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1 WHAT IT MEANS Duties, Lessons ami Pleasures ol Tlianksiving Day. Thanksgiving! From basement to attic the words resounds. Weie words ever sweeter than those made by happy children's voices 1 The tones proclaim the joys that ? ? ..a .- : air aim lilt ^ III ell- ilTO tO liiHl throughout 1 hanksgi ving day. Wo watch their happy laces and listen to their merry voices inter mingling with unrthi'olness. What does it matter it the curtains are awry, the legs 01* chairs where seats are wont t<< oe, and picture hooks, forgotten, lie in all consilient places, and tents ot rugs and tahlespreads wherein the occupants are re enacting the hairbreadth scenes of old? Now they are gathered around the glowing grate where mind pictures ol the long ago are vividly portrayed, and from their counte nances we infer that they are heholding the Northmen as they view from afar the wonderful new world, and the Icelandersas they land upon New Knglandphore in the year 1000 and realize the priv'tiotis which they en dured, and, too, the sailing of the Santa Maria, and later the Mayflower. Illden With tin* Puritan father", and sec tin' landing at Plymouth Rock. Were there ever more interesting stories ttian those relating the incidents which tiiul<e up the history of this new world? And can lips other than those of the gray haired fat Iter 01 mother picture so clearly those scenes? Nor do their joy- lessen s?t the sight of the Thanksgiving dime r, where epicurean skill ap p iw to have reached its highest development. When the lateness of the hour compels them to don their white robes, we hear min gled petitions and thanksgivings more fervent than usual, and when their eves are closed in Slumber OUr ^llllljacivinirj uria.? te (?o*l .! I ??v ? for the preservation of onrlittle ones. I/F.iti k?at 11 ng lo nil' housewife ha* a host uf meanings. Kor several ?l,?ys turkeys, pumpkin pieiand innumerable edibles have pas^'d before her mind in stately processian. <'nuked? <)li, n<?. watting tor her invitation tocoine waiting tor her busy brain to dovise methoils of procedure and her deft lingers to aid in the prep eratioti-. waiting for her .-esthetic taste t<> approve or condemn and for tier look of r??!ief when at last tin* word "ready" is pronounced wain up ; or nor !<>OK o! sat 1st :*?-1U >0 as the guests gather around he ample hoard while the thankgivliifi of a year aro concentrated into one grand thanksgiving. I'm til n w she lias scarcely consider erod its import. for often tho weight "f our cares ?1 rair us to their l"w>!, I>itt when a re-pite conies wo \ low thoni from above ami with a sense of freedom \uimii r how wo over became cto avo I, and <o the days, months ami us bring thoir burden of cares, ami at tlie closing of eaoli w t in iin*in adiou, expecting to a.vake at their bidding on the im'i ro .. thanksgiving to tiio men of our cm '-s und tin* eouiitrv means not oi11v a day of feasting and mirth, but a lime to review in detail the blessings received during the past year. Oftentimes rich blessings are Jreoiy scattered in our path and we with averted eves recog ni/.e tItem not. Search your homes, search carefully, lost you overlook the little blessings which, ta. en severally, appear vry small, but when com lilt ,1 vmir Ikiih" ble :tml beautit'ul, and with the atmosphere of love enveloping it, make it the dearest spot on earth. Inhale the atmosphere until your Very being is pervaded, until such a one, an pure as delicate, as in vigorating as ethreal, and, withal as enduring, is shed abroad by you. Nor look with disdain upon the clouds, for many a cloud has a silver lining. I,ook thoughtfully from the status which obscures your horizon to the high floating circus with tints so fair. The shadow^ thev cast over your way may prove to be blessings in disguise. (J1a nee through your account books Is the bank largely debtor? rhanksgi Are your storehouses filled with pram ready for the market ( If so, oiFer thanksgiving to Him who pave you strength that you might proRper. Have you enabled some unfortunate one to rise above the ; difficulties which surrond him? If so, give thanks. Thank (rod for ' fhe friends you have on earth. 