VOL. LIV.
INDIANAPOLIS, IND., NOV. 25,1899.
NO. 47
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Comment on Thanksgiving; Day as a Harvest Home Festival.
lat Premium.—Thanksgiving day ls distinctively an American holiday; other nations
have occasionally kept days of Thanksgiving
ln recognition of special mercies or bountiful
harvests, yet no other people, save the Jews ln
their feast of ingathering and tabernacles,
has regularly observed an annual Thanksgiving celebration. This Jewish feast of Ingathering was held ln the autumn when their
products, grain, wine, and oil, were gathered
ln. While all the annual Hebrew festivals
were times of rejoicing, yet this feast of
Thanksgiving for the harvests was particularly
joyful. The ancient Greeks held a festival ln
honor of the goddess of the harvests which
somewhat resembled this Jewish feast of ingathering, and was probably copied from lt.
The Romans observed Oerealia, a harvest
festival, for many centuries. Early English
history tells of the gladness and jollity of old-
time Harvest Homes ln the British Isles.
Thanksgiving day has become the American
Harvest Home; it is the signal that the year's
harvests have all been gathered;
"In stack and cellar, barn and bin.
Now reet the harvests of the Tear;
The orchard-a wealth is gathered in;
Tne risk! are filled, the fields are_clear,
And we, aronnd onr ample board.
Confront the winter without fear."
All know how this holiday originated; the
Pilgrims having gathered the first scanty harvest in their new home ln the New World,
ascribed praise to Ood for sunshine and rain,
shelter and the care which had come to them
ln their brave toll and endeavor for larger
liberty. The first Thanksgiving was held ln
tbe time of Indian summer; Massasolt and
his men were bidden; hunters searched the
woods for game, the harbor yielded fish, oysters, and water-fowl; and the good dames prepared many tempting dishes; the tables were
spread ln the open air, and there with the
mellow sunlight falling softly on the somber
woodland, the Pilgrims and their Indian
guests gathered about the rude tables, gave
thanks to God, and ate of the feast. Colonial
Thanksgiving daya were observed in a solemn
and unattractive manner, but gradually the
character of the celebration changed; Instead
of too long church cervices wltb dinner between, tbe afternoon meeting was omitted
dinner waa lelsurly enjoyed and the remainder
of the day given up to merry recreations,
which renewed and strengthened the ties of
kith an kin. The first Presidential Thanksgiving proclamation came from George
Washington In 1789; no other was Issued for
some years. Thanksgiving, as a national
celebration, datea from 1863, when President
Lincoln issued a proclamation recommending the people of all the states too meet ln
their churches and return thanks forthe manifold blessings of the year. Since that time a
proclamation haa been made annually, and
custom has fixed on the last Thursday of November as the time, and so the leaven of the
early Puritan featival haa spread throughout
our nation carrying everywhere a good and
wholesome Influence. Some one has said the
sub-title of Thankfglvlng should be "going
home day," since lt haa come to be the great
home featival when "far and wide the ktn-tlee
•treteh. and call scattered circle* back to
haunt* of youth." Indeed at tbla season the
"home sentiment" seems ta be a part of the
▼ery air. Thanksgiving should not be an
occasion merely for feasting and merriment,
the deeper lesson* of the day would be remembered. Thl* festival is a strong link between the present and the past; we have brought
gaiety into It that would have shocked the
fathers, and dropped from lt to great degree
the spiritual meeting that caused  Its  origin,
yet lt is a golden opportunity for reviewing
the events which made New England and her
people what they are today. These verbal accounts from older members will Impress young
minds as no school-book lesson ever oan. As
the Pilgrims shared the first Thanksgiving
feast with Massasolt and his warriors, so we
should Invite to ours not only those near and
dear to us, but friendless ones who would
otherwise spend the day ln loneliness. Why
are we so much more ready to share our worries than our joys? Thanksgiving day ls
again near at hand; may we be duly grateful
both for the good gifts of the year, and the
power to appreciate and enjoy them; may this
holiday at the doorway of winter ever come,
"With cheerfulness and joy and ringing belli,
With dear onea gathered round the hearth of
home;
While throngh the land a happy chorni iwelli,
Which speaka a nation-s praise to God above,
In thankfulness for His protecting love."
Parke Oo. L. N.H.
2d Premium.—Thanksgiving Day has become almost as joyful and sacred a season, as
Christmas. No day of the year 1* more fitting for a Harvest Home festival. After the
arduous toil and care through summer's heat
and storms, for neighbors and friends to
gather at some convenient place, exchange
greetings, genuine friendship and truly thankful for at least one day of real living, not as
gourmands and drudges, merely, but as
"Yeomana of the soil.
