I \ THANKSGIVING HYMN. Mm nk Thpp. O Father , for all that is : right gleam f tin- < lay , and the stars of the night : Hlowers of Mir youth and the fruits of our prime , , Wo.ssiiiffs Hint march down the path way of time. \\V thank TinO Father , for all that Is dcar- Tuo sob of the iempp.sl , the How of the tear : Kor never in blindness , and never in vain , Tliy mercy permitted a sorrow or pain. W" 1 linn I : 'I'lioe. O Father , for song and for feast - Tti" harvest that glowed and the wealth licit , increased : Tor never a blessing encompassed earth's ehild. 3' U Thou in Thy mercy looked downward and smiled. W- thank Thee. O Father of All , for Thy voxver Of aiding each other in life's darkest hour : The generous heart and the bountiful hand , And all ( he soul help that sad souls under , stand. tV - thank Thee. O Father , for days yet tn l > e- ilnr hopes that our future will call us to Thec- " 1'halill our KternUy form , through Thy love , The Thanksgiving day in the mansion" above. - Will f-'arleton. THE VACANT CHAIR. T seemed to Aunt Huldah Simmons that the pumpkin hud nevorlooked so - pale and waxy , the apples so weaxoned , even the turkey itself - " self so lifelessly dismal , as on that especial Thanksgiv ing morning. "It's going to be a failure ! " she said snappishly. "For twenty years the cheeriest , the brightest , the happiest celebration under this roof -over was and now ! " Aunt Huldah plunged her arms < o the lbows into the Hour barrel , and choked with the dust she raised , and was glad of an excuse to smother a kind of a sob. .lust then the grocerynuui from town drove np , brought in his basket of "extrys find fixin's , " and for a moment stopped to Kioam his snow-crusted shoes at the blaz- i n s fireplace. "Well , muni ! well , mum ! " he said briskly - ly , "on hand , as I see ? Why. it's getting to bo a milestone in my life , mum ! " "What is ? " demanded Aunt Huldah -tartly. Poor soul , she did not feel over- -eoinpanionablo. 'Hjoming bore at this hour , on this day. "Think of it , Mis ? Simmons ! For twenty year , every Thanksgiving day. I've deliv ered the ordered basket of raisins , and nil-rants , and mace , and citron , and nuts , and every Thank-.giving morning for twenty year your blessed face has smiled TV ne in ! ' I say , mum , if some Thanks giving morning 1 should miss just this , I'd go home , shut up shop , and begin to think 'Things hain't right the best dinner 4\U , MY BOY ! MY BOY ! ' "in the world ain't going to be- cooked to day ! " "You'll miss , next time ! " almost gruni- Med , Aunt Huldah. "Don" ! toll. Miss Simmons oh , shorcly not. ! " and the grocer looked anxious. "Yos. 'twill ! " affirmed Huldah , half i-ryhig , half mad. "And what's the matter , mum ? " "The charm is gone , the circle is brok- ! . anddon't pester me , man ! I'm that oownca.st ! I fool more like a day of fast- r than feasting ! " The storekeeper gave a solemn nod of ; meu. and * tilkfd out to his wagon mis- prafoJy , "It's I hat boy ! " ho sighed , and wagged l > \ head gravoly. Dolorously ho wagged it all the way ! > ack to town. "That boy" was a lively : hcn Unit afforded him plenty to think l-'or Iwenly years Amu Huldah Riin- ns hud conn * over from I'arkvilly to superintend Thanksgiving dinner for ' -rorhor Enoch Dalton and his i\ifo. For twenty years there had sat at the iVsUil table the two happiest children in io : Slafo Xantiy and Walter. Aunt Hnldah had watched thorn gra- duc from high chair lo common folks' ' luirhad st'ou Nanny grow into a charm- "m : miss , a tul Walter into a stalwart. hjindsom" fellow , "a trillo too lively for ; - t'.iiirs ! " ' TV. o years baok ho had como to tin- Tunijk.xgiving table lale for the tirst time feluco he knew what Thanksgiving dinners M uv. Oiu ; year baok ho fame later , and talk- * -j ] loud and long , and his eye was suspi- < -Iou < ly bright , and. II ul dab noted , those of bis parents secretly dimmed and ser rowful. hi December gossip told Aunt Huldah -bat her nephew had "gone to the dogs. " Jji. February gossip had it that there had 'hoc u "a terrible row" between father and son. son.Whon May blossoms wore painting ( he vines rose and snow color , the story came > f : i dissipated son ordered nut of the -houso till ho could behave like a man - f : t high-spirit answering the stern affront THE FIRST THANKSGIVING DINNER IN NEW ENGLAND. iisSK < with a prompt departure , and not : i won had been heard of- the wauderin ? sun brother and nephew since. So , no wonder that Aunt Huldah brown ed tiie turkey with u lack-spirit zest , tlui doleful morning and no wonder tha pretty Nanny beat the pudding sauce be tween spells of tears , for there was a va cant chair at the Daltou table only out person could fill , and lie was a wanderer lost , missing , that sad Thanksgiving day Tap-tap ! 