THE DAILY HERALD, PLATTSMOIITIL, NEBRASKA, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 23. 18'
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JOHN WHITE'S THANKSGIVING.
Ti uuikxgi viiiR ! for what "
and be muttered a curso
"For tlie plainest of food
urtd an empty purse;
Kor a life of hard work
nnd the shabbiest clothes?
I'.ut it'fl idle to tullc
of a Kxr man's woes!
Let the rich ivo thankw,
il la they who can;
There in nothing in lifo
for a laboring man."
Ko said John White
to liin Kood wife Jane,
And o'er her faeo
stole a look of paiu.
"Nothing. li'flrJd!"!?"
and he thought again;
Then gJaueed i:n.-:v I;in.llj-
dou ii on Jane.
'I nz-.i v.toii.-;,'" 1 aid;
"I'd forgotten you;
And I've my !:.-.;: ' .
aud the baby, too."
And the baby n.-..-!
' was a lmuneintf boy
And o'er .I;hi-'s i".:i-e
enine a look of Joy;
And she kissed Ii-:- .lolin
as he went away;
And he said to !.-:, .elf.
a-; he worked that ay:
'"I was wror.p. v; r; wronjc;
I'll not grumble again,
I should surely If ! 'laukful
for baby and Jane."
AN 1DKAL THANKSGIVING.
As there arc ;.';!ises the law cannot reach,
ro there. a;v ic:;Io no holiday includes.
Therein a tin:-1 ' -i the year when vagrants
criminals, in a v. unl, the destitute as a Ixxly
arc feasted v. ii '.i ijood things and made to
-.chart-1 lie- cn;i vx of the rich. But as com
jjrvlioiisivi rv; tin's charity may lx as minute
in its search jut. r recipients, as thoughtful
in the choice i-i creature comforts, it in piti
ful to thi;:I; !vnv many yet remain in the
highways an i le-i lyes'" out of reach.
Can you inmyino a yutheriii;? of such as
these? We sc- much of the other iid of tho
picture, liiit if is startling to think tlutt th7
wliDC.tiict the surface are only the minor
ity, ljeneath every Miccess, however modest
anl olcnre, then is a substructure of accu
mulated failure-.; and for one or ten whoyi we
fceo in moderate comfort and una-ssuniin?;
ease, there are 1X) or 1,(XX) who have been too
v.eak to swim.
I had Im-ch to nuiny fully spread lioards, 1
public and private, on this day of typical
thanksgiving for .ill the blessings and good
pifts of the year; but one to which I was ac
cidentally ii!trluvd lati in the evening
proved of greater iuterest and rarity than
any of the others.
Tl- host was a sray headed man, wifelcs;
.and childless, rich, odd, tlisappointed aud
generally supplied to Ikj misanthropic, ljo
had no aim in li.'e: no interest strong enough
to absorb him. no will stablo enough to hold
the reins, lie f. a e to every one who asked,
but no wit!; i' charity interested. There
-was no pursuir. ;ihysical or mental, which
4ould so ;-.:ist::i:i -him as to turn him from
vain rcprets a. id i::ipartial lonrvins. lie had
never found l.i" place in life; had never
known necessity. :.nd therefore never tastetl
the excitc-.nei-.i i f the race for existence,
which some tLr.or other pives at least a
dash of interest to tho most unsuccessful
career. IIo .sot irreligious, but he le-
longcdto no reii rious body, and when ony
one told him t;;:.t he had much to thank
Providence for Lo would shrug his shoulders
in wonder.
As the years vent on this man brooded
more and more ov r disappointed hopes, and
took a morbid sure ia linding out vases of
failure in ell the various callings cf life. He
dwelt on the si:i jet until it b-x-ame a mono
mania. One or t'-vo acquaintances he had j
no heart frier-'-ut of compaisson auviscd
him to turn t 4 brooding to practical use by
benefiting men ia : ituations like his own.