Armed to honor earnest toil,"
ready and willing to extend to rich and poor
alike that Ohrlst-Uke charity and hospitality
which alail is becoming so rare ln this age of
greed for gain. It is not necessary at these
festivals that any one go beyond their mean*
to make some expensive and elaborate display,
nor la that what it require* to make success,
In Its perfect meaning, no matter how meager
your part of the work may seem, if it goes
hand in hand with love and gocd will, your
efforts will be blessed. In most every family
there ls some talent for music, oratory, etc.;
bya little preparation, a delightful program
of entertainment can bs arranged. The feast
for the mind should compare favorably with
that for the palate. Not everyone can afford
roast turkey; yet it ls a sorry home where a
chicken would not gladly lay Its neck upon
the block (could it know) to add comfort and
good cheer to the worthy occasion. Twenty-
five cents invested ln celery and cranberries,
with the wealth of other good things at the
command of every thrifty wife, will mako a
feast for any man, or woman, ''for every
man's a king, and woman a queen, as good as
be." If the good to accrue from an occasion
of this nature lived for only the day, then
might we exclaim with the preacher, "All ln
vanity." Tet, there must be good seeds of
kindness soon, which, springing up as bright
gem* of memory, will gladden the time until
another such anniversary shall have rolled
around. None are so unfortunate, but have
much to be thtnkful for, and while we should
each day of our lives try to appreciate the
wonderful bleealng* we enjoy, yet it is good to
meet and join hands and hearts ln thanksgiving. And there will bo heartaches; dear ones
have passed over, since last Thanksgiving
morn. In our own home, another little bud
withered away to blossom on the Evergreen
Shores above. By these trials we are made
better; our sympathies are larger; our hearts
go out to all suffering humanity, and even ln
our grief we are thankful for the pleasing
hope of meeting our loved ones again, and
that they are free from all pain and care. We
are "mundane mortals," and must meet sorrow bravely, aa lt comes to all. But it ia our
duty to overcome grief, not suffering it to
shadow our lives, and that of our friends. Let
us look for the "silver lining" to every cloud,
helping others to find it. Oould we shut our
eye* to our friends' imperfection*, trying to
amend our own, seeing and adoring the good
that exists ln the lovllett of God's creatures,
then our whole life might be ono long
Thanksgiving Day. Mothxh.
Stone Bluff.      	
3J Premium.—Pew and precious aro tho
holidays ln America. Thanksgiving day ls
becoming more widely observed every year.
It ls a good thing for the whole nation to
turn its thoughts unitedly to the great fact
tbat God governs and gives. It la a good
thing for families that are separated to
gather back to tbe old homes. It 1* a good
thing for children, young people and old, to
find themselves in perfect sympathy. Were
there nothing ln the day but the family reunions lt would be precious; but when it becomes! a shrino at which the whole nation
kneels, It .is priceless. Thero are multitudes
ln the great cities, who are so absorbed ln
the cares of business, so eager ln tbe pursuit of great wealth, that they have learned
to look upon the annual Thanksgiving as a
lost day, and often turn their backs upon the
humble, hearty, country homes, where once
they thought the day one of tbe beat in all
the year. Business men, rich men, women
of fashion and society, you cannot afford to
shut yourselves within your places of business or your bouses, when the great fire* are
lighted upon the beartha of your country
homes. Give up all the trials and worries of
city life and be simple boys and girls again.
Make the old father and mother glad, If they
are still spared to you. and show your children not only your respect for your parents,
but your respect for this day aa a home festival. Life lasts but a day, and no man la so
rich that he can afford to throw away this
golden day. The spirit of gratitude, good
cheer and gladness should be all prevadlng.
True thankfulntsi la bett expressed by showing kindness to others. Thanksgiving day
and lt« celebration as a harvest home festival comes to us as a legacy from our Purl-
tan ancestors. We ought to be thank fnl,
now as then, for the sun, tho rain and the
abundant harvests. Let the old colonel usage,
become thoroughly national, so that in every
home one day of all the bu»y year may be
given up to God and home. B. 0. E.
nese, or Filipino, or an Ignorant Slav, under
tho tyrannical czar. I am thankful that I enjoy, as tho sacrifice of others, the privilege of
living under a federal constitution,
I appreciate in a measure the treasure house of
literature handed down from a fruitful past.
I am also glad that wo ride ln palace cars, Instead of bamboo chairs on tho shoulders
of slaves. That our "chariots are with
fire, and run like lightening."