'Come in ! " spoke Mr. Dultnn. ' ' ' " IIul 'It's a tramp , murmured Aunt dali. dali."Sit "Sit down , won't you. and have som < dinner ? " insinuated Mrs. Daltou's gen. tie , motherly tones. The dinner had been a blank failure Pretty Nanny was almost thankful foi the incident that distracted thoughts am attention from the vacant chair beside her. her.The cloaked , snow-shot figure entering moved towards that chair at the invita tion. tion."Not there ! " sharply said Mr. Daltou. "No. f = et another chair and plate , sister , ' ' suggested bis wife. "I'll take this one ! " amazingly spokr the intruder. "You thought enough of scapegrace Walter to keep him in mem ory , eh , folks' : Well , maybe I deserved it ! " Back went the enveloping ulster , and a bronzed , bearded fellow smiled , all hands around. "Wait ! " he said , as Aunt Huldali shrieked hysterically , as Nanny glided 1111 tremblingly , as his mother nearly fainted , and his father turned white , hoi > eful , anx ious. "I've come back a new Walter. I've been in the Cuban war. " "Oh , my boy ! my boy ! " murmured his mother poignantly. "Father , if I hadn't been 'all right' I'd nevfr have had the courage to face what lost me that" and the hero showed one arm missing at the elbow. "If I bad not learned to obey orders better than when I left home , they would never have honored " Walter indicated the me with those , and barred shoulder straps he wore. "I've come back for forgiveness a bet ter boy , a new Walter , " went on the sol dier-penitent. "And I've brought a pledge that I mean to live life in earnest. Father , mother , this is my wife ! " Walter had stepped back to open the door. There , shy , beautiful , with anxious pleading in her lovely Cuban face , was the girl-wife of the boy-soldier. "Come in ! " spoke Nanny , her soul in lier eyes , her welcoming hands out stretched. "Yes , " brokenly but fervently cried Mr. Dalton. "As Uncle Sam says to all his ivards , 'Enter ! Here is home ! ' My boy , rour story tolls itself. Welcome , Walter ind wife , to the happiest Thanksgiving eunion in Christendom ! " "And I slighted the turkey ! " mourned Vunt Huldah Simmons , under her breath , 'and I made the biscuits just as my heart 'elt like load ! I'm punished for shirking ny duty. Well , in this world you never an know what's going to happen next ! " WELDON J. COBB. FIRST THANKSGIVING. [ ndiari Chiefs \Ver Hospitably Kn- tertr > ; - " ' ' ' * y Pilgrims. VEH since the year following tbe land ing of the Pilgrims we have been ob serving Thanksgiv ing day. The first i thanksgiving was appointed by ( Joy. Bradford at Ply mouth , * 'Jas ? . , in 1021 , in 1,13er that the colonists in a more special way could rejoice together at having all things in good and plenty , writes Clifford How ard in the Ladies' Home Journal. In pre paration for the feast "gunners were sent into the woods for wild turkeys , which abounded there in great numbers ; kitch ens were made ready for preparing the feast especially the large one in Dame Brewster's house , which was under the immediate direction and charge of Pris- cilla Molines , sh * > who afterward became the wife of John Alden while a messen ger was dispatched to invite Massasoit , the chief of the friendly tribe , to attend the celebration. "Early on the morning of the appointed Thursday about the first of November Massasoit aud ninety of his warriors ar rived on the outskirts of the village , and with wild yells announced their readiness 1o enjoy the hospitality of their white brethren. The little settlement , which now consisted of seven dwellings and four public buildings , was soon astir with men , women and children , who gave the Indians a hearly welcome as they filed into tlie large square in front of the Governor's house. Soon the roll of a drum announc ed the hour of prayer , for no