Evening Republican, Volume 14, Number 292, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 9 December 1910 — SANTA CLAUS AT SEA. [ARTICLE]

SANTA CLAUS AT SEA.

Gifts on Christmas Tree For Passengers on Ocean Liners. Don't imagine that just because a person is at sen when Christinas ar rives-he gs *s no Yuletide cheer Christ mas on one of the big ocean liners iobserved religiously, which is to sax that tile day is fully appreciated b> both officers and passengers “The man win. spends his life on board a big passenger ship sees about as many different kinds of Christmases as anybody. I guess." said the cap a n I of one of the great transatlantic steamships as he sat in his cabin the other, day preparing for a holiday voyage to the Med terianeau. "Some Christmas days I i.-ive spent on the north At lantic, vtirers Avhile in the China trade i and still others in the south Pacific i and tiie Mediterranean. “1 he fact is that, i have spent only i one Christmas day at home since I was married—and I haven't been a j baehi or for a good many years. Now 1 we sail from New York very soon and will touch at Gibraltar, Genoa and oth ; er ports, and before Yve reach here ' again Christmas will have been passed. “M hen your ship is running on a voyage to the Mediterranean, with a crowd of jolly passengers aboard who are off on a trip to enjoy themselves, Christmas is a day to be remembered. Friends and relatives send gifts on ahead, so that they may be handed to passengers at the right time, and of course this personal remembrance from home makes more enjoyable the celebration which is always prepared on board the ship itself. i -“The 24th of December passes about as do other days until dinner time arrives. and then the chefs and stewards gmtdo themselves in providing an elaborate menu and in table decorations. If the weather is fine, and it is likely to be. the passengers are in high spirits, for the Christmas feeling is infectious, no matter where you go. “Toward the end of the dinner speeches are made, songs are rendered, etories are told and toasts are given, and when this is completed all go to the QMin sak»Qp. and the Christmas trep, ls revealed, standing there in the * middle WQder the big skyUght. it is a Mg tree. too—just as big as can be obtatned and put in ptace—and on It are bung gifts from the ship for every passenger, not costly *t alj, but remembrances that are HkSty to be long preserved as souvenirs of a pleasant occasion. ' _ “Then. If the sea is not high, the candles are lighted, and the tree bursts Into beautiful illumination. “After ■ distribution of gifts from

the tree a concert Is given if the weather Is bad. Hut whenever Christmas eve is pleasant and the latitude is suitable the passengers go on deck, which they find to be shielded from the wind by canvas, brilliantly lighted and decorated with flags and bunting And, 1 tell you. on-a moonlight night, with a calm sea and soft, pleasant air, in the Mediterranean, for example, a Christmas eve ball aboard a great Is something for most passengers to • remember. “I’m sure I can t imagine anything more charming for those who enjoy dancing. The romance, the poetry of it all. must be delightful to the pas-sengers.’’-Boston Ciobe.