I am glad that the owls and bats of dark
superstition, with lta scarecrow* of witches,
and oracles, and possessions, and Infallibilities and devils have been driven from thl*
fair land and age by tbe progress and llgbt of
modern civilization.
Let us bo thankful for sunshine, and rain,
and crops, and lowing herds, and health, the
plentiful comforts of life, and for kind, congenial friends.
Motto:—"All nature wears one universal
smile." 	
No. 195, Dec. 2—Send drawings of plan* for
No. 197, Dec. 16—Name false Ideas of economy held and followed by farmers.
No. 198, Dec. 23—Will a number of grown
persons help us out with the Ohrlstmas issue
by sending ln several cute, sweet things said
and done by children under six years old?
will be brief and we want to print a large
number of them. Give name, nick-name and
age of each child.
No. 199, Dec. 30—What things have added
happiness, sweetness and success to the past
year of your life?
Premiums of $1, 75 cent* and 50 cent* will
be given to 1st, 2d and 3d beet article* each
week. Let copy be as practical as possible
and forwarded 10 days before publication  to
Oarmel, Ind. _. H. Ooixiiri.
hkviiw.
Did not the good Father make a world and
people ln lt just to get a victory over the principle of selfishness?
The lowest form of human life 1* the coarse
purely selfish nature of the savage. The highest form ls tbe unselfish Ohrlstllke life. Between these two extremes are found many
stage* of development. It seems ttrange how
long it takes the race to outgrow the Idea that
the greatest happiness ls to bs found ln un.
sflfisbness. "Flnt the blade, then tbe ear,
then the full corn In tbe ear." It 1* also
strange to see how prone some selfish people
are to think that one can live ln Isolation
from society. On tho other hand I was reading the other day of a prominent writer who
disclaimed all honor and distinction because
he said that the more he analyzed his work
the more be found himself Indebted to the
past for what he produced. In fact If we will
stop to think we have ln thought and in material resources a vast wealth of experience
handed down as the best that the world has
thought and suffered.
Come, go with me
The best ia yet to be,
The last of life.
For which tha first wai made."
We have made wholesome advancement dur-
lngtheflylng moments of ourownbrlef life. But
the whole difference between the civilization
which we found at our coming and the lowest
savage 1* the gift of tremendous toll and suffering during unknown age* of human struggle. I am thankful that I am not born a barbarian, ora Mahometan, or Hindoo, or Ohl-
gt&tz _*zxos.
Six bor.es were cremated and other property wae
destroyed in the burning of Isaac Loder'a barn,
near I.lnton,cauied by Incendiarism.
A conduct.ron a freight train on the Big Four
road, Cincinnati division, wai found dead near
Onilford, recently. He either fell or wai knocked
off hii train.
John Water., near Hartford City, ihot a bald
eagle, which measured seven feet from tip to tip,
and weighed thirteen pounds. Thla is the first one
killed in Blackford county.
Charlei Johnson, of Conneriville, while hunting
on the 17th, accidentally diicharged hii gnn, tha
load atrlking him In tha breait above the heart,
and alao badly disfiguring hi! face. His Injuries
may prove fatal.
James Hill, a wealthy farmer of Francesville,
while asiiiting In dehorning cattle, wae caught by
a bull, and narrowly eacaped death Four men
had difficulty in preventing the animal from using
iti horni after Mr. Hill had been knocked tinder
ita feet
John YeaBka, an Austrian boy, of Rockville, wai
drowned by falling head flrat into a barrel of water.
The water waa only atoutiii Inchti in depth, but
he waa unable to get ont. Hia iliter dlecovered
hii feet nicking out of the barrel when ahe went to
milk, the barrel being in the barn.
Phenomenal corn crops were raised this season
ln Kankakee region. A number of fields averaged
yields of from eighty to ninety bnshels per acre.
The lowland! show the greatest yields, and farmera
in the Kankakee valley are breaking up thousands
of acre! thli fall which will be planted in corn next
seaaon.
Mr. and Mra. Samnel Peck, of Delaware connty,
are each over ninety-three yeara old, and they were
married seventy-three yeara ago last Friday.
Their eldest son ia aeventy yeara old and quite
feeble. The aenlor Mr. Peck haa never been iniide
a church eince hii wedding day. and he haa voted
the atraight Demrcratic ticket aince 1817.
The Hndnnt Milling Company, of Terra Haute
hai equipped its plant with machinery forthe
purpose of making oil from corn. The outside of
the kernel! of corn will be made into flakes, but
the inside will be crushed, the oil extracted and the
refuie pressed Into bricks for the feeding of stock.
The oil is nsed in the adnlteration of limeed oil
and for other purpoiei.