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About The Valentine Democrat. (Valentine, Cherry Co., Neb.) 1896-1898 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 25, 1897)
n M i IK 1 1 f r THANKSGIVING DAT ITS ORIGIN AMONG THE PIL GRIMS AT PLYMOUTH Great American Feast Day Is the Sunday of Our National Year-Significance of the Fall Festival Senti ment Is a Far Descended One Joy Instead of Penance HIS year hath been a sorry time said a hoary head ed pilgrim The hand of Provi dence hath been heavy upon us and methinks it were indeed well to in stitute a day of fasting in expia tion of tilt evil that hath caused this visi tation of the Lord It was Plymouth on one dark and rainy night in the month of October 1G21 when this remark was made to representatives of the surviving pilgrims gathered at the house of one of their number for the ex press purpose of considering the appoint ment of ti day of penance for the remis sion of the tins which had been produc tive of their hard fate Aye a sorry time in truth echoed another his white bequeued head rising above the little audience as the others disappeared in it for of the more than five score of us who disembarked from the Mayflower last December do not half now sleep yonder on Coles Hill and once more on the verge of what we know by dire experience to be the bitter new world winter our crops are scant our Nay Nay good sir quickly inter jected a white haired black robed woman the lines of whose pure old face only seemed to give it an additional beauty like chasing on silver but mayhap it is not seemly that I speak out she quickly added with lowered tone for hath St Paid not said Say on mistress say on encouraged e male voice this is not the house of God neither a Sunday meeting only a gathering of neighbors where all who mind may speak Then I would add she continued thus emboldened what I believe to be the frospel truth that the Lord instead of chastening hath greatly prospered us Her voice trembled a little at these words vision of the three new graves stretch ing wet and cold under the lowering skies fif that autumn night rising involuntarily Into her mind Her hearers too looked at tor in pitying wonder but after a little pause she repeated hath greatly pros pered us For are we not now permitted X worship Him in spirit and in truth such as hath not been our privilege for many a iay before Have we not homes And though the harvest be scant yet have ye aot faith that the Lord will maintain His promise and provide for His own even as He hath already done in guiding us kither So in view of these many graces i day of thanksgiving seems to me more meet than a day of penance She sat down For several minutes ut ter silence reigned in that quaint Puritan living room Then Gov Bradford rose ais silver knee buckles glistening in the candle light and tip toed across the space 4eparating him from the brethren who first spoke when a whispered consulta don went on for several minutes more Presently their conference ended he ivalked to the fireplace in the far end of ihe room and turning faced his people This faithful sister hath shamed us luoth he and taught us a lesson of brav ery With her good man gone a stalwart ton laid low and as likely a lass as ever pened a pair of blue eyes under Eng lands blue skies lying too out there on Doles Hill a sob came from a fiaxen laired youth in the back of the room she yet sees reasons for thankfulness rather than cause for repining We must tot be outdone by her and instead of sit ting in sackcloth and ashes we will praise Bod for His manifold mercies to us and least rather than fast The forests iboucd in game though our crops be poor L iaiu uiiuier snau our young men go ana find materials for the repast Courage s better than fear he concluded a sen timent which was greeted with a hearty ihorus of Aye ayes Thus was Thanksgiving day inaugurat ed a triumph of womanhood and a tri umph of optimism not only indeed a tri umph of optimism but a proof that op timism is itself a triumph for if the day it mourning had been established how iong would it have been -observed since every added year seeing the steady in crease of good in this land there would be less and less reason for waiting and more and more arguments in favor of a iay of thanks Two hundred and thirty eight years af ter the landing of the pilgrims the largest granite statue of the world was erected to their memory It stands on a high hill overlooking Plymouth In the center is r colossal figure of Faith with a Bible in her upstretched hand while around her are clustered a group representing Mor ality Law Education and Freedom in looking at which one instinctively endows the beautiful Faith with the spirit of that serene old woman who even in adversity looked with prophetic eyes to the time when in very truth freedom morality ed ucation and law should result from her sublime belief With the Fourth of July Memorial day and Washingtons birthday Thanksgiving dtfsr is one of the four distinctively Amer ican festivals but though distinctively American the sentiments that inspire them Thanksgiving day faith Washing tons natal day hero worship