Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-11-11

dent Is set aside as a
general holiday. Originally 1t was intended
as a day Of fasting and prayer. Now it is
day Of feasting and frolic and foot ball
games. Every good American is thankful
that he is an American 365 days in the
year-and one day extra in leap years. He
does not need q special day set aside for
rejoicing.
The making Of the Thanksgiving day
proclamation Is a serious duty for the
President: for 1t is customary for him to
write this proclamation with his own hand
and to put into it as much Of the spirit of
the day as possible. President Harrison
used to take a pencil and a little pad of
paper and write out the proclamation in
full. Then he would turn 1t over to one of
the executive clerks to be copied. Mr.. Har-
rison preferred to use his pencil rather than
to dictate. President Cleveland also writes
some things with his own hand, but he
uses stenographer, too. a great deal.
The first draft of the proclamation is
copied and the copy is sent to the State
Department. There are two three clerks
in the State Department who make a
speciality Of penmanship. One Of these en-
crosses the proclamation on parchment ar
tstically. The parchment is sent back to
the White House to receive the Presidents
been written at the bottom of it it is taken
back to the State Department where
walter Q. Gresham's'' signature attests
that of the President. Then the great seal
of the State Department is affixed. 1t is a
very ornate seal. 1t ought to be, for 1t
cost $1,000. 1t is kept in a rosewood case
in the bureau of commissions and pardons,
and it's custodian is George Bartle, who has
been in the department service for forty
seven years. Bartle was appointed to a
clerkship by Daniel Webster. He is one of
the oldest employees of the government at
Washington.
1t takes an order from the President of
the United States to procure an impression
of the great seal of state. Collectors of
seals and autographs frequently write to
the Secretary OF State for copies of the seal
of state. The same formal reply is sent to
all of them-that under the law no impress
sions Of the seal can go out of the depart
ment unless they affixed to official
papers. The President of the United States
could give authority to a collector to OBJ
tain an impression of the seal But no
President has ever done so. The law of
1883 says that the seal shall not be affixed
to any instrument except a commission
without the special warrant of the Presi-
dent therefor" The President therefore,
when he sends Thanksgiving proclama-
ton to the State Department for the seal,
sends with it a copy of the following
printed form. duly filled out and signed:
II hereby authorize and direct the Secre-
tary OF State to cause the seal of the United
States to be affixed to --, dated this day
and signed by me, and for doing so this
shall be his warrant"
When Mr.. Bartle receives this order he
unlocks the rosewood case, puts a scalloped
circle of paper in the press and with a
light turn of the heavy steel ball above
brings the seal down the paper and
leaves its impress there. Then the stamped
Of cd 70
ton and 1t is ready to go to the world.
The Great Seal.
Bartle is very conscientious about the ex-
ercise of his duties toward the great seal
and he has controversies not infrequently
with people who are in a hurry for public
documents. and who do not understand
why the State Department has not author
ity under the general law to affix the great
seal to any document bearing the Presi-
dents signature
When the proclamation has been COM
pleted by the addition of the seal clerks Of
the State Department are set to work
making copies for transmission to the gov
ernors of the states and territories. These
copies are not made on typewriters or with
manifolding paper or by any other process
of duplication. The State Department uses
the typewriter for some purposes, but not for
official correspondence. All of the copies OF
the proclamation are written out on the
long sheets of blue paper which are used
for official correspondence Each governor
who receives a copy Of the Presidents
proclamation will make a proclamation of
his own. But in the meantime the procla-
nation Of the President has been made
public, and the people all over the country
know what day has been chosen for
Thanksgiving"
There is no law providing a day for gen.
eral thanksgiving. Thanksgiving day. is
product of custom. The President could
omit his Thanksgiving proclamation IN
any year, or he could fix the It'll Of May or
the 21st of December as the day for giving
thanks. But it has come to be the custom
for the President to issue a proclamation
each year, naming, usually, the last Thurs
day in the month of November as Thanks
giving day. This custom dates back only
to 1854 though Thanksgiving day was cele-
brated at odd times far back as the
days Of the colonies Among the records
preserved by Congress is a proclamation by
the council of Massachusetts dated No
vember 16, 1T76, recommending "acknowl-
edgments for mercies enjoyed" A form Of
Thanksgiving proclamation was reported to
the Continental Congress November /, 1777
by Samuel Adams of Massachusetts. It
was Samuel Adams who urged the opening
Of Congress with prayer in opposition to
John Jay, who said that Epscopalians
Presbyterians, &C.. could hardly be ex-
pected to unite in formal worship. Adams
form of proclamation has not been observed
since. for each proclamation follows the
fancy Of the President who writes it.
In November. 177S, the chaplain of Con-
gress recommended that Wednesday. De-
cember 3d. be observed as "a day Of thanks
giving and praise" the Thursday in
November has not been the invariable day
for this festival In 1779 the first Tuesday
in May appointed as a day Of thanks
giving, and this appointment was made by
proclamation Of the Continental Congress
This extra day of thanks for IN
the following October Congressman Root
reported in favor of appointing Thursday.
December g. as day of THANKSGIVING In
1882 the states were recommended ION re-
port Of Congressman Witherspoon) to an
point November % a day Of thanksgtv-
ing
For n great many years the custom Of
observing THANKSGIVING day fell into IN
nocuous desuetude. Then the editor Of
a woman's paper took the matter IN Her