day was be gun without this religious service. Then followed a holiday of feasting ami recrea tion , which continued not only during that day but during the two succeeding days. The usual routine of duties was suspend ed ; the children romped about in merry play ; the young men indulged in athletic sports and games in friendly rivalry with the Indians ; the little American army of twenty men , under the leadership of Miles Standish. went through its drill and man ual of arms , to the great delight and as tonishment of the natives , while the wom en busied themselves in. the careful pre paration of the excellent meals , which were eaten in the open air. GROUNDS FOR THANKFULNESS. Mi-s. Blimmer Didn't Quite See It as Frederick Did. V II A N K SGI VIXU a day again ! Well , 1 haven't anything , to be thankful for. " an nounced Mrs. Blim mer , at the break fast table , as she looked across at her husband. "Why. my dear , " replied he , "yoi have mo. " "I have you , have I ? " replied Mrs. BHm mer. "And that is something for me to b < thankful for. is it ? Well , not that I kuov of , it isn't. Frederick Blimmer. Thank ful that I have you , indeed ? It was th < greatest mistake of my life in marrying you , and I have never ceased to regret it It was all right to marry me , so far as you were concerned. It was quite a feath er in your cap to marry one of the Joneses girls , but I think I must have been clear out of ir/ mind when I said yes , and 1 think all my folks must have been pluml crazy over to think of letting me marrj you. I had an idea that I loved you , bul I see now that I didn't know what an idea was , and if I had it to do over again I'd marry any man in the whole wide world before I'd come to you , Frederick Blim mer. And you needn't try to interrupt me , as you always do when I have a word to say , for I'll not listen to you. It isn't as - though I had no chance to marry any oth er man. either , that I took you. I could have married Joe Simpson , as line a man as ever walked on two legs , and he treats his present wife like as if she was an angel from heaven , and she not Rs first choice , either. Then , Jack Dukes i\as fairly pining away for me , but I didn't have sense enough to marry him , although I knew he was only waiting for a little encouragement , but I was that indepen dent I never would encourage a man the least bit. Besides those two t'liere was Frank Palmer , who fairly worshiped the ground I walked on , but I wouldn't have anything to do with him because his hair was red , but it's a mighty One-looking man bo's got to be , and they do say his wife doesn't want for a. thing , and she's as proud of him as if he was a king , and Frederick Blimmer. w-hat are you putting on your overcoat for ? Didn't you say that you had a holiday to-day , and that we would spend a happy Thanksgiving day together , like we did when we were lirst married ? Oh , well , go out if you want to , but if you are not homo by 1 o'clock sharp not a bit of Thanksgiving dinner do you get. " A Thanhs riviu c Note. Talk about Thanksgiving , with Its pleasures and Its joys Wo'ro all si-looking forward to a meeting with the boys , And Sue will come from college , aud Jimmy won't forget , And we'll nil feel mighty happy that we're this side Jordan yet ! I've seen the turkey spreading of bis feathers - ors fair nn l line. And his "gobble , gobble , gobble" seems to dare the folks to dine. The verdict's been against him , nnd bis exe cution's set. And he makes the folks feel .hnppy tbat they're all a-living yet ! Atlanta Constitution. An Ax to Grind. All the fall they feed the turkey. Till he's almost had enough , But he learns their motive only When they cry. "You're just the stuff1 ! H ! on Thanksgiving day , when from East and from We. t , From North and from South , eomp the pil grim and guest ; When the gray-haired Xow-Eujjlauder sees round his board The old broken links of affection restored , When the care-wearied man seeks his moth er once more And the worn matron smiles where the girl smiled before What moistens the lip and what brightens the eyeV What calls back the past like the rich pumpkin pie ? O-frnit loved of boyhood the old days re calling , When wood-grapes were purpling and brown nuts were falling ! When wild , ugly faces we carved In its skin , Glaring out through