Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1906-11-29
when Turkey Rules as Royal Sacrifice /.
When Thanksgiving day comes and

When Thanksgiving day comes and
families gather around the feast OF
which the turkey reigns as royal sac
ri6ce, it is the hour to win opinion re-
garding the American national bird.
Long has the eagle scared and
screamed and tapped its wings, but
no day of regard has been put in its
honor in the calendar.
When it comes to antiquity and
true American lineage the turkey
takes precedence. Patriotic societies
are finding this out, and committees
are considering the .advisability OF
making place for the bird among ma
tional emblems. The eagle is cos
mopolitau, the bird Of Jove; the tur.
key-genus meleagris-belongs to the
western continent.
The sacrifice on the altar Of thanks
giving is a species distinct from wing.
ed and feathered fowl OF distant re.
lationship found in Europe. Like the
American Indian, it has aboriginal
traits, and inspired by the spirit OF
the west and an intense love for free
dom, refuses the combining restraints
Of civilization.
The American turkey was among
the strange birds discovered by the
Spaniards when they invaded Mexico.
Oyiedo describes it about 1927 az do.
mesticated among the christianized
Indians OF New Spain (Mexico). and
being the bird reserved for festivals.
Gay describes the gallopavo sylvestris
the wild turkey Of New England
as the wonder Of the pilgrim fathers,
and from all this data it will be seen
that the turkey has claim 10 nation.
al tribute.
Virginia and Missouri historians
write Of turkey fowls as peculiar to
their wooded hills, but Rhode Island
has laid an official claim TO the best.
bred stock that goes abroad. Little
Rhody bases its traditions on the Gus.
toms OF the Nsrragansett Indians, q
tribe which once ruled the entire New
England area, but became extinct dur
ing King Philips war.
The Narragsnsetts treasured the
turkey as a sacred bird. and after their
days the Nantes took the matter up
both for the cause Of religion and for
the comfort Of their stomschs, and
thus preserved the species from en-
tinction and brought the Rhode Island
fame high on the marts that cater to
feasts and festivals.
The Rhode Island turkey lives in
the bills, feasts on insects aud herbs
best calculated TO make il delectsble
to epicures, and has become desired
from the Atlantic to the Pacific. The
white turkey comes from the confines
of the State, and for some years the
presidential Thanksgiving dinner has
been presided over by an immense
bird Of the New England stock.
Az the Indian and the native Gus.
toms even Of Mistress Anne Hutchin-
son and Roger Williams are forgotten
by latter day Rhode leland sons and
daughters. 80 the turkey Of that Pc
culiar breed is passing away. Reports
from the State agricultural stations
give dire statistics Of fatal disease
among the turkeys and the vanishing
from the land.
In this year Missouri. Indiana and
Wisconsin with iris-tinted feathers,
bronze rejecting the shades Of their
distant relatives the psafowls, dark
hues with rainbow tints and brilliant
red dew laps and head ornaments,
strolliDg along the roads in digni6sd
aOcks, perching gracefully on fence
rails and sounding the piercing CALI
thus they have been sesn intny coun.
try byway before the November knsll
was sounded.