The Portland daily press., 1892-12-03
OUR THANKSGIVING.
Dr.. TaImage Diseourses on the Sea-
son Of lngathering.

Most Familiar Facts to Illustrate the
Most I,nportazt Trutis-Tre Life of the
Corn an Image of the Life OF Man.
BROOKLYN, NOV. 27.-Rev. DR.. Tai
mage today chose for his subject of dis
course one enl;aentiy suited to the time
following the ingathering OF the bar
vests and to the thanksgiving season
The decorations of the Thanksgiving
day still remained on the platform and
the galleries, End long rows Of yellow
and white cctn on she front and back of
the platform were in accord with the
sermon. The text selected was Job V,
rs, LAS as hook OF corn eemeth in In his
season."
This is the time of the year for husls
ing corn. If you have recently been in
the fields of Pennsylvania or New JeT-
sey or New York or New England, or in
any of the country districts, you know
that the corn is all cut. The sharp knife
struck through the stalks and left them
all along the fields until a man came
with bundle Of straw and twisted a
few of these wisps of straw into band.
and then, gathering up as much of the
corn as he could compass with his arms,
he bound it with this wisp OF straw and
then stood it in the field in what is called
a shock There are now at least two
billion bushels of corn either standing
in the shock OF having been already
husked The farmers gather one day
on sne farm, and then another day on
another farm, and they put on their
rough husktng apron, and they take the
husking peg, which is a piece of iron
with leathern loop fastened to the
hand, and with it unslaeath the corn
from the husk and toss it into the golden
heap. Then the wagons coae along and
take it to the corncrib.
SCRIPTURE STORIES ABOUT CORN.
About corn as an important cereal or
corn as a metaphor the Bible. is con-
stantly sIeaking. You know about the
people III famine coming to buy corn of
Joseph, and the foxes on fire running
into the standing corn," and about the
oxen treading out the corn, and about
the seven thin ears Of corn that in pha-
reah's dream devoured the seven good
ears, and the "parched corn" handed to
beautiful Ruth by the harvesters Of
Bethlehem, and Abigaia's five measures
of ssparched corn" with which she hoped
to appease the enemies of her drunken
husband, and David's description of the
valleys sscovared over with corn" and
ssthe handful Of corn in the earth, and
s.the full corn In the ear" and Christ's
Sabbath morning walk through corn
fields, and the disciples "plucking ears
of corn" and SO am not surprised to
find corn husking time referred to in my
text 'tAs a shock Of corn cometh in in
his season"
How wildly to all those Of us who
were born in the country comes the re-
membrane of husking time! We wait
ed for it as for gala day Of the year.
It was called frolic. The trees having
for the most part shed their foliage, the
farmers waded through the fallen leaves
and came Trough the keen morning air
TO the gleeMl company. The frosts
which had silvered everything during
the night began to melt off the top of
the corn shocks. While the farmers
were waiting for others they stood
blowing their breath through their fin
gers or thrashing their arms around
their body to keep up warmth Of circu-
lation. Roaring mirth greeted the late
farmer as he crawled over the fence.
Joke and repartee and rustic salutation
abounded. All ready nowl
The men take hold Of the shock of
corn and hurl it prostrate, while the
moles and mice which have secreted
themselves there for warmth attempt
escape. The withe of straw is unwound
from the corn shock, and the stalks heavy
with the wealth Of grain are rolled into
two bundles, between which the husker
sits down. The husking peg is thrust in
until it strikes the corn, and then the
fingers rip off the sheathing of the ear,
and there is crack as the root of the
corn Is snapped off from the husk, and
the grain disimprisoned is hurled up into
the sunlight.
The air is SO tonic, the work is so very
exhilarating, the company is so blithe
that some laugh, and some shout, and
some sing, and some banter, and some
lease a neighbor for romantic ride
dong the edge of the woods in an even
ode in carriage that holds but two,
and some prophesy as to the number of
bushels to the field, and others go into
competition as to which shall rife the
most corn shocks before shutdown. After
awhile the dinner horn sounds from the
farmhouse, and the table is surrounded
by group Of jolly and hungry men.
From all the pantries, and the cellars,
and the perckes of fowl on the place the
richest dainties come, and there is car
nival and neighborhood reunion, and q
scene which ills our memory part with
smiles, but more with tears, as we re-
member that the farm belongs now to
other owners, and other hands gather i'll
the field, and many of those who min
gled in that merry huslsing scene have
themselves been reaped like as shock
Vt core cometh in in his season"
THEY FAD OUR KIND OF CORN.
There rs a difference Of opinion as to
whether the orientals knew anything
about the corn as it stands in our fields;
but recent discoveries have found out