1 Thank (roil for the 'Hernia you have in heaven, the remembrance of whose love draws von nearer that happy home where the atmosphere is never clouded and the sun never sets on Thanksgiving dav. T AHNKSGIVING. Now the jocund your hits flow n Spring. with her green li'mlcrlrs Anil sturllke flowers, ntid lcatilig trees, Is far off, faded and unknown Where, too. is Mummer's opub nt fumeV ! The |Hiinpof woods. the staRing bird, Are now of things not seen or hettr<l In uutnmn s ebbliiR. flickering flume. Itut lately Hashed October's blaze Of baffling beauty on our way. Now. it with ail the march from May. Ides dead and hidden from our Raze Hut when the sun Is in the sky Memory w ill sliU reclaim the past. And who shall tear the wintry blast < ir arctic cold win n snow-flu ;es fly Tin1 largess ol the barn and bin. The rich In many a garm-p d field. The th'llRS the fitrtli and garden yield. Art ours, and they are gitliered in. I.et us he glad the circling year li is brought us Rifts so manifold 'I he t nauiy of tin- wood and world ? And lor the thought that life Is dear. I I.et us give thanks for everything Within -l e year's swift i bo and flow. 0 All llv? s must meet their cold and snowllu: at the end comes Jubilant spring' J?IKI. UKN ru.v Survival ol* Tliankstri> i?K. Days sot iijtarl annually lor national IiianUstriviim or Iniinili.i lion are not likely to he long observed unless there are good and abiding reasons tor their appoint inent. TTven in overconservative i Kngland the days once kept in eonnnemoration of the nation's deliverance from the gun powder . | plot and of the murder oft 'harlns ?| have for many years ceased to liguro among Angliean holidays ami barely retain the notice ol , the many almanacs. That the {institution ol Thanksgiving day in America. originally prescribed by the Puritans a> a substitute for <'hrist mas day, ^11??i11<I have survived almost to tin' dose of the present eentury i> therefore 1 presumptive evidence oi its pro prietv ami its necessity.?New ^1 ork 11 era I<1. Thanksgiving in Kuropc. Tlianknirivum day eomes down to us from New Kim land's earliest 1 ime*, and >o does the t urkev. I he puin|>kiti pie had it< birth in Massachusetts and Connecticut, though cranberry sauce has a less ancient and honorable history. Hut I hanks^iiiinu was not ormi nal in New Kimland. I fays set apart for uiving thanks to the Almmhtv were known hi Kurope befoie the reformation and were in tre(|iient use by Protestants afterward, especially in ihe church of Kugland, where they were a tixed custom lone before fliev were in the colonies.?New V _ ? I- %% ' ? ? i oi k >> (triii. Time For Thanksgiving. The end of harvest tiino is universally net apart for Thanksgiv-i ing. Whether in the form of the American Thanksgiving day, the Kngllsh harvest home, the Scotch Hallowen, the Hebrew Feast of Tabernacles, the Korean festival in honor of the goddess Heres or the (Jreek festival in honor of Ifemeter, the instinct prompting it is th same. Since men first became tillers of the ground their j two greatest annual events have been seedtime and harvest.?New ' York Sun. ving Sup A Thanksgiving Fable. FI ThankHKtvlni! morn llutl just boon born. Wliilu through Iho barnyard straying I'll A gobbler proud. \\ itli gobble Wan to his ynrdni itos .-> tying: "1 inn the poor )f u ohuntU'loor | ( You can burnt up< u my work. c That screeching thing I t no longer king, ;i For I'm tho only bird." niH With Conscious prido And slitioly stride ^ ' II s goblets ntrodo along. :t 1 \\ ttli well poised bead ( | Ami measured tread. Gobbling a Turkish sum;. tli* Suid liit; builtulll cock 1 I | <{ To the I'lymouth Uuuk. i "Uet on to his xoblcts' hobble! Kxoise my mirth, iliv Itm youM think thomirth ^ Wore Ills to hour him cobble." U|1 Sunt tho Leghorn hoi i As hi* surutcliod tho mold. till "Well, I ndtniro Ills gull. j f Hut o'erlook hts ways, ] I'or lilt* old N.itv >;iys, i till Pride gootn before u lull." j ? "There's Muster M.tx j With .i elite nit.' ux lie must ho ; oi ix to work til) Wi ll, dash my .spur* I o (.:rout cii*'stii<it iiurs 1 lo's xuhiotiiu >i tin- lurk! ' ^11 "Wh.tt ilid In* suy'* j he 'Tii diksitlvitix dny st 'I \\ ill hi dt'ud enough in a minute' To suy llio lo.is A k'lurloUs i .is|, it' And hu ll hostr.Cll, in it." tlx Millt At* Don't ge? too loud i ' Don t gel too proud. | p,. Itepri'ss utulii'! oliillon. Don i thl.ilt li, birth j ?"' You t i' lii ir In i nrlli i l?ri Allil Ulll'il ll.ftl Ills I lllil.111.