Such was the F:ngu!ar host. As for the
guests, they were as various in class, educa
tion, birth and appearance as they could bo,
even ia a city v. Lore everything under the
sun is rnoro or represented. All who are
bankrupt and r:;iv?d in reputation and po
sition, or in their o .vn estimatio i, had a rep
resentation at t'-iat strange feast of moral
equality. Hvcrv degree of shabbinees, of t
dilapdclatioia, in iaco or ganrtent, was present;
or xfo role was ogtja s to in&, od tijose
5 teM
whom nhnmo or idlou mado remiss were na
freely admit.tol an they who had made littlo
pitiful attemit8 at decency. Th talk was
mild and characteristic, chiefly occupil with
tho ast or the future an it might have Iiocn.
On tho host's right hand sat a man in rusty
black, with nervous hands that clutched at,
things and trembled as they held glass or
fol k or napkin, lie had never I oen a crim
inal, never willingly harmed any one, never
entertained a delilerately unkind thought,
and yet to all intents and puriw-s ho wiu a
murderer and a suicide. His spirit was dead,
or in its last ago2iis, and of this ho wan
dimly conscious in adesiairingsortof way.
On the list's left, tho other plaeo of honor
ami what a significant distinction to oc
cupy thoso prominent seats sat tho jauntiest
individual of the whole party. At first sight
it would have liven diHieult to say why ho
had his share at this haixpict of the mined,
disapjMiiiitl, lioreaved and nttlietod. It was
not his look nor his dress that told the secret,
but his words. He was lrf-ttcr dressed than any
of his fellows, and a self satisfiel expression
was ujion his face. But you soon saw a blank
in the midst if that self satisfaction the l:u-k
of something, which mysterious something
would have just put him beyond tho pale of
our friend's circle. I le talked louder than tho
rest and held out the comfort of irresjionsi
bility in the present and annihilation here
after no (Jod to restrain us now, and uono
to judge us later; but the lack of that "some
thing" made his face grow ugly nnd hard as
ho expounded his theories, and his own np
jiearauco wus but u jKior argument in favor
of his tln-orii-s.
A curious, rivalry between many of tho
quests attracted my attention. Each thought
his own misfortune tho heaviest, and was
jealous of the consideration which another
won. some even Hung it into tho faces of
certain others that when they were enjoying
prosperity t!i y had leen apienld to in vain.
Any cant uliout equality in spile of loss of
money was promptly resented by thosa who
h:id lioen in the attitude of solicitors. This
feast was no good ph-.ce at which to air fluo
talk not supported by lino character. Tho
restrictions which obtain in society less
honest of sp"cc!i, though more polished, wero
laid aside and each one spoko his mind. All
told their worldly circumstances quite
plainl'.
One said that he lived with his wife, three
children and mother-in-law in two rooms in
an unwholesome tenement house, and earned
:S. a week in a slop shop selling rotten cloth
ing to greenhorns.
Another s.iid: ';I started in life with tho
notion of living a great author. I am over
40 now, and glad to get S-G a week in a book
store. I have covered reams of paper and
made about 1,JOO altogether in littlo sums,
but no aiw knows my name. I carried a
novel and an epic from one publishing house
tonnotlur for ten years, and never could
get any editor even to read them. I cm try
ing to saw a littlo money now tci get the
po'jin published after my death, with a littlo
autobiography which may teach the world
what it has lost, and make jicoplo sorry that
they let such a man die a miserable death
after so disappointing a life."
"'They say some ieo;le have forced them
selves on. the public by the manner of their
death," said a wild, melancholy looking man
by the author's sid; "and I think it would bo
worth while to try such a scene to make my
llomeo ad Juliet sell."'
"Vou talk ot death like a child," said a
croaking voice across the totjle. "Here am I,
an old woman, once Minnie St. Angei, tho
famous actress, but none the less a starving,
brokeii down drudge now. Never despair
while you aro y"mig; it is only the old who
know what trouble is. To have been 'some
one,' and then fall to being nobody, liat is
tho hardest thing ot all, much harder toan to
have Im-ii unknown all your life."
"Voll. I think it js harder for those who
never bad a brief hour or success at all,"said
a thin woman. '"I was tho daughter of a
theatre hack, and was on the stage from a
chilL But as I grew up plain and not clever
I was used in all the common parts and never
knew what it was to havo an individuality.
