The times., 1898-11-24
THE DAY TO Give THANKS
Philosophy of Turkey and
Cranberry Sauce.
PASSING OF MANY FOWLS
SPECIAL Services In the Churches
How the President viii Celebrate
He Hns n Large Bird From Rhode
I.Iand - The Pessinnist's Diatribe
ON Ones Patriotic Duty
This is Thanksgiving Day.

This is Thanksgiving Day.
Every possible way of describing the
occasion from sentimental pathetic and
facetious points of view have been ex-
hausted. principally by reporters who
dread the Wednesday night assignment
of Thanksgiving Day story
That is why the city Editor on this
particular evening sent the reporter out
Into the streets to see how the various
classes of people will celebrate. or hope
10 celebrate the day. instead of assigning
a man to sit down in the Office and grind
out a column and a half screed about
lights streaming through stained glass
church windows onto the virtuous snow.
when there is no snow, and about that
mysterious good-hearted person who
found the little boy looking lonsingly into
the market house window, just as the
shades OF night are falling, and buys him
a turkey, when the shades of night do not
fall In the first place and when the market
houses close at noon. making ii impos
sible for the small boy to see turkeys
through the window at that time of the
declining day.
Inc reporter went out INTO
He listened for comments on Thanksgiv
ing Day. since it was the purpose Of his
assignment to hear what the people said
and did in anticipation of it, rather than
TO incorporate his own ideas into a story
for the people to read.
He wandered into one of the metro
politan hotels here, first. perhaps, be-
cause 1t was the place nearest the office
where one might expect to find Thanks
giving Day talked about.
Sure enough the day OF Thanksgiving
was being discussed hereby two well
groomed travelling men, one with his feet
In the soft part of an upholstered chair
and his fingers closed over an imported
Garcia, and the other with himself Sc
curely ensconsed in one of those big side
armed, tilted, leather-covered affairs so
dear TO the heart of the itinerant who has
home to call his own, and no easy
couch on which to take his after-dinnef
doze.
Trouble about Thanksgiving" said the
gentleman with the imported Garcia, lis
that one is expected to eat turkey, S u
sort of patriotic duty. You know; same
as eating eggs at Easter. i haven't
bought d Thanksgiving turkey for 30
long I've forgotten what the sensation
is like. In a hotel the day is nu sance.
The bill of fare reads something ike this:
Roast turkey and cranberry sauce; cram
berry jelly and roast turkey. New Eng
land turkey with homemade stufiing; tur-
key a Ia
The interruption to these pessimistic
words was the spectacle of man in the
garb of toll passing with a seven-pound
turkey under his arm. The fowl was
wrapped in brown paper, as all self-re-
specting turkeys are on this occasion. and
jerking along by short steps at his side
was little boy, who complained:
But, dad, II would only take six cents
more to get some cranberries'' Dad said
'sh-h-h, boy and hurried along, nearly
turning over in his haste the bearded
mendicant who sells pencils. or makes a
pretense of selling pencils, which are so
hard they would never write and so old
from constant use as pretext for beg
ging that they would fall to pieces if in
dustriously applied 10 paper.
"P-en-ci-ss-Pen-cil-s" One wondered
how this old man expected to get a
Thanksgiving dinner, but he seemed to
worry about 1t less than the two unfor-
tunate waits of fortune who carried on a
conversation something like this:
Il tell you, Jack, it's easy. All wen
have to do is walk in like as we'd been
there before as res-lar customers. hang
up our hats and eat. Nobody is unaind
enough to ask for money until after din
ner, and then we can either make a talk
for Ii Or
Farther down the street there was a
club, and inside two students of current
events were discussing the day and the
many new phases it assumed from year
10 year
Not so long ago." said one, I'VE read
about how they celebrated Thanks
giving Day in foreign lands, or rather
how they did not celebrate it, and
now we have foreign lands of our own to
convert to proper appreciation of the
turkey and the cranberry sauce In Por-
to Rico, for instance. where, | suppose,
they never heard Of the day
II wish that fellow at the telephone
would get through" said the listener. as
improvident member of the club for
the eleventh time entered upon an ex-
pianation to the florist, which was about
follows:
Well ! have had an account with you
CSilence) My brother has and 1t amounts
to the same thing whether you charge 1t
to him or me. tMore silence) Well /
want the flowers to reach her tonight.
The boy is there waiting, and if you
choose to. send them out all right: if not,
1 will get them from some other source.
Had l anticipated any such trouble as
this l would have sent the money, but If
you-You will send them? All right. /
am much obliged to you. Good bye
And he rang off.
Outside a mother and two little girls
were going home with good things for
the morrow, scanty amount. but good,
nevertheless, and the smaller of the girls
said:
Poor Rob. I wonder what he will get
for Thanksgiving. Pork and beans. may
he. Too bad he can't be with us tomor-
row." Rob is a soldier.
And the turkey rafiies! Who ever heard
Of a Thanksgiving eve without turkey raf-
fies? A man will come down to business
in the morning with the wifely injunction
that he bring home turkey still ring
ing In his ears, and meet friend. The
friend has the same Instructions from
home. and together they start out to pro-
cure the fowl.
Market houses are famous for having
in their vicinity numerous places where
the yenturous may take a chance on very
large turkeys, live or dead, for a very
small sum of money, and one friend pro-
poses "a little nip" Inside the barkeeper
proposes taking a chance on that big one
over there in the window. Lost Another
chance. One more. Little of the same.
please So passes an hour, two hours
Eas:.:.-:...:.:.'... :. e.::::.:...:...:.:a
I III, !.