Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1889-11-29
How We Got Our urkey.
A THANKSGIVING STORY.

There was no doubt that the coun-
try was prosperous. No reasonable
man could deny it. The harvests had
been plenteous, the earth had yielded
up her fruits in abundance, and there
were abundant reasons for thanksgiv-
ing. read the Presidents thanks
giving message and agreed with it
heartily so far as others were con-
cerned but somehow | couldn't see
how it applied to me. Perhaps you
will say was selfish, and | AIN willing
to confess / was The fact is, that
when the cake is going around want
to get piece If don't get.it / feel
disappointed. While | am glad in the
abstract that others come in for a
share of the cake, in the concrete |
am mad because it passes NE.
But, perhaps, after all, | am too
sweeping in my conclusions. l don't
know but that there is one person in
the world who is capable of self-sacri
flee of high order, and that is my
wife Nellie. Bless her little heart, |
am almost willing to overlook all the
weakness of humanity for her sake.
Why, I've known her to go without
bread and butter when she was faint
with hunger SO that the children could
have an extra slice. That was three
years ago at Thanksgiving time. The
memory of her courage and self-denial
makes my eyes wet even now,
You see, Nellie was always practical
and unselfish, while was Impractical
BILE and poetic. Why, if | had her ex-
ecutive ability I'd have been a mil
lionaire by this time, a cool million
aire, with a yacht and a country house
on the Hudson. But she was handi-
capped by her sex and the children,
and couldn't exercise her natural
gifts.
Imust go on, however, and tell my
story. The month preceding Thanks
giving Day of 1886 was the gloomiest
time | ever knew. We had just ar
rived in the city from Shandaken, n.
Y, in the Catskills. l was a farmers
boy and Nellie was a farmers daugh-
ter Before we were married a IA
nous singer spent the summer in our
village. One night at strawberry
festival he heard me sing, and was
kind enough to say that | had an ex-
cellent tenor voice, and with proper
culture l could command good sala-
ry as choir singer in New York. OF
course such encouragement fired me
with hope. The farm became dis
tasteful to me, and | determined to
cultivate my voice instead of cultiva-
ting corn.
We had an old-fashioned melodeon |
in the house, and with the help Of a
few lessons the famous singer gave NE !
and what l could learn from hints in
the opening pages of the choir books,
l made life a burden for the rest Of |
the family with my do, re, meing eve
ry evening. / made fair progress,
too, under the circumstances, and |
Nellie fell in love with me on account |
of my voice. | remember distinctly |
that her favorite was a little selection |
from one of Mendelssohn's songs with
out words set to the following lines:
Still, still with thee when purple morning
breaketh,
When the bird waketh and the shadows
flee;
Fairer than morning, lovelier than the day
light,
Comes the sweet consciousness am with
thee.
Well, we were married, and for a
time my music was given up. But the
life of a farmer fretted me, and took
up my music again, and after two
years hard work at it we moved to
the city. thought in my ignorance
of metropolitan life that should have
no difficulty in procuring a situation,
but soon found out my mistake. In
the first place found that | was in
competent. / was deficient in style.
NY voice, while strong and resonant,
had not been properly trained. Then,
too. there were no vacancies. Even
if had been competent, there were
fifty applicants for every position.
Before | had been in the city two
weeks | heartily wished myself back
in Shandaken again.
In the meantime the little money
had saved and brought with me melt
ed away like snow on the roof OF
barn. Ny time was mainly taken up
i'm running around to the musical
agencies looking for a situation. 1
had a little job on Sundays singing at
a mission on Avenue a, where | made
two dollars. and for three weeks that
was all | earned. We lived in East
New York, and my car fare over to
the city and back every day cost me
sixteen cents.
You will readily see that we had 10
live frugally. In fact. for two weeks
we lived upon oatmeal and molasses,
and toward the last there was no mo-
1asses, and Thanksgiving coming over
the hills. Every night when l got
out at Manhattan avenue my three
little girls were standing at the foot
of the stairway waiting for me- L
1 rI,a