The Barnwell people. (Barnwell, S.C.) 1884-1925, November 11, 1915, Image 19
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[HANKFUL Mch room, for the bright light of dajr]
TWkfal for interrot In work and in pUjr.
Thankful fw dioaa who o’er greet me with loeei
Thankful for white clouds and blue eldro above;'
Thankful fbr raiment and thankful for food; |
Thankful for bird-aonga, and flow'd in die wood;
Thankful for showers to freshen the earth; I
Thankful for sweet sounds of gleeful child mirth;
Thankful for e'en Sorrow's softening touch;
Thankful for Utde and diankful for much; "
Thankful for snowfalls, so peaceful and white;
Thankful for moonlight and dark, restful' n»gh»;
Thankful for laughter and thankful for tears;
Thankful for each of the lengthening years; r \\ ' # Vy'V.w
Thankful for all Thou hast given to me— - r *'
Heart that can feel deep, and eyes thor can see.
Margaret C. Hay$,
An Episode
Of the Russian
Revolution
By WILLARD BLAKEMAN
*>
STORY OF THE DX
Thanksgiving Observances Have
\ Been General Only a Com
paratively Short Time.
T HE day which is now called
Thanksgiving day,” and which is
a formal observance by proclama
tion of presidents of the United
States, usually followed by proclama-
tions of governors of nearly all of the
states, has had ita poetry, Its rhyme
which is not poetry, and prosaic liter
ature which ia better than either po
etry or the rhyme. It was In Its ori
gin really a religious observance, the
.first proclamations being promulgated
' by provincial governors of very re
ligious New England, Bradford having
in history the credit of the first proc
lamation. —
Observance was ia tha beginning
desultory, that Is. not simultaneous;
and It was not general and synthetic,
really, until 18it, when the first pree-
Mentlal proclamation was Waned by
Lincoln tor a day of thanksgiving be
cause at the apparent approaching
iend of the Civil war. Naturally that
day was sot observed by the seceded
states, but now’it bee come to bo reo-
ogmlsod In nearly all of the states,
though in many of thorn it Is not a
statutory holiday. It to not. and nos
er was. a national holiday by togtola-
Jast
the tuiicey flew tn as one
of the almost
meets of the 'nianksclvtng table to
not worth mentioning, ae it to an tod-
4 sot so vagus. That fowl, with mince
or pumpkin pie as a part of the des
sert of the ttmohoaored dinner of the
day, has for toes years oume Is he.
so well recognised that it Am been
urged as the only logical Mrd for
blaaontag on the nsttsoal escutcheon,
jthe eagle hevtug become mighty
"skaee,” and haring been much
■toned both la this and other coun
tries.
In 1881. the morning of Juno I. frost
killed an that was ktllable throughout
the entire North. In October of the
previous year, as will be well rw
bared by elderly people who
children then, the Dons11 comet
deni7 biased across the heavens, sad
for mouths was one of the most beau
tiful of spectacles, but. to the super
stltlous, fear and direful. When the
nucleus was low tn the northwest la
the early evening the ‘‘taU” dominated
all other celestial phenomena, flowing
ter past the senlth. The presage of a
great Civil war to coma was in the
air and to those who were In the least
superstitious the comet was a sign of
‘ calamity near at band. The freese
v of the following June clinched the
premonition, and In the fall of the year
of the froet there was a quite general
ly observed day of fading and prayer.
It was this sort of recognition of the
omnipotence of Deity, solemn and pro
found and utterly sincere, which in the
earlier days of the nation gave founda
tion to the origin of the daya of thanks
giving for the good things of human
existence, and, when they were not as
good as they might have been, that
they were no worse than they weiw.
Then the whole custom of setting
apart a day for giving thanks to the
Almighty grew gradually into that
present beautiful intermingling of re
ligious services, reunion of families
and friends, feasting and general re
joicing, even If the times were porten
tous of adversity for some of the peo
ples of this and other parts of the
world.
It is peculiarly an American “Insti
tution,” and our fat and frivolous fowl
of paradise is Its fetish. It is In all
Its forms and colors\wlld or domestic,
essentially an American bird, our
Thanksgiving dinner bM, yesterday
and today and forever, beloved by all
ages and races, and for at least that
ope day putting the Roman nose of
tha eagle out of Joint
OLD AS 1HE RACE
Setting Aside a Period for I
Thanksgiving ts a Custom
jo\ Remote Antiquity.
