Condon globe. (Condon, Gilliam Co., Or.) 189?-1919, 1899-11-30
THE OFFICIAL PAPER OF GILLIAN
COUNTY. OREGON.
TAo uGA1,y.

THANKSGIVING THO UGHz,y.
Thanksgiving Day mas come to
be recognized as the leading Amer
Jean holiday. 1t is one Of the good
old institutions founded by the Pill
grim Fathers, at Plymouth, and
handed down to us through almost
three centuries of time. The day
was FIRST observed in the year 1921,
one year after the landing of the
Maytfower, and was often repeated
during that and the ensuing cen-
tury, 1t soon became customary
for the governors Of the different
colonies to appoint, each year, a
day Of fasting in the spring and a
day Of thanksgiving in the fall.
Both Institutions were, to begin
with, rather severely ecclesiastical
in their nature the fast" day be-
ing a continual round of prayer
and sermons, beginning before
breakfast and lasting until bed
time with but little if any interval
for eating, while the thanksgiving"
day was very similar except that
1t was accompanied by the best
dinner the Puritan housewives
knew how to prepare. Both days
continued in favor for a century or
two but with the evolution Of the
modern politician, patriot and
churchman-all of whom know a
good thing when they see it, and
none Of whom are verdant enough
to observe fast" day SO long as
they have the price Of a meal
that institution was allowed to
lapse into ''innocuous desuetude," !"
while Thanksgiving Day, after be-
ing properly pruned of its princi-
pal puritanisms, grew in popular
favor at rate which seems TO have
closely paralleled the evolution of
high grade roast turkey-with-cran
berry sauce and mince and pump
kin pie.
While Thanksgiving Day is
officially and theoretically a relig-
ious festival there are as many
different ways of spending the day
as there are different classes and
conditions of people and no man
says to his neighbor may" SO long
as each and the other keep within
the limits of the law in their man
ner of giving thanks. One inter
esting feature of the observance Of
the day is that so many people eel
ebrate it in a manner so entirely
at variance with their usual man
ner of living. Many hardened old
sinners, who never think of enter
ing church on any other occasion,
are quite regular in their attend
ance on Thanksgiving Day, while
many staid and sober citizens, on
all other occasions, often tarry toe
long over their Thanksgiving Tom
aud Jerry and take on a jogging
jag Even the preachers often get
out of the rut on that occasion and
many mediocre men treat their
hearers to dazzling discourses on
that day that would not discredit a
Demosthenes. The writer remem-
bers Pennsylvania parson who
used to stick to straight theology
the year around, and always par
rie1 politics, bat on Thanksgiving
Day he'd turn loose the torrents Of
his eloquence and give the demo.
Gratis a most terrific drubbing, he'd
make his democratic members
tremble in their pews and, ofcourse,
cause his republican adherents to
fairly jump for joy.
Thanksgiving Day is all right
1t is social festival; day Of fam.
lily reunions and friendly inter
course around the festal board
1t is distinctively an American
holiday and for that reason more
than any other it should be popu,
lar among Americans.
Let us return thanks.
Please pass the turkey.
s--@=-z