Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1907-11-28
THANKSGIVING DAY
IN ALBUQUERQUE
PUBLIC SCHOOLS
NATIONAL HOLIDAY Is
CAREFULLY OBSERVED
In Addition to Generous Contd-
buttons to the Poor Pupils
Celebrate Day With Special
Programs.

II Benevolent society. the scho0l chill
dren Of Albuquerque observed Thanks
giving day yesterday with apprOpri-
ate services In all the wards. The
contributions for the poor this year
were unusually generous and included
clothing, provisions. staple and fancy,
and money. Five wagons were neces-
saFy to carry away the contributions
from the several buildings. Thanks
giving exercises yesterday In the high
school and ward schools were well at
tended.
In the High School.
The Thanksgiving spirit has been
very prominent 10 the high school.
In the various classes exercises con
sisting Of talks by the teacher, read
ings appropriate 10 the season. his
torical sketches and songs have been
the means used TO stimulate this spir-
Il. Formal programs consisting Of es-
say. recitation, quotations, readings
ana music were rendered in three Of
the rooms yesterday.
After "A spirited song service led by
Miss Carolyn Strong, Rev. Fletcher
Cook addressed over two hundred
students in the high school assembly
room. He chose az his subject THE
History Of Thanksgiving and Some
Reason, National and Personal, for
I Thanksgiving" BY his ready wit and
MS very evident sympathy with the
( feelings Of youth, Rev. Cook at once
/ captiyated his audience and proceed
ed to show them that While Thanks
giving IN It's present form is a dis
| tinctively American holiday, il did not
spring. Minerva-like, from the brain
Of Governor Bradford in 1921, as
some imagine"
He traced the origin Of the institu-
lion back through the ages n the
nations 10 the land of the Canaan
ties, from whom the Children of Is
rael copied many o-bserVances. He
made reference to the seven days Of
Thanksgiving observed by job over
three thousand years ago, the Pass
over OF the Jews. as well as other To-
cal and tribal o-bservaHees. lie made
allusion to the growth Of the custom
In England, especially In the days OF
Cromwell. when, IL Is said, no fewer
than one hundred and six days each
year were designated as national
Thanksgiving days. Public officials
! refused 90 work on such days until
Edward VI, seeing TO what extremes
the idea was being carried. annulled
them all.
Coming to our own country. the
speaker brought before his hearers in
rapid review a series of proclamations
issued by governors Of colonies and
WAlfi MAEMAAhll IT'S anu nhEffNfu III
most part by families and declared
that our national Thanksgiving day.
as observed an over the land, origi-
mated In the great big heart of Lin
coin in 1858.
The country for nearly three years
had been in the awful throcs Of civil
war. and not until General Grants de-
cisive victory Of Chattanooga. follow
ing the battle of Gettysburg and the
q. rtrsr. - AHanNak.w- NG4 Fh. TarAr
clouds Of defeat and despair begin to
MT with brighter visions Of a posi-
BILE reunited republic.
no sooner had Chattanooga fallen /
than President Lincoln, feeling the
Else OF the northern states. and an
expression OF his own sentiments,
framed "a national Thanksgiving proc
lamation, and ever since then no year
has passed without a similar decree Is
suing from the White House In Wash
lngton.
Lincoln. 81 must be remembered.
was brought up in the wild and wool
ly west where contact with New Eng |
land was slight, and where men grew
10 look upon life from "A far wider
point Of view Do was possible 90 the |
New Englander, with his Puritan an
tcCedents We have no record or ira
dition that the old Puritan Thanks
giving day was even In Llucoln's
mind when ne issued his pr0clama-
ton OF November. 1853. II was some
thing rand new that he did since he
gave us q national, as distinguished
from a purely provincial Thanksgiv-
ms.
The stald descendants OF Brew
ster and Carver and Standish listened
for hours. on bitter cold Thanksgiv-
ing days. TO long and tiresome ser
mons God sin and he'll only 90 pass
from the cold church TO an equally
cold dinner, Washe dow by copiOus
draughts ~ whiskey Instead OF the
freedom and ~iollincatiun Of the more
~ight-hcarted fathers Of earlier days.
% became a sin. on "a Puritan Thanks
gi,inE. 10 eat more than enough 10
Keep body and soul together. Even
The whlskey drunk was taken more
Tor warmth than for It's eNhilaratinR
effects Good fellowship gradually
disappeared from The family board.
ana no. day in the year was anticipat-
ed with less feeling OF soy and thank
fulness Than was this latter Puritan
Thanksgiving day Even what re-
manned 1f the original idea 81 Thanks
giving never Uartook OF the nature of
anything commensurate with what
Ne understand today hA a national
Thanksgiving. FL was entirely section
al lu character. ass 10 was bound TO
be- AS. until the emo OF the revolution.
there was NO such thing as The Amre-
lean nation. -n that the New England
Thanksgiving day and its o-hferyances
conferred altogether bon the narrow idea
% the family as distinguished from
the nation.
Lincoln 10 was Who. ln 1853. hy
one stroke Of his pen. gave az a ns-
tional day. and Thus incidentally lifted
New England herself ont of her pro-
tineialism into the broader concep-
uou and observance of Thanksgiving
day that involves the whole American
people
Al Fourth Mari ~-hool.
10 was plain from the exercises lu
the Fourth ard school Yesterday that
slstfmalle training has been used Co
insfill into Che minds % the students
The true slguincance ~ Thanksgiving
dat Foe n'd fashioned dishes. the
chimney orncr Puritan dress. were
apparent ln the art lessons. and many
ThauksEIViuE suggestions appeared on
the Blackboard The reading music
and language lessons we're also APP
proprlate 90 The dag.
"wednesday afternoon the pupils ~
the ten rooms. over fnur hundred
strong assembled ln the main build
Ing for "a brief bur interesting Thanks