La Grande evening observer., November 25, 1916, Image 9

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER.
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25, 191
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! THANKSGIVING IS
"OLD HOME" DAY
IT la well to jhnrk back now anil then
to the old tlnys autl the old ways.
Thanksgiving day In tho begin
ning was a,' New England holiday.
It is only of lulls years that It has been
domesticated lu the vest of tho country
and made a ftMljpral observance.
Ex-Secretary j0f the Navy John D.
Long In a reminiscent artlclo told how
the PSIgrijns celebrated It. He wrote:
A man must' huve boeu bora la a
New England village more tluiu a gen
eration ago to know the full old time
flavor of Thanksgiving day. Then was
the day of the "old home." Then fa mi
lies were large. flocks of boys and
girls were in evidence and tilled the
half dozen or m)ro scuttered school
houses which siui!e then have become
so depopulated tbut most of them have
been ubaudoned, J and the vastly di
minished number of successors of for
mer crowds of scholars are carted back
and forth in a single omiilhus to some
more pretentious structure at the vil
lage center. Then holidays wore rare.
New Year's day and Washington's
birthday nud even Chrlslmas, still un
der the blight of the old Purllau pro
test, were for the most part unobserv
ed. Fast day bad no significance in
tho way of its recognition, except pos
sibly a sermon or, if the snow was on
the ground, a game of ball. The
Fourth of July .yns an outdoor cele
bration, often ns quiet as a Huuduy
after the old swivel had been Iked olT
at sunrise.
The crowning festival of the year
was ThaiiksglvinJ-the festival of the
fireside when tlii apples and pump
kins had been giitljerei), wben the ear
ly snowflaUes had fallen uud whvu
grandfather and grandmother and Uu
clo Isaac nud A mitt lictsy were invited
to dinner, and any wy who hail stray
ed away to an ocejipntlon elsewhere
came back with ttio appetite of a
hound nud burst in nt the kitchen door
with a shout and got the hearty home
greeting. It was. fllello. mother"
nobody then said) "uininma" and,
"Well, It that ain't Jfou, Sam!" Then
the "beet critter harl been killed nud
his quarters stored J'or the winter's
only supply of fresh! meat. The hog
that had grunted all summer In his Je
and grown fat had tone under the
butcher's knife; souse hnd sausage had
sent their apjwtlxing odor through the
house, and tho irk barrel was full.
"Mother" and "the girls" thero were
no servants for days previous had
been making marvelous constructions
of mince nnd apple and pumpkin pies.
The turkey flanked one end of tho ta
ble and a huge chicken plo the other.
Tho small boy, already gorged, when
his aunt slyly asked him which kind
of plo he would have, as if ho could
havo but one, timidly but eagerly an
swered back, "All three."
IN THE TENEMENTS.
Thanksgiving Brings Good Cheer, and
Kiddies Understand Day.
The spirit o Thanksgiving ivoue
trates not only the attics and tene
ments of the poor of the big ctlles, but
many dwellings of the kick' and uu
fortunute. In the great t hospitals the
kiddies in the convalescent wards have
a renl Thanksgiving dinner, nnd as a
member of a hospital staff said:
"Most of them are thankful they're in
tho hospital on Thanksgiving day. it's
the best place for them, if tliey were
at home they'd be mlsernbte and lone
some probably. In the liospital thero
are other children about. wi(u whom
they can celebrate."
Iu practically all of Hie Settlement
houses the harvest feast is enjoyed,
whatever the natiouaSty of the
"neighbors." No little Itjullan or Vole
but lenrus tho joy of 'feinkey day."
One wonders sometimes lust what the
vision may be in Hie Innetinnst recesses
of Tony's little soul, bu$ there is uo
hesitation in his mnnndr as ho an
swers; I
'Tlease, teacher, ThauMntvtng Is the
day what my mother gctsf n turkey by
the church. It is to he thankful to the
Lord for the things were thankful
for." '
It took a public schoolteacher to ex
plain the glibness of theso little for
eign tongues.
"Why, of course," she said, "they
learn the story of Thanksgiving almost
before they can Bpeak English. They
have pictures of the pilgrims and the
Indians, harvest fields and pumpkins
anil corn nnd turkeys. Well, I don't
suppose they ever saw pumpkins grow
ing or have any conception of whnt
harvest means to the formers, but
they're clever little things. They have
some kind of vision of something good.
It's wonderful how quickly they nc-
! quire a veneer of American Ideas. It's
J only a veneer, and It's pretty Chin in
' places, but It gets them through."
LA
. -,
mmmmm
TftanljMiiij !
iu. i - J i t i n i . , t't I J?
till; -
W 9i Hf It "! 1 VI it !S X Mf f Hf 1
THANKSGIVING PHILOSOPHY. S
YOIT can pray much heller to
tiod II you say to yourseit
as follows: "Consider that this
great universe, of which thou urt
only a trivial atom, is governed
by llxed laws and be therefore
content In all tilings to abide
Mf
f
thereby and especially to die at ttt
imy lime and submit to Uod's til
will of thee, whether of Individ-
mil future life or dissolution into Uf
universal mind ami matter." !4'
That is the spirit In whirl) vte iS
should approach Thanksgiving VS
day each yenr. It is the day K
when we make special vecogttl- iH
tlon of the existence and ruler- Vi
ship of God. On that day we MS
should thank him for those lixed Mf
laws which are designed to work Sf
out the best result for all of his MS
creatures. On that day wo V
should consider whether we have flf
conformed thereto and resolve US
again not to go contrary to them IS
during the coming year. Mf
Uo not say that such religion or tt
philosophy deprives us of our Mf
free will. Nay, It does not. Tho ttf
free will which God leaves with 14?
us is freedom to conform to Kf
these fixed laws or to deviate Mf
from or go against them. That Mf
is the free will wblcb wo have, Sf
and wo should resolve to exercise Hf
it properly. These are the things Mf
whlen Thanksgiving day brings Vt
to our minds. William .1. (lay. i!S
nor. Mf
Mf
They'r Cref lit to Amer'e.