>11 : .V" Don't grow >orhoso O'i r neighbor s woes, f ** \\ hen you IniVi' \\ iitti ho lucks tlfl Mislortu in's Sinn'' May cuiili .mi whoro CHI Tho gor hlor >ot the ux. I art - ('iin*!miuti Trihiino , . _ 111 (I V(JimI (Jive Thanks. did I J The hc'iiuiilul cusioin of setting upa t one thty in thp year lor ' thanksgiving unto (ioti originated in the conviction that (*od is; that lie(^V overall, tin4 fountain ? jot all Messing, the %overeiirn 1 ruler and disposer of all events; that, however men may plan and pr< iseent i?, with him it re t lie issues < of life. In this eon vie) ion the p" custom is eonliuttetl year hv year ana snouia !?< religiously main ">n taineil. < >i all our national holi net i|a\> it may he made t!;e most or henelici .1 and useful if observed ea< in the spirit of the recommenda on tions emhraeed in the proelama- 'hi I ions I ?v l he president and hy the io? irovernor- ol the several states, j nu I 'it y th it it should he allowed t?> ' i? degenerate, as tlie tendency veciie m to he, into a mere occasion lor al: unseemly festivity and revelry as and excessive feast inir ?<'hri-1 ian >id Intelligencer. he - ? * pr< Thanksgiving In lirilaiii. |l|t \\ herever throughout the earth ha there i- such a tiling as a formal harvest there also appeals an ini i we clination to mark it with a festive I:.. ,, , eelehration. In hnglarul this mi festival passes general ly n t11 ? ns endeared name of harvest home. In Scotland. where that term lor unknown, the festival is hailed ( . under the name of the kirn. In tin the north ol Kmilami, its ordinary mil designation is the tnell supper. And t here are perhaps ot her loeal m:, names. hut evervwhere then' i- a p,M thanklnl joy, a feeling which pre vades all ranks and conditions ol ;llu the rural people, and for once in in i t lie year brings all upon a level. u h ?Montreal Star. wh A Season ol' Iter rent ion. , t In Thanksgiving day has long heen jmi a period of social happiness, and dc< no one cannot fail to note a deci- hot ded tendency to make it a day of hat physical recreation also. Both of these forms of enjoyment areval 1N liable and desiroahlo. Perhaps tlie 1 ideal Thanksgiving (lav would be . . . sel that in which all the activities ol man?the intellectual, tlie moral, )>V( the spiritual and the physical? work in harmony tor the accotn- ui-u pliHhment of the highest and no- his blest purposes. thi iplemen ItST TIIANKSt*! VI N(i PROCLAMATION. e Annual Observance l)uc to a WoniansN Influence. ieorge Washington issued the st presidential proclamation for Thanksgiving observance. It iy not he generally known that nrnian was largely instrument in bringing about the annual tarvaiic.e of the day, but such is > ease. Sarah .losepha Ruell ile is the name of the woman io advocated the yearly Thanksring day. For several years pre>us to 1SGI tlie custom had fa 11into disuse. Through the col1 us of a magazine she edited s. Hale earnestly urged a re m to the annual custom, and esident Lincoln aldv seconded r pleadings by issuing in ls'?l other presidential proclamation a general Thanksgiving dav. i< e then the custom has not en changed, and it bids fair to iv as it is to the end of time. And who would wish to change What would We do without > great family reunions, w hen s children, grandchildren and rhupt the great grandchildren me hack to the dear old home, inging happ> memories ol her ung dais to the silver haiied, tied faced mother as she clasps r children and her children's Idren in her eager, loving ns? It is a hallowed day, and and young alike love its jovuiess and generous good cheer. Sew York TriImiie. TIlHHOIiDKN PU 31 Pit IN. ecu of the Fruits of the Fartli on Thankstfivimr Day. >1 I lit* I'miI s of t he earl li t lie 1111?kiii is queen upon t his or ion. In her suit may ho found ulrst quivering .jollies, still ked ices, doughnut >. cookies crullers. I'lio pet receipts ol h family, handed down from itherto daughter. should have ?ir place- in o icli homo. I 'our leod i- the child who urows to inhood with no loud recoller n o| what hi- mot her used to ike lor Tliunksejvintr; which is. is. only a sweet uioiiiory now. his u ili? n il orally hut in< on loratelv roinoiiihors only what r mot her used to make and re idoces that. The pumpkin is | lie liucieiis of the -erond It ol Thanks^i vinu dinner, l ake pumpkin, scoop out 'ho meat. . lii>uixti ;i Hal low een lantei n iv to he made, and use your enuitv in turning 111i- shell 0 as pretty a liorn of plenty" may l>e. Fill it with irrapes. 