The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1899-11-29


Enquirer" It began, II I remember
Alright, something like this
Il would have a Thanksgiving dinner
ff had nothing but a potato and very
little salt, and I would share it with
somebody if I mad to borrow somebody
from the poorhouse.
Here is g. Thanksgiving spirit worth
talking about. When such a longing for
a fete day creeps about ones heart what
a shame it cannot be gratffied.
There are millions Of men, women and
children that have never and never VIII
know the misery of mo ok on this
feast day. There are millions more VINO
are showed off into obscure corners OF the
earth and forgotten while the frelicking
Of this holiday Of all holidays goes on IT'S
way unheeding. ~uncaring that hearts are
aching because they are not enough
folks to go round.
Indeed. it is folks we want, not FOOD
not gifts, not anything that cannot watch
for our coming, love as when. we come
and make us feel that 1t is real sorrow
to say goodbye.
In the great towns they are legion on
fete DAYS. In smaller places people are
sure to find time to live less selfish lives.
/ know the phllanthropist's tramp is
heard in the highways, but he or she can
not minister to heart poverty
The charity. work of society and indi-
vidual is a glorious one. 1t does not,
however, bring the tender hand pressure
that says. Il am glad to see you" 1t
cannot give the ardent embrace that tells
more eloquently than words of a fervent
interest.
There IS not enough honest love TO go
round during the holidays. This is why
many brave souls tuck away shamefaced-
IL natural longings for kinship and
declare all holidays a nuisance.
So holidays are a nuisance when there
is no one to make them go. They were
made for people who dearly love each
other. who have interests in common,
who feel the tie that binds is to be gloat-
ed over, to be drawn closer and closer.
THANKSGIVING, for instance, was made
for ~granddads, for grandmammas, for
mothers and fathers, for sisters and
brothers. for cousins and aunts and
uncles way back to third and fourth
cousins and great-aunts and uncles.
Holidays are family days, selfish though
this may sound. How is the bachelor
girl and the bachelor boy a hundred,
perhaps a thousand, miles from home GO
ing to have a Thanksgiving?
How are lear old souls with heart loves
which time has not stolen going to have
a fete day when those they depended
upon for tenderness are sleeping quietly
in the c~hurehyard?
How are women and children pinched
by poverty to have a Thanksgiving? The
hand of charity cannot give them one
IT may feed a hungry stomach, and the
practical will say
Dorothy, what more do you WANT
want lots more. I want TO know that
on the thlrtieth Of November not a single
lonely heart beats in this great own.
Hundreds win ache and ache hard be-
cause they are passed by. Hundreds will
see the sun 90 down without having heard
the sound of a single friendly voice.
These people may have had their slice
of turkey, their cranberry sauce, their
holiday pudding. but Thanksgiving will
be like all other days-a little more to
eat. perhaps, and this is h it should
not be, but a lovely oasis in the desert
of life. a garden spot in life's tangle OF
briar and underbrushs a beautiful CLINT
Of sunshine across life's wintry day.
Yes, my mother and have just finished
our ninety-seventh quilt since last No
venYber," said Miss Jane Sims, of Column
bia county. Ca, to q writer who tells
about ii in an exchange.
YOU see. 1t began in this way: Our
farm is m~ortgaged and when my brother,
who supports my mother and me-, was
taken Ill In the middle of the cropping
season. we knew WE would have an extra
- - IL ~ af
to make matters worse, the drought came
on and cut the crops off until there was
next to nothing to gather. By this time
you may be sure we were worried, and
morning. noon and night I tried to hit on
some way I might make money.
my mother has a lumber of old fash
toned quilts, many of them made by her
mother and given her on her marriage.
They are beautiful as bio fashioned
quilts go; nave all been taken good care
of and never used except on state occa-
sions. and, therefore, are good as the day
they were finished. Well, one morning
during our trouble I came in and found
my mother on her knees before one of the
big chests in which she keeps her quilts.
" Jane, she remarked. I was thinking
maybe we might get a few dollars for
some of these quilts. 1t woul be better
than having them packed away doing no.
body any good
I'm a minute I thought of the people at
the Bon Air Hotel. The people from the
North who came there every winter. And
I knew the hotel was full right then; so
/ made up my mind and in less than half
an hour 1 had selected two of the pref
fiest quilts, "a rising sun and "a rose bud
pattern and was on my way to the Bon
Air.
Il sold these quilts to the first lady
who looked at them and when the other
ladies heard I had more they made up a
party and drove over to. look at them.
We sold sixteen-all that my mother
would part with. Then one of the la
dies asked If we couldn't make some more
and gave US an order for five. VIZ receiv-
ed orders for ninety-seyen and as I said,
we have just finished them.
For the patchwork kind the log cab
in the worm face the hour glass the
maltese cross and others on that order
we receive SIS each. and make them in
any eolors wished. But for the rose bud
the pony lily the rising sum- the sun
over, the watermelon vine and others
where the pattern has to be appliqued. we
charge $40 to $50. and I assure you that