CHRISTMAS ABROAD

Dominion, Volume 19, Issue 79, 28 December 1925, Page 7

CHRISTMAS ABROAD

CELEBRATIONS IN OLDER COUNTRIES ENGLAND DISPLAYS OPTIMISTIC SPIRIT GROWING PROSPERITY IN 1926 PREDICTED Christmas celebrations abroad is the theme of several cable messages. In England the holiday was celebrated in an optimistic spirit. The French capital had one of the most expensive, noisiest, and gayest Christmases on record. A feature of the Moscow celebrations seems to have been an abundance of liquor. By Telegraph—Press Association. Copyright. (Rcc. December 27, 5.5 p.m.) London, December 25. England generally celebrated ,the holiday in an optimistic spirit. _ lhe leaders of financial and economic life predicted growing prosperity in 1926. Aus.-N.Z. Cable Assn. Christinas Day opened in the true old-time style, with snow and wintry conditions practically all over the country, but later a thaw in the south brough back the damp mugginess now usually associated with the holiday. Londoners mostly spent the day at the fireside. The streets were deserted, though there was a certain liveliness iu tlie evening, when gala dances began at most of the big hotels. Notwithstanding the cold, hardy swimmers competed in the usual event in the Serpentine. One of the participants was a septuagenarian, who admitted that the water was somewhat cold. Another veteran, aged 78, won the Hampstead Heath’s event on the pond. The churches were crowded. The Locarno Pact as a herald of peace furnished the kevstone of many sermons.—Reuter. GAY PARISIANS EXTRAVAGANCE AND NOISE (Rec. December 27, 5.5 p.m.) Paris, December 25. Paris awoke after one of the most expensive, noisiest, and gayest of Christmases, which in no way was dampened by the gloomy outlook of the national finances. The restaurants, despite the depreciation of the franc, charged outrageous prices, 200 francs for a dinner and the same price for a bottle of champagne in the Montniarte and boulevard districts.

The newspapers waged an editorial battle to-day over the celebrations of the previous evening. The Conservative Press, while deploring the extravagance and vulgarity, declared that foreigners were the biggest spenders, and Americans were notable among these, but the Communist Press declares that wealthy landowners who had been long evading taxation were well represented among the celebrants, who tossed away 1000 franc rolls in orgies both gastronomic and Bacchic. —Aus.-N.Z. Cable Assn.

LIQUOR FLOWS IN MOSCOW

BUT LESS DRUNKENNESS

(Rec. December 27, 5.5 p.m.) Moscow, December 25. Christmas was frankly celebrated with an abundance of liquor. Drunkenness, however, is decreasing under the new rule allowing but one licttle of vodka per person. Sales of the. beverage are now approximating 20,000 bottles daily and the arrests for drunkenness average 78 daily compared with several hundred previously when more vodka could be bought.—Aus.N.Z. Cable Assn. HELD UP BUT HAPPY RECREATION AT ELLIS ISLAND New York, December 25. There was a colourful international Christmas celebration when more than 500 inunigrants—men, women, and children—gathered for recreation at Ellis Island. They received gifts and listened to music and songs in many tongues, after which they feasted. The audience included Italians, Africans from the Sahara and the Gold Coast, Slovak peasant women wearing voluminous skirts and red handkerchiefs, Chinese,-Irishmen, Jews from Bethlehem, Spanish senoritas with high combs in their hair, and a group of pretty Japanese Geisha girls. T’ - majority were immigrants who had been detained for various reasons for a week to three months, but included over 100 deportees, whose faces lighted up at the songs and saddened again when the ni-sic ended. A musical programme for sick immigrants in hospital preceded the main entertainment. Six children were present through invitation, haying enjoyed the Ellis Island play facilities so much when previously detained that they wanted to return and participate in the Christmas party.—Aus.-N.Z. Cable Assn.

EX-KAISER’S CELEBRATION SERMON AND LARGESSE (Rec. December 27, ' 5 wm.) Doorn, December 25. The ex-Kaiscr Wilhelm began his household Christinas celebration with a sermon upon the Nativity and a just peace before an audience including his wife and her children. , ? x " Emperor’s court all joined in singing the hymns. One guest later said that Wilhelm’s sermon was delivered with the gestures of an actor. The ex-Emperor, accompanied by his wife, afterwards visited the servants’ quarters and distributed gifts, and this evening in the grand ballroom the couple sat on a throne and directed the giving of gifts to the children and the guests. The latter also received signed photographs of the ex-Emperor. The ex-Kaiscr cut the Christmas tree himself and firewood for the poor families of the village. Aus.N.Z. Cable Assn.