Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1908-08-04
OUR HOLIDAYS.
As Seen From an English Point of
View

Thanksgiving Day, in November,
Christmas, and the Fourth Of July
independence Day. are the most
widely accepted, and of the three "the
Fourth" comes easily first. Then
every child must have its fireworks,
pistols are fired in the streets, noise
and what we call "mafficking" are su-
preme, and every year the lists Of
killed and wounded number thous-
ands. Hundreds Of factories may run
throughout Christmas Day, but the
smallest citizen and the newest Of
newly arrived emigrants know that
the "Glorious Fourth" is the day on
which America clicked creation" as
tyfied by Great Britain. 1t is uni
versal holiday.
Thanksgiving Day, the next impor-
tant, is always a Thursday. The exact
date is announced by the president,
and proclamation, in tone and
strangely reminiscent Of
Puritan times, is then made by the
governor of each state calling for its
proper observance. Thanksgiving is
a family festival; kept in the home,
and as a rule, restricted to relatives.
1t corresponds to the English Christ
mas.
Some say that Thanksgiving repre-
sents nothing more than the English
Harvest Home; but every American
child associates the day with the suf-
ferings of the Pilgrim Fathers. Arriv-
ing at Plymouth, Mass, in the month
Of November, 1920, far too late to
make proper preparation for winter
ing in that bleak desert, they suffered
intense hardship, under which many
pershed. But year later the sur
vivors, having established a little set
tlement and gathered a scanty harvest,
gave thanks for their preservation and
well-being. That at least, Is the tra-
dition.
For the rest, holidays are according
to latitude California, whose partic-
ular fete erstwhile was the anniver-
sary of her admission to the Union, is
now deifying the First Of March, and
this has become an officially recogniz-
ed "Orange Day." 1t is hoped that
the orange will become as
closely associated with March as tur-
key is in England with Christmas or
I'm America with Thanksgiving Day.
A favorite public holiday in the
middle west is that proclaimed for the
school children, when, on a certain
day selected by the mayor, after a
short lecture on the virtues of cleanli-
ness, the doors Of all the schools are
opened and the little ones are urged to
go forth armed with brooms and sacks
to lend their aid in a general cleanup.
to theory, on this day va
cant lots are cleared Of waste paper
and rubbish, streets are swept and
cutters freed from all their accumula-
ted debris.
In America more than in any other
country patriotism has to be taught.
not because American children are
less patriotic than other
children, but because of the large
of alien children from ev-
cry country assembled in the schools.
They must be taught to be good Amer
leans. To this end a large proportion
of the holidays emphasize those things
which make for knowledge and love
Of country.
There is widely recognized Decor
alton Day-or, as 1t is sometimes call
ed, Memorial Dayton which the
schools are closed and the children
to go to the various ceme-
teries to lay flowers on the graves Of
all soldiers, and to the waters to scat
ter blossoms there in memory Of the
sailors lost in Americas wars. II
there are no soldiers graves within
reach and the city is far inland, pa
triotic address Is given and the Stars
Stripes raised amid the singing Of ma
tional and patriotic songs. This SER
vice is a great outlet for enthusiasm
and helps to keep the past alive.
Decoration Day is serious holiday,
and every effort is made to keep it
solemn. In many states it is forbid
den by law to hold any carnival ball,
game, or race on this the 30th of May.
When a city is large enough to organ
ize such functions professions are the
order of the day; they are composed Of
soldiers and sailors, if such are avail
able, or, in default of these, militia
men, Masons, or trade unionists. If
these fail, the school children themsel-
yes are utilized. On the last occasion
New York introduced a division of
horses into the line of march. OF
course, veterans from the Civil or
Spanish war, if a handful of these can
be mustered, are always heroes on
such days. Massachusetts and Mis-
sissippi have, in addition to Decora-
tion Day, a special Patriots, and
Flag" day respectively. Their titles
explain their meaning.
In Virginia, not to let old memories
fade, the festival of decoration Is call
ed confederate Memorial Day."
North and South Carolina, too, as we'll
as Alabama, Florida and Mississippi,
have not forgotten the past, and un-
der a similar designation a day is de-
voted to the remembrance of those
who died for their country.
Another particularly American holi-
day is Washington's birthday. For
this many business houses close at
noon and all schools shut. Children
go forth in battalions wearing minia-
ture hatchets in memory Of the fam
Gus cherry-tree incident; and tea par
ties. at which the guests appear in
Colonial costumes, are de rigueur On
this day also cherry trees and hatch
cts always deck the dinner tables and
serve as faVorS.
Other birthdays are frequently hon
ored: that of Lee in Florida, Georgia,
Alabama, Virginia, and the Carolinas;
Lincoln's in Illinois, Connecticut, Del
aware Minnesota. New York and New
Jersey, as we'll as in the far west, and
jefferson Davis is honored in the same
way in the south.
A novel idea is that Of ArbOr Day,
which is held in almost all the states
on a date selected by their governors.
This again is a childrenS' day par eX-