Baxter Springs news. [volume] (Baxter Springs, Kan.) 1882-1919, 1914-11-19

pare the task OF preparation now and
then. The good housewife OF 1914, II
called upon to get up q Thanksgiving
feast with the utensils and under the
kitchen conditions Of 1914. would
throw up her hands in despair, and II
the task was put up to the average
servant Of today would jump her job
In an instant. The hardworking
housewife Of a century ago, had
neither range nor cook stove. They
had not yet been invented. Her tur-
key and her pies were baked In the
great fireplace, and her fuel was wood'
for coal was not yet used.
II relatives were to be invited to
Thanksgiving homegatherings In those
old days, the invitations would have
to be dispatched weeks and perhaps
months in advance OF the event, for
1t required the best part Of a week
for letter to travel from Boston to
New York, as long time, in fact
as II now takes to cross the CONT
nent. Were It addressed to Chicago,
mere trading post at that time, II
would be sent the previous July. And
the invitation itself would be written
with q quill and blotted with sand,
for in those days there were no stee!
pens, no typewriters. no blotters, no
gummed envelopes, no postage stamps.
And the son or daughter In the
city who wished to return to the old
homestead for Thanksgiving in 1914
faced an ordeal before which most OF
us today would quail For travelling
a century ago was q hazard and
peril. The railroad was at that time
undreamed Of, and all inland travel
was by river or road.
II O man on his way to a Thanks.
giving feast at the old homestead In
the country was thrown from his
horse In the road. breaking a leg or
arm. his case was one to be pitied.
For most Of the doctors Of those days
were ignorant and careless. II ampu'
tation was necessary, the victim was
generally held down by main strength
while saw and knife cut their agon'
izing way through the tortured flesh
and bone. For 1914 was before the
days of anesthetics. Ether, chloro-
form, cocaine and morphine were as
yet unknown, and as for antiseptics,
the protection against germ infection
Of the wound, that was to wait for
more than fifty years. There was
no qulnine, no strychnine, no tine
ture OF iron, no carbohc acid-in fact,
there were scarcely any Of the COM
mon and familiar drugs of today.
There was no pepsin for that Thanks
giving indigestion, and a cold or a
toothache was q thing to be dreaded.
In literally millions OF homes on
Thursday, the Thanksgiving dinner
will be preliminary to a visit to q
football game or q theater, things
impossible to the sturdy stock Of
1914, In fact, the religious feast Of
our grandsires has become to large
and growing extent a part Of sport
ing and amusement holiday In which
real Thanksgiving, in the sense Of
the origin OF the day, is conspicuous
by its absence. Nevertheless, when
q person stops to think about It,
comparing the material comforts Of
today with those Of a century ago,
considering the marvellous growth Of
the republic in wealth and prosperity,
the wonderful advancement Of educa-
ton, science and knowledge-there
are many profound reasons why this
annual feast of ours should be pre-
ceded by q moment, at least, OF sol
emn and reverent thankfulness.