The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1912-11-26

Federal Union was an experiment In
government that, In the minds OF
many, was foredoomed to failure.
There was no nation; rather a o
confederation of hostile sections and
jealous states. It was out OF the
struggles and sufferings of this very
war that the American nation was
born. Today, 100. 200, 900 Americans
In identity OF political and social
ideals, language and institutions, pre-
sent a picture OF the most thoroughly
nationalized country Of which history
has record.
But in a hundred other ways did
the Thanksgiving OF 1914 differ from
the one to be celebrated this year.
or course there we're the funda'
mental essentials of turkey, pumpkin
pie and cranberry sauce; there were
the homegatherlng Of relatives n
the reunion of the family around the
old hearthstone. But beyond that all
has changed with the passage of the
fleeing years. Could a boy or a girl
of today, by some ledgerdemain OF
time, be transported back to one oil
those old fashioned Thanksgiving day
OF a century ago. he or she would
think they were being robbed of their
holiday rights. Even the wealthiest
people Of those old days could not
have on their Thanksgiving table
many OF the things found today on
the tables of the humblest citizen.
In fact, there was a great poverty
Of vegetable variety on the Thanks
giving table a century ago. No as
paragus, no sweet potatoes, no string
beans, no corn, no green peas, and so
on down the attractive list that consti-
tutes the appetizlng trimmings OF the
Thanksgiving table of today. The tin
can era had not yet dawned, and Its
possibilities OF smashing seasonable
monotony we're %undreamed OF even by
epicures.
And there was the same poverty In
Thanksgiving fruit. The list practi'
cally started and ended with apples
and OF a kind that most farmers now
feed only to their hogs or leave TO
rot on the ground. Grapefruit was a
word not yet invented; oranges would
have been worth their weight In gold;
and the banana was to await many
years for its introduction to the
American housewife. Nor would 1t
have been possible for the voracious
youngster of that day to gorge him.
self with luscious grapes and delicate
raisins. Pineapple was another un-
known word. or course there were
nuts, but only of native varieties
Almonds, Brazil nuts, pecans and the
| English walnuts, without which no
THANKSGIVING table OF today would be
considered complete, were then un
known luxuries.
The farmer of that day was q slave
of the season and the produce of his
toll was governed strictly by the cal
endar. There we're no h%otsouses to
force fruit and vegetables out of sea
son. The good people OF those days
would have considered it almost sacri'
lege, an attempt to improve on the
divine plan of things. A request for
strawberries or cucumbers at Thanks
giving would be equivalent to an ap
~plication for admission to an asylum
for the insane.
But the difference does not end with
a comparison Of the eatables of the
feast q century ago and today. 1t Is
even more startling when we com
pare the task Of preparation now and
then. The good housewife Of 1914, |
called upon to get up a Thanksgiving
feast with the utensils and under the