The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1910-11-24
THE TURKEY IN HISTORY.

Along toward the sour end OF the
year 1921, cluster of grim, blue-DeaK-
ed persons collected in the only water
proof building in Plymouth colony III
was the church, where they met every
Sabbath and two or three times pc
tween Sabbaths. They We're people OF
simple tastes. Their favor1te out-oooI
sport was lodging Indians and going TO
church, and their only indoor amuse-
ment was lodging Indian arrows ana
praying. They had been In the coun-
try but short time,-it was less tnan
two years, in fact, since they landed
with their steamer-trunks and grand
father clocks. Chilblains, starvation
and other ailments had carried on some
of the choicest members of the HOOK
Some of the longest faces in history
had been planted in the Plymouth
graveyard during the preceding twelve
month.
But, as the survivors gathered upon
this frost-bitten November Sunday,
they were feeling fairly well, thank
you. A few of the younger ones so rar
forgot themselves as to almost smtle.-
serious offense. The cause of the
| gladness was the fact that the Pilgrims
had raised a crop of corn, having
swiped the seed from the indians. Tha
seed had sprouted, grown and produced
the basic principles of corn pone. Some
pumpkin seed which was mixed with
the seed corn, grew, and delivered the
goods. 1t is safe to bet as much as six
D1CS Lnat the RllSr1m k1QQOS were nol
| permitted to make jack O. lanterns OF
these pumpkins, and it really looked
| like the Pilgrims were due to break
their well established habit of fasting.
To celebrate the raising of a crop,
the Pilgrims decided to hold a feast.
They set the date on Thursday, which
| is in the middle of the week, and not
| close enough to the Sunday on either
] end of said week to be a dissertation.
When the appointed time arrived, the
Pilgrim mothers were on the job with
! both feet. From the pumpkins they
| had compounded pies and other perish
| able goods, and from the corn they had
constructed everything from mush to
| egg bread. From a vegetarian point of
| view, the feast was complete, but the
| famished Pilgrims didn't feel that way
4 about it.
During the past summer the Pilgrim
| parents had caught Holsters from the
wet spot known as the Atlantic ocean.
| When the Holsters were all used up.
| the Blue noses stewed a bucket of the
water taken from the spot where a lob
ster had been seen, and simply gorged
themselves upon lobster soup. But now
the coast was frigid, and 1obster-track
| broth was not a fit companionpiece 10
pumpkin pie, any way. 1t was at this
point that the Pilgrims displayed in
| ventive genius and the Turkey got his
name on the bill of fare. Certain citi-
zenS of Plymouth did then and there
squander a few jolts of the buck-shot
they had been saving to pot Pequods.
! and added the Turkey to the menu of
that first Thanksgiving dinner
| These Pilgrims were poor shots, and
could not hit a deer had it been tied to
| a gate post but the turkeys were fool
ish, and easy to slaughter. Otherwise
the Turkey would still be a wild ami
NAL and an outcast. He was a Last
| Resort, but his entry into that feast
brought him into prominence and gem
| eraI use as a THANKSGIVING incident
This must be the answer, as there is
| absolutely no other excuse for the
Turkey.