Memorial -day love and the Fourth of July patriot Ism are common to all people of the earth and only for excellent reasons of our own have we selected the times when we ourselves shall celebrate the univer sal feelings The Thanksgiving day sentiment is in deed a far descended one it being an in heritance from the first races of mankind of tie elation they felt over natures yearly largess the American Indians and other barbaric tribes having to this day ceremonies of their own in celebration of autumns bounty As a spirit of re ligion developed this feeling grew into a worship of deities that were suposed to preside over the crops like the beautiful goddesses Pemeter of the Greeks and Ceres of the Romans and still later when mythology bad been cast off remnants of thesame idea remained in the harvest homes and shrliai though differently named festivals of all nations when the grain garnered and the fruit heaped up merry makings and dances went on be eatkihe rays of the harrest moon But - mmiimmai it i minium - m i r SAY JIMMY WOULDNT YER LIKE TO PULL DER WISH BONES fl i i if 1 in 11 1 nil t iiiiniiiiiii rsflr iiuiiii mii nil i jut - iim dii i if ii vmiiiii i iiuiiiii j n im mw a 1 1 in iiifiijft in i it remained for that little band of Ply mouth pilgrims to give a spiritual signifi cance to these gala times to provide a fitting soul for so fair a body an act em inently in conformity with this religious people while the American nation at large many decades later widened this feeling into one of national import so that this year instead of fifty five people ob serving it as was the case in Plymouth 276 years ago 70000000 are participants in its good cheer Thought He Was Satan Upon one of his professional visits to Washington the late lamented Hermann the magician and prestidigi tateur almost caused a stampede among the ignorant colored people To this day some of them think that Satan himself was present in person upon that occasion One afternoon Hermann visited the Centre Market On the pavement out side of the market it is customary for several hundred aged colored people from the surrounding country in Vir ginia and Maryland to gather on mar ket day and display their little stocks of dried herbs for medicinal purposes wild fruits a few eggs or an ancient chicken These are the genuine Virginia ne groes every one of them an ex slave They are quaint and picturesque and as they sit behind their baskets and trays the old women smoke their pipes of home grown tobacco and on cold days light them with a chunk of fiah from the pans of glowing coals by which they warm themselves ijese Ignorant and simple minded folks qd never heard ot Hermann or any other sleight-of-hand performer When he appeared among them in his long cloak his pointed beard and gen eral Mephistophelean appearance he attracted their whole attention When he took a silver dollar out of the lighted pipe of one of the old mammys he created a sensation and when he began to lift live rabbits pigeons suit of linen underwear ana other articles from their pockets he created conster nation Many of the old men and wom en gathered up their truck and fled with loud cries and for once there were no market day profits for the old folk Thought He Had Em C tj TT rTVi J4iSbfi I I 1V 1 foSKW Miir rL IT Jones Horror Whats that By gra cious Ill never drink another drop iMrf life1 Boy Whats that you said mister JonesWhy er I ef said that you must be careful and not let that turkey drop Flyinjj Squirrels The flying squirrel is six inches in length his wings are merely thin membranes connecting the fore and hind legs Tommy I wish I was president Willie What would you do first Tommy Id issue a Thanksgiving proclamation every month Philadelphia Record MISS DOROTHYSTHANKSGIVING L HM QUIRE EPHRAIM Drew and his good wife Prue They Invited some guests to dine And drink to the health of the Commonwealth In a glass of T ha nksglvlng wine Said Ephraim Drew to his good wife Prue When asking Judge Jona than Drake Well ask the young man his son Jonathan For my daughter Dorothys sake The guests came at last to the Squires re past Receiving a welcome bland And Dorothy blushed as Jonathan brushed With his lips her lily white hand With wondering eyes at the turkeys size The guests did exclaim and admire There were dainties beside boiled baked stewed and frred And a big plum pudding on fire To Jonathans plate by a lucky fate It chanced that the wishbone fell Then softly said he to fair Dorothy My lot shall this wishbone tell Ill wish you and I when a year slips by May dine on Thanksgiving Day With none to oerhear or to interfere And with all but ourselves away Then they broke the bone with a stifled groan He lost and sighed heavily To note the glad smile that she wore the while So ho asked what her wish might be She blushed rosy red Well thought she said Lest you lose twere surer this way For me to wish too that your wish come true Tour wish for next Thanksgiving Day Harpers Bazar A PATRIOTIC THANKSGIVING It Brings to View a Picture of the Dark Days of the War Ask Aunt Barbara she will tell you all about it said the veteran looking pathetically at the