Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-11-24
SHOPS OF CITY CLOSED;
FEDERAL WHEELS STILL
America Is Blessed in Measure Be.
yond All Other Lands.
SERVICE AT ST. PATRICK'S
Distinguished Gathering of Specially
Invited Guests, Including Presi-
dent, Cabinet Members and
Diplomats.

This holiday, by right of proclamation
and grace of long-esta blished custom, Is
set apart as the Thanksgiving time of the
American people. Feast day and day of
prayer it is, an interval for silent retro
spect. for whispered thanks and graft
tude The vast machinery of the govern
ment rests motionless, with fires banked
and workshops all deserted. And in the
world-famed centers of our business life
dwels silence, strange and unaccustomed.
the clamor of but yesterday all hushed
and breathless till the coming of the
morrow.
over all this fair, broad land it is the
same. North and south. east and west,
in city and in town, in hamlet and in
village, the doors OF church and chapel
are thrown wide and the people of all
Creeds pay tribute to the bounty OF the
Last And one who, for some reason
{ ose to him. would scorn both day and
sentiment, ignore the feast and lightly
pass the prayer should find his argu-
ment and answer both near and tar from
home.
The nation wakes great i'm strength and
viiai power, in influence far-reaching and
Tor soOd, in ways that make for progress
snd the future interests OF the world.
lteaNy are the HaTVeStS, TlCn ana DOuHtl-
1ul never before, won by u prosperous
people from the fruitful earth. Enormous
are the products of bench and loom; the
smoke of countless mills and factories
half obscureS the sky. Deep and wide Is
the minted golden stream that flows to
our shores from the marts OF other lands
Not So in Other Lands.
Compare-and the answer is already
written. In another Anglo-Saxon coun-
try across the seas the people cry for
bread. the sullen unemployed march the
streets in mobs. the forces OF the sovern-
ment are shaken by dissension. Over
the whole continent Of Europe the war
cloud hangs, conditions are chaotic, nut
ers trernble on their tottering thrones, the
spirit OF universal unrest stalks abroad.
\ step farther on and the specters OF
pest and plague tread q pOpuious land.
So it is to circle the globe-the record is
not fair. Prosperity and peace, scourged
and scorned, from post to pillar driven,
seem TO have deserted the remainder Of
the world. TO hover, smiling and content,
over these United States.
Oh, all Is not perfect here by any
means! The millennium is still the golden
dream of poet and philosopher, But We
progress, Our eyes look eagerly ahead
rough but ever upward way, our minds
are busy with what there is to do and
not, in useless rustling of the empty
husks. with that which has been done.
And SO. after the thanks have been
said today, there is ample reason for
the feast to follow, the feast alike of
the very rich and of the very poor the
charity of the one providing the days
happiness of the other. Today. too, the
cage droops his head detected and for
gotten. and the great American turkey,
unfortunate victim of an annual sacrifice,
high in price but low in spirits, is
crowned the toothsome viands' king.
Good Cheer Prevails.
In Washington and elsewhere on this
national holiday good cheer and good
fe lowship prevail. reunited families
gather for the feast. friendship and affec-
tion wait, softfooted, about the festive
board
Down town today the quiet of a
Sabbath prevails, the shops closed and
deserted, the beehives of the government
lacking their week day hum. Uptown
the early morning streets were thronged
and the churches filled with those among
the city's population who observe the day
for what il really Is. true thanksgiving
time And after church stroll. visits
here and there, little journeyings about
the town for pleasure and for profit, too,
that appetite may not fail before supply.
AS Is usual on this annual feast day.
the poor of the nations capital were wen
provided for. The various charitable Or
ganizations in the city, the clubs and
societies Of religious and benevolent
trend, all contributed to the feast OF
the poor. and of those well to whom
poverty is not only condition but a
curse. Baskets OF viands, complete in
all save the cooking. were sent TO thou
sands of homes Thanksgiving eve. and
for those to whom home is but a myth
a name from forgotten fairy story,
everything save appetite has been pro-
vided-
EAa N;LI.-