An English writer on foods has said:
"Tho modern table owes more to Co
lumbus than to any other than can he
named. Tho discovery of America ba
enriched our tables with the turkey,
the canvashack duck, the potato, the
tomato, roroa, vanilla and a host of
good things."
GRANDE EVENING OBSERVER
A Thanksgiving Puzzle
By C00D10E II. THOMAS
CopyrlRht, 1013, by American Press As
sociation. YOU'D think we could all quite agree
That the turkey is merely a bird,
But peruse this and quickly you'll see
That the species is merely inferred.
Uncle Jim, (or example, will siiow
That out strutting, (at gobbler out there
Isn't properly classified so.
But is rather a "perfect old bear."
Sister Kate's view odd, to my Jeajl,
For she claims, as Thanksgiving draws
near.
She can sec that for gracing a (cast
Our old gobbler 'U be simply a "dear"
But my dad has that turkey enrolled
In a family that's noted for bu((in
Though that (uric wasn't raised in a fold,
Dad remarks, "You're my Tftanlc
giving rnutlon."
But the turkey has sized up his kind
In a way that's most worthy of note,
For he gobbles each time he has dined,
"They are fattening me I am the
goaf."
T Stuff th "Bird.
Tho chestnuts for HtutUug tho turkey
may bo tho sweet llttlo native ones or
the larger ones from the Mediterranean
countries. Cnt a gash to the shell.
Brush them over with melted fat and
spread on n shallow pan in the oven
for a short time. Then (ho skins will
peel off with the shells or the nuts may
bo boiled to loosen tho shel'r
A THANKSGIVING
OF IONS AGO
HE foudest memory I cherish j
is of my boyhood Thanksglv- (
dig," sold Chauucey M. De-
pew, "and, aittiougii Thanks
givings may bo now Just tho same aa !
they'were then, they do not seem, ttws
same to me not by a long shot :
tv ueu l was a mu i iiveu at i eenn
Wll upon a farm, our eouutry estate
and the same which novs belongs to
me. We awoke on Thanksgiving day
at early dawn and were up dancing
and singing with glee. There were to
be so stfls, of course, but the house
was full of company, who "set -with
us to spend tho day, aud that fact, to
gether with tho presence of about a
doien Httlo cousins, rondo the lepeir
boys and girls very early risers and
merry from the minuto the sun awoke.
father and oiother were very
strict. They did not think Thanksslv-
WB ALL BUNDLED INTO A OBEAT BLBIOEL
Ing a day for play or merriment ot any
sort until ono hnd been to church and
given thanks. So my mother always
got up early to Ueep us 'httsbtd up,
and my father also arose to be sure
that wo did not do any laughing. We
always bad good breakfast.
"Then enmo church timet And into
a great sleigh we all bundled. It
seems to wo now that wo had snow
earlier lu those days, tot I can remem
ber being stowed away under the robes
Hke a little animated mummy not ex
pected to see Wsbt until u relied at the
end of tho journey. Thero always v;as
a very long church service, and poor
mother eutttloyetl alt her time comfort
lug or fcowulug upon us as the occa
sion seemed to demand. After a time
church wns out. Then enmo the din
ner and the fun. For in the old time
Thanksgiving celebrations the whole
character of the day changed after
rbnrcb, atiii what had heforo been tho
strictest Sunday conduct became as
riotous as the revelers could make it
"Oh. what a dinner we had! 1 think
uoyj we must have been very rich folk
to nfford so much. In tlioso days uo
one had course dinners. Aud the tablo
wns 'set' when Iho Inmlly filed into i
tho room, and the center of the feast
wns turkey nothing but turkey.
"After dtnner came tho dessert This
always consisted of thirteen different
kinds of pie. I used to eat nil thirteen,
and my father was proud of uie for it
If anything happened so thai 1 could
not get beyond the twelfth klud of nle
father rallied me upon growing weak
and mother looked anxious for my
health. 1 can sco those triansles of
pie now. There wns mince, of course.
Then came 'fmrifchV nppte. cuatnrd, co
coauut, lemon, prune, btorbbprry (can
ned), dried peach aud several others,
winding up with cranberry. It was a
great treat for ns boys, who nerer at
any other time In tho year really hat
ail the pie wo could ent After dinner
wo Mil ilowu quietly la the parlor and
my grandmother told us stories. Wo
were, ourselves, quite too full for ut
terance. Surely too full for piny.
"Hut the sequel to TbanJjJUflvln day
was most interesting of all. It fol
iowod on Thanksgiving night. Just like
a Nemesis. And Its program was this:
When it came time for all to go to bed
my mother would call us children in
lbe pnntry. and then came the llttlo
dose which was to counteract all bail
f effects of tho overstufllng process. My
aose was atwaya castor oil. And well
I remember how it was prepared.
First Into tho cup went a great deal
ot mo'nsses. Then came a spoonful of
tho oil. Then more molasses. This I
had to drink. Since then I have spent
many Thanksgiving days, but I never
enjoyed any as well as those except
the castor oil afterward."
. .
PACKH
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