The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1914-11-27
tCONOGLASTS ATTACK THE TCRKEY AS A THANKS
 GIVING FEAST BIRD

The iconcolasts are at it again AL ways seeking to destroy the sacred traditions and beloved customs of the past. they are now attacking the tur- key as the great Thanksgiving bird. Almost since the beginning of the English settlement of what is now the United States, it has been the custon1 ofSthe people to set apart a day on which tor~offer up thanks for bless ings received and expected, aid to conclude the days devotions by par taking of a rich and sumptuous meal. And from the first the turkey has held pre-eminence on that festal board, until the festival in Uncle Sam's country has come to be face ,tious1y called Turkey Day. The origi- nal significance has been all but for gotten, and. comparatively few, peo- pie offer up prayers of thanksgiving, but the turkey is never forgotten. Owing to the high cost of turkeys, the big bird may be conspicuous1y absent from many tables, but it is only an grow fonder, and memory of the fowls deiectabIe qualities all the S-aener.
 But now the iconcelasts say we real- " shouldn't eat turkey so early in the year as November. They declare that the turkey is far from being at his best at this season of the year. The warm weather which sometimes pre- vails at this season causes the loss of thousands of birds in shipment. say Uncle Sans agricultural experts, and they point to statistics to prove it.
 These experts declare that in colonial days in New England, where the winter sesson sets in early, the turkey was meat and proper, so to speak. for the November feast But while the turkey -tripeIis'' early in New England, in the west and south, and even in the central and middle eastern states, he is far from being at his best at this time.
 Christmas is the time for turkey, say. these scientists. By the last of December the bird has reached the full perfection of his delicious qualf- ties, and becomes 9 present delight and, in memory a joy forever.
 As a substitute for turkey at Mo- vember feasts. the goose is declared to be the most desirable. The No vember festival of Martinmas In Eng land was always graced with a fat goose. When the turkey was intro duced into England from America in the sixteenth century. it was soon adopted as the Christmas fowl. but nobody thought of eating turkey at Martinmas. It simply wasn't done. saThe Lord neber intended the tur- :. kew to provide the Thankskiving food for the United States generally, as- Serts one expert In 1000 research, ana that ought to settle 1t. But it won't.
 To the people of the United States, turkey and cranberry sauce is as much national festival dish as roast goose and plum pudding in England; Strasburg pie and black pudding or bouain in France; boiled. beef and fruchtbrod in Austria; carp cooked in beer, mohnpielen and marzipan tarts in Germany; eels. periwinkles and vermIcenI in Italy and wheat porridge, stewed fruits and honey in Russia
 Tn France. the recognized center of the culinary art, the festival Tnenu consists Of .StrasburE pie. made of flyers of fattened geese with truff1es; boudin, a pudding with many delicious qualities; boar's head jelly with pis- tachios; crayfish, snails, Holsters and oysters. The Frenchman simply can- not understand the American fondness for turkey. What one distinguished d French chef said of that bird would, if published broadcast in the United States, alienate the sympathies of many Americans. An idea for Herr Bernstorff!