I have never had a home, and since my father
died have never oven had a friend. Jsow I
am wardrobe woman in a low theatre, and
glad yes, thankful to have the place, too."
"It it hard to work for no pay," said a
rough voice opposite. "I was a soldier of
Napoleon's as a lad, fought in Algeria ami in
Russia; and because I took iiart in some plot
they vailed it revolutionary 1 lout my little
pension, and starved in consequence. J ran
away, and once hero could find nothing to
do, ami I am trying to beg money enough to
buy i hand organ and camp stooL"
' K5v issa t-J
5
Near him sst a prim old body in a shiny
black silk gown. She soemed rather shocked
by the mention of the organ and stool, and
remarked that as ho was a man he could
surely tind some work to do. She weut on to
say: "Although I am only a woman, I set to
work at outv as soon as our fortune was gone.
I got a teacher's place in a school, and ever
siiice I havo taught and supported myself.
But it is very hard for a lady tenderly
brought up, and not taught very thoroughly
as people were not in my day to mix with
common people mid be knocked about in the
worlL My father was a rich man and a
gentleman, and we have good blood in our
veins for many generations back, long before
our family ever crossed the ocean. Our
name is known in the history of the country,
and there was never one bearing it who dis
graced it."
"A good pedigree is a fine thing if it be
genuine," said a crippled man near tho old
lady. "But if I had it, and could exchange
iz for a straight back and sound limbs, I
would gladly give it up. Yet I believe I am
happier than most of yon here. I set out to
get one thing and got it, though it brought
little e lse with it. I was a poor man's son and
had no family to boast of, and the one thing
I wanted was learning. As I was a cripple and
good for nothing to work, I got books from
kind neighbors and taught myself sitting by
tho kitchen fire in winter and on the door
etep in summer. Sometimes I got to school,
when I had clothes good enough to wear, and
at List, through the compassion of neighbors,
to college. But I grew more infirm as I
reached manhood, and, indeed, but for this I
6i;ou!d hve no right to bo here among you.
I have earned my livelihood teaching other
yotmg men, end so I jog on I and my books;
and though my meals often consist of bread
end milk, I am not unhdppy. I said X would
it
give noblo blood In exchange for good hea!th
and strong, sound limbt;; but I wo ild not
give my tiooks for health or gxxl blood, nor
wen health alono for a le.ng jK-ligree."'
Tho host smiled at ui and said: "There
tho man who is really monarch of all ho bur-vcys."
It was saddening to turn from the cripple
to the others. Many of them wvro equally
giftd intellectually, yet they hail never at
tained his contentment with his lot.
A man in a rough jacket, with a careless
air, which was contradicted by his face, said:
"Well, I fancy I have had a wider oxjicrienee
than any of you, if change of employment
gives experience. There are few things I
liave not tried, but I never succeeded in any.
I havo been an errand loy, a plow boy, a
Ieddler, a miner, an engineer nnd an express
man. I havo written dismal trash to sell to
vilely cheap and mom papers. I havo taught
grown men to read in exchange for a crust
of bread. I havo distributed advertisements
at street corners; and now I am just where I
was when I started. I havo no home?. I left
my last boarding place without paying, but
left my only good coat behind instead. I
slept last night in a car dejMit, arid picked up
a few cigar ends to keep tho hunger off this
morning. I would take any job; but jieoplo
don't seem to want jobs done just now. They
lnk at me suspiciously end say: 'There's
lots of work if you only liestir yourself and
look for it.' "
"You and I are much alike," said a man
opposite. "I have looked for work both in
nnd out of my profession. I am a musician,
young and unknown. I havo heard you nil
tulk of being poor, but when a man loses
many a possible good chance in his business
through tho want of a postage stamp at the
right time, I tell you he knows something of
poverty, though ho may have a pood coat on
his back. In our profession jx iverty is a mat
ter of course. Wo may bo even famous and
Etarve. Meanwhile I am obliged to keep up
appearances ami live in a decent hou'ie."