the dark with a candle within. When we laughed round the corn heap with hearts all in tune , Our chair a broad pumpkin our lantern the moon. Telling tales of the fairy who traveled like steam. In a pumpkin shell coach , with two rats for her team ! Then thanks for the present one sweeter or better E'er smoked from an oven or circled a platter ! Fairer hands never wrought at a pastrv more line , Brighter eyes never watched o'er Its baking , than thine ; And tlie prayer , which my mouth is too full to express. Swells my heart that thy shadow may never grow less. That the days of thy lot may be lengthened below. And fame of thy worth like a pumpkin-vine grow. And thy life be as sweet , and its last sunset sky Golden-tinted and fair as thy own pumpkin pie ! Whit tier. A Thanksgiving Kecips. A little turk. A little clerk , A little jerk. A little dirk. Will make a little dinner. A THANKSGIVING TURKEY. Here Is a Stuffing from a Famous Cliof 9 Notebook. Thorp is a chef in one of the large hotels of Now York who is famous for his roast turkey. Turkey under his hands conies out not only a beautiful brown , but of a delicious llavor quite different from any other turkey that over was seen. The turkey meat is positively rich , and even the white meat that is generally dry has a moist , spicy taste. This is his recipe for roast turkey , which he- kindly consented to give the household department : Clean the furkey with as little handling as possible and rinse with water in which a little baking soda has been dissolved. Now break up about half a pint of bread crumbs and into the crumbs chop two links of pork sausage. Stuff the turkey with this mixture and just before putting into the oven bind salt pork on the breast of the turkey. Remove the pork just before the turkey is taken from the oven. When the meat is carved its flavor will be found very superior. This is particu larly to be recommended for the Thanks giving turkey , which , with so many other dainties rivaling it , must be very appotiz * ing to be enjoyed. A Vienna hotel has 1,500 rooms. THE FARM AND HOlt MATTERS OF INTERESTTO ER AND HOUSEWIFE. Crops Should EC Piopcrly Rotated NOT/ Honey Beca from the Phili pities How to Care for n Horse ' Prevent Cowa Jumping : . What the rotation of crops should ' must depend largely on the quality ni condition of the soil as well as on i location , but experience has shown th in order to economically cultivate tl soil crops must be grown that will n too seriously encroach on any one pn ticular element in the soil to the excl sion of the others. That this is n more generally understood is the cau ; of many failures. A farmer will fn that plowing under clover or peas i some other nitrogenous plant has giv ( him a soil on which he raises a fine en of corn , and instead of being satisfi < with this result he must needs put tl land in corn again to still further d plete its fertility without returnir anything to it. The result is that whi "he usually obtains a good second crc of corn , the soil is in precisely the san condition as it was before the legumi were put into it , and in order to keep i : its fertility considerable more must I spent on fertilizers of some sort. Th could have been avoided had the lai : been put into wheat and clover aft < the first crop of corn ; not only avoidei but he would have had a second crop ( clover to turn under , which would lun added more fertility to the soil thn was taken from it by the corn an wheat crops. Atlanta Journal. Giant East India Bees. One of our acquisitions with th Philippine Islands is likely to be a nei species of the honey bee. It is ou < half larger than the American hone bee , with a much greater capacity fo making both wax and honey. In it wild state it builds combs on large foi ? st trees or in clefts of the rocks in th mountains of the island. As it goes u the mountains for a distance of 5,00 feet , it is believed that it can be accli aiated so as to live in the United States Mr. Frank Bentoii of the Departmen ) f Agriculture went to the Philippine : o investigate these new kind of bees tie reports them not to be easily irri : ated. Unfortunately a swarm whicl Mr. Benton captured in the jungle diet m its passage across the Pacific. Thes < ) ees have a wasp-like figure , Avith or ingc-colored bands encircling its body flie