The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1894-11-23
A REVIEW OF THE DAY.
This Is the Only Country Where q Thanks


giving Day IL Nationally Observed.
There is no country, except our own,
which has adopted the custom of an
annual Thanksgiving day. In Europe
there have been times when the peo-
pie gathered in vast cathedrals and
chanted the Tie Deum" as thanks for
some great victory on the battlefield.
or the recovery of q ruler from sick
ness, but they have no national fes-
tival like that which we keep, when
the crops of the field and the fruits of
the orchard have been safely garnered,
when the frosts of November chill the
air and bleak skies and leafess trees
are heralds of the approaching winter.
The only thing which bears a re-
semblance to our festival is the Eng
lish Harvest Home" and that Is not
known or celebrated except in rural
districts.
In the early history of our country
there were often lapses in the regular
Observance of Thanksgiving. nor was
it always for the same blessings that
the people expressed their gratitude.
The lot of the Pilgrim Fathers was
one of toll and privation, and 1t was
not often that good fortune came to
them. They were better acquainted
with fasts than feasts, but when any
brightness entered into their lives
they were at once ready to rejoice
and give thanks"
During the revolutionary war there
were a number of occasions when the
people were asked to take part in
special thanksgiving. and after the
permanent establishment of our gov
eminent the New England states kept
the feast with almost uabrolSen regu-
larity
After the civil war had ended it be-
came almost an annual custom for the
president to issue a proclamation ap-
pointing the last Thursday of Novem-
Der as day of general thanksgiving.
Gradually the governor of states fell
into line, and added their command to
that of the chief magistrate Of the re-
public, until now there is not a COM
monwealth in which Thanksgiving
has not received official recognition
In number of states. too. 1t has also
been declared legal holiday. and in
this respect it shares equal honors
with Christmas and Independence day.
The argument has been sometimes
advanced that. as the day is primarily
meant to be one on which to return
thanks for a bountiful harvest, it
ought to occur earlier in the year.
1t is true that our crops of grain and
OF fruit have all been gathered before
there Is a suggestion of Christmas
tide at home, on the streets and in the
stores.
But with all this, it is doubtful if
there would be the same warmth. the
same glad reunions, the same universal
observance of the festival, were it to
occur when woods are glorious with
colors which rival those OF the sunset.
and landscapes look more beautiful
through the wondrous haze of the In
dian summer.
When the frost is on the pumpkin"
when footsteps ring on the hard
country road. when the lamp has to be
lit early and the log blazes on the
hearth, then come the time for reunion,
the hours of innocent mirth and happy
laughter.
Thanksgiving is essentially day of
reunion. of the gathering of our own
kith and kin. When the spirit OF
Christmas fills US we call together all
our friends, we keep open house, so 20
speak. But Thanksgiving is for the
family alone. from grandsire down 10
babe, and the stranger does not come
within our gates, although that is no
reason we should forget those whose
homes are cherries, and whose hearts
are sad.-Golden Days