"Yes," said a woman near him, "and I dar
say not your own house. Well, if poo.
boarders h::ve their troubles, don't thin
that the 'Hoarding house kcejier sleeps on .
bed of rosvs. Tliero is a hojieless side to or,-,
crty, and a contented s:i'-, mid an e.-::v.
side. But I know of another. It w the 1 ".
crous side. My husb'ind uied in debt. Thv:
was only tho weary old way to support
self. I opened a boarding house,
wish ladies could g i lower lov;i t
muko money. I had not tho stivug:
of mind to do differently from other,
of my set, and I thiiik with us wo::::,
that is ono of tho great causes of o;:
troubles. We don't dare to fac-e the world'.;
talk, even when there is nothing to Lc
ashamed of. 1 had a hard rima with ir.efi
cient servants, for I did i:ot thrive and could
not pay high enough prices to secure good ones.
But I sent for two of my lih-ces, as poor as my
self, and together we did the work and shared
the profits. Let me say to you that if you
are poor and hae tolerable health, do your
own work. By that means wo got on and
had order and cleanliness, and though life i.-;
not exactly delightful to us, it is tolerable.
"As to the ludicrous side of poverty. "We
see enough of it, Ko many littlo shifty and
pretenses, though they are pathetic enough
sometime. I began by nskin rather high
prices, and if they were refused, let the
rooms stay empty. But my purse began to get
empty t'X, and I was obliged to compromise.
Sometimes I did not like a man's manner or
a woman's costume, and I was stiff, which
lost mo considerable money. Then again,
some men's business was not to my taste,
though they wero very silent and unobtrusive
themselves, I lost many a good boarder thi
first year by aianding too much on
my dignity. If a dancing master
generally teaches 'deiortmeut' to his
pupils, I think some ono should
teach a banker's elaughter, in view of certain
possibilities, how to attract and deal pleas
antly with boarders. If it were not a good
thing to be merry under tho worst circum
stances, I should not detain you so long with
my experiences; but if we persistently ignore
tho humor that is concealed in almost every
stage of poverty, we aro making ourselves
more miserable thrui God intended us to be.-'
Then she went on to enumerate the ludicrour.
incidents which her poor boarilers treated
her to day by day.
"If money troubles were everything," said
a moody man, "you would all be quarreling
who whs the worst off among you. You
might bo rich in money, and yet broken and
worthless."
My host whispered to me that this man
had lost his faith in woman. Then ho
pointed out a pale woman in good but not
showy clothing, who was yet more wretched
than the poorest at the feast. Her husband
eared nothing for her. She was dying of a
broken heart. J ust opposite her were a man
and woman whoni no recital seemed to
affect. Their only child had been suddenly
killed a few weeks before.
My friend pointed out a man at tho bottom
of the table. He had an uneasy eye and a
restless conscience. I asked what this man
had done.
"Set traps for the feet of others," said my
host. "Iu old times, legends say, men sold
their own souls. He has sold those cf others.
Anciently, to trample on the Cross was the
worst sacrilege a man could commit; but
he has trampled beneath Lis feet the very
image of God. Such as he are called 'men
about town.' I need not toll you more,"
Near him sat a woman with a faded shawl,
a soiled and rakish bonnet, brazen faco and
dirty hands. No teaching, no help, no good
example, no chance of good had ever come to
her. And there was a woman in a Parisian
dinner dress who sat between two men of tho
homeless kind iu upper life the lay figures
of society. 5r:he was more hopeless looking
than her neighbors. She had no work. No
ob.iect save pleasure ever stirred her.
Then my host told me in low tones, whili
the others were talking among themselves,
how he had gathered thesv people together
for thij extraordinary Thanksgiving feast.
Some he had met by accident. Others ho
hunted up, going into dismal places to find
them. " The most despairing were the ones he
chose. He said:
'To some I sent formal invitations by post.
I krew it would please them. The invitation
itself, put in language they had not known
for years, would bj more of a blessing than
tho mere feast to which they wero bidden.