empty sleeve folded across his breast It feaid dear Aunt Barbara smiling refers to the only time I took my knit ting work to church It was during the war and we were knitting socks for the soldiers We were not veterans then if we are now and she sighed gently I was not in it complained the vet eran Not with us at that immediate time But we were a houseful of girls and when Thanksgiving came that last year of the war we were busy as bees sending supplies to our soldiers who were out at elbows and toes And we had decided not to go to church as the regular New England custom is on Thanksgiving Day but to stay at home and knit However the minister called the day before Thanks giving and when he rose to leave said I hope to see you girls at church to morrow It will be a special service and your pew must not be empty Then sister Kate spoke up saucily and asked Isnt there as much goodness in staying at home and knitting socks for our boys in blue He looked at her in a sort of dazed way Poor man he had only two boys and they both went to the war and never came back Kate caught a sob in her throat and begged his forgiveness and the smile he gave her was like a sunbeam lighting up a wintry landscape Bring your knitting along he said and we knew he meant it and took our work under our capes intending to knit on the sly during the sermon which is always long in New England But dear me the house was filled out that its being Thanksgiving Day and not Sunday a special permit had been given to those who were knitting for the soldiers to continue working during the pyprrises rather than stay at home and the sight was one to be remembered The old ladies could knit without taking their eyes off the minister but when they came to toe off or bind The heel they forgot where they were nd it was droll enough to hear their audible responses slip one bind two mingled with the click clack of flying needles I am afraid the sermon was not appreciated that day but the unique situation certainly was Another incident made Yi remember that Thanksgiving Day We had put our turkey in the oven to roast and when we went home it had disappeared Tramps were hardly known in that locality but we were fain to believe that some hungry wayfarer had robbed us of our feast While we sat at a dinner composed mostly of vegetables and pies a prankish youth of the neighborhood brought us a fine hot turkey with his mothers compli ments and it was not until a week later that we learned that it was our own which he had stolen and returned His excuse for such a prank was indicative of the times There dont nobody do nothin to make fun So we forgave him his simple practical joke for we too appreciated the need of fun on a day given over to festivity Tell the rest of it Barbara said the veteran It was a year later at Thanksgiving time the rest happened A soldier in a faded and tattered uniform and lacking an arm came to our door and asked if Barbara White lived there As that was my name I expected to see some one I knew but the man was a stranger He gave me a soiled and worn note which was his letter of introduction Aunt Barbara stopped her recital in some embarrassment but she looked at her veteran and received a nod of en couragement A Strange isnt it that a whole life may be deflected from its natural course by a trivial incident Who knows however that the incident may not have been cre ated purposely for that result I had written a note on a leaf torn from a hymn al on that Thanksgiving day in church and tucked it into the toe of the sock I was knitting It was a simple message of good cheer to the soldier to whom the socks should be apportioned and I signed it A Well Wisher However in my haste and flurry I did not look on the re verse side of the leaf where my name and address were written in full My soldier ate his Thajnksgiving dinner at our house and a year from that day we were married Now we are both veterans in gray said Aunt Barbaras soldier as he fondly regarded her and in these piping times of peace we ought to distinguish Thanks giving Day by such a celebration as has never been given before make it an epoch of prosperity hey old comrade and he tapped Aunt Barbaras shoulder lovingly The invitations are out for a gathering of veterans and this Thanksgiving Day will be a fitting supplement for that his toric one when the patriotic girl3 of 65 took their knitting work to church Thankssivinglets Fine feathers dont make fat birds Let us give thanks that we are abie to give thanks Its a wise turkey that is a living skele ton these days Uneasy lies the head that eats not wisely but too much Eat drink and be merry for Friday youll have a headache A bird in the refrigerator is worth two dozen at the butcher shop Whaf s sauce for the goose is sauce for the turkey if it is cranberry The briefest and most heartily enjoyed proclamation is Dinners ready Go to the restaurant thou bachelor consider its ways and get married Another Cause for Thanks jvre j6u going to have Aunt Peevish for Thanksgiving mamma asked little Ruth who was laboriously jotting down the things for which she thought she should be thankful Not this year dear and