th exercises—"to keep the beggars fit.” the officer says. Down a valley be- tween two knolls swings a company returning from route march. They might be at Aldershot. They turn out to pass a hollow where half a dozen men are cursing earnestly over the vagaries of four sheet-iron boxes cunningly put together in a compact square to form a very, successful stove, whence comes the emell of roasting mutton. Near at hand, be- fore the butcher's tent, a line of new- killed hogs hung up by the heels, are dripping still. From time to time smart officers, with red tabs on their collars to in- dicate that they belong to the Staff, plunge over the edge of & miniature cliff towards the camp stables, where the horses are picketed in the open. As they ride off towards the outlying hills they pass through a cloud of acrid smoke coming from a sort of cairn in which the camp refuse is burnins. Atop of ome hill is a flag pole with the flag of the Red Cross—the camp hospital, presided over by a gray med- ical colonel of gentle manners and an air of wonder and bewilderment at finding himself so far away from Eng- land in so strange a land. His ball- iwick is marked out by a line of stones in rows on the hillside, as children g Bt housekeeping, mark the walls of the rooms. Within these bounds, are medical tents, hos- pital tents, dispensary. operating tents—all the paraphernaila of caring for the sick and wounded. On the opposite hill are the staff tents, with a stamp on the canvas that shows them to be from India. If there are not enough benches for of- ficers and guest, someone sits on one upturned box. The food is largely tinned—the Greeks have scarcely enough to supply their own soldlers, much less the foreigner on their soil. Every day more transports arrive pouring out their _soldiers— Greek, French, British. Horses, kicking helplessly are lifted bodily from the entrails of the ship. Wagons, can- non, ammunition cases, stores—all clutter the quais. Silently the French ship up the railway line to the front, scarcely before one can realize that they have arrived. This camp does not grow much. But the British camp for all the rtures in the direction of Doiran the Bulgarian frontier is still populous, the men etill train- ing—"keeping _the beggars fit” For companies, regiments, and divisions have to be reformed, brought up to strength by the injedtion of new blood. Between the French and the British there is the completest working co- operation. The French have the pre- dominant force and they have taken the major burden af the Expedition. General Serrail is beyond question the ablest officer In the Balkan field on the side of the Entente at least. While the British and French armies are wholly independent one of the other, the practical method of proceedure is for General Serrail to suggest to Gen- eral Sir Bryan Mahan a certain movement in cooperation with his own movements. The sugestion is promptly taken in the best of part, and both armies move together like wall rasulatad olaslmavie. » The baseball moguls, so-called, have decided that the public is tiring of the alleged “war’ between organtzed baseball leagues and “outlaws.” and terms of peace have been perfected. How nice of these moguls to decide what the public wants, and gets— Hartford Post. From ciose friends of the hero of San Juan Hill it is learned that the one “perfect passion” Teddy today’is to “Beat Wilson " Taat will, in all probability, be his battle cry in 1916. Fiying beside it on another ban- ner held up by his admiring cohorts should be some patriotic siogan—this, for instance, “Down With America™— New Britain Herald. The collapse of Villa suggests, if it does not warrant, the belief that he never possessed any military genlus, and that as a bandit. who knew every inch of his distressed country and the people thereof, he was merely an in- strument in the hands of a real mili- tary geplus who knew just what he wanted of him. Was there such a highly trained military genius in Mex- ico who presented to use the counter- feit of miltary genius In the person of Villa? If so. who was he? Those who were so felicitous in giving us the orriginal Villa certainly ought to be able to give us now the real Villa— New Haven Journal-Courfer. The latest avallable official figures of the federal government set the total losses by fire in the United States at half a billion dollars, one- half of this sum representing the ac- tual property loss and the other items representing the excess premiurs over insurance pald, annual expenses of water works chargeable to fire ser- vice, annual expense of fire depart- ments and annual expense of private fire protectiop. Most fires start from simple causes, which efficient inspec- tion could have eliminated. To get of- ficient inspection is ome of the big problems, just as to get efficient ser- vice from any other employe—New Haven Union. Is the automobile law of the state of Connecticut a rank and barren fall- ure? Automobiles caused 110 deaths in Connecticut in 1915, as compared with 89 in the previous year, according to the statistics gathered by the office of secretary of state. When one attempts to argue, in the face of this, that the state has a good automobile law, one is butting feebly against a stone wall. The purpose of an automobile law is to protect life and property, by Nm- iting the speed and regulating the use of motor vehicles on the highways of the state. When the law fails to the extent of permitting 110 unmecessary deaths (and an untold number of min- or smashups and injuries), thes to term such a law a rank failure is to deal with it gently and politely.— Bridgeport Telegram. Why the Distinstien® “Pittsburgh snd the United Ststes ying unpreceden #d prosper- rays Mr.Schwab But why the distinction?—Wall Street Journal. Not So Geed Natured. Switzerland is not =0 r,00¢ natured and easy going as the United States. It Las just jailed its sixty-eighth epy. —Syracuse Post-Standard. Call the Wrecking Crew. It was inevitable that =ome day T. R. would try to run his fast express over President Wilson's one-track road.—Detroit Free Press. it Surely Does. Docs the stipulation “dignified peace” shut out W. J. Bryan and the “Hen" Ford troupe from participa- tion?—New York Telegram. Sympathy of All Marrisd Maen. It appears to be his wifes relatiors that give the King of Creece the iLos® bother.—Indianapolis News. CASTORIA For Infaats and Children In Use For Over 30 Years