The evening times., 1898-11-23
THANKSGIVING DAY
IN WASHINGTON
Celebrations in Church and
Home Circles.
SERVICES AT ST. ALOYSIUS'
A Solemn High Military Mass Will
Be Sung.
How the President and His Official
Family Will Spend the WhiIOm
Hours.

Family VIII Spend the Whilom
Hours.
There is no holiday on the calendar
| that is subjected to a more diversified
celebration than the day appointed by
the President of the United States to give
| thanks for the blessings received during
| the year. No celebration is made in a
more truly American manner, and yet no
! feast day, for it is feast day in the
! strictest meaning of the term, is solemn
lied with more fervor or the true spirit
i OF thanks allowed to prevail with such
| generality than is the Thanksgiving Day
of the American people. Established as
/ it was by the first American people when
| they had just become an American people,
| in order to give thanks that they were
| American people. the custom has been
handed down from generation to genera
tion, from father to son, from master to
| man, from the sacred inception of the
American spirit to the present time when
patriotism knows no bounds, when hun
dreds of Americans have perished on the
field of battle that the victorious issue of
l
show the world what America could do
when aroused in holy wrath at the
wretched condition of a human people
! brought about by an inhuman policy of
! a degenerate race. and when America
and Americans stand out with the digni-
| ty and pride befitting the conqueror and
receive the homage of collective Europe.
Never has Thanksgiving Day come at
! more opportune time and never will ii be
more appropriately celebrated The Deo-
pie will assemble in the various places of
worship to give thanks for the happy con-
/ dition of the times. the successful issue of
the war, and the Frightening prospect of
peace They Will go to their homes and
/ seated around their firesides will hear of
the prvations of the troops in the field
from the son of the house who has just
doffed the blue livery of his country, and
| with tears in their eyes will offer silent
| prayer for the repost of those who sacri-
| feed their lives in sustaining the honor OF
their country. They will range them
selves round tables loaded down with
the good things of life and will give
| thanks that they are Americans and that
they have Thanksgiving Day.
! Everybody bought turkey except, of
course those who were fortunate enough
|
whose friends in the country We're of
| such a loving nature and had too many
! turkeys for their own comfort and added
! one more item to the thanks offering by
the gift of one of those vice national"
birds. For should the eagle lose his
! prestige as the representative of the land
| of the free, like the Vice President step
ping into the shoes of the President. the
turkey would assume an air of dignity
and have his photograph taken to adorn
the official documents of this Republic
and would fit as snugiy in the places Va
Gated by the eagle as though he had been
there all his life.
And the other things which go to make
up the Thanksgiving fete the holly. The
football games and very last but by no
means least in Importance the indges
/ ton, have ali been prepared for and will
come forth at the beck of the grand mas
| ter of ceremonies.
The weather prophet in his learned dis
sertations on the condition OF the atmos-
phere gives out that the temperature
will be many degrees lower than is usual
ly the case and that furs will be by no
means uncomfortable. But that Will
never interfere with the crowds that will
cheer themselves hoarse watching two
sets of muscular and ambitious young
men struggle for supremacy on the grid
iron. Neither will il interfere with the
faithful few who gather around the home
fireside after the lights are extinguished
and tell each other of the successes ard
failures they have made in their journey
through life which is almost ended and
the thanks they owe for what they nave
been and what they were not.
Thanksgiving services will be held in
most of the churches both in the morning
and in the evening. The most important
service from a religious point of view will
be held at St. Aloysir.F' Catholic Church,
where high military mass will be celebrat-
ed. The occasion of the celebration will
be to render thanks for the victory Of the
American arms in the late war hu. the
dead will not be forgotten, and the SOL
diers who answered their last trumpel call
during the heat of the battle, together
with those who have since died from the
results of that terrible campaign, will be
prayed for with the fervor that only the
religious enthusiast can give. Mgr. Marti-
nelli will be present, and 1t is expected
that a number of other dignitaries of the
church will also lend their aid to make
the ceremonies impressive. A military
company will act as guard of honor and
will be grouped about the sanctuary
There is no turkey that is exactly what
could be called the official turkey but the
bird which will grace the table of the
President of the United States tomorrow
| Will De from the pace lUdt mas 1urnlShed
the Presidents turkeys for long time.
This particular specimen is calculated
to whet the appetite of the most dyspep-
| tic, and to make the genuine epicure
| shout with delight. The turkey comes
from the farm of Horace Vose, at West
| erly r. l., and measures six feet six
| inches from the tip of one wing to the
| tip of the other, and weighs thirty-one
pounds.
President Mckinley expects to spend
| very quiet day, most of which will
probably be spent on his coming mes
| sage to Congress. Vice President and
Mrs. Hobart will be in this city, and will
remain at home all day. The Cabinet of
ficials generally will remain in this city
| and partake of their Thanksgiving din
ners at their own gas-log sides.
Secretary Hays home is in this city.
and as he spent last year away from his
native land, he welcomes the time when
he can once more indulge in the pleas
ures of his fellow -countrymen and en-
joy the succulent turkey. with it's trim
mings, in the sanctity of his home circle
Secretary and Mrs. Gage will take din
ner in this city, as will also Secretary
| Bliss and family.
Secretary and Miss Long will spend the
day in their Massachusetts home and
Attorney General Griggs will also be~out
| of the city.
Secretary and Miss Wilson Will be at
home in this city, and in the evening