T HE Idea is prevalent in the Unit
ed States that our Thanksgiving
is peculiarly an American custom
of New England origin.. This is true
In part only. The general observance
through many years of a set day on
which to give thanks to Almighty God
for hit blessings has made the custom
distinctively American; but Its origin
long antedates the settlement of the
western, continent, and we must look
elsewhere for It. The Idea of Thankp-
glvlng day goes back to remotest an
tiquity. It is a part of natural religion,
and is probably as old as the human
race. In written records, we have
ample evidence that the festival was
celebrated in connection with “the
fruits of the earth” by the ancient
Egyptians, the Jews, the Greeks and
the Romans. Long before Luther's
revolt from Rome In the sixteenth cen
tury It bad been observed by the
Christians; and after the Reformation.
Thanksgiving days were la frequent
use hy the Protestants, especially
those of Tagl—d.
The tecUval appears early tn Jewish
history, sad. aa It was connected with
tha toad sad Its powisslBn. may have
had a Canaaalttoh prototype. Rs cele
bration wea annual, sad each festival
continued through seven days. At tha
beginning “two vessels of stiver were
carried la a ceremonious smaaer to
the templn. one tall of water, the other
of wine, which were poured at the tool
of the altar of hurst offerings, always
m the seventh day of the festival.”
Plutarch describee this ceremonial,
which ha believed was a feast of Bao-
ehaa. He eays: “Tha Jews eels brats
two feasts of Bacchus. Ia the midst
of the vtatage they spread tables,
spread with all manner of fruits, and
live la tabernacles made especially of
palms aad Ivy together. ... A few
days later they kept another festival
which was openly dedicated to Bac
chus. for they carried boughs of palm*
la their hands, with which they went
Into the temple, the Levltee going be
fore with Instruments of music.”
Analogous to the Jewish feettval
and possibly borrowed from It was
that of the old Greeks, the Thesmor-
phla. This was a feast to Demeter,
the goddess of ths harvest It lasted
nine days and consisted of sacrifices
of (he products of ths soil with obla
tions of “wins, milk and hone/.'* The
ocrltus refers to it in the “Seventh
Idyll,” where Slmichldas says; “Now,
this Is our way to the Thalysts;
our friends. In sooth, ere making s
feast to Demeter of the beautiful
robe, offering the first fruits of their
abundance, since for them In boun
teous ibhnner, the goddess has piled
ths threshing floor with barley.”
Ths Circle of Our Love.
The strange sweet life we have and own,
80 wondrous Is from friends we've known;
And those anear and those above.
Complete the circle of our love;
And when we think Of these, and pray.
We keep, in sooth. Thanksgiving Day!
—William B run ton.
•tew to Find Favor In South.
Ip the Sduth Thanksgiving day was
practically unknown till about 1S66.
when Governor John of Virginia urged
the observance of the day tn a letter
to the legislature; bpt the Idea Bet
with hot opposition, on the ground
that It was a “Now England superstt-
tlou.'^hhd the small favor It found who
completely wiped out by the Ct
Peestot let Always With Ue. *
“Well." sold the dhisrlros pm
-Thanksgiving to afl right hut J
been 1 prefer a
jf July “ “Whyr
A puck of
Thsnksfllvlng Fsbls.
A turkey one day observed a pea
cock in the farm yard and immediate
ly began to find fault with It
“You vain, conceited bird.'’ said the
turkey, “you are proud of your looks,
and yet yon are of no value in the
economy of nature. Why do you strut
around and regard all others with dis
dain?" ^ '
"You make a mistake,” replied the
peacock. “I am not now admiring my
self, though I should be excused for
doing so. Next Thursday Is Thanks
giving, and I was merely indulging tn
a cakewalk because I am not a big, tat
turkey like you." V
Moral: Beauty is only skin deep,
but edibility extends to the bona.
Not Copied From the -Jews.
Undoubtedly our present Thanks
giving day has ita prototype tn the
Plymouth thanksgiving festival of
1WL 14 has been asserted repeatedly
that tha Plymouth festival was tug-
gestod to the Pilgrims hy the Jewish
“Feast of Ingathering." That is
aa ths differences hats
them are more striking than the like
nesses. They were of ths tarns dura
tion, such tasting a weak; and hi esro-
mon with all other harvest fostivato
they had the same latent Bnt la tha
Jewish tea
were the
A meeting of a revoutionary commit
tee broke up In Petrogrnd, and the
members went out
two—at a time In order, that they
should not attract the attention of the
police. A couple emerging from the
building went together down the street
“Peter,” said one to the other in an
undertone.
“What to It, Iran?"
“We have a traitor among us, a spy
of the government, who has Joined our
circle to betray ua.”
"Heavens! What can we do to cir
cumvent him?”
"It will be Impossible without mak
ing sacrifices. .. 1 am going to the chief
of |>ollce to denounce him as a traitor
to the government, one who pretends
to serve It while betraying its seerets
to the circle. But I will not be believed
unless I betray several of our mem
bers at the same time."