the young hopefil joyfully made another entry Beating the Record Mrv Grumpton made her husband a pumpkin pie four inches thick What was that for She wanted to get ahead of the pump kin pies his Aunt Maria up in Maine used to make Johnnies Happiness Going to observe Thanisgiving at your house Johnnie You bei Mamma gave the cook 5 extra stay at home that day- A FROLIC AT THE FORD Seography was horrible the sweat we called it that Bespoke a common misery when Billy sig naled Pat Two stubby grimy fingers uplifting on the sly fbereat a wink significant distorted Pat ricks eye Lben Billy turned to Cummins and Har vev and Deoew To each in turn displaying the mystic fin gers two nd lastly condescended while the others winked in glee To show the mystic symbol to the least of all to me D ecstasy transcending whateer the fu ture stored When Billy bade me join him for a frolic at the ford Che hours till noon slunk by as if they knew we wished them past t seemed as though theyd never go they did of course at last ind O how cool the water was and O how sweet the joy bhat filled and thrilled the bosom of each sweaty little boy 5Vhen he had hung his trousers on the nearest handy bough And shut his lips and held his nose and dove to show y how We ducked and splashed and wrestled we floated raced and tread And Billy flopped his feet aloft while standing on his head Depew had brought up bottom from the center of the pool When Harvey said he reckoned it was time to go to school Gee whiz says Billy first to quit thats something I forgot An as I live my breeches are twisted in n knot Each rushed ashore and scurried to where his garments hung Then sudden imprecations arose from overv to n cue- While we had wooed the cooling stream some envious sneak had gone And tied our shirts and trousers so we couldnt get em on Were late says Billy Then says Pat just take your time to dress Well fix it sos to wander in at afternoon recess An each o y must gather a bunch o purty flowers An give em t the teacher er shell keep y after hours The teacher worked for slender pay so far as money went She prayed and played and pardoned and sppnied to be content But when a boy that loved her contrived to let her know She looked as if her gratitude was going to overflow I guess that she no matter what When we six boys marched in Bach one of us a grinning from eyebrows down to chin And stopped in turn before her desk and laid our flowers down We saw two tears start sudden in the middle of her frown As I the last and least of all went by with hair askew She stooped and saidr I love you boys no matter what you do These flowers whispered Harvey are not so bad a plan Shes solid goId said Billy she ought t been a man A TRIBUTE 0E SONG HERE is no place on earth where utter helplessness comes out so-strongly where the cere monies in human use fall sc power less before the maj esty of the occa sion as at a funeral It need not be that ones heart shall be interested The ob sequies of a stran ger conducted with all the pomp and vanity of church and state with the melancholy rolling drum of the military funeral or the gorgeousness of the Ma sonic regalia apron all are alike inade quate and unavailing But once in my life have I witnessed i ceremony that was as grand and im pressive as the silent awful occasion that was ever given to the deacL I will tell you of a funeral which lin gers in my memory as the grandest most solemn and befitting ceremony that was ever given to the dead It was rumored many years ago that a poor widowed woman leading a hard life of unending labor was called to part with the one thing dear to her her only child Mother and daughter had toiled together for fifteen years and the only bit of sunshine falling Into their dark lives was that shed by their living comnanionshin But tJva girl had always been sickly Under lfef heart broken mothers eyes she hs H faded and wasted away with consuai0t tion and at last the day came when ti i wan face failed to answer with its I ghastly smile the anxious tear blinded eyes of the mother The poor young creature was dead For many months the pair had been supported by the elder womans sew ing and it was in the character of em ployer I had become acquainted with Mrs Cramp and her story By an occa sional visit to the awful heights of an East Side tenement where they lived by a few books and with some comfort ing words I had won the lave of the dying girl Her grateful thoughts turn ed in her last hours to the small num ber of friends she possessed and she besought her mother to notify me of the day of her funeral and ask m t34 attend The sxsmmons reached me upon 53 ni of the wildest days preceding CbiOtfJ mas A sleet that was not rain and Si 1 viv that was not snow cam pelting ilrom all points of the compass A wind I that wailed ia the chimney and howled - V in the street told how truly dreadful j for outdoor purposes was the weatherj of the day 1 piled the glowing grates I drew closer the curtains and shut outr the gloom of the December afternoon I turned on the gas and sat down de uA voutly thankful that I had cut all con nection -with the witched weather when an installment