1 apples, oranges, lius. nut. .?what you will?ami let it. t lie ila v, oust t he sil ver eper^lie I In- I> w 1 oi (lowers and crown * tahle \V it h a lilt le care a ist beautiful and ornamental iter decoration can thus be de, one most thoroughly in pirn: wit h I lie nee ision. I'lie season will decide whet her IIillII leaves may be a feature decoration and the locality ether some perfect heads of eat may not plav the part of itonniere as well as chrysan mums. Rut, whatever you de ml upon in the way o| iloral orations, don't call upon the house flowers on this "the vest home." 4 I ? i i i,<-i iii-;n, uiiiik ;111<l oe 111? r it has a riotous sound, tint s more t lian ,jlist ilial?l?* in many es, and having justified our ves l?v sliarintr our uoods with r neighbors it is the duty of ry (iod learinir, true hearted nericun upon this day. inspired 1 assisted by Kinjr Turk and noble t rain, to do justice to s mandate.? Phil. Press. t. TIIANKSOIVINO HAY. A Happy Time When Family Circles A re Reunited?An Occasion When The Turkey Outshines The Facie. For a long time the observance of Thanksgiving <l;.y was an animal custom belonging almost exjclusivelv to the northern states of ; the I nion, but now the or?ervance knows no north, south, east nor west, and everywhere over our broad land the beautiful custom rests upon us like a benediction. From far and near t he members of the family circle who have llown away from the home nest find their way hack for Thanksgiving, like carrier pig muis. bear mg with them tender thoughts and remembrance of the loved ones who, with the poet, decided that "to stay at home is best.*' There is no law saving that Thanksgiving shall be observed, nor is there need of anv, Tor the law of custom has decided the matter, and the president issues each year a Thanksgiving proclamation set ting aside a certain day in the latter part of November for the general celebration. The lirst public Thanksgiving day appointed ollicially in this country was observed bv the puritans on < )ct. 21, 1021. I n I 77s the chaplain of congress recommended that "Wedlit sdny, Dec. do. be observed as a dav ol -public thanksgiving and praise'' In 177t>, the fir?t Tuesday iu May was set aside and in Oc'oher, 177t>, Oongress man Root suggested that the day bo changed to Thursday, I)eo It, j but iu 1 7s-4^Thursday, iW. 28, was chosen, and from that time to the present the < .st Thursday in November has b 'en the dav dei-idc<l upon for the great festival. It in a go.-?.t dav to lav aside and forget all diU 'rences and to keep in one's heart only the tenderness and sunshine out of which the lips and eves will make such lov in<: >1111 ies and glanoes. After father and mother, the ' ohle-t grandchild and the newest bahv, the next most important Thanksgiving personage i> the tnrkev. lie is a noble biped, and, whi e it may not be his aim in life to shine it the festal Thanksgiving board, it i> most assuredly Ins end. The turkey is rhe great. American bird, and on Thanksgiving d i\s he outshines the lordly "Hgle in point of utility and as a subject for discussion of the most absorbing kind. The exact origin of the turkey is buried in obsruritv. but he himseli' i> so re. splendent that In- ancestry mav la- forun en him. or rather the hazui'ss of it may tie. Any bird >o iboroughly satisfactory ami admirable a- turkey mint have had a nolde ancestry, and the proud blood of some great and royal biped must perforce llovv gladly 'hrough his veins. 4 liol nil I Nf nUliltf. Chestnut stuffing for a turkey is prepared as follows: Drop'Jo (or thereabout) large chestnuts in boiling water and leave them for a few mi nil ton; then take them up and rub oil the thin dark skin. After this cover them with boiling water ainl simmer one hour; ttieti take them up and mash them tine. Mince a pound of veal and half a pound of salt pork very liue. To this add the chestnuts, half a teaspoonful of pepper and 2 tahlespoonfula of salt and a cupful of soup stock or water; then stutf the turkey with this.?Huston Herald.