The moral pleasure given, or tho self respect
indued by JJiiSo Invitations, is more than
half tho boon of my Thanksgiving feast. To
a few tho mero food is much, but then to
those far sack in the mud, animal paxnfart
mast precede a moral ioiptviiJjn, When
pco ile aro comfortable they like to listen to
good tidk, and when yo.i havo laid tho
foundation in vorjyirenl work'' of mervy you
may H.nfvly ln-gin tho superstructure of tho
spiritual. Indeed, the physical parts of their
trials are really the least, and the phy
sical reward of a pmd feat also vom
jmrativvly kmalL Homo of them dine well
every day of their lives, and yet liavo no
pleasure in it or anything else. They who do
not lind more pleasure in the comfort, the
security, the absence of anxiety to-night
tliau in tho mere abundnmxs of food. Thoso
who are poor do not mind hard work and
scanty fare, but they do mind tho uncer
tainty of their livus, the lack of a home, the
want of appreciation of themvdves, the want
of sympathy and understanding, tho cold
drawing back of the prosjierous, the divided
attention, tho fair words and no deeds, tho
barren (Kxi wishes in bhort, the whole
rcielltit attitude of tho world."
"Do you svo," he said, "that old man at
tho foot of tho table? He has pvace enough
to bathe us all in it, iwiticneo enough and joy
enough to sharo with us aH. He does not
know how to read, but he knows the thing
that St. Paul countl a higher knowledge
than all his Hebrew learning and Greek
subtlety. He hail a great misfortune in his
j'outh no matter wliat it was and if ever
there was a child of God, fashioned by God's
own hands and chastened iu his own way, it
is ho."
Here tho host stepped forward, and raising
his voice said: "There is ono aiyong- you, my
friends, who has no word to sjieak of his
troubles and disappointments, yet they have
been harder to boar than all yours, save those
miseries bora of guilt. I did not invite him
hero because he was unfortunate, but iMH-auso
I needed something you could all join in
being thankful for. He has that treasure;
ho has tho secret which would turn all your
misery into joy. Instead of showing you
only a full board, I havo brought you tho
most beautiful thing on earth to sea ami to
imitate for it is in the power of each of you
to imitate him a happy man.
"IIo is old, ioor, silent, und as the world
would add, ignorant, sad and lonely. But
listen to what he once told me: 'There is one
who breathes, moves, converses constantly
with me. I feel him, I hear him, sometimes
I even answer him in my heart. But it is a
sjeceh without words, which we understand
without having been at school, and read
without having learned to read in books.'
Tiiat is ono of the pillars that uphold tho
world for him his trust ia God. The other
is his trust in conscience. If yo.i can imitate
that the first will como as it-s natural -onse-
qtioiuv. To live by the rule of my friend J
necds two things grace and a real resolve.
The first is never wanting. Yoa can count
o:i it whenever and as long as you make up
yonr mind to furnish the other thing, a fixed
r: solve."
Thi.f and much more raid our hot, and
v'.ic.i he ceased wo noticed there-- was one
rue:-,! Icr.s at the table, lie, had gone; but no
. spoke,
T!-", here and there one from out this
; l .;...;-;!' ( -;;npany ca::r forward to thank the
he:; . it'i terms of gemim:.' gratitude' in their
f'.oi!i3 went away without a word.
' " till were gone. The loaded table disap-i'!.-::v.l.
but I heard my ho.;t say with joyous
'I' eI: :o-.i: "That is what wo projK.w to do
:ext year." It was only then I realized that I
h-rl not assisted ct a veritable lianquet. We
had talked ourselves into the iicliei that our
longings and imaginings were fact?. Could
we not do something like thii To rostore
self reppoct ii even betttx than to till with
bread. But, understand, that although in
many instances the latter can be done with
out the former, in most eases the former
must rest on the basis of the latter. Thanks
giving is a goexl day to liegin things, still
every day may become a thnpksgiyiug for
thoso who seek out tho hungry, beith in body
and in spirit, to, feed and tho naked to clothe.
B. M.
MOTHER WAS THERE!.
The Silt-nt FJgaire at tho Little Table In
the Mactodis' Home.