of it burst In on me in the shape of Parepa Rosa She was Euphrosyne Parepa at that time and the operatic idol of the city Muffled with tippets flecked with snow glow ing with the short encounter she had had with the elements rushing up the steps from her carriage she threw her self into an easy chair and proclaimed the horrors of the outer world to be be yond description And even as we congratulated our selves on the prospect of a delightful day together there came the summons for me to go to the humble funeral of the poor sewing womans daughter I turned the little tear blotted note over and groaned This is terrible said I its just the one errand that could take me out to day but I must go And then I told Parepa the circumstances and speculated on the length of time I should be gone and suggested means of amusement in my absence But I shall go with you said the great good hearted creature Your throat and old Bateinan and your concert to night I pleaded If I get another froggy note in my voice it wont matter much Im hoarso as a raven now she returned So she rewound her threat with the long white comforter pulled on herf worsted gloves and off in the storm Ave went together We climbed flight after flight of narrow dark stairs to the top floor where the widow dwelt in a miserable little room not more than a dozen feet square The canvas baclc hearse peculiar to the 25 funeral stood in the street below and the aw ful cherry stained box with its ruffle of glazed white muslin stood on uncov ered trestles in the center of the room above There was the mother speechless in her grief before that box a group of hard working kindly hearted neigh bors sitting about It was useless to say the poor woman was prepared for the inevitable end it was cold comfort to speak to her of the daughters re lease from pain and suffering- The be- reft creature in hen utter loneliness was thinking of herself and the awful fate of the approaching moment when that box and its precious burden would be taken away and leave her wholly alone So therefore with a sympathiz ing grasp of the poor worn bony hand we sat silently downi to- attend the funeral The undertakers man with a screw driver in his hand jumped about in the passage to keep warm The creaky boots of the minister belonging to the 25 funeral were heard on the stairs There was a catarrhal conversation held outside between them as to tho enormity of the weather and probably the bad taste of the deceased in select ing such a bad time to die was dis cussed Then the minister came in with a pious sniff and stood revealed a reg ular Stiggins as to get up a dry self sufficient man icier than the day and colder than the storm He deposited his hat and black gloves and wet umbrella on the poor little bed in the corner he slapped his hand vig orously together he took himself Iil well merited fashion by the ears and pulled them into- glowing sensation and after thawing out for a moment plunged into business He rattled merrily through some se lected sentences from the Bible He gave us a prayer that sounded like peas in a dried bladder and he came to amen with a jerk that brought me up like a patent snaffle He pulled on hist old gloves and grabbed his rusty hat and with his umbrella dripping inky tears over the well scrubbed floor he offered a set form of condolence -to the-broken-hearted mother He told her of her sin in rebelling against the de cree of Providence He assured her that nothing could bring the dead back He inveighed against the folly of the wTorld in general and this poor woman in particular and then he made- a hor rible blunder and showed he- didnt know even the sex of the dead by say ing He cannot come to you but yom must go to him This was a settler for Parepa and myself We looked at the departing minister in blank astonishiuent The door swung wide we saw the screw driver waving in the air as- the undertakers man held converse with the clergyman A hush fell on every body gathered in the little room Not one word had been uttered of consola tion of solemn import or befitting the occasion It was the emptiest hollow est most unsatisfactory moment I csor remember Sae Parepa arose her cloak falling 3Qt her noble figure like mourning fesgtsy She stood beside that miser able cherry wood box She looked a moment on the pinched wasted ashy face upturned toward hes from it She laid her soft white hand on the discolored forehead of the dead girl and she lifted up that matchless voice in the beautiful melody Angels ever bright and fair Take me oh take her to your care The screw driver paused in describ ing an airy circle the wet umbrella stood pointing down the stairs the two men with astonished faces were fore most In a crowd that instantly filled the passage The noble Vbice swelled to ward heaven and if ever the choir of paradise paused to listen to eartha 3K5B H 1WU5 when Parena saner so iSiSBSSr fcceide that poor dead girl 9b mbJi ever went to her grave ac- Gaaptnted by a grandear ceremony Toj this day Parepag glorious tribute of song rings with solemn melody in my memory as the only real impressive funeral service l ever heard u r I f Ml - - Vv G Hv i i