combs it makes are much large. ] han those made by ordinary bees. I ; t can be domesticated in hives tin lives must be very large ones. In fact L room would scarcely be too large , am t might accommodate several swarms Care of n Horse. The animals should be first watered 'hen fed , and while they are eatinj heir corn the bed is turned up , t.h < italls mucked out , the feet picked oui vith the picker , and the soles , frogs ind walls well washed with the watei > rush , the shoes being examined to set hat they are firm and serviceable , Chorough grooming with brush , curry- : omb , sponge and linen rubber. Sick and idle horses require grooming .s much as working animals do to keep hem in health. If horses got more efli- : ient grooming there would be fewer Complaints as to "surfeit , " pimples , Notches , hidebound , roughness and > ther things that affect the health and poll the appearance of the animal , and here would also be less demand for Iterative and "condition" powders , rhich are generally rendered neces- ary through the skin becoming tm- icaclthy owing to its neglected condi- ion. ion.The The cleaning out of the foot is an 5m- ortant point that is entirely neglected rith most of our farm horses. Of ourse , when out at pasture it is not ecessary , but where horses are in the table continuously the feet should be Doked after better than the } ' usually re. Mark Lane Express To Keep a Cow from Jumping. Make a good strong halter and sur- ingle ; make both of good leather or of oed three-fourths inch rope ; put the urcingle around jusr behind the fore- sgs , having a good large ring fastened ) it under the brisket. Put the halter u as on a horse , having a stout ring uder the chin. Fasten a short cliaiu orn the ring in the surcingle to the ng in the halter , having it short nough that she can not raise her head lore than two feet from the ground , or tss if she is very bad. The surcingle here it crosses the back and the halt- : on the nose should be wrapped with ) ft cloth to keep them from nibbing. , rith this a cow can neither throw nor imp fence , and still she can throw her 2ad around to her sides to fight off the ics. Practical Farmer. Uainjr TCatv Bones on the Farm. The quickest and simplest method of tilizing old bones is to burn them in ie kitchen stove and carefully save te ashes. In this way you get in the > h all the phosphoric acid and lime icre is in the bone , but you lose the Ltrogen , which goes off as gas in the noke. Where the quantity of bones is nail , however , and especially if the icilities required for other methods of sing them arc not at hand , and if the jnes cannot be sold at a fair price , lis burning of them is far better than i permit them to go to waste. Bone lakes an intense heat , and as far as it > es is a valuable fuel. Every thrifty irmer saves all the wood ash from 10 house , for it is so rich in phosphoric ? id and potash that not a pound of it lould be wasted , but every bit of wood ; h ( whether containing bonsi ash or 3t ) should be religiously preserve * ] , very intelligent and thrifty farmer HOWS the value of a dressing of rich oed ash and line bone maU Except burning , thfe for the loss of nitrogen by home-made combination of wood * sh- and bone ash will accomplish nearly as the famous unleached good results as wood ash aud bone meal mixture. American Agriculturist. Use and Coat of Land Plaster. Land plaster is sold very cheaply in rock suitable for places where the grinding it from is abundant. It is there , too , that it appears to do most good , probably in part because the gypsum rock has always enough holes through it to make good drainage. Its best effect is always found on light and dry soils , for one of the properties of poster is to attract moisture , which such soil usually needs. Plaster has been sold at the mills as low as $2 per ton in winter when most of the rock grinding Is done. Ten or fifteen miles away and in summer , when farmers wanted to use it on crops , the price would jump up to $4.50 and even $3 per ton. So those who used much plaster generally went with sleighs during a rim of good sleighing , when they would sometimes draw two tons or more on a. load. A half bushel of plaster weighs pretty near 100 pounds , so that a good deal can be put in an ordinary sleigii box. Ripe Tomatoes for