Six towheadod i!a-rioirats stuck their
heads over tho rim of the pine table and
looked anxiously but cheerfully at their
Thanksgiving dinner of boiled codfish and
potatoes; which Mr. MacMoffat, with his hand
in a iling, from a fali he got from a scaffold
last August, was comirifwi to lajlo oat to
the'i
"It's Capo Cod turkey :"' exclaimed Master
Join M icMoffat, who was the wit of tho
family, aud all laughed.
"Our turkey roosted too high this year,"
said Mr. MacMoffat, at which they all
laughed again, though t broken arm and
idleness and doctor's bills had scared off the
turkey.
'Turkey makc3 your feet sore," said the
family wit, and there was another laugh..
"I'd rather have well cooked codfish than
tough turkey, for my iart, any day," re
marked Miss Mary Ellen MacMoffat, whu
was aspiring to bo a young lady.
"An' pie," suggested the youngest tow
head, at which they all laughed again, for
there really was to be an apple pie, with a
piece all round, at the end of the meal, though
it was as yet held to be too good to be talked
about.
""Well, it's a great blessing that we're all
here and in good health," remarked Miss
Eliza MacMoffat, the spinster aunt, somewhat
dismally and quite irrelevantly.
1
A quiet hush fell on tho clothless table.
i Tor a second tho tin ladlo in MacMoffat's
i hand rattled faintly on the platter's edge.
I "Sister Eliza, would you mind running up
1 the next flight to Duganse's and asking him
to lend me the loan of his almanac till I see a
, dater said MacMoffat.
j Sister Eliza was r accommodating as she
was stupid, and did not mind it a bit. The
i quiet around the table was unbroken. An
j unseen form was at the board. Aunt Eliza's
j careless - words had turned the eye of the
heart upon the face that had passed away in
the last spring. The tin ladle stopped, its rat.
tie on tho platter. MacMoffat laid, it dot n.
He did not trust Li eyes with the six littlo
f 2oea around iha table, but gave them to hi3
heart to sco the face that was tbero j-tt in
visible. "Yes, deare," be caid, tlowly t-ad
softly, -she's hero, but pvyte we, can't see
her, but she'-g hews, ilorbr1 bero- with us,
fcliifdj-eu, We are all, all hire."
, w
IBOOT
Tlio Kime quality t nods 10 j rct nt. clicnju-r tlum any Ikmihc west ot
1 1 1 e Alissisijij.i. " iu-mt r ui;iU rn"Kl. Call and U convince tl.
iIjiSO EESX3.! iEtllSrCSr
PETER MERGES.
FURNITURE
PARLOR
SET !
TOIL ALL
ii immi ii i urn n- "Twrinw iaumjw
Parlors, H$f.ki rooms, Eiskiugroom$.
Kitchens, MalSways ami Olliw.s,
(JO T(
Where a ii)Mpiificent slock of (Joods and Fair IYioi'
abound.
UNDERTAKING AND EVBALffllNfc A SPECIALTY
COKXEK MAIN AND SIXTH
F.
(SL'CCESSOJi TO .. ii. I. 1 !.!:..-,
WIJI k'-); ;ontai:tly on hand a full :nsl complete ct.-k 'I j'.i.e
Dross and Mediciens, Paints,
"Wall Paper ami a J'ull L.iiu; of'
DKTJGG-IST'S STJsTIDKIES .
PURE LIQUORS
E. O. Dovey & Son.
tPg 1cVG (1g Im11gs quel lqid-
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Fall and Winter Goods
Ever broisgfat totliis Market
and shall be pleased to show you a
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OK
"Wool Dress Goods,
and Trimmings,
Hoisery and Underwear,
Blankets and Comforters,
A splendid assortment ol Ladies' aIissscs' and Childrens
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We have also added, to our line of carpets some new jalten,e,
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In men's heavy and fine boots and shoes, also in Ladies', Misses and
Childrens Footgear, we have a complete line to which v.e INVITE
vour inspection All departments 1 till aud Complete.
nmmxf m
Mo
HOE
EMPORIUM
BEDROOM
SET I
CLASSKS OK-
""El
la
FOR
r I . A tts moi'th. xi -i : I r a s k a
-mvui m, m
5
E. G. Dovev & Son,
Oils
Line
I
I.