Christmas Aboard the Leviathan — 1918
J. M.
Four days after our arrival in New York the crew was paid and it was suggested that we have a Christmas party on board ship for as many orphans as could be taken care of. The idea met with unanimous approval and as each man was paid he donated as much as he could afford. The amount collected was sufficient to take care of 1,200 homeless children. Notices were sent to different orphan asylums and on Christmas morning the happy children came aboard for a good day’s fun.
The children were shown over the ship and a number who went on exploring tours of their own came to grief, tumbling out of stacks and ventilators and as black as the ace of spades. But that did not matter, it was all in their day’s fun and when dinner time came and the bugler sounded mess call they did not have to be informed what the call meant. They knew it was for dinner, why bless me, hadn’t they smelt the odor of roast turkey all over the ship. The dinner consisted of turkey, candied sweet potatoes, asparagus, celery, peas, cake, apples, oranges and bananas, milk, cocoa, and ice cream of three different kinds. All of this was prepared in the ships galley by the ship’s cooks and bakers and was a great compliment to their efficiency. But they enjoyed preparing it, you bet they did. After the children had eaten everything in sight and pocketed what was left, the mess hall was cleared of tables and benches and all the children gathered around the giant Christmas tree to receive a present. There was a Santa Claus, some say it was one of our chief petty officers, but most of us, the children most of all, believe he was the original St. Nick himself, for he certainly was generous with his presents. There was more than enough to go around—many of the children received two presents.
The children were rounded up at 4 o’clock. As the time neared for one group of boys to depart it was found that two were missing and after an hour’s search they were found in the main engine room being entertained by the men on watch.
When the children had gone the sailors came in for their presents. Each man aboard received a bag from the Red Cross. The bags contained candy, cigarettes, pipes and tobacco and were donated by individual women from all over the country. The gifts were greatly appreciated by the “gobs,” one of whom voiced the sentiments of all on board by exclaiming that the Red Cross, take it from him, was “some Santa Claus.”