Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-11-27
TURKEYS FOR EVERYONE.
OVER FIvETHoUsANDD DINNERS GIVEN
AWAY BY GUsKYS.

Thanksgiving Made Reality I'm Hundreds
Of Homes-stranee Sights and scenes at
the Annual Distribution OF the Noble
American Birds.
Yesterday was turkey day at Gusky's,
and, enshrined as the bird is in the affec-
tions of the average American, the eagle
wasn't in it on the east side of the square
fronting on Market street, between Third
and Fourth avenues. Thanksgiving Day
is day now anxiously awaited by q large
number Of people whose income is not suf-
fcient to command roast turkey, cranber-
ries and celery whenever their possessors
see fit to polish the magical lamp. These
people are those whose social virtues,
endeavors and needs have recommended
them to the tender mercies of the various
charitable institutions of the city. and
Gusky' 5 for years past has made it . point
to make their hearts glad by surfeit Of the
national bird and trimmings, and the dis
tribution of 600 birds, paper full of cram
berries, and a couple of punches of celery to
each means the distribution of several tons
variation of fare only appreciated to the
full by those who at times may
suffer from the pangs of hunger. or at
best must live on a menu but slightly
varied during the year.
The annual distribution yesterday was up
to the usual standard maintained at
Gusky's
Waiting for the American Bird.
The time for the delivery of the goods
was fixed at o'clock, an hour sufficiently
early to allow for the preparation of the
dinner, but long before the appointed time
those who had found grace in the sight of
the charitable associations thronged in
front of the mammoth establishment
II -
awaiting their turn to be served The
dressed turkeys were arranged in tiers and
their weight corresponded to the number in
each family to be served. and at o'clock
the assault began and never ceased until the
last bird was disposed of. The attendance
was composed of nearly all the nationalities,
creeds and colors of the civilized world, and
would have furnished fine study
for an ethnologist. In the throng
were women as we'll dressed as one
ordinarily sees selecting their purchases in
market with sublime disregard of cost, and
meeting them on the street one would never
suppose from their bearing and general ap-
pearance that they had gotten tickets from
any charitable association emitting them 20
draw in the Gusky lottery, in which there
were no blanks. According to the usual
custom, the file entered at door
we'll down toward the southern
side of the clothing emporium and,
taking their cue from attaches of the house,
travelled north a few feet to the tiers on
which were piled the turkeys, and passing
a step or two further came to cranberry
inlet, winding up at a celery patch and
completed the round with cargo-that sub
sequentiy made their dinner as toothsome
as any enjoyed by the favorites of fortune,
even though the coffee was not followed by
4wr.l IL
was kept up until square" dinner had
been dished out for 5000 people.
None Waited to Moralize.
But while the donor of all this gustatory
delight might have moralized to the effect
that it "is more blessed to give than to re-
ceive," the diners, as a rule, were for the
time being too intent in anticipation of the
JOYS of the afterpiece to moralize. No
doubt all were thankful, and some showed
it unmistakably, but the majority felt that
grace could be said with more comfort after
than before dinner. and merely expressed
their feelings by eloquent looks and actions,
and all fervently united in wishing many
happy returns of the day without stopping
to discuss the question as to whether or no
a Thanksgiving dinner could or could not be
complete without pumpkin. pie, or whether
the Plymouth Rock pilgrims had pre-
scriptive right to prescribe the menu
or order of exercises incident to
the day when for once the
eagle takes a back seat and the real
representative bird of the Republic asserts
himself; the bird that asserts his birth-right
and aboriginality with all the dignity,
pomp and circumstance of his cousin
german, the peacock, and does it not as
robber, but as public benefactor.
An Anpe.I In the Ssou,ach.
There is no danger that time will ever
wither or custom stale in Pittsburg
the annual festival instituted by Mr.. Gusky,
until the national disease-dyspepsia-
shall have destroyed all gustatory delights,
an event decidedly and very remotely i'm
probable in a community where the ma
1ority earn their bread by the sweat of their
face Memorial institutions do much to
foster love of country and government, and
as an appeal to the stomach is more potent
than one to the head the business es-
tablishment that catches on dem
onstrates not only possession of
supply of the milk of human
kindness, but the power to grasp the situa-
tion-that would you inculcate the love of
virtue you must begin, not by the distribu-
tion of tracts and homilies, but by an ap-
peal that touches the spot" and beget in
the wards of society, many of whom are in
digent through no fault of their own, an
admiration for the institutions of their
country which cannot be inculcated through
cold and abstract calculations, not the least
of which institutions is that of Thanksgiv-
ing Day, the observance Of which is as