Christmas. Before frost comes pick all sound green fruit from the vines , and careful ly wrap each one in a Gx9-inch sheet of white wax paper , taking care not to twist as in packing oranges. Spread out in a single layer on trays or in shallow boxes , and place in a partial light in a cellar. To hasten ripening they may occasionally be exposed to the sun half an hour at a time. Once a week examine and pick out the rod ones and those that may decay. This may be done easily , as the transpar ency of the paper does not necessitate unwrapping. Thus one may have a constant supplj * of plump , palatable and beautiful tomatoes till Christinas , with tritling expense or trouble. Amer ican Agriculturist. Pruning. There is a difference of opinion as to the proper time to prune an orchard. , but n good time is when the knife is- sharp. Visit the orchard often and cut off all water sprouts and superfluous limbs that interfere with their neigh- bors. Ilead the trees low. It will be ? more convenient to gather the fruit and storms vire not so hard on a low tree as N. high one. jFarm .Notes. When a farmer's slock seems to be ill of one mold , and that a good one , : here are dealers ready to take them as i lot , and at the owner's price. A first- L'lass animnl is sure to bring a good agtiro , but he who has all first-class inimals usually obtains the top of the Market. J \ While there are a good many kind * ) f toads , all of them bring sudden loath to every bug or fly which comes vithin their roach. It is doubtful if he most industrious bird devours as nauy insects in a year as the toad. L'hey are not attractive in appearance , mt we should never destroy one ot hem. The entire manurial product of the lairy herd kept at Cornell University tation was kept in a covered barnyard uring one winter. Samples were taken rom time to time and analyzed. The esults based upon the market price of he then principal fertilizing ingredi- nts showed the manure of the herd t > be worth per cow per day 8.C2 cents. A cow that produces 2,325 quarts ields within a fraction of 5,000 ounds. A good cow should produce ,000 pounds of 3.75 to 4 per cent. milk. .t 3 cents a quart the cash value of ,000 pounds of milk is $69.75. With oed farm management such cows bould be kept for $40 , which leaves u refit above the cost of the feed of 29.75. Tlie labor cost should not ex- eecl one good man to fifteen cows. Coard's Dairyman. Very many people are fond of a good arden , but think they can not keep liickens and have a garden , too. The lalne farmer tells of a poultryman who ; noted for success in producing vege- ibles. He grows twice as much i-re as formerly. Ho keeps 100 fowls , iid has two lots of ground , one being-"Y iven up to fowls , while the other is * sed for garden , the lots being about ae and a quarter acres each. The next 3ar he turns the fowls on the garden at and uses for a garden the plat then icated by the fowls. By thus giving I ) the garden plat to poultry every ternate year he keeps the soil verv rtile. Cream left to itself will spontaneous- become sour ; this is the result of the- owth of lactic acid bacteria , which ed upon the milk sugar , and as a final ocess convert it into a lactic acid. ther forms of bacteria are always esent in cream ; some have little or m feet in the ripening process , while hers , if allowed to develop , product * idesirable and often obnoxious fla- > rs. To cultivate and develop ibe vild" germs is called "spontaneous" peniug , and is often attended with un- rtaiuty. Good butter-making de- ands the use of a "starter , " either nne-made or a pure culture. The for- er should be made of selected skim ilk. Carbolic salve should always be kept ady for use at the cow luirn. Bruits id sores often ocenr in the best re < u- ted establishment , and there is noth- g really better than a carbolic oint- ent for such cases. This may be pur- lased already prepared at any druJ 9re , or the dairyman can easily prc , ire it for himself by simply takin- me vaseline or even lard and addiu it a very small quantity of the ach ? a-o or three drops of carbolic achi ould be sufficient for one tablespoon * 1 of the vaseline or lard , only > nix % em thoroughly together. Such oint < / \ ent is a rapid healer and keeps flies vay from sores. It Is excellent for an or beast. Practical Dairyman