The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-11-26
Thanksgiving at the Nhite House
BY CAPT. THOMAS PENDELL, CHIEF USHER.

! coming of the new year. AS all official
| Washington knows, the state dining room
is wholly inadequate in size. 1t accom-
modates only forty, and the president
cannot escape offending many high Of
ficials unless he invites at least seventy
guests or more to several state dinners.
At such times the state apartment is
! abandoned and the dinner is held in the
red CORRIDOR long, narrow, draughty
affair with ten doors and not single
window. The cons equence is that the
walters must scrape the walls or spill
things over the guests while passing
around the table. But none of this in
convenience will fall to the lot of the
president, his family or his few guests at
the Thanksgiving dinner.
The chef d'oeuvre of the dinner the
turkey am told, will come from Long
Island, a present from one of the pres
ident's neighborS at Oyster Bay. AS the
orders to Henry Pritchard, the White
house steward, are always to serve the
plainest yiands in the plainest American
fashion, it is to be presumed that the
presidents Thanksgiving dinner will not
differ materially from that served in any
other American observation-disclosures
sauce spinach, celery, mince pie, plum
pudding and all.
How Ten Presidents Spent Thanks
giving.
My own memories of Thanksgiving at
the White house extend back to Lin
coins time l was appointed to my place
in this home of presidents in December.
1864, and as I had been acting as body
guard to President Lincoln for two
months prior to my appointment, | am
able to recall thirty White house
Thanksgiving days. I have, therefore,
known two other just such Thanksgiving
days as the present One-the one IN the
year of Lincoln's assassination, the other
in the year Garfield was shot. Sorrow
still pervaded the land on Thanksgiving,
1866, even though our beloved president
had breathed his last the preceding April.
Garfield died Sept. 10, 1881, the same
month and in the same week as William
Mckinley in the present year. Both Of
these Thanksgiving days were observed
in the same quiet fashion, with the. same
dignity of sorrow as will characterize the
day at the White house this year.
Besides the three martyred presidents,
the finger of death, since my appoint
ment, has touched two other persons
within the White house walls. One was
little Willie Lincoln, the favorite son of
President Lincoln How often | watched
Mr.. Lincoln carrying Willie on his back,
playing horse" and loudly ha-ha-ing up
the oId-fashioned staircase which was a
few years ago torn away to make room
for an elevator. And When that gay
little life passed beyond, 1 saw the strong
body of President Lincoln rent with
grief, and ever after that-he had only
few months longer to live-I could see
that the tears were near the surface.
The other death within the White house
walls was that of Mr. Allen, the minis
ter from Hawaii, while attending Presi-
dent Arthurs New Years reception.
Having been in the White house on
Thanksgiving day for thirty-seven years.
from Lincoln to q hope) Roosevelt,
recall how the day was spent by ten diff
ferent presidents. All, of course went
to church in the morning-Lincoln, John
son, Grant, Hayes and Mckinley to the
Methodist church, Garfield to the Dis
ciples, Arthur to the Episcopal, and
Cleveland and Harrison to the Presby
terrain. All these presidents, with the
single exception of Mr.. Hayes, spent the
day informally with their families, en-
tertaining only one or two personal
friends at dinner. Mr.. Hayes, always
fond of entertaining, ate Thanksgiving
dinner with all those connected with the
White house. These were the only occa-
sions on which secretaries, clerks, tele-
graph operators and others employed in
the executive mansion have ever sat at
table and broken bread with the chief
executive.