The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1901-11-28
THANKSGIVING DAY.

lIlRIfNOOiNIlNO CFHI'
THANKSGIVING day did not, as NAM
| suppose. descend from the Puritans. Il
was copied from them and its observ-
ance borrows much on the religious and
domestic sides from the rites Of the
Massachusetts, forefathers. But there
was a long lapse of years between the
| last stated feast of the Puritan com
munities and the Thanksgiving obserV-
ance to which the American people are
now annually summoned by their ChleI
Magistrate. Not until the Civil war
was in its crisis did the Thanksgiving
| day we now know enter the calendar OF
/ American holidays.
| l. was then a day of sectional suppl
| cation. The Union was divided and il
the South President LincOln's proclarna-
tons were without invitational force.
Nor has the November feast. ever be
come broadly national The South still
looks askance at II, preferrinS Christ
mas as a stated time Of reunion, ban
quoting and religious ceremony. BUT
wherever the northern spirit goes
Thanksgiving day receives its full need
of recognition. That is why the Ameri-
can community in Hawaii has. ioF
eighty years. observed the last Thurs
dav in November as 1t will again DO
today.
THE manner in which the day Is ceie-
brated depends upon the temper ana
habit OF any given community. IN
some places the religious note Is domin-
ont. in others the day calls out the
lhorse-racers and gamblers the pot-huH-
ters and turkey-rafflers; In the great
citIes all classes celebrate in their own
wav both saloons and churches being
crowded. But the keynote Of the day
is the reunion of families and this Is
the fact by which Thanksgiving most
appeals to the popular heart and IN
which are the seeds of its perpetual
ton. Today hundreds of thousands OF
sons and daughters viii assemble under
the old roof tree. The third and even
the fourth generations viii come. f!
Grandfather and grandmother will tell
their old stories to children who are
gray; long separated brothers and SIS
ters and cousins will clasp hands and
look into each others kindly eyes; the
little ones viii store up blessed memo |
ries for after life. There are many IN
this tropical city today who viii speno
part of Thanksgiving at feast OF rec
cIIections-and surely they are to be
envied. Far back in the mists OF lons
ago they will see some childhood visit .
hidden among the frozen hills of New
England. On the way. the wind howled
and buffeted the flying sleishload with
crystals of snow, but it only served to
make cheeks redder and appetites
sharper. Home at last and the wei
come at the door. the warmth and
brightness within, the smell of roasting
turkey and baking mince meat, the
busy times In the kitchen and then such
a feast as no Gordon bleu" of Paris
ever had the genius to compose. Who
can ever forget the turkey that had
been fed on beechnuts, the mince pie
so generous of spices, the raised biscuits
upon which the honey was spread, the
pie, the baked, home-cured
ham. the wholesome preserves, the 2
mince and pumpkin pies and full cream
cheese. the cold cider just beginning to
get an edge, the butternuts and celery
and all the little items of the feast.
Perhaps there was a country dance in
the parlor afterward; perhaps there
was a straw-ride to old familiar scenes;
perhaps the family had an afternoon OF
song and prayer and Renaissance
Those whom it IS given to look back
upon such scenes are better for the ex-
perience; they are better for having
lived in them and dated from them.
We cannot surround Thanksgiving in
Hawaii with New England scenes nor
infuse them altogether with New En-
gland customs; but the family reunion
is permitted to some of us and the plen-
ty of the earth and sea and air is ours
AS for the spirit OF thankfulness no
special people nor special locality
contracts 1t. All have something
to be thankful for-we can re-
joice in our health, our progress, our
gains or our domestic happiness; and
the most unfortunate can at least find
gratitude In the thought that what he
has had to endure might have been
worse Bad as things ever get there
are worse things that might have hap
pened.