"But they will be sent to Siberia.”
"We must contrtre td get them off
before they go, and If that to impossible
wq must attempt a rescue."
"A rescue! Impossible!”
"We shall s)ee.”
Ivan Demtzorf the next day was
closeted with the chief of police. He
named four men who Were plotting
against tbe government including the
spy, snd recommended that they be
confined in a room on tbe top story of a
certain building, a window of which
could be seen from windows on the
opposite side of tbe street “Other con
splrators," he added, "w ill learn where
they are, will communicate with them
and can be arrested.” The chief asaont
ed to the plan, the arrests were made,
and tbe prisoners were confined aa sag
tested.
Spies were set to watch the opposite
side of tbe street snd If any one was
seen making signs to tbe prisoners the
police were to be Informed. Tbe men
were held eeveesl days, bat no one was
seen to be communicating. Not only
did tbe spies become tired of watching
and consequently cars toes, bnt tl
guarding tbe prisesrn relaxed their
vtgttooce. It was hoped that they
would all go to sleep et the same dose,
but they did not Finally Ivan Demi
eorf confessed to tbe chief of podoe
that his plan was a failure, bnt It urns
agreed to ieeve the prisoners where
they were one day longer. If et the
sod of twenty-four hoars no ether tsh
were booked the four men were to be
sent te Alberto.
That night at § o'clock a man of
dark complexion, wearing a red fen.
was seen fo enter the tmlldlng where
tbe prisoners were coo fined About
half |Met 9 a woman with a long stride
went la; later a negro and still later a
man in Montenegrin costume. Tbe
10
to
peas out
la tbe morning when the relief
guard went to the building they found
tbe door of tbe mom where tbe prison
ere had been placed locked They call
ed and were answered by the niard
within and told to break d-Vn tIn
door They did so and found tbe guard
bound and gagged, while tbe prisoner*
were gone. They told tbe relief that
during the previous evening they were
art upon by a number of men dressed
tn different costume*, who had auc
ceedcd In snatching their guns, had
overpowered them and taken away the
prisoner*.
The man who wore the fee, first en
taring the building, was Ivan Demi-
sorf; tbe others were members of
tbe circle of which be was a member
They concealed themselves In different
parts of tlie building, and near mid
nlgbt tbe negro, who was so blsck that
be couM not be distinguished In the
darkness, crept up to the top story.
Where the prisoners were confined, and.
peeping, saw that of the four men com
IKwing the guard at the door three were
'sound asleep, and the other was doz
ing. Returning, he reported what he
had seen, and tbe rescue party, headed
by Ivan Demlxorf, crawled up the stair
case. On reaching tbe top Demlxorf
awaited his opportunity, then made a
dash for the gun of tbe man who waa
nodding.
One of the other men of the rescue
party got the gun of a man who was
asleep without encountering any re
sistance, but the two remaining res
cuers were obliged to fight for tbe oth
er weapons. However, It was not a
minute before every guard was cover
ed by a gun In tbe bands of a rescuer.
Demlxorf opened the door where the
prisoners were confined and found
them all awake and Intensely interest
ed in what bad been going on out
side. There were now double the num
ber opposing tbe guards, and their guns
bad been taken from them. Ropes and
gags bad been brought, and the first
thing done was tbe insertion of tbe
Utter. Then the guards were bound,
laid on tbT floor, tbe door locked, and
tbe rescue party- departed with tbe
prisoners.
Tbe three bona fide members of tbe
circle made their escape across tbe
border. One remained in Germany:
tbe two others went to America. Dem-
taorf did not dare face a suspicion of
having bad a band tn tbe reacue.
though he bad been well disguised, so
be made off for partx unknown. He
tamed op in tbe United States, where
be became a bend renter for an 1
ctatlon of exiles who ptorted to
their follow workers In Rassdn.
tost of theee persous passed tn at
e'rtoefc, and none of them wars seen
r*-
A Cordial Invitation
is extended our friends and customers ta
make tbis store their headquart-^*
ers while in Barnw ell
TP A T~R. \Ar~FT~FTT=r
Here they will find one of the largest and most varied as
sortments of up-to-date merchandise in the county. Our line of
Men’s and Boys’ Clothing is second to none, while the styles
and quality shown in our Shoe Department are superb. Dry
Gooes, Dress Goods and Notions in endless variety.
Motorists
♦ , ^ »
will receive prompt and courteous attention
at our gasoline service station.
G F. Molair, Barnwell, S. C.
armers
men
ere
. Co.
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Welcome Their Customers and Friends to
the County Fair. Come in and See
Us While in the City. |
Farmers 9 Union
“Emrtlifaf Far
Barnwell,
Merc. Co.
s. c
R to 1
’'beard
1 after I